Nia Saved my Life... Twice

Before starting Nia in 1994, I was chronically depressed and taking medication. A friend dragged me to a Nia class at the West Side YMCA in New York City. The class was co-taught by Caroline Kohles and Megan McArthur.
I began to experience unfamiliar sensations almost immediately, one of which I later learned to identify as Joy Energy. I began releasing things that had been locked inside. At the end of the class, I felt something I had not felt in years, that life was good. I felt good. Empowered. Alive. Bursting with potential.
I went on to do my White Belt with Debbie and Carlos in Portland in February 1998 and began teaching to college students in March of that year at Columbia University. By that summer I added another class at Lotus Music and Dance where I taught a weekly class for about two years.
Within a year, I decided I wanted to go deeper into the Nia technique and did my Blue Belt Training with Debbie and Carlos in La Jolla, CA. I was in a group with 18 women who were much further along in the mastery of the White Belt. It was an eye-opening—as well as humiliating—experience to realize I had not been mastering the White Belt Principles since my White Belt Training. Before I could go on to master the Blue Belt, I had to go back to basics and relearn the White Belt. And that took my teaching to a whole new level.
Over the next several years, I subbed for other teachers and took over teaching two classes per week at the Battery Park Fitness Collective when the teacher left New York City for North Carolina. I continued those two weekly classes for about five years. I also added a weekly class at my private studio in Brooklyn, NY.
By the time I went on to finish my Brown and Black with Debbie and Carlos in Portland, I was teaching three to four classes per week, and that produced a level of fitness I had not experienced since my Marine Corps days in the mid 60’s. I did my Brown Belt with six other people, all women. And then, for the first time in my Nia Belts, I did my Black Belt with another male, Ken Gilbert, a real treat for me both personally and professionally. Ken and I have the honor of being the first male Black Belts, except for Carlos, of course. Ken and I also share being in the acting profession. He has gone on to become a Nia Trainer. YES, there were other men teaching Nia besides Carlos!
As a member of the Y, I was entitled to take the three Nia classes per week that were available. I eagerly searched out guest passes for Nia classes at other locations. I took class with Debbie and Carlos when they came to New York. My life began to change. Within just a few years, I was—and continue to be—free of meds. I resumed my acting career and began to straighten out my personal and financial life. I credit Nia with having saved my life.
In June 2007, I began to experience severe chest and arm pains whenever I would sustain Level Three when teaching Nia. I only experienced these symptoms doing Level Three Nia. If I slowed down to Level One or Level Two, I was fine. I noticed these symptoms whenever I would take class with another Nia teacher. I am also an avid hiker/camper and kayaker, but these activities did not produce the symptoms. I was pretty sure it wasn’t heartburn since I have been a vegetarian since 1973 and have always carefully watched what I eat.
At first I thought it was just stress. After all, I had been following a healthy diet for years, working out aerobically three to four times a week, hiking, kayaking, etc. In addition, my cholesterol level was normal, great blood pressure and I held a steady 48 bpm heartbeat. I was fit and healthy, right?
Wrong. My doctor sent me for a stress test where the cardiogram indicated I had problems. My cardiologist did an angiogram and, to my shock and horror, I discovered that I had an 85% blockage in my coronary arteries. I was on my way to a heart attack, an aneurysm…or worse.
On the spot, the doctor did an angioplasty (inserting a balloon to open the artery) and inserted a medicated stent (a sort of scaffolding device) in my artery to keep the artery open. I am back on two different kinds of meds now, Plavix to thin my blood so that a clot will not form around the stent and Simvastation to reduce cholesterol and lessen the danger of internal inflammation.
Although I have mixed feelings about taking medications, I now feel terrific and am back to Level Three Nia with no pain. Had I not been doing Nia, specifically Level Three Nia, I would never have known that I had a medical problem until it was too late. No wonder they call Cardiovascular Disease the “silent killer.”
Last Tuesday I took a Nia class with Angela Pinti in Brooklyn. I then taught a class Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. On Saturday and Sunday I backpacked and camped with my son in the Catskills where we covered 12 miles in two days going up and down mountains to the tune of 6,000 feet elevation gain and descent, hand over hand with backpacks in places. And last night, Monday, I taught another class. Not a bad week, especially for a 64 year old!