How will your Nia Technique workshop enhance our graduate student wellness program?

From an institutional standpoint, any wellness resource that addresses multiple dimensions of the whole person is an efficient use of both university funds and grad student time.

The current gold standard in grad student wellness is to offer an array of resources that collectively impact the whole human being. One size does not fit all; it takes multiple resource types to ensure that every grad student is well-served by at least some of them.

Resources delivered online are increasingly important since the pandemic because some students need to be able to get help from the safety and privacy of home.

The opportunity for attendees to choose to continue with Nia after the workshop means that for those students, it won’t be just a flash in the pan. With ongoing participation, Nia will become a rich source of resilience to meet all of life’s challenges.

Even if your program already includes mindful movement classes such as yoga or t’ai chi, you probably don’t have Nia Technique - and you should, because Nia is perfect for graduate students.

What do you mean, Nia is perfect for graduate students?

Unlike other dance fitness practices such as Zumba or Cardio Dance, Nia Technique builds mindfulness and agency alongside physical wellness. Its emphasis on sensation develops the mindfulness skill of interoception. The constant encouragement to choose the way you want to do the moves develops agency, which over time has an uplifting effect on research, teaching, service and professional development. Finally, the complete and total permission that Nia gives to move, sweat and jiggle your “today body” helps to build self-esteem and reduce the isolation and anxiety that are endemic to grad student life.

Is your workshop accessible to all graduate students?

Not absolutely all, but it is a lot more accessible than you may think. Active participation requires

• at least 6x8’ of cleared floor space

• good internet

• decent speakers so they can hear the music and my voice

All body sizes, abilities, and fitness levels can do Nia successfully, including wheelchair users. My classes are even trauma-informed.

The only demographics that would not benefit much are Deaf and Blind students, because Nia involves music, visual demonstration and time-sensitive verbal cueing.

Why should we hire you?

I am a warm, articulate, charismatic presenter with a deep understanding of the graduate student soul. My outstanding camera skills keep attendees engaged for the entire 90-minute workshop. And I am the only Nia teacher in the world with decades of experience supporting grad student mental health. I was a doctoral student myself in the late 90s (PhD Rhetoric and Composition, Ohio State, 2000). After leaving the academy, I founded Versatile PhD, an online service that reduced stress and increased resilience for over 100,000 grad students during my ownership (LinkedIn profile).  After years of retooling, I am now highly trained in Nia Technique, with additional training in Grief Yoga, Franklin Method, Experiential Anatomy, Trauma Informed Movement Teaching, Trauma and Nia, Race Healing, and Anti-Racism for Wellness Professionals. There is seriously no person on earth better qualified to deliver Nia to graduate students!

What does it cost?

$1450 for the workshop itself, plus $50 each for X number of 4-class packs that interested students can use going forward. I recommend that X be 5-10% of the number who sign up for the 90-minute workshop.