Conscious Personal Trainer
Posted by terrepruitt on June 8, 2010
In Nia you are your own CPT. In some circles that stands for Certified Personal Trainer. In Nia it stands for Conscious Personal Trainer. You are responsible for your body, its movements, and its health.
If you were to hire me as your Personal Trainer you would complete a Health and Behavior Questionnaire. We would discuss it, along with your health concerns, and your goals. We would work together to create a fitness plan that would help you reach your goals. We would have one-on-one sessions so I could observe, coach, and assist you when necessary.
In a class setting there is no Questionnaire that we discuss. We have not discussed all of the things you want to address and the things you want to work on. We have not discussed your concerns at length. A class setting is different than a one-on-one personal training session. You know your history your goals and how you feel at that moment. It is up to you to set your pace and intensity level for that class.
It is up to you to be your own coach. Be aware of what is going on in your body so that you can make adjustments to your movements. It is up to you to do it in a non-judgmental way. You have all of the information: your fitness goals, your health history, your behavior history, how you feel that moment, you know your own energy level, and the status of your emotions. It is up to you to tune into all of that and to use it to receive the work you need at that moment. Move your body in a way that brings comfort.
Every day might be different, with each kata it could change as I have stated before when talking about the different (Intensity) Levels of Teaching, there are different levels of doing. As you move and you become more aware of how your body moves and what you sense as you move you will be able to tweak it so that you are able to move in comfort, but also reach the goals you have. You will become an experience conscious personal trainer.
Terre Pruitt's Blog 
niachick said
This is a brilliant blog, Terre.
The CPT is such an unusual concept for some people to understand and you’ve put it into such easy language. I’m actually interested in contacting my own Conscious Personal Trainer because of your blog!!! (not that I don’t do that anyway…but your blog makes it so interesting!).
May I have permission please to share your blog with my students?
Thanks for being you…
Jill
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terrepruitt said
Thanks, Hon! Whenever you say I did good, I just soar so high like a SPACE bird (a bird that can fly so high they are in space—yeah, I made it up so what? That is how I FEEL!).
I think that it might be an unusual concept because—going back to what we always say—people have been programmed to do exercise as they are told to do it and do it in a specific way. Now there ARE exercises and things that DO need to be done in specific ways . . . lifting weights for example. If one is lifting weights to build strength one needs to make sure they are doing it properly 1) to get the result they want and 2) to avoid injury, so not all exercise and workouts are allowed to be as creative as a Nia workout. Right?
Since Nia is BODY-CENTERED and Nia is about getting to know our own body and how it moves it makes sense that we need a Conscious Personal Trainer. Someone has to be keeping track and paying attention. As a teacher we guide our students. As we are leading them through the routine we ARE looking around and noticing so we guide people into tweaking and adjusting but it is still up to them to 1) be aware that there is a need for a tweak or an adjustment and 2) to figure out what the adjustment is. And, as you know Jill, one of the amazing things is this is basically done without too much thinking, it is all SENSING.
Nia is so amazing in all that it allows us to do and all that it teaches us in the process!!! Wahooo!
When you contact your CPT you tell her I said, “Hello!” and give you a big hug from me!
Oh, and PLEASE do share my blog. If you can invite your students to actually visit it that would be even more exciting! 🙂
Thank you so much for visiting and commenting. I really does make me soar!
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suzicate said
Since there is no Nia in my are, I’m thinking my friend Karal should get trained while in Cali and come back here and teach it…now if she’ll just buy into it!
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terrepruitt said
I think that would be a great idea. But trainings happen all over. I am thinking about going to one in Texas.
If you are interested in trying Nia, look at all the videos on my site and see what you think, then you can get a DVD. I do Nia in my living room and I laugh at myself because everyonce in a while I notice that I am smiling while I am doing it—-I can’t help it. But a Nia class is really the best way to experience it.
I keep forgetting (exactly) where you are, but if I ever head that direction I will check with you and see if you are near where I am heading. If you are I can bring a Nia class to YOU!
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suzicate said
I am in Va. Beach, Va, near Norfolk. I didn’t realize you have dvd’s on your site. I will check back tonight when I have more time and try to find something in the beginner stage. I threw the idea at Karal for training…don’t know if she’ll do it since she heads back here in just two weeks. But she has connections with a few gyms/pilates here, so maybe she can throw it at them to offer it.
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terrepruitt said
A Nia “training” is actually called an intensive, and they don’t call it that for nothing! 🙂 It is 40 hours and it is intense. But one of the best things that is done in an intensive is they encourage you to empty your thoughts at the end of each day so that you can come back fresh the next day. They understand that during those 40 hours they are giving A LOT of information so they know that it will filter in at its own pace. It really is an amazing program. Anyone can do it actually, you don’t even have to want to teach. An intensive is something one can take just to learn more about Nia and himself/herself, then the teacher portion is a little addition to that.
It MIGHT be taught around you and it is just not listed. Unfortunately all Nia teachers don’t list their classes on the main website. It is a shame because sometimes I think people might miss out on taking a class because they don’t know how to find it. Also it could be that there is a Nia teacher near you that is not yet teaching. S/he could be waiting for the opportunity to do so . . .
I feel, I sense, that you might enjoy Nia. From your writings, I could picture you being able to let go and allow your body to be authentic and joyful. The DVDs on sold on the main site. There are four available, I would recommend Global Unity and Sanjana . . . but that is a little unfair because I have never seen the unplugged one and I hear rave reviews. I LOVE Opal too, but if you want “beginner” . . . . to me a DVD is beginner because of rewind so if you miss it just rewind it. Opal is a GREAT “arm” routine.
Thank you so much for visiting me here!
Like I said, if I am ever out that way . . . I will come do a class for you!
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