Sophie in full flow

“Stay with it……”

That’s the phrase that stays with me from Sophie Marsh’s Nia week.

Others too:  “Relax your jaw… and breathe!” or “[there are] no mistakes!” and “Feel the joy”. But that first was my favourite.

“Stay with it…..” she calls out….with the music, with the movement, with the moment, with the joy. She stays moving with it herself, swaying gently as the music changes to a new track, a new rhythm, a new pace. And then she’s off again, this time to a foot stomping beat accompanied by guttaral yells; or maybe to a melodic number with waving arm movements; and occasionally to a slooow drawwwwwn out curling on the floor with aaaaahs and great wide smiles of bliiiissss.

Feel the joy!

Nia is many and various in its musical numbers, and Sophie is a true master of them all. She is quite literally a master, in that she is the only Nia teacher in Australia who is qualified to teach other Nia teachers, one of only 50 in the world. But she’s also a master in her ability to lead and inspire her class. They follow her in sweat, in song, in soul; they love her. Of course they love her: she is leading them down a path to joy. That is what Nia is about: connecting with joy, grounding yourself in an energy that leads to casting off stress and finding happiness.

The women this week span an age range of some thirty years – there are three mother/daughter couples, and all ages in between.  Many of them have danced with her back in Australia, but some are entirely new to Nia. It’s a week that takes plenty of energy – but then there’s plenty of time to recoup between classes and the group go off  snorkeling, visiting a village, trawling the local shops in Savusavu, lie by the pool reading and enjoy a massage.

And plenty of little extras too. Michelle beats me soundly at Scrabble. Simone helps me redesign one of the villas. Stefanie plays tennis with JJ. Belinda gets me interested in the idea of a lifestyle week but I’m not yet sure what that means. Sally’s 5 – year old daughter Lola makes a good-bye speech that has us all cheering.  We all feel the joy one way or another.

Next year’s Nia week will run August 17 – 24 2013.

Everyone!

It’s 10.00 am and the girls are dancing.

It’s 9.30 pm and the girls are dancing.

It’s 7.00 am and the girls are dancing. Admittedly they’ve been to bed in between but still – the ENERGY!!!!

Nia must harness something in them because they are unstoppable. They dance. They sing. They laugh. They cry. They hug. They dance again. They burst with the joy of every day.

Sophie the teacher eats like a horse but has the figure of heron – slim and graceful. She burns everything off in the 4 hours she teaches daily, leading the group in swooping, stomping, kicking, turning, twisting. And the noise! Cries of happiness, shouts of aggression, yells of letting in joy, letting out anger. The rainforest trees are shaken by the passion.

Nia is a mixture of dance and self discovery. It’s hard to pin it down exactly, but it’s about free expression through dance, and discovering what you’re all about. And it’s also about making choices in your attitude: choosing to allow joy into your life. Those who are already converts describe it as “like chocolate – you can’t describe it till you try it”, and for those who haven’t done it, try imagining a cross between A Chorus Line, The Karate Kid and Flashdance and you’ll start to get an idea of it.

It’s a week of discovery and different experiences both inside and outside the Nia classes. Sophie describes it as follows:

“The Nia retreat in Fiji felt like a week out of time and space. It’s an opportunity to deepen your body-mind awareness and Nia practice, connect with like minded people, breathe in exquisite nature, learn about Fijian culture. It is an invitation to open, receive and Be. Joy and pleasure abound!! For me the experience felt like a playful moving meditation and I have come back feeling a greater sense of aliveness and presence.

We are welcomed as family at the resort, the people are serene and joyful. It is a quiet and private setting, a simple slice of paradise. In an open sided yoga shala with inspiring views, our days start with a Living Meditation session (a blend of Nia 5 stages, yoga, Qigong, pilates, breathwork and meditation). Then there are 2 Nia classes each day. The first after breakfast 9.30-10.45 am and another as the sun sets over Savusavu Bay 5.00-6.15 pm. You can join them all or just the ones you feel like… it’s all about listening to your body and choosing what feels good to you. During the day there are optional excursions (village visits, pearl farms, waterfall walks, snorkelling) or time to hang out around the pool or have a massage and snooze in your bure.”

You can read a whole lot more about Nia at http://nianow.com/. Or you can come to Daku next year and join Sophie’s next Nia Retreat in Fiji : 25 August – 1 September, 2012.