Back in 2011, almost to the day, I stepped into my final training practicum at Nia HQ to become a Brown and Black Belt Nia trainer. Minutes later I received a call from my family, my course changed dramatically and I was taken on a fabulous Healing Energy Ride….
The year before The Terry Family had declared Mummy would travel less and stay home more, spend less and earn more, to focus on the development of our newly acquired Ranch, then Carlos Aya Rosas, co-founder of Nia, announced his retirement and the Terry family flipped a 180! I felt called to attend all trainings with Carlos until he left, this required extensive traveling, increased spending and reduced earnings. Joe and Liliana graciously supported the decision, seeing it as a wise investment and something important for me both personally and professionally.
Then here I was, in Portland, finally stepping into my final practicum with one other training trainer to become the first Brown & Black Belt Nia trainers in the world (beyond the founders) and I receive a call from Joe, my husband. (I can hear Liliana screaming in the background) “Hi Buddy, Liliana’s injured her knee at the tennis tournament, we’re on our way to the emergency room, everything’s going to be OK, stay on your course, we’ve been working together as a team towards this week for 2 years, you’re almost there, we know how important this training is, you don’t need to come home….” I had minutes to make a decision… I chose to return to Houston and grabbed the next flight back. (I think it was the same plane I had landed on!)
We discovered Liliana had ruptured her ACL, this was devastating news to my teenager with aspiring dreams of going to College on a tennis scholarship and playing at Wimbledon.
We’ve been through a curious 4 years, personally I’ve questioned a lot about myself, my ability to teach, to train, thoughts about Nia, my relationship with Nia, etc. It’s been quite dark and depressing at times. I find it curious how the knee joint represents standing up for ourselves, “making a stand”, Louise Hay shares “Knee problems represent stuboborn ego and pride. Inability to bend. Fear. Inflexibility. Won’t give in.” The healing affirmation is “Forgiveness. Understanding Compassion. I bend and flow with ease and all is well”. Both Liliana and I have “grown up” through the process of her knee healing.
The good news is today I’m so super happy with my choices. Although my family could have coped well with me staying in Portland, my actions of coming home spoke volumes, it confirmed, other than God, my family is the most important thing to me. No matter how passionate I am about my Nia practice and all the wonderful possibilities, God and family come first. My soul searching inward time, my long term stall on developing as a brown belt trainer has been humbling and healing. I’m a much more patient, open, understanding, relaxed teacher and, more important, a more compassionate human being for the experience.
I’m left with gratitude for Nia Technique, Carlos Aya Rosas and Debbie Rosas who have provided me with an opportunity to create an amazing full time livelihood for over 2 decades, supporting my family financially, for making great life long friends, sustaining a fabulous business partnership with Kristie Bryant for over a decade, co-owning NiaMoves, a world class Nia Studio full of vibrant community with fantastic teachers, and also co-owning Soma Ranch, an amazing retreat center. I’ve been able to spend more time at home, be more present to enjoy my precious daughter’s transition from highschool transition into college.
When we look at Energy (the focus of the Nia Brown Belt) Everything is matter, in some ways we can say everything matters, and these days I sit back and smile, in awareness of all that REALLY matters in life. I’ve been able to let go of a lot more of stuff which simply doesn’t matter, at least it’s not worth worrying or getting bothered about.
I invite you to ponder what matters to you? what can you let go of TODAY that really doesn’t matter in the big picture? what would you DIVE IN to if you knew you couldn’t fail? are you scared about something? play with asking what’s the worse thing that could happen? and recognize how 80% of what we worry about never happens! let your worry bucket be light and your prayer bucket full :-)
I facilitated my first solo brown belt. It’s something I’ve been in training for over 5 years and I was delighted to finally reach this long term goal. We had great week at Soma Ranch with fabulous participants and superb weather. Dreams coming true! with Soma Ranch being a most conducive environment for learning, healing and having fun in the process. 
As a facilitator I think this could be the most pleasurable training I have ever experienced (took me rather by surprise considering how I often feel rather nervous, especially going into lead something for the first time!) Part of the ease came from the ability to relax my thinking mind and memory, and glide along with an amazing and beautiful power point presentation, created by Nia.
I also was wonderfully accompanied by Nia Black Belt, Mary Linn Bergstrom, from carrying my materials and bringing me water, to sitting up late at night helping me write up my notes (and helping me LAUGH!), she was a wonderful asset to the experience.
