Rachael R. Resch, MS PT/LMT, is a physical therapist, movement educator, dancer and certified Black Belt instructor of The Nia Technique.
She began this blog, originally called “Dancing on the Road to Black Belt,” to stay connected with her Nia students during a period when she was away frequently at Nia Headquarters in Portland, Oregon preparing for her Nia Black Belt in July 2008.
The blog continues as an articulation of her experiences, both personal and professional, of dancing through life in the physical, mental emotional and spirit realms.
The Nia Technique is Rachael’s primary path — a path of healing, relationship, transformation, play and love. Nia provides the requisite deep and complex holding environment for Rachael’s ongoing exploration of the mystery as it manifests in the biological and spiritual life of the body. Rachael has been practicing Nia since 1995 and teaching since 1999.
Rachael’s supporting paths include Senté, created by energetic seers, Paul and Patty Richards, Bolad’s Kitchen with author and medicine man, Martín Prechtel, Jewish Renewal, family constellation and energetic field work with Stephen Victor, and in physical therapy, the paths of Biovalent manual therapy and craniosacral therapy.
Rachael has a BA in Religion and Dance from Oberlin College and a Masters of Science in Physical Therapy from Pacific University. She was a member of the Oberlin Dance Company, Portland State University’s The Company We Keep, Lisa Jeli Dancers and Cynthia Chimient Dance Company, among others.
She studied with Robert Bly at his annual Conference on the Great Mother and New Father for over 20 years. She is the owner of Synergy Physical Therapy and teaches Nia at the DanceSpace in Ashland, Oregon. She has also earned a green belt in Shotokan Karate with Sensei Aaron Ortega.
Rachael lives in Ashland, Oregon with her beloved husband, author, community organizer, consultant and heroic rider of the spirally waves of remembrance, Richard Seidman.