Today we’d like to introduce you to Abby Senger.
Hi Abby, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Here it is:
I started dancing at three years old. Growing up in northern Minnesota, I trained in jazz, tap, ballet, lyrical, hip hop, and even a little riverdance. Dance was everything to me. By the time I was a teenager, I knew I wanted to teach it.
But the path didn’t open the way I had imagined. I came from a private studio and went to a public school, and when graduation came, college was the expected next step. So I went.
In college, I went looking for adult dance classes and felt completely lost. That’s when I found Nia. I signed up, took one class, and when the music stopped, I started to cry. The instructor was kind and stayed with me. I didn’t fully understand it then, but I know now what happened, it was somatic. All those years of strict technique, of right and wrong, of being corrected and contained. Nia asked nothing of me except to move. Nothing was right. Nothing was wrong. My body just moved, and something released.
Nia stayed with me. I took classes in North Dakota, Colorado, Minnesota, and Texas, and every single one brought me back to the same feeling: I want to do this. I want to be a Nia teacher. That thought had lived in the back of my mind since I was nineteen years old.
I was thirty five when it finally broke open. I was sitting in my backyard one evening and just started to weep. I had carried this dream for sixteen years and hadn’t acted on it. That night I decided I was done waiting.
With the support of my family, I signed up for my Nia certification. I traveled to San Antonio that spring, the week before my thirty sixth birthday, and earned my white belt. I came back to Austin, found a Nia community in Hyde Park, and danced with them through the year. This past spring, I was invited to teach at Anahata Yoga Sanctuary in Northwest Austin, and I have been hosting classes there since the beginning of April.
Nia is the third element of my mission. It lives alongside my two other companies. Sunsejoy, a 100% botanical skincare line, and Thirdseer, an intention candle brand. All three are tied together under Third Sun Wellness Studio. Holistic healing is the thread connecting everything I do. The body, the senses, the spirit. Movement, botanicals, and intention.
I am at the very beginning of this Nia journey, and my goal is to weave all three elements together into meaningful experiences across the Austin metro area. This is where it all starts to come together.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The road has not always been smooth, but the biggest obstacle was simply myself. For sixteen years I carried the dream of teaching Nia and didn’t act on it. I knew what I wanted. I knew how much this practice had given me. And still, I waited. Finally moving forward and giving myself permission to do it was the hardest step I have ever taken.
When I did take that step, my family showed up for me completely. Their support and love made the certification possible, and I am deeply grateful for that.
The challenge now looks different. It is the daily work of juggling two businesses, a Nia teaching practice, and showing up fully as a mother, a wife, and a friend. Every week my goal is simple: be present, be prepared, and show up for my students. Nia deserves that. They deserve that.
At the heart of it all is time management. It has been an obstacle my entire life and it is something I am actively working to get better at. But I also give myself grace, because I know I am not alone in this. So many of us in modern life are trying to hold too many things at once and simply doing our best. Time has always been my greatest challenge. Learning to work with it rather than against it is still very much a practice.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am a Nia instructor at Anahata Yoga Sanctuary in Northwest Austin, where I teach every Tuesday from noon to one. If you ask anyone who knows me, they will tell you I am an extrovert through and through. I love to laugh, I love to learn, and I love to dance. Those three things show up in everything I do.
Professionally, I am the founder of Third Sun Wellness Studio, which is home to two product based businesses. Sunsejoy is a 100% botanical skincare line specializing in essential oil blending workshops, and Thirdseer is an intention candle brand. Nia is the third branch of that work, and bringing all three together under one umbrella has been one of the things I am most proud of.
Building these businesses from the ground up has not been easy, but I have been met with incredible support from the local Austin community, especially from fellow woman owned small businesses. That community means everything to me.
What sets this work apart is that it all comes from the same place. Movement, botanicals, and intention are not separate offerings. They are one holistic practice, and Third Sun Wellness Studio is where they all live together.
I am especially excited about what is coming this September. On September nineteenth, I will be hosting my first ever Nia and essential oil blending workshop at Anahata Yoga Sanctuary. It will bring together everything I do, the movement of Nia and the sensory experience of Sunsejoy’s essential oil blending. It is the first time all the pieces will come together in one room, and I could not be more grateful for the opportunity.
I am proud of every step that led here. This is only the beginning.
Before we let you go, we’ve got to ask if you have any advice for those who are just starting out?
If you are stepping into any physical profession, whether it is dance, yoga, or any other movement based practice, my first piece of advice is to pause and check in with yourself. Make sure you are healthy. Make sure you are in a good mental space. Make sure you are taking care of your body. That foundation matters more than anything else.
When I moved into my Nia journey, I realized I had some habits that were not serving me. Letting them go was not easy, but it made me a better person and a better teacher. When you are stepping into a role of guiding others, you want to reflect what you teach. That accountability changed me.
But here is what I also want you to hear: you do not need to have it all together to start. I am still in the baby steps of my own healing. I am still growing into the fullness of this work. And I started anyway.
Just start. Show up where you are. It will all fall into place.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/third.sun.wellness/
- Other: https://www.anahatayogaatx.com/classes
