Moving with a sense of joy is the secret to a healthy body and finding movement practices that are sustainable for a lifetime.
community spotight
“People come back for the sense of community and how it makes them feel happy, healthy and whole,” she says.
Moving Together
Nia: The Joy of Movement by Sam Smith
Y
oga instructor expressive fitness class, Kat Mansfield say one that allowed her to she’s found the move mindfully while key to living a healthy life: simultaneously being It’s a worldwide wellness seduced by the music. “I practice called Nia, which was ecstatic to have found embodies form and Nia,” she says. “I felt betfreedom through 52 basic ter physically, mentally moves that blend dance, and emotionally. I felt martial arts and the healstronger and more flexible, and I was in less pain. ing arts. “Moving with a I was also more creative sense of joy is the secret and happier.” to a healthy body and Developed in 1983 Kat Mansfield finding movement pracby Debbie and Carlos tices that are sustainable for a lifetime,” Rosas, Nia invites people of all ages, shapes says Mansfield, who now holds a black and sizes to move together barefoot, with belt in Nia. the philosophy “Through movement we She discovered the practice while find health.” overseas with her military husband in Nia’s practitioners are diverse, and 2008, after having devoted a lifetime their reasons are personal, Mansfield to dance, theater and martial arts. “Nia says. Her students tell her that it brings seemed like the perfect culmination of all them various benefits: joy, expression, of my life endeavors,” she says. healing, challenge, power, pleasure, She’d never experienced such an inspiration, fitness.
Mansfield moved to Pensacola in 2017, after her husband was transferred here. Not long afterward, she connected with Katy McKenzie, who opened Communio Health and Fitness at 904 East Scott Street last January. McKenzie, like Mansfield, was attracted to the concept of dance as a healing art. McKenzie says her decision to open Communio came at the end of a personal journey. After battling some emotional and physical issues, she took control of her health by becoming a certified yoga instructor specializing in yoga nidra, a form of deep meditation. During her recovery, she thought of all the people in her life who had kept her afloat during her life’s challenges. She envisioned giving back to the community by opening a dance studio where she could help people reach their highest potential. Communio offers a variety of classes, including dance trance, Argentine tango, West Coast swing, gentle and beginners yoga—and, of course, Nia. Mansfield teaches three or four classes a week at Communio and helps facilitate other workshops there too. She says she loves teaching Nia and reaps its benefits every day, especially body awareness. “It allows me to slow down and be present and open to the full experience of life and joy,” she says. “In Nia, we call this ‘dancing through life’—where every moment can be sensed as a dance.” For more information about Nia and Communio, including a full schedule of classes, visit CommunioHeart.com. September 2018 27
