From Stiff to Strong: My Journey with Nia®

The Moment Everything Shifted…

It was my first Nia® class.

I remember sitting in the parking lot beforehand. I was stiff, anxious, and unsure if I even belonged there…

At the time, I was experiencing emotional and physical discomfort. I was feeling disconnected from my body, but searching for something gentle and meaningful after a waterskiing injury to heal. I had a past love of dance that was neglected. And, it was a period of empty nest transition for me, with my children moving out to begin their own lives.

But I entered my first Nia® class and discovered somatic movement for healing.

What I found that day was more than a fitness class, it was a coming home. This is my story of how Nia® helped me go from stuck and stiff, to strong, empowered, and alive (and how it can do the same for you.)

I am now a Nia® Faculty Trainer, 2nd Degree Nia® Black Belt, Melt Instructor, and International Retreat Facilitator. This is my Nia® story.

The Breaking Point

Before I experienced my first Nia® class, I was entering a new era in my life. I felt disconnected from my body and my children were leaving home. With all these changes, I felt like I was at a breaking point.

After years of putting my family’s needs before my own and no regular movement practice, I was feeling so out of touch with my body and uncomfortable in my skin. That and an emptiness from my grown children moving out stoked a growing void and a lack of connection to myself. I missed dance and creativity, the outlets that allow us to nurture a holistic mind and body connection, but I lacked that awareness and didn’t even know how to start again.

With this came a sense of aging, stuckness, and feeling “past my prime.” I was wondering if I could feel like myself again.

It’s a universal truth: so many women hit this point, but feel overwhelmed about what to do next. Getting back into movement, especially after years of inactivity or injury, can be daunting. But gentle dance fitness like Nia® exists to help not just women over 40 but all people yearning for that mind-body connection and sense of freedom to heal and establish spiritual synthesis once again.

The First Class: Coming Back to Life

Walking into my first Nia® class, I was overwhelmed. My injury left me feeling stiff, and life changes had me full of self-doubt. That day, I carried the weight of life on my soul. I used to dance and I still loved the liberating playfulness and curiosity of movement.

I entered class with a feeling of uncertainty, then surprise. That day, during my first Nia® class, I discovered a joyful exercise for women, a somatic movement that inspired my curiosity and helped me alleviate stiffness, stress, and anxiety from my core. It was a dance for emotional healing.

It was like a lightning bolt—I had come back home to my body.

I followed sequences inspired by dance, martial arts, and healing arts, through the 7 designated cycles of Nia®. The movement dovetailed with soul-stirring music, from world beats to pop, jazz, electronic, and beyond. Altogether, the music, rhythm, and freedom of barefoot movement opened an ethereal gateway that allowed me to enter a space where I realized that I could move without pain.

The gentle movement did not worsen my pain, instead it allowed me to step softly and rhythmically. I felt my mind and body reconvene, the reunion sparked by falling back in love with dance. It allowed my creativity to take center stage in my life again.

Nia® gave me permission to feel joy and express myself again. Nia® is passionate advocacy for whole-body wellness. During that first class, movement became my favorite form of self-care.

Nia® wasn’t about performance. It was about presence, pleasure, and possibility.

From Student to Teacher: A Life Reimagined

Nia® soon led me down a pathway to healing, and I found myself becoming an advocate for whole-body wellness and the healing power of somatic movement. As a lover of dance, I found belonging with Nia®. Life’s changes tugged less at my soul, instead, they became manageable. The anxiety of transition, my family embarking on their own journeys, dissipated into mere whispers that I could process and release from my fingertips through the sequences of Nia®. And, the gentle movement allowed me to feel less stiff. I was adapting to my body as I reformed connections with my physical self.

I started taking regular classes. I was feeling stronger, more vibrant, more myself.

Nia® provided a community where I could explore my curiosity with other women undergoing similar changes. I was picking movement back up later in life. My own Nia® transformation story was becoming my second act story.

I decided to attend a Nia® White Belt training “just for myself,” but I left changed. With my Nia® White Belt, I began teaching my own Nia® classes. My first day with Nia® set me on my own Nia® journey, from teaching my first class, opening my studio, and building community, to finally earning my 2nd Degree Black Belt and becoming a Nia® Faculty Trainer.

For me, this wasn’t a career change—it was a soul calling.

Nia® gave me a purpose, a path, and a vibrant second act. Movement through Nia® not only gave me a purpose in life during a time of change, but it became medicine: emotionally, mentally, and physically. What started as a gentle class became a life’s work. Nia® gave me credence in the belief that there is always another path to follow, one that allows you to embody cohesion between mind and soul. And it showed me the importance of joy and curiosity, and the power of allowing your body to explore the world around you and your emotions through dance.

You’re Not Alone: Why This Story Matters

So many women experience my story.

They age and their children grow and leave home. For a while, life was about living for others. No woman is alone on life’s journey, and there is a space for women to heal together.

Like me before Nia®, maybe you’re feeling stiff, stuck, or unsure of how to begin… maybe your body feels unfamiliar or you’ve been on the sidelines of your own life…

It’s normal to feel intimidated or uncertain about knowing how to take the next steps, or even taking that first step towards nurturing the connection between mind, body, and soul. You don’t have to leap. You just have to take a step.

Objects in motion stay in motion. Perhaps, you haven’t allowed yourself to move with purpose. You were giving yourself to life’s currents, adrift as time passed by and your family grew and evolved, or you worked to establish your life. All these events and especially time and its impact on our bodies can make us disconnected from who we are. Aging is not a bad thing! It’s your body’s natural journey through life. Movement for aging bodies and gentle dance classes for women can help you reclaim the synthesis between mind, body, and soul, allowing you to heal.

And, once you begin, momentum builds. Movement creates energy, joy, and confidence. 

It’s time to move. But how do you start moving again? 

I create safe, welcoming spaces for women of all backgrounds and bodies to begin or begin again.

How to Begin Your Own Movement Journey

My Nia® classes offer beginner-friendly dance classes to help you start moving at any age. After all, Nia® is self-care. It advocates whole-body wellness through playful curiosity and dance.

There are small, accessible ways to start your own movement journey.

Of course, try a Nia® class (either in person or online) or discover the power of somatic movement, guided by me. I bring my love of dance and ever-growing, deeper understanding of body, health and spirit to each Nia® class. I lead safe, gentle, easy to follow classes that allow you to sense your own body's way to heal through movement.

Or start at home. Put on a favorite song and move for 5 minutes to rediscover playfulness. Music is meant to make you move! Another way to foster mind-body connection after a long period of separation between the parts of you is, take a walk with intention and awareness. Allow yourself to feel the experiences that make you, even for a few moments. It’s the first step to feeling (and nurturing) a love of yourself.

You don’t need to be “in shape” or “fit”. You don’t need fancy clothes or prior experience. You just need a body and a little willingness. Movement is a practice of self-love not self-improvement.

Your Invitation to Come Home to Yourself

You’re not alone on your journey. The way you’re feeling, that disconnect, stiffness, anxiety, and emptiness…that desire to live for you and to foster self-love…the community is there, and everyone is moving and healing together.

I would love to see you at one of my Nia® classes! Under my guidance, let yourself reconnect mind, body, and soul through gentle movement. Dance your way back to yourself and discover somatic healing through movement.

Here’s what I have to share from my heart for women who may feel “past their prime”:

I didn’t expect a single class to change my life, but it did. And I want that for you. You don’t have to do this alone. I’ve created spaces where you can feel supported, celebrated, and strong. Movement changed everything for me. Let it change something for you.

Join me for a Nia® class, in person or online. Explore upcoming retreats, workshops, or teacher trainings. And, sign up for my email list to stay connected and inspired

Take the first step. Your body and your life are waiting.