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Archive for April, 2016

Music Arrangement That Helps Me

Posted by terrepruitt on April 29, 2016

I am not organized in all areas of my life. Who is, right? But I do find that when I am organized it makes things easier . . . faster . . . quicker. And, most of us can benefit from that, right? There is so much going on, if we can do something faster it helps. Even if it is just to allow us time to slow down. Hurry up and cook dinner so we can sit and relax. Hurry up and clean up so we can go off to play. Whatever . . . hurry in one area of life to make it easier so we can get to the OTHER things in life. Well, I teach Nia, which is a cardio dance that is done to a variety of music. Nia Teachers purchase routines from Nia Technique. They are playlists and choreography. Ok, really they are A LOT more than that, but if I got into ALL of what the routines are in this post it would be really long and I would probably not even get to the point of this post. The point is some information on how I “organize” or arrange my music in iTunes.

So, Nia teacher purchase routines and for some reason sometimes the Album is titled the name of the routine and sometimes it is titled “NiaSounds”. Sometimes it is the name of the routine-NiaSounds. It is NOT consistent. The artists are all over the place from the ACTUAL artist to “Nia Technique”. It is not consistent. And the genre is spotty too, sometimes it is “Alternative”, sometimes it is “New Age”, and I am not even sure what else. This inconsistency does not make it easy to organize the music. And it is very desirable, if not necessary, to have the music labeled consistently so that it can be organized consistently.

What I do, is I make certain the genre is “Nia”. The ACTUAL genre could be anything because we dance Nia to all types of music. So what it REALLY is, is not what I am looking for. I want my Nia Routine music to come up all in one spot when I look at it if I am looking at it via genre.

I change all the Albums to be the name of the actual Nia Routine so I can find music easily by the name of the routine.

I don’t bother with the artist because I like it when it is the ACTUAL artist, but I am not going to spend the time to correct all the music to be the actual artist. As I said, the way Nia labels it is not consistent.

iTunes changes the way it functions WAY TOO often for me. I notice that the length of a song doesn’t show any longer where it used to. I have to go in and out of playlists to see the length of songs. When I have a playlist pulled up, I have to go out of it into the list of playlists to see the length. I have been delaying the update that is currently out there because I can’t even imagine the new changes they have done, the last time an update came out someone on Facebook asked a question about where the total time of the playlists had gone to and that made me think I had better not update because one of the things that makes an iPhone and iPad useful to me is that it can be used to create playlists. And when you are teaching you need to know how long the playlist is.

One of my devices is on a really old iOS (6something) and the other one is at 9something. I think my iTunes is a few versions behind. But I am afraid to update because I don’t want to lose the function that I use.

Another way I organize the music is I have three separate playlists for the Nia music. One is arranged by Album. So I can easily see what song goes to which routine. I can pick out a song that I know is in a routine, or identify a routine when I know the song. Also, I have a playlist arranged by BPM . . . which means Beats Per Minute, but in Nia we don’t go by BPM we go by the 8BCs. So once I figure out that count I try to remember to put it in my iTunes (under BPM). I have not successfully remembered with all the routines, so not all of them show up properly in that playlist but enough to help me when I am trying to put a particular speed song into a routine I am trying to create. Then I also have a playlist arranged by time because sometimes I need a LONG song and sometimes I need a short song. When they are all clumped together by time it makes it easier to pick the length of time I need then I can just pop it into the correct Nia Class cycle. So these three separate “playlists” allow me to see the music in ways that I need, in order to create playlists on my device that I will use in class.

That is what I do to help keep my music organized in a manner that works for me. I am sure there are different ways that other Nia teachers do it as this is not the only way.

Whether you are a teacher that uses music or not – how do you organize your music?

Posted in Nia | Tagged: 8BCs, BPM, cardio dance, iTunes for Nia, Music playlists, Nia, Nia choreography, Nia playlists, Nia routines, Nia teachers, Nia Technique, NiaSounds, organization, variety of music | 15 Comments »

Affordable Wireless Earbuds

Posted by terrepruitt on April 27, 2016

I teach a cardio dance exercise called Nia. It is dance, it is exercise, it is a cardio workout. It is done to music. Nia teachers pay a licensing fee and included in that are routines. The Nia Technique creates routines. One part to learning a routine is to listen to the music. I listen to it a lot. Sometimes I have difficulty or I feel I do, if I don’t like the music. But most of the time I like it. But either way, I listen to it a lot. Sometimes I listen to it while I am cleaning, but when I have the vacuum on I can’t hear it so I have been wanting some Bluetooth headphones. I have had my earbuds in with my phone in my pocket or tucked in somewhere when the wire has gotten caught and the earbuds RIPPED out of my ears or out of the phone. Neither one is good. So I thought it would be cool to have a wireless pair. Originally I was looking for headphones. Everything I found was expensive. I didn’t even realize they made wireless earbuds! My husband found some that were affordable. It turned out he liked them and they worked well. Sometimes the affordable things don’t always work well, so it is nice that these did. So I went looking and I found a pair that looked almost exactly like his but were even less expensive. I’m only talking $4.00, but, $4.00 is $4.00. So I got some. And I like ’em. I like mine better than his.

Both pair are over the ear type of wearables. Both pair stick IN your ear. On mine, the earbud part seems to be made of metal whereas his are plastic. Also, the over-the-ear holder on mine seems a little softer more flexible. I liked that a lot better. It made them more comfortable. When I tried his on, one of my ears started to hurt. With the softer holder they might flex more and allow for better movement with my glasses.

Of course, at $13.99 they are from a brand I have never heard of – Parasom. But they work. Who knows if they will keep working. I have experienced many off-brand – or more accurately – not a name brand – product that has stopped working after a couple of months. So we will see.

Mine also had a little clip, which I liked. The control portion of the earbuds on mine is about an inch or so closer to the earbud than his, but that is ok for me. I am not using mine while running like he is, so it is easy for me to stop what I am doing if I need to in order to work the controls. Although they are pretty easy and pretty standard controls.

One button powers it on – and it says, “Power on” and off (it says “Power off”). The same button starts the play of music and pauses it. One button turns the volume up, goes to the previous song, and restarts the song. Another button turns the volume down and advances the music to the next song.

I haven’t used it as a headset for phone calls because the first time I tried it with my hubby’s he said he didn’t like the quality of my voice, so I haven’t bothered trying mine. I know when I am using my regular headset and driving I can’t be on the phone that long because the quality of the caller’s voice is distorted. Probably has to do with the fact that it is only coming through one ear bud.

Anyway, I am always excited when I get a product that I think of as expensive at an affordable price AND it works. So, I like to share. So far, this was at an affordable price, it works, so I am sharing. I would like to point out that I did NOT receive this product for free or at a discounted rate for my unbiased and impartial review. But, hey, how do I do that? I read A LOT of blogs and reviews where the people say that. Sign me up for that!

Anyway . . . if you are looking for an affordable wireless headset the one my husband got is good or mine is – which I think is better.

Have you ever had your earbuds ripped out of your ears because the wire to the phone get caught on something? Have you been thinking about a wireless pair?

Posted in Misc | Tagged: bluetooth, cardio dance exercise, cardio workout, dance exercise, Nia, Nia Music, Nia routines, Nia teachers, Nia Technique, wireless earbuds | 2 Comments »

Couscous, Fennel, and Garbanzo Beans

Posted by terrepruitt on April 25, 2016

Sometimes I just don’t take out meat in enough time for it to defrost by dinner. I thought about it early enough. But I am at that state of meat-in-the-freezer where it is the stuff I don’t know how to cook. My mental inventory check led me to hamburger, but I didn’t want to cook that, so then my brain flitted off to something else. Then later, I think I might have opened the freezer and, uninspired, shut it. Then, by the time I got serious it was too late. I was HOPING it was not too late, but alas when it came time to cook dinner, the meat was not defrosted. And on top of that we didn’t really have all that many veggies in the fridge. Sigh. We have lettuce and salad fixings, but nothing to cook except fennel. We had leftover couscous from the other night. So I was thinking I could roast the fennel AND some garbanzo beans and then mix it with the couscous. Ahhh . . . sometimes I love when there is “nothing” in the house to eat. I loved it.

I always say I don’t like beans, because I don’t for the most part. I don’t like BEAN beans. I like green beans, but I don’t think of them as beans because they are long. Or more so because green beans are eaten fresh like a vegetable and not dried like a “bean bean”. I do like garbanzo beans though. And I like red kidney beans but only in Red Beans and Rice and in THIS bean salad.

I like garbanzo beans or chickpeas as they are also known, because they taste buttery. They add a butter flavor to dishes — to me. And I really like them roasted. So I decided to roast them with the fennel.

I actually roasted them both on the same pan. I put parchment paper on a large jelly roll pan. I cut up the fennel and — well, if I am posting a recipe I put is in that form.

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Couscous, Fennel, and Garbanzo Beans

–2 cups prepared Couscous
–olive oil
–1 bulb Fennel
–1 can Garbanzo beans
–handful of grape tomatoes
–garlic salt
–pepper (if you like)
–1 1/2 tablespoon butter

Drain the beans and rinse them. Set them aside to dry. Cook the couscous according to the package (I used left over couscous). Preheat the oven to 450° F. Cut up the fennel and put it on a parchment paper lined oven pan. Drizzle olive oil on it and sprinkle garlic salt on it. Toss it. Then put it in the oven for five minutes. After five minutes take the pan out and put the beans on the pan. (I kept the fennel and the beans separate on the same pan because I was not sure they would cook to my liking at the same time. This gave me the option of taking one off the pan.) Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with garlic salt. Bake for 15 minutes. Take them out of the oven and toss both the fennel and the beans (keeping them separate). Adding more salt if you would like. Bake for 15 minutes.

Cut the tomatoes in half.

Add the butter to the couscous and mix it withe the roasted veggies. Add the cut up tomatoes before serving.

______________________________________

Of course, since I was just throwing veggies in leftover couscous I didn’t think to photograph any of it until the end and it came out so lovely – at least I think so. Probably the bright red tomatoes. They make dishes look pretty. And it tasted fairly good. I really like fennel.

As a note, since I used leftover couscous, I heated it in a pan with a little butter, then I added the roasted veggies. The recipe is written using just made couscous.

If you like roasted tomatoes you could roast them, too. I prefer tomatoes raw so I put them in just before serving.

Couscous is great. It is like pasta you can add anything you want to it. It can be a side dish or a main dish.

Do you like couscous?

Posted in "Recipes", Food | Tagged: couscous, dinner, fennel, main dish, roasted vegetables, side dish | 4 Comments »

My Cootie Catcher For Nia

Posted by terrepruitt on April 22, 2016

In my last post I told you how I was recently reminded of the Cootie Catcher. I explained how you can make your own. Did you? What did you use it for? Well, I also mentioned that I would be using mine for picking a focus and an intent for Nia class. Well, I used it today and I liked it. It worked. In Nia we set a focus and an intent for each class, which allows us so many different things. It could help us move differently to a familiar routine, it could allow us to help work out some kinks in the body and mind, it can do many things. It is a powerful tool in the Nia tool box. Most often I ask my students if they have anything they would like to focus on. Then we go from there deciding an intent. One of the most requested focuses is shoulders. So many of us hold tension in our shoulders. Rarely is there a time when no one has something they want to focus on, but I thought it would be fun to mix it up giving us an alternative for picking the focus of the class. Plus I thought it would be a good way to get some focuses in use that we don’t use that often. So I made a cootie catcher to assist us.

I wrote four of the seven Nia Class cycles on the outside. I used the number of the cycle. Warm-up is cycle 3, Get Moving is cycle 4, Cool Down is cycle 5, and Floorplay is cycle 6. I could have just used numbers but I wanted to remind people that Nia has cycles. I wish I could have used all seven. So we have someone pick the cycle, then we open and close the catcher that number of times. Then someone picks a focus or I might have them choose a number . . . that way they won’t really know what focus they are picking. Ha, I will probably do it both ways. Anyway . . .we now have our focus. Then the catcher is opened and closed as many times as the corresponding number. Then someone picks another number and we open that triangle and read the intent that is behind it and that is our intent for the class.

Today in class we picked Natural Time . . . to empower us to connect with our body. NICE!

Each focus can work nicely with each intent. So no matter what combination is picked it will work.

You may notice the underlining on the focuses (Joints is underlined, Extension is underlined), originally I was going to use the words, spelling them out to open and close the catcher, but I decided to go with the numbers. But again, I might try that way, too. There are so many ways you can do it. That is one thing that makes it so fun!

There are many ways we can decide on a focus and intent, this is just one. If you are going to make one to use to help with a focus and intent you need FOUR things for the outside (that is where I put the cycles). Then you need EIGHT focuses and EIGHT intents. So that would be the same formula for anything you are going to use the catcher for. Four, eight, eight.

I would love to make more and have all kinds of different focuses and intents. So, you Nia teachers and Nia students, share with me your favorite focus and intent!

Posted in Nia | Tagged: Cootie catcher, floorplay, focus and intent, Natural Time, Nia, Nia class, Nia class cycles, Nia students, Nia Teacher, Nia Technique, paper fortune teller, the seven cycles of Nia | 2 Comments »

Cootie Catcher

Posted by terrepruitt on April 20, 2016

A few months ago I heard that there might be a Gilmore Girl Reunion. Then as things unfolded (ha, that will be a pun, wait for it) it turns out that there is going to be one. Well, I wanted to be up-to-date and refreshed on the series so I started re-watching it on Netflix. I am so happy that there is such thing as a start and a stop when watching some programs because I often have to stop this show – and quiet often – because I really cannot stomach Emily Gilmore. I can barely stomach Taylor, but I don’t usually stop watching because of him, but I do because of Emily. I just need a break. But then again when I started re-watching the entire series I was wondering why I had a vague feeling of not liking Lorelai because I love her, well, I did. I just got to the episodes where I don’t like her so much and now I know why I had a “bad taste” in my mouth regarding her. Season six the last episode. I am just now beginning season seven and it turns out I didn’t need to rush to re-watch the entire series because I think the word is that the mini-series won’t even be out until 2017, but we will see. Netflix is doing the revival. Anyway . . . a couple of seasons back . . . I don’t even remember which one now, they had a cootie catcher on the show. That had me thinking. How fun! I want to make a cootie catcher. So here you go.

First you need to have a square piece of paper. If you are using an 8 1/2 inch by 11 inch piece of paper you make it square by folding over one corner to meet the edge of the paper. Then you draw a line, then cut along the line. Now your paper is ready to go.

Next fold each corner into the line and to meet each other.

And you end up with a smaller square.

Then turn the square over and fold all four corners into meet each other. So now you have a smaller square.

Then fold it in half with the four points you just created on the INSIDE. So you have two squares on each half (the outside) of the fold paper.

You put your fingers in the four squares and work the catcher open and close.

Then you write on it allowing it to do what you want it to do. One version is colors on the four squares (spelling the color open and close . . ), then numbers on the eight triangles inside (then you would spell the number, opening and closing the catcher), then have the person you are playing with choose another number and open the number and read the fortune/quote inside. Ahhh, the simple things.

Some people call them fortune tellers, but they can be used for anything. You can use them to help assign chores. You can use them to help figure out what to have for dinner (hey, I might need to make one just for that). I am going to use mine with my Nia students to give us our focus and intent for our Nia class. That will be a post on its own.

What would you use your catcher for?

Posted in Misc | Tagged: Cootie catcher, dinner decider, fortune teller, Gilmore Girls, Netflix, Nia class, Nia students | 4 Comments »

The Last Niyama

Posted by terrepruitt on April 11, 2016

Somewhat funny that I have one last niyama to write about. I started writing about the Eight Limbs of Yoga in January. First I talked about the fact that there is More To Yoga Than Just Asana (that is the name of the post). Most people are familiar with the fact that there are yoga poses, but not everyone knows there are eight parts, or what are called “limbs”. Then some of the limbs have even more “branches” you could say. Two of them have five branches or offshoots. I was making my way through each of them writing about them briefly. They are the yamas and the niyamas. As with many things in Nia – the cardio dance exercise I teach – the many aspects of yoga are deep and volumes can be written about each. I have barely scratch the surface. But the last one I have to write about is the fifth niyama, Ishvara Pranidhana. Some people refer to it as surrender to the Devine or surrender of ego.

Some debate the concept of the Devine, some saying it is God, some saying it is the universe. Then you have to decide what surrender means. So, if you are going to follow the path of yoga and practice all the limbs, I would say that the first thing you might need to do when practicing this niyama is decide on your “Devine”. I actually appreciate the texts that translate it as God because that is my Devine.

The Heart of Yoga by T.K.V. Desikachar says it means “to lay all your actions at the feet of God.” That to me sounds like surrendering to the Devine to me, but then “lay all your actions” is up for interpretation. Again, I will say that I am just barely touching the surface and with that “barely touching”, the idea of it can change. But it seems as if that could mean to trust in what is happening. Surrender and let things be.

One teaching I received described it as “bringing about serenity, letting go, opening to silence.” The teaching also suggested to use “devote” instead of surrender. But just like with the poses the translation of all of the ancient writings are mixed. Some say it says this and means that and some say it says that and means this. So it can be confusing with so many conflicting and contradicting translations.

But just because I have my “Devine” decided doesn’t necessarily make surrendering easy. It is still a challenge sometimes to accept what is. Although, as I mentioned first, having to write about this niyama at this time struck me as funny because the first thing I thought of is that I did surrender to the “Devine”. I did not write my last two self imposed scheduled post because I surrendered to the fact that I was taking a few days away from home and in order to get somethings done, I had to skip writing my blog. Ok, I did not HAVE to, but I had to let it go since I couldn’t come up with something to write about. At the time I hadn’t even thought about posting about this last niyama. Or I would have at least posted on Wednesday.

Also, we took a couple of days and stayed near the ocean and to me nature is just a reminder of the Devine. So . . . I felt as if I surrendered a bit.

Ahhh, surrender to what is and have faith that all is as it should be. Relax and let go a bit.

How are you with surrendering?

Posted in Yoga/PiYo/Pilates | Tagged: Capitola, Devine, Eight limbs of yoga, God, Nia, Nia classIshvara Pranidhana, niyama, Santa Cruz, surrender of ego, yama, Yoga | 2 Comments »

Nia Jam Palo Alto 2016

Posted by terrepruitt on April 4, 2016

Saturday, April 2, 2016 there was a Nia Jam in the San Francisco Bay Area. It has been a long time since I have been to a Nia Jam. The last one I went to was in 2013! They are so fun. The energy at a jam is fantastic. I thought I was going to miss it because the event was being held at a studio in the Oshman Family JCC in Palo Alto. It is a HUGE complex and I parked in the garage and followed the first sign that said fitness center. It led me to a courtyard where every door was locked. There was a sign pointing up and to the left, but there was no way for me to go up and to the left. I asked someone walking around if he knew where it was and bless his heart, he had no idea but he made an attempt to help me. We looked at a map and I decided the best route was to go out to the street and go all the way around to where I thought the studio was. As I was making my way back to the garage, I made a few turns and ended up on the right track. I was supposed to be the first teacher and I was kinda bummed that I was late because I thought I missed it. But as I was walking in they were saying. “Where is Terre?” and I was able to say, HERE!” Yay! I made it. I was about 5 minutes late. I thought I was going to be early. I am so glad I made it. Nia Jams are soooo fun.

Often times there are microphone issues. It seems as if movement disrupted this one’s connection. But Nancy H. worked on it and got it fixed after the first few songs. And it was good to go. As we were making introductions one of the teachers told me she was going to be after me. It is important in a jam situation to know who is before you and after you. You need to know who is before you so you are paying attention and can be ready to switch off with the microphone. And also, it is nice to know who is after you so you can make eye-contact as you are ending your selection so the switch off can go as smooth as possible.

I don’t normally teach with a microphone so I always feel like I have to be quiet when I have one in my face. Otherwise it would blow people’s ears out.

The focus was the Nia Five Sensations, FAMSS, (Flexibility, Agility, Mobility, Strength, and Stability) And I did it again, I don’t know what the intent was. I always seem to miss the intent. We had a great playlist (as you can see)!

It was super fun. It is always so nice to see all the teachers. We are kind of spread out in so many different areas. It is even nicer to be able to dance with everyone. And the JCC was very kind to donate the space so between ticket sales and the raffle, I think the association did well.

Here are some pictures and a video. I will continue to encourage you to go to a Nia Jam. They are so fun. I know you will love it!

See a short video of me teaching on my website.

I want to thank all the students that came and danced and all the teachers that taught. Such fun! See? Doesn’t it look like fun?

Posted in Nia | Tagged: FAMSS, Flexibility Agility Mobility Strength Stability, Nia five sensations, Nia Jam, Nia routines, Nia teachers, Palo Alto JCC, San Francisco Bay Area Nia, SF Bay Area Nia Association, SJCity Fit Instructor, YMCA Instructor | Leave a Comment »

Remove Green To Be More Green

Posted by terrepruitt on April 1, 2016

Today is April Fool’s Day. I am not one to play pranks or enjoy pranks played on me. But today, I wished so hard that I was the victim of a cruel joke. I pulled into the parking lot where I teach Nia three days out of the week and I was so sad to see that ALL the trees are marked for removal. So the tree-lined parking lot that one must drive down to enter the main parking lot will no longer be tree-lined. There will no longer be trees and sky to look up at. I was running late today, but the supervisor of the center was walking by as I was getting ready for class and I asked him about the trees. I believe he said that they will be removed and relocated. I really was in a hurry so I was unable to get more details, but I think he said if they can’t fit in the parking lot most of them will go to parks. But that doesn’t change the fact that the trees will no longer be at the center. They are putting up those solar parking canopies.

So, I saw the solar parking canopies go up in school parking lots and I thought it was ridiculous that they need to add shade for cars. But then I was informed that they are solar. So I thought that was cool. The few school parking lots that I have seen them go up in were just barren plots of asphalt. That makes sense to me. But at this center they are taking down trees. This makes me sad.

There just seems to be so much metal and concrete around, I think it is so sad when a tree gets taken down/moved/removed to put up more metal and concrete. A comment made was “it is being done to be green”. I am just not convinced that removing green trees is the way to be green. It just seems so wrong. Also, I was told that now there will be shade for cars, more than there is already provided by the trees that they are taking down. Again . . . not convinced that cars having shade is more important than birds having homes and places to eat.

As I was standing in the parking lot talking to one of my students who was equally sad that the trees were going away we were listening to the birds and watching them flit around in the trees. While we enjoyed it, it was somewhat bittersweet because at one point, there will be parking canopies going up in place of the trees.

No April Fool’s joke here. Actual live trees, green trees are being removed so we can be green. Places that birds and bugs live and feed will be removed so we can have shade for our cars. Makes me sad.

The center is quite large and so I am bummed that trees have to be removed instead of some type of roof top installation of solar panels. I mean, solar panels are great to help with energy. It makes sense: sun, power — good. But it is so sad that the trees have to go. It is so sad that they will be replaced by metal and concrete.

It was even more prophetic that when I got in my car the radio was playing, “It’s The End Of the World as we know it.” I am not even certain that a more appropriate song would have been Big Yellow Taxi, ya know the one that says “They paved paradise and put up a parking lot.”

Sigh. Good-bye pretty tree-lined parking lot. I’ll miss you.

Posted in Misc | Tagged: April Fool's Day, community center, Counting Crows, green not green, joke, Nia, Nia class, paved paradise, replanting trees, solar parking canopies, The End of the worlds as we know it, tree removal | 7 Comments »

Terre Pruitt's Blog

In the realm of health, wellness, fitness, and the like, or whatever inspires me.

I teach yoga, Nia, and stretch online!

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