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Nude Stretching

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I never thought I’d do something like this. But over the years many people have suggested that I make a Nude Stretching Video.  I guess the fact that I’m comfortable with nudity and with my body and that I’m a fitness pro with a passion for helping people made it seem like a no-brainer that I create something like this.  But I’ve been resistant to doing it for a long time; for fear (I guess) of what the more conservative people might think.  Now, finally, I’ve succumbed to the requests and put something together.  You conservative people will just have to look the other way. :) Now, I haven’t made an X-rated video here; I'm just nude and I'm stretching.  It's completely natural. This video blends a smart, educational stretching session with  “Warhol-like” video interludes accentuating an eroticized appreciation of the male form.  My intention was that it could be enjoyed on two levels. The free-style, hand-held segments demonstrate the positi...
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Firedance: The Nia “Riverdance” routine.

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This is the first appearance of a concept called Athletic Nia. This is meant to be an offshoot of traditional Nia for those who were athletically inclined or were familiar and confident enough with traditional Nia and wanted something more athletic. I consider this an advanced routine for many reasons. One is that the way it was presented shows very few Level 1 options. Many of the movements are plyometric in nature (jumping) and would need some modifying for someone who was less conditioned. That alone is a good reason to avoid the routine until having had some movement experience and are comfortable making your own adaptations without a lot of guidance. The routine requires a great attention to detail, especially because of the repetition of a very quick movement involving stepping on the back foot on the ball of the foot and on the whole forward foot. This quick shuffling-like motion has a lot of pitfalls that a beginning student/teacher may fall into. I have to consistent...
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Routines From the Vault

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I’ve been teaching Nia for 16 years now. And most of those years, I’ve gotten four new routines from Nia. That comes out to over 60 routines over the years. I’ve also created quite a few of my own routines. And along the way, certain routines have fallen out of favor for one reason or another.  For example, a great routine called Commitments, which uses the music from the soundtrack to the movie of the same name, is one of my first ones. I learned that routine so long ago that I have the music on cassette tape and I watched the routine on VHS. It has been retired “To the Vault” for many years. Ditto for routines called Genesis, Roots and Adagio. Some routines have been taken apart and used to build other routines. For example I took all of the Angelique Kidjo songs from the classic, Agolo, and put together a routine using only songs from her album, Aye (which means "LIFE" and is the name of the routine as well.)  I split up the songs from the repetitive routine Fi...
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