Excerpt from The Nia Technique by Debbie Rosas & Carlos Rosas

Dancing Through Life is a system we use to integrate the sensations of healthy movements into every aspect of living. It is a dance that weaves together sound and silence, action and inaction, and perception and reality. Its movements are based on the Body’s Way, but its forms of expression are limitless.

Arising from any stillness—as naturally as air bubbles rise through water—are the sounds of the earth. To the attuned ear, the sounds of the earth are like music. This music invites us to dance.

In Nia, we teach people to think of dancing as anything the body does. For example, when you swing your arms while walking to catch the bus, the movement may be identical to one you perform in a Nia class. Nia is not separate from life. It is not separate from the body. It is the body: the body in action.

As you learn to Dance Through Life, your awareness will grow. You will become cognizant of your breathe surging in and out, and you’ll even become aware of that moment of stillness between breaths. This awareness is a gift. It is your natural reward for living in a body. It is, however, also a tool. It is the tool that empowers you to improve the way you move. It enables you to choose pleasure over pain, and thus arrive at the Body’s Way.

The conscious awareness that come from Dancing Through Life teaches you to let go of the unconscious impulses that may so often rule your life. You stop sleepwalking through your short stay on this earth and start to wake up. Instead of being driven by longstanding habits, you begin to change these conditioned responses into conscious, intentional actions.

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