Once upon a time …
there was a little girl who loved to sing, dance and frolic through the fields gathering brightly coloured flowers, warm stones that twinkled in the sun, and any other treasures that interested her curious little mind.
One day a man with sparkling eyes knocked on the door and asked if he could stay and rest in their barn for a few days, as he had been travelling for many days and his feet were sore. They agreed to let him stay. The man possessed a brilliant glow of happiness that they both longed for in their state of discontent. Without hesitating, the mother spoke, “Tell us your story. Where did you come from? Where are you going? What do you do? How did you find happiness?”
The man responded, “Thank you for welcoming me. I will be happy to tell you some stories. First, I will listen to my body and drink some water and have a rest. Then, I will practice the Nia 5 Stages of Self-Healing to realign, refresh and reenergise. When I feel better I will join you in the cabin and share what I sense.”
The mother and daughter went to the cabin to prepare tea for their guest. The daughter spoke, “Our guest is a wise man, I bet he spends a lot of time in nature. He must have special powers of self healing. He is so lucky!”
Then the mother spoke, “Yes, he is a wise man indeed, but he would not waste his time in the forest. I can see that his wisdom comes from discipline and hard work!”
And so they sat and waited.
Finally, the guest entered the cabin. They served him tea and asked him where he was going and where he came from.
“I am going to attend a Nia Blue Belt Training in the East. My last destination was the White Belt, just West of here.”
They were curious.
“What is it that you do in these trainings?” they asked.
“I learn, study, and practice the somatic teachings of choosing Universal Joy! And we dance to really great music!”
Then they asked him to explain where he got his happiness and wisdom.
“Ah yes, happiness and wisdom, they are both very useful. But before I found happiness and wisdom I learned and practiced Awareness from the teachings of the Nia Technique, and from there, Universal Joy continues to fill my life.”
The daughter explained to the man that she was more aware about nature’s beauty than her mother and the mother explained how her daughter didn’t have awareness of the needs of the family home.
The man responded, “Awareness is simply being conscious of sensations, thoughts, feelings and surroundings. You both have awareness at times and in fact, everyone experiences awareness, as it is very crucial for survival. The practice of more awareness will allow for more Joy, love, healing, and clarity.”
“Please tell us how we can do this Great Nia Teacher!” they both urged.
He responded, “Well, to fully understand I suggest you go to the White Belt and immerse yourselves. For now you can listen to the voices of your Body. Notice and sense the skin, joints and soft tissues. You can also begin to practice Awareness by monitoring the signals of pain and pleasure.”
“Do you have special powers to make pain go away?”, the daughter asked.
“Yes! So does everybody! Through logic and mystery self-healing occurs when we are aware of pain and then move the whole body in a way that feels pleasurable, tweaking until there is a sensation of ‘I feel better.’ “
“My back is so sore, please show me how!” cried the mother.
“Why don’t we put on some music and explore through movement how to feel better. Stimulating all the joints of the body is a really great way to get started on practising Awareness. All you have to do is put your attention on the sensations you feel. Once we understand physical awareness, then we can explore our mental, emotional, and spiritual awareness too. Oh it’s so fun! Come on!”
And together they stepped in to move happily ever after ….