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YAY! So happy I did it again. I had henna tattoos done in time for the Nia Jam. It had been way too long since my first henna tattoos. I have wanted to do it again since then. It just so happened that we were going to a party on Saturday night and the Nia Jam was on Sunday so it was the perfect time to get my feet done. It has been suggested that I need to love my healing foot more. Sometimes I don’t love it since it doesn’t work properly. I thought if I had henna done it would at least make me think it was pretty. I was right. Henna and Beyond does beautiful work so I think my feet look very pretty.
I had the henna done on Thursday afternoon. The henna can come off as soon as it is dried but the longer you leave it on the better the stain. The henna is squeezed onto your skin via a cone, like a small icing bag. As I mentioned in my post when I had henna done before, henna is applied and it rests on the skin like puffy paint would. It is best to leave it on your skin until dried. The longer you leave it on the darker the tattoo will be.
Rachna has printed information, but I didn’t want to take it and waste the paper because I pretty much knew what to expect. I read the information to be sure, then asked if it was on her site because I knew I wouldn’t be able to remember it exaclty. The lengths of time were a little different on the paper than that which are on the site, but they are just guidelines so you’ll have an idea of what to do. Both the paper and the website state that it is best to leave the puffy-like henna on for at least 2 hours. The paper said up to 12 hours. I am not sure why not past 12 hours, but it worked out that it was exactly 12 hours after having it done that I was ready to take it off. I slept with socks on so I wouldn’t get henna all over the bed. While not a lot of henna dropped off in the socks, I can’t say that it would not have in the bed. It could be that the socks kept it secure.
When I got up I was able to brush most of it off with just my hand. The rest I just scratched off with my nails, although she recommends using the smooth side of a butter knife. The information says that 24 hours after it is applied it will be darkest. Hmmm? Here is a picture of mine about 26 hours after. The information also said to apply oil because it will make it darker. Really? Ok. It said any cooking oil would do, but I have some moisturizing olive oil, plus some Arnica Allay. I used both. I put the Arnica Ally on my toes and the olive oil on the rest of the art. I have applied it a couple of times. And here is what it looks like exactly a week later.
I am happy. I think Rachna does a beautiful job. After looking at her books of samples I told her the designs I liked and the ones I didn’t and this is what she came up with. Brilliant! She free-handed all this and designed it as she went along.
I have also included a picture of what it looks like today. Which is a week and two days after having it done. You might notice that this time it is much darker than last time I had the henna tattoos. There are several things that could be the reason for that. One, I let it completely dry this time. Last time I did something very silly (so silly I will not even mention it here) thinking it would help keep the flaking henna from getting all over the place. What actually helps it from flaking all over is to let it dry and to not bump it off. It stays on pretty secure. Also, Rachna said that she now mixes the lemon and sugar* into the henna and so that could be another reason. And the oil, I really think applying the olive oil helped make it darker. In the pictures today I actually have a “coat” of olive oil them so they might even look shiny.
Yay! I am so happy. One of the reasons I had hesitated in doing henna tattoos again is I remember the henna flaking off and getting everywhere, but this time it didn’t. I am sure that has to do with me following her tips. I kept telling myself, “She’s been doing this for almost 30 years. I really need to trust she knows what she is talking about with all of her little tricks and tips.” And I did, and it is awesome!
*According to her website this is a mixture you make and apply that acts as a sealant.
This past Sunday we had a Nia Jam in Palo Alto. The San Francisco Bay Area Nia Association tries to have four Jams a year. The peninsula one is in Palo Alto, but it is usually at Stanford, this time it was at a gym. It was a nice day so it was great that people came inside to support the local Nia association. As with a music jam session there are switches and changes that occur. A Nia Jam is where teachers gather and switch off leading songs so there is a mix of music and styles. The routine is created to be about 90 minutes. Normally we have a lot of teachers teaching so we only get to do one or two songs. This time the group of teachers was much smaller and we were able to do three to four songs each. The energy is always very high and exciting at a Jam because the teachers are from all over the Bay Area and beyond, so the students come from near and far. It is also a GREAT way to experience Nia for the first time because you get a taste of all the different approaches to teaching. Nia is specific in the way that we teach, yet at the same time it allows for the personality of the individual teacher to shine through. So a Nia Jam is great fun.
The theme for this Nia Jam was Summertime. The focus was moving with lightness with the intent of bringing in lightness and a sense of “summertime”, effortlessness and joy. It allowed for a lot of play, like kids playing during summer vacation. Not only were we able to bring in the lightness in our minds, our physical bodies, and our spirits, but we had the extra special treat of a skylight. The room we were dancing in has a huge skylight in the middle of the ceiling and a few glass doors to the outside so we were able to share in the beauty of the sun light and move with it. Along with the skylight and doors and windows to the outside, the room has a huge wood floor and a mirror on one wall. A small portion of the back wall is made of glass “windows” that looks into the workout room. I saw many people stop their workout to peek in at the Joy that was whooshing around the room in spirals, releves, kicks, and punches.
Nia Jams are no different than Nia Workout Classes in regards to what to wear. As you can see everyone wears what they are comfortable in. Whatever allows you to move freely and makes you feel good is perfect. But you also have to be ok with getting on the floor in your dance outfit. Like most Nia classes there is almost always Floorplay — even at a Nia Jam!
There is a wonderful sense of community at a Nia Jam. Teachers gathered to share the Joy of Nia. Participants gathered to experience a Jam. All of us gathered to do our favorite exercise. All of us ready to workout. All of us ready to dance. All of us there to do Nia. It is really fun stuff. I hope that you will be able to join us for our next Jam.
You can visit my website to see all the pictures from the Nia Jam in July. (The link MIGHT change in the future.)
You might have read that I was asked to do a Nia demo at a somewhat local Fitbloggin‘ MeetUp on Fitbloggin’ World Meetup Day. I had stated that there was a lunch. The lunch was a wonderful potluck lunch. There was a lot of yummy food on the table. One thing that was on the table that Foodie was sharing was containers of Chobani Yogurt. I had never tried that, but I had wanted to because I remember seeing it on her blog. At the end of the meeting they were all still in the bowl she had them in. At first I grabbed one, one I knew I would like. Honey. But there was more left and she was generously pushing all the leftovers off on people, so I grabbed another one. One I probably wouldn’t buy because I wouldn’t think I would like it. I am not a fruity yogurt person. It was mango. Ok, guess what? I am now a fruity yogurt person.
When I first opened it I thought, “Yuck! Fruit on the bottom.” Not only do I not like the fruity yogurt flavors, I do not like the fruit on the bottom. But I wanted to try it. So I stirred. It was really good. Mango can be a mushy fruit when it is really ripe, or after I am done cutting it. But typically it is not a mushy fruit to begin with so it held up well in the yogurt. That is one reason I don’t like fruit in yogurt is gets mushy. I am not a fan of super mushy fruit. Another reason I am not a fruity yogurt person is that it is usually too sweet. This was not too sweet. It was really good. I had a little tartness to it, I think. The combination of the crunch of the fruit and the not-too-sweet made it really good.
After my first bite I thought, “This is why they give this stuff away.” Because once people try it they will more than likely buy it. I know that I have purchased a large variety of products that I normally would not have had I not been able to try them in the past few years. For some products a free sample is awesome.
This morning I tried the honey, which turned out not to be honey. It is vanilla. Honey or vanilla is usually the flavor I buy or lemon. But I have not seen a lemon flavor in the Greek yogurt. And the yogurt I used to buy has HFCS in it. Not something I want to eat. Besides I love the protein in Greek yogurt. There is such a great amount, it is awesome. In addition to be so much thicker and creamier. Yum.
Well my verdict on the vanilla is, no thanks. At least not to eat plain. Maybe if you at it as a dip or put honey in it, it would be ok. But I would not grab a container of that to eat just by itself. It tasted like the PLAIN non-fat yogurt of the brand I used to buy, except with a bitter kick to it. I only ate a portion of it. I will stick to the mango flavor.
July 9, 2011 was Fitbloggin’ World Meetup Day. I had heard of Fitbloggin’ when I was asked if Nia could be there next year. I hadn’t heard of it before or that I could remember. When I was looking for Nia people online (a few years) I found Foodie McBody on Twitter, I think. She posted a blog post about Nia. I was so excited that she had posted about Nia that I commented on her post and we starting talking a bit. I hadn’t realized when I first read her post that she is not too far from me. I think that is how it happened. I am not sure anymore, all the social media sites get blurred as I connect with more people on more than one site. But I did actually meet her briefly at a Nia Jam. And now we keep in contact via Twitter, Blogs, and FaceBook. So she was the one who asked me if Nia would be represented at the next Fitbloggin’ Conference. I will have to look into that. In the meantime the Fitbloggin’ community decided to have a World Meetup Day where Fitbloggin’ bloggers would meet in different locations all over the world. I think that is cool. Foodie volunteered to do it at her residence and she asked if I would attend and do a Nia demo.
Of course I wanted to learn more about Fitbloggin’ and, of course I wanted to introduce Nia to a group of Fitness people. So I went. There was a walk, a lunch, a talk, and a Nia demo. When I got in my car to go there I was confident I could get there just fine. Well, I didn’t get there just fine. I was later than I wanted to be. I made it for the end of lunch and the talk. The talk was awesome. Danica of Danica’s Daily shared information about how to monetize your blog. She talked about some fabulous tricks and tips. It was awesome.
She talked about tags, SEO, advertisements that you place on your site to get paid on, placement of things, colors, text, hosting, non-hosting, names, logos, content, and a lot more. Believe it or not she covered all that in an hour. It was very interesting.
A handful of people actually stayed for the Nia demo. We were not planning on doing an entire Nia Routine, we did a few songs. As often is the case with Nia the participants were surprised they worked up — or almost worked up a sweat. When you do an entire routine there is definitely a chance to work up a sweat. It all depends on what you put into it. Just like your blog. There are so many things that you can do with a blog it really depends on what you put into it. We received a lot of great information that day so we can take it from there.
I am thankful to Foodie for inviting me and letting me share Nia with the Fitbloggers. Originally the group was going to be much bigger, but things came up. It still was a great turn out and I was happy to meet all that attending. Thank you, Foodie, I appreciate it! I was happy to have a glimpse into the Fitbloggin’ community.
Two more timely posts about the Nor Cal Fitbloggin’ MeetUp:
When we possess a better understanding of things it allows us to work better with them. By “work” I mean anything from enhancing, to changing, to bettering, to “dealing with”, to molding, to melding, whatever. It just is that the better we understand something the better “it” can be. There are personality types, as an example Type A and Type B. When there is an idea of how a specific personality acts, sometimes there can be ways of interacting with that personality to allow for harmony. With any “typing” there is variation, so nothing is exact, it just can give us an idea. In Nia, we have a little bit more in-depth approach to “types”. It is energy type. Now no energy is necessarily better than the other. What is better or “best” is to have BALANCE of all the types. So this form of “typing” can be utilized to allow you to learn what type you tend towards and give you a chance to work at balancing your types. The system of energy typing Nia uses is connected with the nine basic Nia movement forms; T’ai chi, Tae Kwon Do, Aikido, Jazz Dance, Modern Dance, Duncan Dance, Feldenkrais, the Alexander Technique, and Yoga.
In The Nia Technique, a book written by Debbie Rosas and Carlos Rosas, there are questionnaires that can guide you to understanding what your particular energy type might lean towards. They are “True/False” questions. Here are some examples from each energy type:
(T’ai Chi) “I am often, soft, relaxed, and internally calm” and “I breathe with great ease”
(Tae Kwon Do) “I love speed and power” and “I am physical, conscious, precise, focused, and directed in my life, getting what I want through hard work and precision”
(Aikido) “In life, I am all about win-win” and “I move with grace and seamless dynamics, turning lines into circles”
(Jazz Dance) “I am impulsive, lusty, sassy, demonstrative, showy, alive, fun, and electrifying to my friends” and “I love to shimmy, get dressed for the party, and be uninhibited”
(Modern Dance) “I love playing with extremes and contrasts” and “I love contrasts, gravity, surprise, and the start and stop of life, as well as moments of continuity”
(Duncan Dance) “I am all about the soul, and in life I move in childlike ways” and “I flow spontaneously through my life”
(Teachings of Moshe Feldenkrais) “I am all about sensation” and “I am healthy and love anything that is healing”
(Alexander Technique) “I explore life with ease and flexibility” and “I seek the simple, useful, authentic, and organic ways”
(Yoga) “I can be gentle, powerful, focused, conscious, and receptive” and “I love lying down, sitting, being prone, and playing with back bend motions.”
There are nine questionnaires with nine statements you mark as true or false. After answering each one there is information for those with “mostly true” answers and “mostly false”. The idea is to be able to identify which energy is stronger and which one is weaker. Then you can work on strengthening the weaker energy during your Nia workout and in your life. It is interesting to find out where your tendencies lie. If you are interested in finding out what your Energy Type done the Nia way is, get a copy of The Nia Technique. It is a great way to get to know Nia and you’ll probably learn a lot about yourself on the way.
Wow. I was practicing a new-to-me Nia routine this morning. I had taught it Monday but to me there is always room for improvement. I can always know my music more intimately. I can always cue better. I can always do a move differently. That is the thing about Nia. There is always so many ways to do the move. I find that it is best to keep it simple when first introducing a new routine. It is best to just do the basics and let the class get it down a bit before showing them any alternatives. The Nia students that get the basics down quickly can easily pick up on alternative ways to do the move themselves. Because they are already at the point of expanding. But I try to remember to keep it simple so I like to practice and learn it better. It is not always easy when the music just “makes” you move. It is easy to get carried away in the music and just start dancing. That is what Nia allows you to do, stick to the routine or dance your own dance. Well, this morning I kind of had a “routine”. Well, at least I had a plan. Ok, maybe more accurately I had a list. But sometimes even though you start out doing the first thing on the list and even the second thing, you get off the path.
It doesn’t even have to be a big thing that gets you off track. It doesn’t have to be a bad thing. Sometimes it could be a little thing or a good thing that derails you. But either way, you are off track. You find yourself at 11:00 pm with nothing to post about. I thought I had all afternoon to think of something, research it if necessary, write it up, then post, but I got off track.
THEN . . . I typed up this entire post. I was just about to add a link and save it and the laptop I was working on shut down. And I was writing in Notepad because I don’t like writing in the little box that WordPress gives me nor do I like the “full page version”. I write in Notepad, the laptop doesn’t have MS Word so it doesn’t automatically save. So this is my SECOND attempt at this post. And I am sorry to say, but the first one was much better. I had deposited all my thoughts onto the screen so I forgot them.
I am that way. I write something down so I don’t have to remember it and believe me, I don’t. I type up a thought, an idea, a post, I don’t remember it. It as if putting it in type takes it out of my head and leaves a blank spot. Which I guess can lead me right back to my post. I had a blank spot for it.
I even found myself click on “random articles” on Wiki. I figured I was safe clicking on “random” on wiki it is not like video roulette where I don’t know what I’ll get. I got a few about people I had never heard of. One person had been in “Charles in Charge” so I have been signing that for an hour. But another was about “Feather Bowling”. Made me laugh. Apparently:
Feather Bowling is a game played with wooden balls shaped like wheels of cheese. The balls are rolled down a dirt or synthetic alley towards a feather sticking out of the dirt at the other end. The object of the game is to get the ball as close to the feather as possible.
The only place to play the game in the United States is the Cadieux Cafe in Detroit, Michigan.
Who knew? Well now we do. And some of us might even have the theme song from Charles in Charge in our head. Either way, I posted and I shared and that is where I am right now. How about you? Signing? Dancing? Writing down thoughts and forgetting them? Feather bowling? Staying on track? Talk to me . . . .
You know how Rachael Ray says to clean your veggies when you get home from shopping? Well that doesn’t work for me, because although I LOVE the idea of the veggies being all ready to go when I want to use them, I think they start to go bad faster once they are washed and prepped. I don’t do that. I really like the idea, but I don’t do that. One thing my husband and I do after shopping that helps with dinner prep though is marinate the meat. I do not like steak or pork that has not been marinated. I figured out that this is why I thought I didn’t like steak, often steak in a restaurant has not been marinated it is just seasoned. I like it to have soaked in the flavor. So when we bring home steak we make up a bag of marinade and put the steak in it then freeze it. Marinating the meat seems to add a step to shopping, but helps with preparing dinner.
Sometimes we have a big hunk of meat so my husband trims off the fat and cuts it up and we make some sauce then bag it up. Sometimes he wants to have steak on hand for his beef stroganoff so he will chop it up in little bite size chunks. We will put the chunks in a bag of sauce and freeze that. When we need to use the steak we take it out to defrost and it is already marinated. It has soaked in the juices while it was freeze and while it is defrosting. Instead of defrosting THEN marinating, it is doing both at once. AWESOME.
A little while ago he decided he wanted to do that with pork too. We don’t buy bone on pork chops, my husband buys the thick chops. I just remembered a funny story, one day he came home with steak and pork and told me to “make up” x number of bags. He said some of the bags were for pork and some of the bags were for steak. Not that he minded, but I could tell the difference when we cooked them he had put the steak in the pork marinade and the pork in the steak marinade. It turned out ok, just a little different. We always marinate the steak and we marinate the port most of the time, but sometimes we want to cook it another way so we don’t put it in bag with marinade.
As I was sitting here trying to think of something to post, I was thinking, “I didn’t learn anything this week.” I know that is not true but I couldn’t think of what I learned so I decided to share something I already knew. I was smelling the grilling my hubby was doing and it made me think of what a time saver the marinade in the freezer is and I thought, “Huh. Maybe I could share that.” So I am.
We use zip lock bags and I put whatever we have on hand in it; sherry/wine, teriyaki sauce, soy sauce, worcestershire sauce, onions, garlic, marjoram, parsley, garlic, whatever. Then we squeeze out as much air as possible and freeze it until we are ready to use it. Cool. I love that. When I go into the freezer to get out something for dinner and there is meat in there already marinated I am so happy. I think we should try it with chicken too, what do you think?
I know you can by meat that is already marinated but you never really know what is in those pre-made ones and for me . . . one who cannot tolerate any kind of spicy heat, they normally are too hot. This way you are in control of the flavor you get.
I am working on learning a new Nia routine. After getting coffee this morning I sat down to listen to the music and bar it. I had done some work on some of the songs already, so I was continuing. I had opened up a slider because the morning was cool and I wanted to let some cool air in and let the cat enjoy the outside. As I was sitting there I started to hear a squirrel barking. I got up to look and I couldn’t see him, but I could hear him well enough I knew he was somewhere along the edge of the yard. I spotted him on our roof. I asked him why he was barking, but I was unable to understand his answer. He kept barking as he ran from one level to the next. Since he sounded so upset I was curious as to why. He sounded as if he was near so I looked again. He was on our roof where I couldn’t see him from the slider. He barked non-stop.
Being the well-trained squirrel sap that I am, I went outside to give them some peanuts and I cleaned the bird bath and filled it with water. I thought maybe he wanted peanuts and water. But he kept barking. I think he actually moved to a place where he could see me and he knew I could see him. He was barking for so long that I decided to video him.
This is him. He is on our neighbor’s roof.
After this he stopped. Maybe he just wanted me to put him on YouTube. Maybe he is not happy that the blue jays are eating the nuts. They usually share pretty well, but the only thing I can think of is that maybe the blue jays are a bit more aggressive than normal because yesterday I noticed they brought babies with them. I don’t know if you have ever experienced baby blue jays. At this point they are flying fine and have their balance so they are a few months old, but they still have that baby cry. They are so round and fluffy and look bigger than the adults. Yesterday one just stood on the table and cried for food. But the adult with him wanted him to fend for himself. But MAYBE this is what the squirrel was barking about today, but I dont’ know.
After he stopped barking he sat in the tree like this. Giving me some kind of “eye”; evil or squirrely you decide.
So, yeah, this is part of what I mean when I posted the post about workout distractions. I could ignore them, but often times they are making a ruckus for a reason and if they are doing it in our yard I like to try to figure out why. Eventually, I shut the door and closed the curtain so I could bar some more of the Nia music and get a Nia workout in. I wanted to show you more of the “distractions” from our yard. Silly squirrel.
Nia is a cardio dance workout. We turn on music and we dance. We have Nia routines that we do to certain music or we can put the patterns to different music. We are not limited to these two choices this is just an example. We dance to music, we have fun, we don’t even realize we are exercising. To me, it is “like” Zumba in that way. But Nia is a practice. Nia has different levels and each level has principles. If you choose to experience the different levels you can, but even if not the principles of Nia can be applied to the workout and to life. To me, Nia is like Yoga because of the fact that some of the “stuff” you do in a workout can be applied to life. Since the ideas and principles of Nia can be applied to life they are not necessarily “new”, most of it is not made up by the creators of Nia. Some of it you might recognize and have heard elsewhere. It is the way it is applied and put together. I have stated this before . . . that things are not new, so you aren’t imaging that. I do like to repeat it because a lot of people have not heard of Nia so they might think it is something new and “way out there”, but it is not, it is based on science and things you know. Some of the things I am learning are things that I have to continue to “practice”. 🙂
Here are a few of the things, in no particular order:
–It is ok not to be perfect. That is not really the way we state it when we talk about it, but I have started many posts with what we really say and maybe one day I will post one, but I am not ready to deal with the spam and odd comments I might receive from our actually verbiage of this same idea. But basically we don’t have to do things perfectly. Which is really great because there really is no such thing.
—The Four Engery Allies are always something I am having to practice. (Speak with impeccability / Don’t assume anything / Don’t take anything personally / Always do your best)
–Even silence is music. We actually practice listening for the silences in our music. A lot can happen in a silence, it could be a birthing place for something spectacular. Or it could just be a place of rest and calm. Either way it is sometimes something to look forward to.
–Natural Time is a gift. Moving and living in ones own natural time and not having to do everything by the clock that society runs on, is not always possible. There are some things you just have to do, so when there is an opportunity to move and live in natural time I take advantage of it and I consider it a treasured gift.
–Live in the moment. I am always doing one thing and thinking another. We live in a society of multi-tasking. It is celebrated and even rewarded, but it is not joyful nor rewarding. Sometimes I forget why I walked into a room because I started walking there to do something and then after the first two steps my brain has already jumped to the next task. So I arrive in the room thinking, “What am I doing here? I know what I want to do when I am done with why I came in here, but I don’t know why I am here.” So this is something I am always having to practice.
All of these things are things we learn in our Nia workout. We don’t have to dance perfect, we have our energy allies when we dance, silence can be part of our movement, we move in our own natural time, and we move in the moment and dance to the music. All of these things work in and off the dance floor. So Nia teaches me a lot and it continues to teach me.
It is difficult for me to do Nia at home. In Nia we actually move our head. “Huh?” You say. Well next time you are in a cardio workout out class or an exercise class you might notice that you don’t often (or at all) move your head around purposefully. In Nia we look up, we look around, we look down, we out. We could just be moving our head to sense the sensation of it, or we could be doing it to allow action to follow intention or . . . well, whatever idea we are using at the moment to move our head, we move our head. ALL AROUND. Which, makes it difficult for me to workout at home. When I look up I see spider webs. When I look around I see dust. When I look down I see Spot. When I look out I see squirrels.
We have cathedral ceilings, so there is never a time when we don’t have spider webs or something way up there. When I see it I start thinking, “I need to get the duster and the ladder and get that.” Then there is the dust. The dust never seems to NOT be there even right as I am dusting. Then there is the cat. She either wants to go out, or be pet, or she just chooses to lay right in the middle of my workout floor. And I have learned that I absolutely have to keep my curtains closed. I don’t care what the weather is, I don’t care what the temperature is, I have to keep my curtains closed because I get REALLY distracted when I don’t. Here are two examples of what I see.
First he comes to the door. Tentative. Then he will stand that like that for a long time. I have tried to just keep on going and just let him watch me dance, but after a while I feel bad. He will just stand there with his paws at his chest and look at me. He has stood like that for at least an entire song. I always end up stopping and giving him or, more accurately, them nuts. When one gets peanuts the others come along.
Then this is what they do. This was taken on a very hot day. The mat was in the shade and had been for a while so he just plopped down. I think he was enjoying the shade. A little snack in the shade. He just looked at me while he ate his snack.
They have come up to the doors and windows and put both paws on the glass and looked inside. I imagine I hear, “Hey, you in there! Where are the peanuts?” It is rather funny. I am not certain, but I think it is one in particular that does that. My hubby named him Brutus. When he comes up to the door, he will stay there and take a peanut from me. Sometimes he barely lets me put the peanut out the door.
Yes, one of the things we do in Nia is to not think about things like spider webs, dust, the grocery list, the things we need to do after class and when I am outside of my home I can do that much better. In my house I get distracted. There are so many distractions. So one way I eliminate at least one is I keep the curtains shut. On the days that I took these pictures I had obviously not done so.
YAY! So happy I did it again. I had henna tattoos done in time for the Nia Jam. It had been way too long since my first henna tattoos. I have wanted to do it again since then. It just so happened that we were going to a party on Saturday night and the Nia Jam was on Sunday so it was the perfect time to get my feet done. It has been suggested that I need to love my healing foot more. Sometimes I don’t love it since it doesn’t work properly. I thought if I had henna done it would at least make me think it was pretty. I was right. Henna and Beyond does beautiful work so I think my feet look very pretty.
When I got up I was able to brush most of it off with just my hand. The rest I just scratched off with my nails, although she recommends using the smooth side of a butter knife. The information says that 24 hours after it is applied it will be darkest. Hmmm? Here is a picture of mine about 26 hours after. The information also said to apply oil because it will make it darker. Really? Ok. It said any cooking oil would do, but I have some moisturizing olive oil, plus some Arnica Allay. I used both. I put the Arnica Ally on my toes and the olive oil on the rest of the art. I have applied it a couple of times. And here is what it looks like exactly a week later.
I am happy. I think Rachna does a beautiful job. After looking at her books of samples I told her the designs I liked and the ones I didn’t and this is what she came up with. Brilliant! She free-handed all this and designed it as she went along.
Terre Pruitt's Blog 