Archive for February, 2013
Posted by terrepruitt on February 28, 2013
So, a new month, a new challenge, yes? Wanna? This one will be super easy — time wise — I know, KNOW that you can fit it into your schedule because it is only going to be from 15 seconds — yes, SECONDS, to 90 seconds! You can find 15 seconds in a day to do something right? Fifteen seconds every day! What do you say, wanna commit up to 90 seconds a day for the month of March? Well, before you say yes you want to know what it is you are saying yes too, huh? Well, ok. Planking! You know the position where most people start a push-up? There is that plank or the version where you are on your forearms. The forearm position is the one I am going to recommend for this little challenge. Now remember it is a “challenge” for different people for different reasons. Some may not know how to do a plank so learning it will be the thing they accomplish. Some people can do it perfect no problem, but they never actually take the time to do it. So there are many reasons why we have these little “challenges”. There are different reasons for different people.
My thought is that you pick your own length of time and add onto it every week. If you are starting at 15 seconds and you add 15 seconds per “week” you could end up doing the plank for 75 seconds. The main point is to do it EVERY DAY! The idea is to add time each week.
I would suggest picking the starting time you can do and the length of time you want to end up doing, then add time accordingly.
As I said in the opening paragraph this position is easily compared to the starting position of a push up. Instead of moving the body toward the earth and back up, the body is stationary. So one can do this with straight arms — as the starting position of a push up would dictate, or one can place their palms on the ground and rest on the forearms. I recommend the forearm on ground position to help allow for an easier time of not letting the shoulder/chest sag.
You might actually want to use a mirror for this if you have one because you want to make certain that your body is in complete alignment. Your head is aligned with your hips in a straight line. Your hips do not pitch up nor sink down. Because your arms are holding your body weight this is a great exercise for the arms. Because your abdominals are engaged this is a great workout for your abs. Your legs are working in connection with your back and holding your hips in alignment. This position engages so many muscles it is almost a whole body workout/exercise.
Be very conscious of your hips. Remember to keep them in alignment the entire time. Don’t let them sag nor peak up! Having a mirror is really a great tool because sometimes even when you think the hips are in alignment you might look at notice they are a bit low or a bit high.
Like the challenge we did in December 2012, I’ve made a calendar for you to help remind you and to help you keep track. Also, I will be post on my blog so that you can check in! Let’s do it!
What do you say? Wanna plank?
Posted in Planking | Tagged: body in alignment, challenge, December 2012 challenge, muscles engaged, plank, planking, spine in alignment | 2 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on February 26, 2013
Have you seen this stuff before? Doesn’t this look as if it is a vegetable from another planet? The first time I saw it I was at a farmers market and I asked the vendor if I could take pictures. This vegetable made me laugh. I thought it was one of the funniest vegetables I have ever seen. I thought she had called it an Italian Cauliflower. She had me believing it tasted like cauliflower. I am not really a fan of cauliflower so I wasn’t interested in buying it and trying it. But lo-and-behold I received some in my organic produce box that I have delivered. Yay! AGAIN, I received something that I would not have bought. Often times I don’t think about somethings so I don’t buy them, but this particular vegetable I was once faced with buying but declined because I didn’t know what it was! So here I had some delivered and so I “HAD” to try it. Well, I actually received two. One head on one delivery and another head the next. Yeah, that is kind of long for vegetables to sit in the fridge, but . . . sometimes even though I get it delivered I am still not all that enthusiastic about trying it. Plus, I am still trying to get my new schedule down. I have just started teaching Nia classes two nights a week and so I need to have my cooking schedule down and when I don’t know how to cook something a night I am rushing off to teach is not a good night to experiment. So, I received a new bunch just this past delivery. Plus I still had the first bunch. So I decided to cook them both at once.
I bet you know how I cooked them . . . . you got it. I chopped it up and put it on a pan with olive oil and garlic salt and I roasted it. I decided to cook it a little later than I normally would have started my roasted veggies – meaning the rest of dinner would be done really quick – so I really cranked up the heat. I started it off at 450. I cooked it for about 10 minutes. Then I turned it down to 400 and cooked it for about 10 minutes. Then I think I turned it off and cooked it for about 10 minutes. It seemed to cook faster than both broccoli and cauliflower. It browned very nice.
I thought it would take a long time because it seems dense like cauliflower. Well, it seemed to cook up faster. Yay!
Well, I was very surprised at the sweetness of it. It tasted really sweet. It was very funny having that cornucopia shaped veggie on my tongue. It is pokey. It has a mild flavor. A little sweet. Well, I have to say that I like it.
Here is what Wiki says about it: “Romanesco broccoli, or Roman cauliflower, is an edible flower of the species Brassica oleracea, and a variant form of cauliflower. First documented in Italy . . . ”
I am unable to find nutritional information on it. Maybe as it gains popularity the nutritional information will start showing up on the internet?
Have you seen it? Have you tried it? What do you think?
Posted in Food, Vegetables | Tagged: Alien vegetables, broccoli, cauliflower, Farmers Market, Italian cauliflower, Nia, Nia Classes, Nia schedule, organic, Roman cauliflower, Romanesco broccoli, vegetables from another planet | Leave a Comment »
Posted by terrepruitt on February 23, 2013
Just as there are specific moves in Nia (Nia’s 52 Moves), there are different asanas or poses in yoga. There is an asana (pose) in yoga that is standing still, but it is called Mountain Pose. In Sanskrit, what I think of as the language of yoga, it is Tadasana. While this pose is a still pose and the body is standing erect, it is an active pose. The body is not just upright and relaxed, there are muscles engaged and energy moving. It is more than likely that there is no straining involved and one might look relaxed and even feel relaxed yet there is more than just standing there happening. Mountain Pose is an active pose often used as a transitional pose. Yet can stand on its own, no pun intended.
In Tadasana toes touch and feet are parallel. Of course, as with many things, there are many variations, and people have their own way of doing them. In this post in the pose our toes touch, feet are parallel forming a stable base. For some the heels might need to be fanned out a bit or feet may need to be separate. The goal is to have a stable base so adjust the feet as necessary in order to ensure stability. One way to assist with stability is to relax your feet allowing the toes to spread. Imagine your feet becoming wide and open. The feet do not grip the earth, they spread out. Weight is evenly distributed. Take time to sense all points of the feet.
The ankle joints remain open. The shins and calves are rooted into the floor. The knees are not locked, yet they sense stability because the quadriceps are reaching up lifting the knee caps. The thighs are turned ever-so-slightly in. The buttocks are lifted yet there is no arching in the lower back. The belly (abdominals) are engaged. The spine is long.
With the crown of your head reach for the sky, lengthening the entire back. Keep the chin parallel to the earth and your head in alignment with your chest, hips, knees, and feet. Shoulders are gently pulled back with shoulder blades down, the chest does not stick out, yet the sternum is presented up allowing the collar bones to open wide. Arms are along the side of the body, not hanging, not touching the body, not rigid, but active. Hands are active with fingers gently fanned open.
Energy is moving up allowing for the lengthening of the entire body, yet there is a sense of being rooted and stable. As I mentioned this pose is often used as a transition. You might see it performed in between standing poses. It is perfect to reset the body in order to correctly move into another position. It can also be used as a resting pose. Even though it is an active pose, it still can be a rest for the body.
As you can tell, if you got up to try it, this is not a passive pose. There is a lot of muscle engagement, so maybe you can see why this pose could be practiced on it’s own and not just used as a transition. It is not just standing still, it is a strong, stable pose, like a mountain.
So if you didn’t already do it, are you ready? Get up and try it!
Posted in Yoga/PiYo/Pilates | Tagged: active pose, asanas, Mountain pose, Nia, Nia's 52 Moves, poses, sanskrit, standing still, Tadasana, Yoga and Pilates, yoga poses, Yoga/PiYo/Pilates | Leave a Comment »
Posted by terrepruitt on February 22, 2013
This is the fourth check in for the Goodie Jar, the jar where we put notes of good things that have happened. I started my jar a month into 2013, but I added a couple of notes of things that happened in January so I’m ok with the late start. In my last check in, check in #3 I shared that I am using all different kinds of paper and even folding them a different way. I look around my house to try to find different color paper or paper with something pretty or colorful on it. Well, I was wrapping a gift and I had one of those little pieces of wrapping paper that there is nothing to do with but throw away. It was too small to use as in a bag as I mentioned in my Wrapping Tips post (you can read about that by clicking here). But it was big enough to write a good thing on!
Oh yeah! I can have a goodie jar full of wrapping paper scraps. Ha, that is a fun idea, but I don’t actually wrap that much! But when I do, I usually end up with that one little piece of paper that is not gonna wrap or cushion any thing. Now it will be a pretty addition to my good things pitcher! Yay!
So, I am wishing you a rapidly filling goodie jar. How is it going for you?
Posted in Good Things in the Goodie Jar | Tagged: good things jar, Goodie Jar, recycle, wrapping paper, wrapping paper scraps, wrapping tips | 2 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on February 21, 2013
Recently I was in a situation that had me wondering . . . . are some people intimidated by joy? I am pretty sure that most of you are familiar with being intimidated by power or authority. Whether you have been the one intimidated or have seen it, I have faith you know what I’m talking about. There could be a situation where someone is not confident or is a little shy and a person with power or authority intimidates this person, even if they don’t mean to. But . . .hmmm . . . . looking up the definition of intimate this is what I am getting:
Verb — Frighten or overawe (someone), esp. in order to make them do what one wants.
And just to be clear for overawe:
Verb — Impress (someone) so much that they become silent or inhibited
Another definition of intimidate is: to make timid or fearful
So maybe intimidate is not even the word I am looking for. What I am looking for is “become hostile and angry and downright rude”. What word is that? It kind of reminds me of the situations where people are guilty of something so they get the same way. You can read my post on that by clicking here. Maybe that’s what it was. Maybe the person recognized the inappropriateness of her/his actions so s/he got rude. But could it be that some people just can’t handle the joy of others. As if their life is so miserable that they become combative and hostile? Have you ever been in that situation? Let me tell you, it is pretty odd.
As I said, I was recently in a situation where the person kind of flew off the handle. As I think about it I cannot understand the reason for this person acting as s/he did. I keep having to remember: it is a reflection of the person being hostile and not me. But I keep wondering. So that is why the thought occurred to me that some people just don’t like others to be happy or something. Some people don’t know how to act in the face of joy or they think that because they are miserable every one should be or no one else has the right to be happy? Or yeah, maybe they become fearful because they don’t know what joy is? Then because they are fearful/intimidated their reaction is belligerent and combative?
Wow. I know I am doing a lot of speculating here, but that is how baffled I am. In the past when this has happened when I have experienced people like this, I have been fortunate enough to be able to remove myself from having to encounter them, but this situation might not be that simple. And, of course you KNOW my immediate reaction is to pour MORE joy into the situation. I just want to saturate the entire space with it, but will that make it worse? That is why I am wondering if someone can be become hostile and angry and downright rude when faced with joy. And if they can will they just become more hostile and angry and downright rude and maybe even violent? Ekkkk! Can’t have that!
So . . . . what do you think? Do you think there are people out there who are intimated by joy?
Posted in Misc | Tagged: angry in the face of joy, belligerent, combative, hostile in the face of joy, intimidated by authority, intimidated by joy, intimidated by power, joy, overawe, rude in the face of joy | 2 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on February 19, 2013
My husband claims he can only cook three meals. The three things do not include him cooking meat and veggies on the grill. The meals that he will cook are beef stroganoff, taco salad, and curry. On special occasions I will request that he make dinner. When I first met him I told him that I would not cook dinner every night. And if I were still working a 40+ hour a week job OUTSIDE of the home, I probably would not. But as my current 40+ hour a week job has me at home more often than not, I have been cooking almost every night. But you know how I love leftovers so I do take advantage of that when I can. For Valentine’s Day, Birthdays, and wedding anniversaries I usually request that he cook. Most often I prefer that rather than going out. The past couple of times that he has cooked I have asked for curry. To me I only know curry the way he cooks it and serves it. He buys beef and cooks it with curry seasonings. He makes rice and we put the meat over that. The best part is all the toppings. And one of the reasons I like when HE makes it is I don’t have to chop up all the toppings.
For our curries we use raisins, peanuts, sunflower seeds, carrots, bell peppers, brocoli, mango chutney, cucumbers, onions, and coconut. I don’t put peanuts or coconut on mine, but he puts it on his. On the plate pictured I didn’t put onions, but on the next night’s plate I did. The meat was cooked with onions so you still might see some in the photo, but not the raw ones.
The rice and the meat are hot (temperature) while the vegetables are raw. I love to add a ton of vegetables to my plate. It is so interesting because every bite is different. You never get the same thing. I like the veggies chopped up really small so that I can get a bite with rice, meat, and a bunch of veggies in my mouth. If the veggies are too big then you just end up with rice, meat, and ONE veggie and that makes it seem like a regular meal, not a curry dish.
I don’t know how other curry is served but that is how my husband does it. Also, the poor guy . . . he LOVES hot stuff, especially curry, but — if you have read a couple of my posts about food, you know I cannot tolerate spicy heat at all. So my hubby makes our curry meat totally mild. There is NO HEAT AT ALL. But the flavor is really good. I feel bad that he does not get to experience the spicy heat. Maybe we can make up a separate dish of HOT curry sauce and he can put that on his curries.
Another thing I love about curry is that there is usually enough for at least one more meal. If you’ve read a couple of my posts about food, you know I love to have leftovers so I can alleviate at least one night of cooking a full meal.
I really like curry. Maybe I should request it more often. Not just on special occasions. Then on a special occasion I can request of his other specialty meals. 🙂
Do you like curry? Is this how you eat your curry with a lot of different toppings piled on it?
Posted in Food | Tagged: Birthdays, brocoli, coconut, curry, curry dish, curry meal, curry seasonings, mango chutney, special occasions, specialty meals, spicy hot, Valentine's Day, Vegetables, wedding anniversaries | 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, Body-Mind-Emotion-Spirit, 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 15, 2013
Here we are checking-in on our Goodie Jar or Good Things Jar. Remember any good thing can go in the container. Whatever you want it to be! We are filling our jar for an entire year. I am looking forward to a time when I have to empty my pitcher to make room for more good things! Then on December 31, 2013 we are going to read all the good things that happened throughout the year. We will ring in the New Year with a joyous feeling!
My friend who is participating in the Good Things Jar sent me a picture. She has given me permission to post it . . . so here is her family’s jar. She is smart and has paper and pens right next to it! I am going for the colorful and abstract look so I try to find different color paper and different sizes. I have even folded some notes in different ways. Oooo . . . maybe a fun time to take up origami. Have some paper cranes in the goodie jar!
I will tell you that not all my good things are Nia related. 🙂
How full is your Goodie Jar? Are you able to focus on the Good Things?
Posted in Good Things in the Goodie Jar | Tagged: 2013, December 31, good things jar, Goodie Jar, Nia, origami, paper cranes | 2 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on February 14, 2013
Other titles you might have seen: “Bag Ban Responsible For E-coli Outbreak”, “Are Reusable Shopping Bags Making Us Sick?”, “Reusable Shopping Bags Can Kill”. Well, it is terrible that the ban on bags has caused and outbreak of E. coli. It is so horrendous that the bags are making us sick. It is out-and-out scary that these bags can kill us! Just like the title of my post these titles are ridiculous. The bag ban is not responsible for anything, just like the bags aren’t going to kill us. What MIGHT happen is if the bags aren’t periodically wiped out and/or washed bacteria can spread and cause illness or even death.
Recently I was in a grocery store and the bagger commented on my bag. He said, “Oh your bag smells good.” And I said, “Does it?” He said, “Oh YES! You should smell some of these bags.” I hadn’t thought about that before. I mean, I thought about having to wash your bags because food goes in them and some food spills and you don’t want your food bag contaminated. Plus I use mine at the Farmer’s Market and I don’t always get a produce bag so dirt and bugs end up in there. So I spray mine and wipe them down. But I never thought of other people NOT doing it and baggers having to deal that. Then recently on Facebook someone commented on a post about E. coli outbreak in San Francisco. Again, I never thought of that because I just thought that people would wipe out their bags. I figured people would want a clean place to put the food they just purchased. Since I saw the comment about E. coli in San Francisco on Facebook I wanted to know if that was true. So I went looking on the internet. The titles, just like mine, and the things said in articles just crack me up. Would it really be the fault of the bag? Would the bag actually cause death? No, if there was something in the bag dangerous enough to infect me then it would not be the bag’s fault, it would be mine for not washing it out.
I came across an article that states the information about San Francisco’s E. coli outbreak is inaccurate because the study conducted used information from BEFORE the bag ban actually went into effect. This article mentioned that there was an accurate conclusion of a contaminated grocery bag having the norovirus and girls from a soccer team in Oregon all getting sick from it. But the article I found regarding THAT incident stated the first person to get sick got very sick in a bathroom and the grocery bag was in close enough proximity to have the germs deposited on it. While the first girl went home the bag with the snacks stayed behind and the girls that ate those snacks subsequently got ill. That is the staying power of the norovirus!
The first article had me thinking it was a grocery type of contamination that happened in the bag. I am glad I popped over to read the other article that clarified it.
Anyway . . . the point is the reusable grocery bags need to be washed. If you have the plastic-y kind that wouldn’t really survive the washing machine, spray them with a disinfectant and wipe them out. Or spray them and hose them out. But there are some types of bags that can be washed in the washing machine and that might be the route to go. You honestly might not have thought about it because using reusable bags is kind of a new thing, but now that you know the bag can kill you, I am sure you will think to wipe it out every once in a while. 🙂
Do you have a re-usable shopping bag you love? Where did you get it? Let us know!
Posted in Misc | Tagged: death from grocery bags, disinfectant, e-coli in grocery bags, E. coli, Facebook, grocery bags contaminated, norovirus, reusable grocery bags, San Francisco E. coli outbreak | 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 »
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