Beyond Yoga: New Trends in Mind-Body Fitness

Although once considered a fringe practice associated with people who wore Birkenstock sandals and drank tea made from tree bark, yoga has become so mainstream that even conservative radio advice maven Dr. Laura likes to riff about difficult yoga poses on her daily chat show. The acceptance of yoga by mainstream Americans has created greater awareness of mind-body fitness and opened the door to wider acceptance of other fitness approaches that forge connections between the mind and body. Among these lesser known mind-body fitness programs are Nia and Hyp-Yoga.

What Nia, Hyp-Yoga and other mind-body fitness trends have in common with traditional forms of yoga is they are all based on the premise that the mind and body are not two separate aspects of a person with distinct functions, like a fork and salad plate, but rather two melding aspects that are intimately connected. A person who is physically tired may find his thinking is also fuzzy, for instance, and a person who is emotionally stressed may wind up with a physical illness, such as the flu. Such interwoven connections between the mind and body are causing more people to seek out fitness programs that marry the mind and the body, a trend that is likely to continue into the next decade.

What is Nia?

Nia stands for neuromuscular integrated action, a rather scientific name for a fitness approach that blends dance, martial arts and self-healing. Originally the name Nia was an acronym for non-impact aerobics because the Nia moves, which are performed barefoot, do not stress the joints. In just a 60-minute workout, Nia participants comfortably burn 300 to 600 calories, gain muscular strength, relieve stress and improve their grace and posture.

What makes Nia unique, however, is that it is not just another physical exercise program. Nia helps people learn how to live within their body and move their body in ways that it was designed to be moved. Unlike the proponents of "no pain, no gain," Nia is based on the pleasure principle. The official Nia website states, "If it feels good, keep doing it; if it hurts, stop and adapt what you do to feel better." The Nia philosophy is to literally and figuratively dance one's way through life and take pleasure in physical movement.

Nia movements are very fluid, and the music that accompanies the choreographed routines is both energizing and calming. The best way to see Nia in action is to view a class video (see sample video here). By combining both Eastern and Western movements and philosophies, Nia integrates the body, mind, emotions and spirit. Perhaps in part because it was created by a husband and wife team, some people view Nia as a perfect balance of yin (feminine) and yang (masculine).

What is Hyp-Yoga

As its name implies, Hyp-Yoga is a combination of yoga and hypnosis, the latter of which also encompasses other subconscious change work strategies, including Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), visualization and affirmations. The concept behind combining yoga and hypnosis is that the relaxation produced by yoga opens the mind up to making profound changes. The synergy of applying hypnosis techniques while doing yoga can be exponentially more powerful than doing just hypnosis or yoga alone.

Most of the 60-minute Hyp-Yoga class is devoted to yoga, although the hypnosis aspect of the class technically begins when the relaxing yoga breathing puts students into a light state of trance. During the formal hypnosis portion of a Hyp-Yoga class, students are directed to get into a relaxation pose, and the Hyp-Yoga teacher uses various techniques to guide their subconscious mind into making healthy changes--from losing weight to quitting smoking to reducing chronic pain.

Unlike Nia which has been around for more than 25 years (although it is just now gaining wide popularity), Hyp-Yoga is relatively new on the mind-body fitness scene. Hyp-Yoga was founded just a few years ago by Carly Cummings, a recent University of Nebraska college graduate with a background in both yoga and hypnosis who, in a classic light bulb moment, had the brilliant idea to combine the two mind-body practices.

Sources:
http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid48345534001?bctid=47469443001
http://www.nianow.com/
http://www.hyp-yoga.com/press.html