Archive for the ‘Nia’ Category
Posted by terrepruitt on May 9, 2013
I teach Nia. I actually like to say I lead Nia because to me teaching a dance is more instructive. What I think of as teaching is the type of class where the instructor demonstrates a step or two then the students do the steps a few times, then the instructor demonstrates more steps and the students practice them. Eventually the steps are strung together in a dance. But in my Nia cardio classes it is just lead follow. I do – you follow. I give verbal instructions and/or verbal guides but it is not the type of instructional class where I show you, then you do, then we practice and then we string all the steps together. So I guess it is not an “instructional” or “instructed” dance class. But I do teach by example. You follow my lead. In order to be a Nia teacher I had to take the Nia White Belt Intensive. I have talked about this before, but to review the White Belt is the first level of Nia. The White Belt Intensive is over 50 hours of instruction and is open to anyone. Individuals do not have to have the intent to teach. The Nia White Belt Intensive is about the body so anyone is welcome to join and learn. In order to be a Nia teacher there is an additional licensing fee. The fee is due annually and it includes four routines that we, as teachers, agree to learn per year. I was just looking at my DVDs. I have two routines that I have not learned. I have 19 that I have learned. I have been teaching almost four and half years so I am keeping up with the four per year schedule.
Now, I want to clarify that I have learned 19 routines. That means that I basically did the bars and have shared 19 routines with my students. That means I roughly know those 19 routines. I could stand up right now and lead you through some of them, but some of them I would have to look at my bars, and some of them I would have to study my bars. But I also feel I am better at just doing. While I want to do the routine as per the choreography, I am not as afraid as I once was to just DO the routine.
When I am preparing to do a different routine for my class sometimes I have a chance to practice and sometimes I don’t. I will look at my bars for each song. Sometimes I look at the first few lines and think, “Oh yeah, I know this one.” Then when I am leading it my body and my mind don’t remember it as well as I thought and I just dance through it, but then when I get home I look more closely at my bars or re-watch the DVD. It really is about moving and having fun. As long as we are moving and we are doing it close enough then it is good. Then, like I said, I come home to get the choreography better established in my head and body!
The routines I have learned are:
Alive – Carlos AyaRosas
Amethyst – Debbie Rosas
Aya – Carlos Rosas
Beyond – Debbie Rosas and Ann Christiansen
Birth – Debbie Rosas and Collaborators
Canta – Carlos Rosas
Clarity – Carlos Rosas
White Belt Dream Walker – Carlos Rosas
Earthsong – Carlos Rosas
Global Unity
Humanity – Carlos AyaRosas
Miracle – Carlos Rosas
Opal – Debbie Rosas
Passion – Debbie Rosas and Carlos Rosas
Sanjana – Debbie Rosas
San Medusa – Helen Terry
Sexi – Carlos Rosas
Velvet – Debbie Rosas
Vibe – Debbie Rosas
The names of the routines that I have on my shelf that I need to learn are Butterfly and Oshun. I just renewed so I have four routines that I need to pick out as my new routines. Picking routines is always a challenge because everyone has such different tastes. Some people LOVE, LOVE, LOVE some of the routines I have and I don’t love them. So for me it is a difficult decision. I try to pick routines that I think my students will like, but then that is just a guess. I know which ones they like out of the ones I teach because they request them often.
If you were just picking a routine from the name which one would you pick? As a Nia student which one out of this list is your favorite? What about Nia teachers, which is your favorite out of this list?
Posted in Nia | Tagged: Ann Christiansen, Canta, cardio class, cardio dance exercise, Carlos AyaRosas, Carlos Rosas, dance exercise, dance instructor, dance teacher, Debbie Rosas, Dream Walker, Earthsong, Global Unity, Nia, Nia bars, Nia choreography, Nia Dance, Nia DVDs, Nia licensing, Nia Practice, Nia routines, Nia stuents, Nia Teacher, Nia White Belt, Nia White Belt Intensive, Opal, Sanjana, Sexi | 7 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on April 6, 2013
You might have read my post about a couple of Nia Celebrities coming to the San Francisco Bay Area (for that post, click here) and around this month (April 2013). Well, they arrived this week and have been doing classes since Thursday. Today was the class in Palo Alto at the Equinox (Gym). The classes are scheduled around the North Bay, East Bay, and Peninsula. The class was great. The 52 in the title refers to what the classes was about. All of the classes in this series are based on the 52 moves of Nia. I have posted about the Nia Moves before. They are not uniquely Nia moves, but Nia has compiled them and bases our routines on them. Nia has also set guidelines as to how they are to be done. As I have also mentioned in my posts about the 52 Nia Moves, when they are included in a dance sometimes they are not done exactly to specifications. Anyway . . . this class was definitely interesting. I love the gathering of Nia people. And when a celeb is in town the energy is astronomical. There are – as of today, April 06, 2013, a few chances left to take a class with Debbie Rosas (one of Nia’s founders) and Nia Trainer Kevin VerEecke. If you can make it I recommend it.
As I just mentioned it is always fun to gather and dance with Nia people. This time was really great for me because several of my students were in attendance. I love that they were able to take a class with Debbie. She is like many successful company leaders . . . dynamic and a force of her own. I think that when you can be in the presence of the person who started something (whether it be a fitness craze, a company, a restaurant, whatever) you get a different understanding of the workout (company, restaurant, etc.). Even if you are just in the same space as the person and you observe them without even talking to them . . . you get a better sense of things. Being able to be in a Nia class led by the founder of Nia is really an education.
This type of class is a different direction for Nia. It is not a dance exercise class it is an exercise class where we do a move from the 52 moves for a minute. The moves and the timing is not based on the music they use a timer. Most moves were done slow, then fast, and then as fast as you can. They are calling it Interval Training, but it seems to copying the “Intermittent Training” formula that Zumba uses. So it reminds me of a Zumba class without the dancing. It is truly an exercise class with loud music and a lot of sweat!
It is easy to do all 52 Nia Moves in an hour especially if you are doing one a minute. With nineteen of the 52 Nia Moves being movements done with the arms, hands, and/or fingers they are easily combined with foot and body movements. So we were even able to do a few of the moves for more than one one minute cycle. But not all Nia routines have all 52 moves so this is another way to get a great workout in!
I am usually torn at a Nia event because I want to dance . . . . I don’t want to miss a moment, but I also want to take pictures to document the event. This exercise class was a little easier to break away from because they were either doing the move slow or fast, so I could jump right back in and be right on the mark.
Here are a few shots that I took. As you can see everyone is happy, sweaty, and having a fabulous time!
Have you ever met the creator of something you love? Did you find it exciting? Are you going to make it to one of these Nia 52 Moves classes?
Posted in Nia | Tagged: 52 Nia Moves, April 2013, California Peninsula, Debbie Rosas, East Bay, Francisco Bay Area, Intermittent Training, Interval Training, Kevin VerEecke, Nia celebrities, Nia class, Nia education, Nia founder, Nia Moves, Nia pictures, Nia routines, Nia students, Nia trainer, North Bay, Palo Alto Equinox, Zumba | 4 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on March 28, 2013
Nia is a great dance exercise. Go to a Nia Class and get a great workout. It is also a practice. As with any practice there are workshops. In one particular workshop produced by Danielle Woermann and lead by Helen Terry we were reminded to go slow. Helen was here teaching us her adaptation of a Nia Routine to a specific album. Helen is hilarious. She is down to earth, professional, wonderful to listen to (she has an English accent), and currently living in Texas. The “currently living in” needs to be mentioned because of one of the stories she shared with us . . . but before I get to that let me tell you something she reminded us of. She reminded us to go slow. I know often times I want to rush moves . . . that could mean doing it faster than it needs to be done or not “staying through my enoughs”. But either way the idea is to slow down. When I slow down I can be aware of more. I can pay more attention to a move or even to my class. There seems to a tendency to rush, could be our livestyles and/or society, whatever, so the lesson was to slow down and the result could be catching a chicken.
There is one song in particular in her adapted routine that I am severely challenged in slowing down. It just seems so incredible slow. I have not yet been able to FEEL/SENSE the music and I have been doing the routine for a month. Which, with the current way I am structuring my San Jose Nia classes, equates to eleven times, thus far. I have done it correctly, but only when I am COUNTING. Yes, I am having to COUNT in order to get it. For this song I really have to learn to listen, sense, feel, taste, hear, smell, become the music in order to slow down. I have even announced to the class so I have a better chance of doing it, “We have to go really incredibly slow here.” Sometimes I have to close my eyes so I don’t see them rushing through and join them. S L O W. (Where’s that chicken?)
Slow down. Work the muscles. Enjoy the song. Enjoy the movement. EnJOY. SLOW. Geez . . . it seems so difficult to slow down sometimes. Sigh. But really often times slowing down in combination with “staying with the enoughs” (as I already mentioned) helps in catching those chickens! Ah-ha, here we are . . . . at the chicken story . . . (remember this is coming from a person who is currently living in Texas!).
I might not have the details exactly right, but you will get the point. Helen said that one day her husband and her neighbor were going to work on building a table. The neighbor says, “Let’s go catch some chickens.” This sounded very odd to Helen because they were building a table not catching chickens. So she asked her neighbor what he meant. He said that when he was young his mother used to send him out to get dinner. He said that he would go outside to do the task, sometimes he would end up with a handful of feathers and sometimes he would end up with a chicken. A handful of feathers means not quite getting it. So catching the chicken is when task is accomplished! Makes sense!
In dancing this routine all month, I have enough feathers to fill a king sized down comforter! So . . . see there? Feathers really aren’t all THAT bad. Feathers can be useful. Feathers can be fun. A handful of feathers does not ruin a Nia class or even the moment, but it is NOT a chicken. When you hit the mark, the music, the cue just right that is catching a chicken.
Whatever it is, whether it is slowing down or staying with the enoughs, or learning the music really well, it is a great feeling to catch that chicken. When you attend one of my Nia classes you might hear me sputter and/or you might hear me “bacbac”. When you do, you will know either I grabbed a handful of feathers and the escaped ones are floating at me causing me to sputter or I caught that chicken!
You know what we’re talking about when we say, “Catch a Chicken”, right? Isn’t that a great feeling? Do you ever feel the need to slow down?
Posted in Nia | Tagged: catch some chickens, dance exercise, Dannielle Woermann, handful of feathers, Helen Terry, Nia, Nia chickens, Nia class, Nia Practice, Nia routine, Nia trainer, Nia workout, Nia workshop, staying through your enoughs, Texas Nia teacher | 8 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on March 26, 2013
One of the things I learned in a Nia workshop at the end of February, 2013 was the phrase “stay with your enoughs”. Trainer Helen Terry, currently located in Texas, was here in the San Francisco Bay Area to teach us how to dance a Nia Routine that she adapted to an entire album of different music. When Helen said that, I laughed. Because there has been so many times when I thought, “this is enough of that move, it MUST be time to move on” and I wasn’t REALLY clued into the music and I went onto the next move and sure “enough” I hadn’t stayed long “enough”. It was really funny at the time that I took the training because I was doing a Nia routine in which I almost always moved on before I should in accordance with the choreography. Shortly before the workshop I had just started telling myself (and listening to myself—what a novel idea!) that when I THOUGHT we were done is not when we should be if I were going to match the original choreography. There was at least one more bar to go through. And so when teaching that routine, my mind would say, “This is it. This is enough.” And my body would say, “Terre, we’ve been through this before. If you THINK this is it, then you KNOW it is not. Stay.” So Helen’s words “Stay with your enoughs” are perfect.
Nia is so lovely that pretty much most of the time if I lead us into the next sequences of moves before we are actually supposed to go or if we stay longer than the original choreography intended it doesn’t really matter. We might miss that wonderful “perfect match up” to the music, but it never really feels badly off. The choreography flows very well with the music so most of the time it doesn’t feel WRONG. We have the flexibility to stay and go as we please, but when coached to “stay with the enoughs” sometimes it is the perfect idea to help with those troubled spots.
In the workshop that Helen was leading since she was teaching us how to dance a specific Nia Routine to a specific album, there were specific songs and specific examples of where she thought it might feel like as if it is enough. The idea is to keep the faith and “stay with your enoughs”. Just stay past the point you think you should be done with that move. She said one track in particular would “give you a lot of ‘enoughs’”. Which for me that is not the “enough” song, but that is ok. She reminded me of the tool so I can apply it to any and all songs where I have enoughs. I get to relax and stay with them!
There were so many wonderful things presented in the workshop I could probably do a month’s worth of posts. But for now I’ll say “enough” . . . . until my next post . . . .
Do you stay with your enoughs?
Posted in Nia | Tagged: Helen Terry, Nia, Nia choreography, Nia routine, Nia trainer, Nia training, Nia workshop, San Francisco Bay Area, San Francisco Bay Area Nia, stay with your enoughs, Texas Nia, Texas Nia Trainer | 2 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on March 23, 2013
Whether you do Nia, Zumba, yoga, Pilates, country western dance, motor-cycle race, play tennis, or just about anything there are the “Gods” or celebrities of the practice/dance/sport. Often the “Gods” or gurus are the masters or the top teachers, but sometimes it is the CREATOR himself/herself. That is when the event is really rockin’. That is when the events sell out or get so crowded it is crazy. Well, Nia is going through a lot of changes and they have been working for a couple of years training the top instructors to move up even further to become top trainers. The male of the male-female combo that created Nia, Carlos AyaRosas (FKA Carlos Rosas) retired a bit ago, so that left the female creator to continue on. She is coming to the San Francisco Bay Area . . . . . which is a rather large area. She is going to be in the North Bay, the East Bay, and the Peninsula. And it is going to be rockin’. She and a top trainer are going to be here.
April 2013
Debbie Rosas is the (co-)creator of Nia. Kevin VerEecke is a Nia Trainer. They are going to be in the San Francisco Bay Area in the beginning of April (2013). They are going to have seven classes. It is going to be incredible. Every thing has its superstars, its celebrities and these are ours. It is really exciting.
I took my Nia White Belt Intensive at the Nia Headquarters in Portland. The trainers doing the intensive were Debbie and Carlos. Plus they were here for a “Spirit of Nia” tour within the last four years. So I have met them both. I have never met Kevin.
I am excited that Debbie and Kevin will be here sharing the Nia experience. The classes that they are going to be doing are 52 Moves classes. While we have a basic set of 52 Moves we don’t typically do all 52 in every Nia Routine. We do many, but not usually all. In these classes they are going to lead us through all 52 Moves. There are going to be seven chances to check it out.
The first class that will be held will be with Keven VerEecke only in San Rafael. Then Friday’s classes, Saturday’s Classes, and Sunday’s Classes will be both Debbie and Kevin.
The flyer indicates that all classes will have a different playlist. I guess for some people that is important. I know Nia enough to know that all seven classes could be the same EXACT playlist yet all seven classes could be totally different. That is the beauty of Nia. And with two masters leading the dance it wouldn’t matter. BUT . . . the flyer does indicate all classes will have different play lists.
I hope you will take this opportunity. Nia is always fun, but when you have the creator up in front of a room full of people who are there to dance, move, and have fun there is no way you can experience anything but MAGIC.
Posted in Nia | Tagged: 52 Nia Moves, Bay Area, Carlos AyaRosas, Carlos Rosas, celebrities, country western dance, dance, Debbie Rosas, Kevin VerEecke, master teachers, motor-cycle race, Nia, Nia Dance, Nia Headquarters, Nia instructors, Nia Intensives, Nia routines, Nia San Jose, Nia teachers, Pilates, play tennis, Practice, San Francisco Bay Area, sport, Yoga, Zumba | 2 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on March 7, 2013
At the present time I am fortunate enough to be holding Nia classes at four different locations in San Jose. Each location allows me to meet different people. At one of the locations I have been teaching for four years and some of my students have been coming to my classes that long. At three of my locations I am a new teacher and Nia is new. Most of the people are new to me. It is exciting to met new people and discover new relationships. There is the relationships between my students and me and there is the relationship between Nia and the students. One of my students told me after one class that she loved the part of Nia where we compare things to nature. The specific example she stated was “tickling the clouds”. She said that the mention of nature in Nia reminded her of one of her favorite poets, Mary Oliver. She asked me if I had heard of Mary Oliver or if I was familiar with her. I said no. I also said that I would look her up. Well, the following week, my student came into class and handed me a copy of two poems. As soon as she held out the paper, I remembered that I had said I would look up the poet and that I had forgotten. I gratefully took the paper without reading the poems because class was about to start. After our class there is another class so I did not stop at that time to read the poem either. It was not until today I picked up the paper to read the poem. On the second line I realized I HAD heard this before and I laughed. This very poem or at least a portion of it is in the Nia White Belt Manual.
I thought it was funny that my student related Mary Oliver’s work to Nia and obviously so did the creators of Nia, Debbie Rosas and Carlos Rosas, because they put this poem in the manual. Only the first few lines are in the manual, but I recognized it right away.
The lines are:
“You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves.”
From Mary Oliver’s Wild Geese poem.
That portion of the poem is at the very beginning of the section which is Principle #1, The Joy of Movement. The last line of that section really struck me.
I want to continue to share with my students that a Nia class is not just about learning the moves and doing a routine. It is about doing what the body loves. It is about their relationship to their body. It is about their relationship to Nia. To me that is why we do a routine over and over. That is also HOW we do a routine over and over and not get bored with it. If we move and let our body do what it loves then it is moving in a different way. Once we have done a routine a few times we can play. We can move lower . . . if that it what the body loves . . . we can move higher . . . if that is what a body loves . . . all the time moving in the general pattern of the routine. It is when we are not in tune or when we cannot let go, that the routine is tiring or boring. If we are only moving the way it was choreographed and not putting our spirit into the moves it is as if we are walking through a desert on our knees. Suffering through a workout. UGH! Repenting for the cream we had in our coffee, the workout we missed yesterday, or the cookie we had at lunch.
I used to do a different routine every class. I thought people would get bored with the same routine. But then I realized that the more I knew the music and the choreography the more fun I had and the more playful I could be. I asked my class and they said they liked the fact that after doing the routine a few times they, too, could be less concerned with the choreography and more aware of their own spirit, dance, and play. So it is a relationship with Nia and the body that we are building and experiencing in a Nia class, we are not just learning a routine, we are not just moving through choreography.
I have been thinking about this a lot lately as I work on a routine schedule, playing with it to see what works. I want to ensure my students don’t get bored, yet I want them to build a relationship with Nia. I want them to be able to dance and play with the routines.
I love that my student shared her thoughts with me. To me that is me being able to witness her budding relationship with Nia. I love that because of my thoughts about repeatedly doing a routine, I was able to look at this poem and relate it to that. Like many things I might look at it sometime from now and have it relate to something else. My relationship with it might change, just as my relationship with my students and with Nia will change and grow. That is the nature of it all.
Posted in Nia | Tagged: Carlos Rosas, Debbie Rosas, Joy of Movement, Mary Olive, Nature, Nia, Nia choreography, Nia classes in San Jose, Nia experience, Nia locations, Nia Music, Nia relationships, Nia routines, Nia San Jose, Nia students, Nia Teacher, Nia White Belt, poems, poets, Principle #1 of Nia White Belt, San Jose Nia classes, tickle the clouds, Wild Geese | 4 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on February 16, 2013
In Nia we have a lot of acronyms. Seems as if all groups do that. I know in the mortgage business there were many. I know in the world of computers there are a lot. That is just the way it is. In Nia some of ours are FAMSS, OLG, TBW, SEB, and BMES to name just a few. BMES stands for Body, Mind, Emotions, Spirit. We can call these voices or realms. I have recently posted about Spirit. It is not the religious type of spirit, but the school-type or the team-type. It is the part of you that — wheeee! — you just let out! The others are pretty easy to describe, but it is very interesting to allow them into all aspects of Nia. They are each separate and unto their own, yet they are all connected.
The body is the physical. How we move, what we sense. If we are open and listening to the body we can learn many things. I know that sometimes I hear but I don’t listen. I might “hear” my body tell me it is tired, but I don’t listen and do something about it because I am busy. It can “tell” me it is tired by how many mistakes I make while typing, or that I keep nodding off while doing something. But sometimes I don’t listen because I want to finish what I am doing. In dance we can hear our body, we can choose to listen and act upon what we hear or we can continue on. We could be moving a certain way and then feel pain (“hear”), and we can listen by giving that pain attention and tweaking our movement to remove the pain from our dance. Also we can just let the body dance and in doing so without thinking it often moves in ways that it needs without our interruption or interpretation.
The mind is a powerful voice. It can dictate our entire dance and life if we let it. In Nia we use our mind to provide imagery that allows us to move our bodies in a particular way, but it is important to turn the critical part of our minds off. We use our minds to progress us, not hold us back. Letting thoughts flow through the brain and keeping what is useful in the dance. Criticizing ourselves and others during Nia is not helpful or progressive. We do not avoid moving a certain way because it looks “bad” or “not pretty”. We do not avoid moving because people will think it is silly. We move in safe and harmonious ways to bring FAMSS to our bodies, to relax, to rejuvenate, to allow our inner child out to play, but we don’t criticize. We also practice turning off internal dialog or chatter. We let our bodies dance us and not think about our to-do list. We do use our minds when we dance, but we do not allow it to control our dance.
With our emotions we have an almost endless array of energy. We can play with the emotions in our dance and they can provide movement and force. While we dance we do not have to actually FEEL any of the emotions we call upon we just can ACT as if. How would you walk around if you were angry? Might you stomp? How would you walk if you were happy? Might you skip? How would you walk if you were distracted? Might you move slow or in an awkward pattern? Emotions are a great part of Nia because they are feelings and feelings can be felt and/or experienced without taking over. We can allow an emotion to happen or act as if, but in neither case does it have to control our dance.
As with many things in Nia this aspect or look at BMES is just one way to look at it. Just one way we can connect to BMES. Another way is with Nia Blue Belt Principle #3 where we use these realms to assist in teaching. Nia is deep like that. Many of the ideas, principles, “things”, can be separate and unto their own, yet they are all connected. 
Posted in Nia | Tagged: acronyms, AMSS, BMES, body, dance, emotions, mind, mortgage business, Nia, Nia Blue Belt, Nia Blue Belt Principle #3, Nia Dance, OLG, realms, religious spirit, school spirit, SEB, spirit, TBW, team spirit | Leave a Comment »
Posted by terrepruitt on February 12, 2013
If you’ve read a post or two of mine you know there are many things I love about Nia. I think that Nia is a great workout, but I also think that a lot of the ideas, principles, values, and “things” can be used in everyday life. That is one reason why I share so many things about Nia here. I am working to get Nia out there so people know what it is, but I understand not everyone likes to do dance exercise as their type of workout, but there is a lot of Nia that can be applied to every day. Nia has a lot of ideas that can be applied to more than just the original place you hear it. For instance in the Nia White Belt, the manual states:
“New Ways – It Can Be a Stretch!
Some of this information may shake up your reality. Nia may disrupt your normal methods of doing, being and communicating. We do not intend to create disharmony or fear. We have no desire to aggressively challenge who you are, what you believe in, or what you stand for. The information we share with you is intended to assist you, inspire you, and to celebrate human potential.”
The Nia Technique – White Belt Manual March 2001, V3, page 1-5
I love that. I love that when taking a Nia intensive it is explained that you might come across new things. You might be shown a different way or something new, but they are not out to change you into what they believe, but to allow you to see something in a new way. All that is really asked of you is to have an open mind, heart, and body. It is even suggested not to examine or think about stuff too much. The belief is that you will get what you need when you need it. That is a great relief too because there is so much information it really takes the pressure off when it is understood that you will not get it all or remember it all upon first being exposed.
What is so tremendous is that this same information, this same philosophy can be brought into a Nia class. If you have never done Nia before the first time can be a surprise. It can surprise your senses, your body, your mind, your spirit. It can leave some people feeling a little unsure. I mean not every exercise class has you parting clouds, swimming in water, stepping in goo, and prancing like a pony. Some of this type of stuff can shake up someone’s reality. This type of movement might completely disrupt what they think of as normal methods of exercise. They might not be able to “get into” prancing like a pony. Prancing might not fit into their idea of exercise. But I know that if they have an openness of mind they will wake up the next day and realize that ponies get in a good work out. The “normal” methods of being might not have them pulsing their pelvis, shimmying their shoulders, or doing a sexy hip bump. Nia doesn’t want to make people uncomfortable with these things, but this type of movement is “normal” for the body by design. These moves aren’t meant to challenge you or what you believe in, they are meant to allow you to move your body as it was designed to move.
With the fun movements and ideas included in a Nia class it can easily inspire your and allow you to celebrate the human potential—to celebrate your body’s potential. This can kind of go along with my last post about spirit. It could be your spirit that lets you just let loose and gyrate those hips without fear. The idea here is to come to a Nia class with an open mind. Don’t let they way you’ve been taught exercise should be to keep you from experiencing something new. Don’t let fear of something unknown and/or different scare you off. Don’t think that just because it is unknown to you or different that the goal is to change you into something you are not. Just come and let your body move and let IT tell you what it thinks of Nia.
This week (February 10 through February 16, 2013) I am teaching EIGHT Nia classes. If you are local it would be GREAT to see you in at least one. They are at all different times on different days in many different places (most in San Jose, one in Santa Cruz). I bet there is one that would work for you: http://www.helpyouwell.com Also, in case you are not local or one of the eight doesn’t work for you check out Nianow.com. There are classes all over the world! Dare to dance?
Posted in Nia | Tagged: dance exercise, Dance Workout, exercise workout, Nia, Nia class, Nia classes in San Jose, Nia Dance, Nia Intensive, Nia principles, Nia San Jose, Nia Santa Cruz, Nia White Belt, Nia White Belt Manual, San Jose Nia, The Nia Technique | 2 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on February 9, 2013
Recently a Nia student came up to me after a Nia class to ask me a question. She said that she had talked to another woman about attending a Nia class but the woman didn’t want to because we said “Om!” My student asked me if Nia was religious. I shared with her what happened in the Nia White Belt Intensive I attended and my thoughts on it. What happened in the Nia White Belt Intensive I attended in December 2008, was Carlos Rosas asked one of the intensive participants what was in Nia. Her answer was “God.” Carlos said, “NO! There is no God in Nia!” I don’t know Carlos’ religious beliefs, if he has any, or how he feels about God or religion, but I think he was saying that there is no religion in Nia. It is not associated with any type of religion. It is meant for everyBODY and everyone and people of all faiths and all belief systems can participate and enjoy Nia. It truly is based on the design of the body. It is not based on ANY religion or God.
I personally feel that if you have God or any belief system in you then you will bring Him/it into whatever it is you are doing. But that is not a reflection on the event or activity. With any belief if you believe it you are going to carry it with you. So if you believe in God, Gods, Buddha, Allah, or whatever that will come with you into Nia. But Nia has none of that as a part of it. What Nia DOES have as a part of it is spirit. But that should not be confused with any type of religious spirit or supernatural spirit. Wiki states: “The English word spirit comes from the Latin spiritus, meaning ‘breath’”. And an online dictionary says: “The vital principle or animating force within living beings.” Yet some people often think of spirit as religious, as in the Holy Spirit, or otherworldly, as in ghostly spirits.
Because of that conversation I had with one of my students I had been thinking of this and in a class I said, “Let your spirit out.” And I noticed a few students stiffen. And I continued on, saying, “That is not to be meant religious or supernatural, I mean spirit as in ‘your school spirit’, when people say ‘show some school spirit no one gets all wiggy’. It’s like that. THAT type of spirit.” And I saw people relax. I saw some say, “Oh.” And then I saw some spirit.
I think of spirit as a passion or your inner child. It is the part of you that wants to slide down the banister, run up the down escalator, balance on a curb, jump in the puddles, take your shoes off and slide in stocking feet across the length of the mall, or say “WAAAAHOOOOO!” It is the breath that we often hold in. If your beliefs have your spirit saying or doing something in class then that is fine, but that is not to say that your beliefs are a part of Nia, that is a part of YOU that you bring to Nia.
The type of spirit you would have with school spirit, class spirit, and/or team spirit that is the spirit Nia calls upon and what Nia invites to be released in a Nia class. Let your inner essence dance and be free, don’t be afraid . . . . . . let go.
Posted in Nia | Tagged: Allah, Buddha, Carlos Rosas, class spirit, Free Dance, ghost, God, Holy Spirit, inner essence, Nia class, Nia Dance, Nia participant, Nia White Belt Intensive, religion, religious, school spirit, spirit, supernatural, team spirit | 7 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on February 7, 2013
I found Nia back in 2008. I was looking for an exercise that was more like dance. I had several people in my life at that time that loved to dance, but their partners wouldn’t dance with them. They claimed they would love to do exercise if it was more like dance. I also had people in my life at that time that were younger than me, my age, and just slightly older and they couldn’t move very well. They moved with pain and/or it was an extreme challenge for them to balance and just a mixed bag of things. I believed that movement could help some of the issues facing them and many others. I also loved to dance and thought it would be great to have an exercise class that was dance. I looked at doing Jazzercise, but I think at the time the franchise thing (or however they did it/do it) was not something I wanted to do. And back then Zumba was not yet the rage and I had thought it was ALL Latin music (I know better now). I remember I came across a website that was talking about Trance Dance. So I researched that a bit. That sounded interesting, moving your body in your own way to music. But the information I found said that you kept your eyes closed and/or were blindfolded while dancing and someone would watch to make certain people didn’t injure themselves. That part and the fact that some sites stated there actually was a form of “Trance” that people entered into kept me from wanting to do that. But somewhere there was a mention of Nia. So I tried to find all the information I could on this Nia. Back then it might have even been NIA. I don’t remember when it changed and even now some places still call it Neuromuscular Integrative Action. It has gone through a few name changes, but at present it is just The Nia Technique or Nia.
It IS non-impact aerobics and it IS Neuromuscular Integrative Action, but the name is Nia and it no longer “stands” for anything. And in the four years that I have been doing it and learning about it, it has changed. It was originally created by Debbie Rosas and Carlos Rosas in the early 1980s from a desire to help people exercise in a different way, a way that addressed more than just the physical body.
When I joined Nia there were really starting to talk a lot about the next phase of Nia. You see, even though Nia remains true to the original concept of a Joyful workout, it does change and it does grow. Anything that wants to survive has to change or at least be flexible enough to endure the change that happens around it. Nia changes, they change the way they deliver training from the routines to the intensive — so the continued education changes. Nia’s training material is phenomenal. When you read through a newsletter or a manual or listen to a conference call you can sense the care taken in creating the material. It is nice to be a part of Nia.
It is interesting. It is amazing to see how far Nia has come and how much is has changed in the short time that I have been a teacher. The roots of Nia are still there they are just always finding new ways to share it.
As with any an all certifications I have earned I did my research beforehand. It is important to know how much the initial training cost and how the licensing and/or certifications works. It is important to know about continued education and re-licensing or re-certifiying. I liked everything I saw about Nia. It took me four classes before I decided to invest the time and money needed to teach.
I took the training in December of 2008. I started teaching in February 2009. I have been teaching Nia ever since. I have had the same Monday and Wednesday class since February 2009. I have had other classes at other studios and gyms on different days and different times. At this writing I am teaching Nia five times a week in San Jose – not including subbing dates. I have three classes for the City of San Jose; a Tuesday morning and a Tuesday evening class. I also have a Thursday evening class. My schedule is update regularly on www.HelpYouWell.
I took a second Nia training in November 2012. I just finished posting my way through the #13 principles of that belt (Blue Belt).
I am excited to have so many opportunities to share Nia with people each week. As I said, I have five classes and as I said things change. So when you are ready to join me in one check my site to confirm time and place and all those details. I would like for the number to grow. Just as Nia is growing, in leaps and bounds and for the better.
Posted in Nia | Tagged: City of San Jose Nia, Community Center Nia classes, dance class, dance exercise, dance partners, Dance Workout, Jazzercise, Neuromuscular Integrative Action, Nia, Nia Blue Belt, Nia Classes, Nia San Jose, San Jose dance exercise, San Jose Nia, trance dance, www.HelpYouWell.com, Zumba | 4 Comments »
