Posted by terrepruitt on November 6, 2010
Since I started teaching Nia classes I have received the question of what to wear to Nia quite often. For those that have not heard of Nia or done Nia, it is a valid question. People are not sure what it is and what you do in a class, so they have no idea how to dress. I have seen a lot of people wear a lot of different things. I have seen people wear clothes that I would consider fancy “going out” clothes, I have seen people wear “jogging outfits”, yoga clothes, and all types of dance clothes. I wear a variety of things. It depends on where I am doing Nia and what it is for. Most of the time I wear “workout clothes” because I do get sweaty. Plus we do get on the floor. So for my “everyday” Nia I wear my tie-dyed T-shirts. I have a little collection. And I wear loose pants. I do have a few outfits that I think of as “Nia outfits” and I usually save those for Nia playshops, Nia workshops and Nia events. I am working on expanding my Nia outfits.
My answer regarding what to wear is whatever is comfortable to move in. Whatever makes you feel good, but that you don’t mind sweating in or getting on the floor in. I like flowing sleeves and pants that swing. Nia to me is even more fun when your outfit flows and swings. But most important is to be comfortable and safe. Some pants are so so long that they can be stepped on and that could be an issue so you want to make sure you can move freely.
Nia is a workout. In class we move, we sweat, we get on the floor . . . . .so knowing that wear something like that you want to workout in yet that makes you feel good. One thing you don’t have to think about is shoes.
Nia also has Nia clothes in case you are interested. They can be purchased through the Nia website, NiaNow.com.
Below is a picture from a Nia Jam* and as you can see people wear what they want. Nia is about moving your body at your level and in comfort so wearing something that allows you to do that is exactly what you want to wear.
*this Nia Jam was held at the Cupertino YMCA
Posted in Nia | Tagged: Cupertino Nia, dance classes, dance clothes, jogging outfits, Nia, Nia Classes, Nia Clothes, Nia Cupertino, Nia events, Nia Jam, Nia outfits, Nia playshops, Nia website, Nia workshops, NiaNow.com, workout clothes, YMCA, Yoga, yoga clothes | 4 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on November 4, 2010
One of my San Jose Nia class students lent me a book*. With all that is going on I haven’t gotten to get into it in depth but I read the beginning and I love it. I was very happy to see that this particular book addressed whole body conditioning.
The author, Eric Franklin (yes, THE Eric Franklin), says that aerobic training is necessary for dancers. Yet, he states that dancers are able to achieve what they do because their training involves presence and awareness. He is talking about the mind body connection. In Nia we call it body mind connection because we go to the intelligence of the body. Either way the idea is that they are both connected and when exercising the benefits are greater when they are working as one.
This book is wonderful because it states much of the same information that is incorporated into Nia. That your state of mind and attitude has an effect on your movements and results. That is just a small example.
It also states the same information we actually apply to personal training. Such as, training specifically for a specific result—the Principle of Specificity. Also it talks about the Principle of Progressive Overload–how you need to increase the intensity in order to improve. But it also advises you to listen to your body and learn to work with it.
I need to spend more time reading it to see what else he has to say. I will definitely do another post on it because it has much more information in it and it is so exciting to see that it mimics so many other things I have learned. It matches up with so much information from other fitness modalities and the information they are saying. It is nice to hear that so many people are recognizing the mind-body / body-mind connection. It has been happening for awhile now, it is just nice that it is getting so “mainstream”. It is exciting to see we are all on the same page—whole body conditioning is better conditioning.
*Conditioning for Dance you can purchase through Amazon, its under “Interesting Reading”.
Posted in Exercise and Working Out | Tagged: aerobic exercise, aerobic training, Body-mind, Conditioning for Dance, Dance conditioning, dance exercise, Eric Franklin, mind body, mind-body exercise, Nia exercise, Nia San Jose, Nia students, Principle of Progressive Overload, principle of specificity, San Jose Nia, whole body conditioning | Leave a Comment »
Posted by terrepruitt on November 2, 2010
I did a post on inflammation, listing a few things that might contribute to chronic inflammation. A state that stresses the delicate balance of the body. It really seems as if overly processed foods and fast foods are the culprits which is just more reasons to avoid foods of that nature. There are some foods that studies have shown that help fight inflammation, foods we can call “anti-inflammation foods” per se.
Omega 3 oil cold water fish (salmon, mackerel, anchovies, herring, sardines)
Grass feed beef
Sweet potatoes
Onions
Olive oil
Hemp Oil
Broccoli
Cauliflower
Brussels sprouts
Kale
Cherries
Blue berries
Mangos
Turmeric
Ginger
Garlic
Cinnamon
Apples
Red grapes
Carrots
Green leafy vegetables; dark green leaf lettuce, spinach, collard greens, turnip greens, mustard greens.
Now please keep in mind this is just a partial list. Everyone is different and with so many different bodies, one needs to take what they read and realize that it will not work for everyone. You have to work on yourself and your own diet. See how you feel when you cut some of the “inflammatory foods” out of your diet and add some of the “anti-inflammatory” foods in.
I teach Nia classes because I believe, in addition to food that helps, movement/exercise/being active helps. I want to help people.
Again food that might help the immune system balance itself and not react with inflammation, something worth thinking about.
Posted in Food | Tagged: anti-inflammatory foods, blue berries, broccoli, Cherries, cinnamon, garlic, garlic olive oil, ginger, immune system, Inflammation, inflammatory foods, Nia, Nia Classes, olive oil, Omega 3, teach Nia, Turmeric | 10 Comments »
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