Women in midlife: experiences of the mind and body movement of Nia.

Midlife is a time when many women encounter life changes. Mind and body exercise programs such as t'ai chi and yoga continue to increase in popularity as a way to manage with life stressors and enhance well-being. A new form of exercise called Neuromuscular Integrative Action, ...also known as Nia, has been added to the mind and body paradigm. I used a hermeneutic phenomenological approach to better understand the role Nia has as a mind and body movement form with eight women in midlife and its potential for counselors to consider, as an adjunctive therapeutic means to aid in managing and enhancing greater well-being. The findings were set within the reflective interpretations across the four lifeworld existentials of time, body, relationship, and space. The women's narratives revealed: 1) reflections through time in representations of stories of the past - childhood, shifting and tragic, living in the moment, and future glimpses, 2) the body's wisdom ~ the body's movement in representations of body being ~ body listening, music ~ movement ~ emotions, and energetic connections ~ spiritual connections, 3) transforming relationships were understood through representations of self-discovery ~ self-acceptance, self-expression ~ self-care, and compassionate responses, and 4) living well-being in midlife spaces emerged as representations of a welcoming and safe space, making connections with other women, and well-being in midlife ~ lived as a life style. Further synthesis and discussion focuses on an overarching theme of how the revisioning of self-identity of midlife women practicing Nia leads to a sense of wellness through reconstructions of the reflective self, the connected self, the authentic self, and the contextualized self. Finally, considerations related to aligning social identity with well-being are also discussed.