When I started my adventure into Nia I was so excited. The excitement had my adrenaline going and I was like, I’m going to learn these routines, start pounding the pavement and spread the news about this wonderful technique known as Nia. So, I got down to it and started to learn a routine known as, “Opal,” beautiful album and fun routine.
I learned the routine rather quickly, working on it whenever my son took a nap or at night after he went to bed. About a month later, I started noticing some problems; my knees were hurting! “Oh no!” This is not good, then I started getting depressed thinking I spent all this money and now I can’t do this. Well, being the determined person that I am I thought to myself, “Hey, there is got to be a way to solve this problem.”
First, I started to look into yoga, and I found an asana that helps the knees; Uktasana, the Chair pose. One of the articles said, when you are in this pose, lift your toes. Note: It was suggested to do this against a wall. So, I did and it helped a little bit. Then I started to research the Nia site, which I should of done in the first place! I found more articles about instructors having the same problem. One instructor suggested, when ever you are in “A” Stance or “Riding” Stance or even in the “Bow” Stance she suggested to lift your toes.
Give it a try, stand in “A” Stance and keep your toes down, notice where all the weight is. Then try lifting your toes, and notice where all the weight shifts too. It shifts to the back of the leg, which takes less pressure of your knees. Brilliant!
So, three weeks later, my knees feel great! I lift my toes all the time, I lift during Nia and I lift them outside of Nia as I am doing dishes or taking a shower.
So, remember the best cure is prevention! And since, 1 out of 4 people are getting their knees operated on and regretting it. My suggestion is a simple movement change, Lift Those Toes folks, Love Those Knees!
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