Terre Pruitt's Blog

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

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Archive for the ‘Misc’ Category

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A New Goodie Jar

Posted by terrepruitt on May 19, 2015

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia in the City of San Jose, Nia at the San Jose Community Centers, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Gentle Yoga, Group Ex City of San Jose, San Jose Group Ex classes, YMCA, Zumba, PiYoSo, so, so many things to go into my Goodie Jar.  I think the last mention of it was in March.  MARCH!  Here it is, MAY!  Well, I have been busy filling that jar.  So much so that I had to move it to a different container.  And I think since it is only May this one won’t last long.  Perhaps when this container gets full I will put the papers in the original container, the pitcher and we will just put things in the new container.  It is AWESOME to have to have more than one container to contain the good things!  Wahooo.  This time it is really exciting because my husband has been putting stuff in.  He put things in the pitcher the previous years, but this time he is putting stuff in more often . . . . hence the need for a different container.

My hubby is using some of the ticket stubs and things of that nature as his documentation of the good things.  But he doesn’t just put the item in the jar he writes on it to state why the ticket/used gift card/parking pass/whatever made him smile.  He is doing a great job.  It will be super fun this December 31, 2015 because it will be more stuff from him and not so weighted towards me and my smiles.

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia in the City of San Jose, Nia at the San Jose Community Centers, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Gentle Yoga, Group Ex City of San Jose, San Jose Group Ex classes, YMCA, Zumba, PiYoI have had a lot of “student” stuff to put in the Good Thing Jar.  Good things keep coming to them via movement .  Today one woman told me that she is sleeping about two hours longer since starting Nia.  Exercise is often praised for the help it brings to people regarding sleeping.  Some times the help is in the form of better sleep and sometimes it is in the form of more sleep.  I love that she recognized that her sleep benefited from Nia.

I have also had yoga people say this or that has improved.  And, yes, again it is the exercise, the yoga that is helping.  That is what is so awesome.  Hearing people reaping the benefits of movement is definitely Goodie Jar Material.

Recently I was lucky enough to be able to spend some time with my three girlfriends AND my hubby.  That was a special treat.  Our friend that moved away came down for a visit and spent the day with us.  Spending time with my friends is ALWAYS a good thing . . . . so it goes in the jar.  Ya know, anything that makes me smile.

After that, one weekend we dog-sat my husband’s “co-workers” for the weekend.  That was a treat.  That type of thing is a Goodie Jar item.

Oh . . . .just writing about the Good Things in the Goodie Jar is making me smile.  I can’t wait to read it all . . . . but then, I can because that will mean the year is gone.  I will stick to thinking about the smiles in the container.

Well, this is a share and a reminder.  You can start a Goodie Jar anytime.  If you are doing one, have you added to it lately?

 

Posted in Good Things in the Goodie Jar | Tagged: , , , , , | 2 Comments »

Hotdogs Making Me Laugh

Posted by terrepruitt on May 12, 2015

I had started writing a different post, a post about a yoga pose I am enjoying lately and wish I could do in my classes.  But as I was cooking dinner my husband came into the room laughing and saying that Hulu finally had a good commercial.  I totally judge commercials.  Since I am forced to have them play, I sometimes watch them.  When I watch them, I judge them.  Currently I am convinced that a specific car company thinks it has very unintelligent owners/drivers – or that is at least the way the commercial portrays them.  And Jack-In-The-Box is brilliant!  Sometimes I enjoy commercials, and now, on Hulu there are two commercials that are super funny  – at least to me and my husband.  The commercials are for hot dogs.

They are old commercials, uploaded to Youtube in 2012, but I am just seeing them now.  Applegate – Natural and Organic Meat is the maker of the commercials or, more accurately, the product that the commercials are advertising is hot dogs.

The one I saw first was this woman sitting at her dining room table interviewing a cow.  The “cow” was a man, a huge muscle man in a cow costume.  They call him Mooscles.  She tells him she is looking for a natural hot dog made of beef without hormones.  He claims he does not use hormones.  She asks him if he uses growth hormones and he says no.  She then tells him there is a needle sticking in his haunch.  He looks at it and say it is not his.

In the other one a woman is in the store holding a package of hotdogs and the cow approaches her and ask her if she is looking for quality meat and she says she thinks she found it and he says, “Yeah, you did,” while flexing his pecs. She says her family prefers all natural beef.  He says his does too and he points to his kid.  The “calf” is the same guy in a shopping cart.  And the “cow” says, “They grow so fast.”  This one is not as funny to me, but the point is funny, I think.  Especially since that is what growth hormones do, make things grow larger than they normally would and at an accelerated rate.  When the commercial shows the product name it states “The cleaner wiener”.  Too funny!

I told my husband that I thought the commercials were so funny I was going to write a blog post about them, but I changed my mind.  He thought they were funny enough for a post.  So I changed my mind back!

That is one icky part of Hulu, so far it seems that they run the same commercials for ever break for a few weeks.  I am so tired of a specific insurance commercial, yet, I honestly couldn’t tell you the company.  Ha, annoying advertising is not always effective.

Do you ever pay attention to commercials?  Do you like some more than others?  Do you have a favorite commercial?

Posted in Misc | Tagged: , , , , , , , | 4 Comments »

Many People Feel Diets Don’t Work

Posted by terrepruitt on May 7, 2015

Not too long ago one of my Nia students asked me if the Road Diet in Willow Glen was working.  I laughed because I don’t know what the goal of the diet is.  I think that if the reason for changing the lanes on Lincoln Avenue in San Jose from four to two was to decrease the number of cars driving down the street, then perhaps it worked.  I think there are fewer cars actually using the road because, as I said there are two lanes now, one going one way and another going the other way.  Half as many lanes.  If with the reduction of lanes they wanted it to take longer to get down the street even with fewer cars, then it is working.  I am not in downtown Willow Glen everyday, but when I have been down there, it does seem as if there are less cars . . . but it does not seem like there is less traffic congestion.  The cars back up to what seems like the length of the entire downtown.  So it doesn’t seem like traffic congestion has been eased at all.  So I don’t know if it is “working” because I don’t know if that was the goal of the city.

It seems to me . . . but again, I am not in downtown Willow Glen every day, nor do I own a storefront there, but it seems to me that fewer cars driving down the street would mean less business for the stores.  Especially if the lower number of cars is creating a worse traffic situation.  While I have not done a large survey, the people I have talked to have shared with me that they are avoiding downtown Willow Glen because “it is worse than it used to be.”  Also, the people who I have talked to that live and work down there say that it is now taking them 10 to 15 minutes longer to get to work or home.  I do believe that two things might ease the traffic situation with this Road Diet — 1)  if the lights were actually properly set up to allow for left hand turning cars to turn at the same time and 2)  if people actually understood the purpose of the reversible lane/suicide lane.  Even though there are designated turn lanes at the lights now, the lights are only green going one direction.  And at places where there is not a light, I have seen people stop all the traffic behind them and make a left hand turn from the lane of traffic that is supposed to be able to continue to flow.  It is as if people do not know what a middle lane is for.

The reversible lane/suicide lane is there to allow left hand traffic to pull into so they can make a left hand turn and allow traffic behind them to keep flowing.  It is also to help people coming out of the businesses, allowing them to turn left passing over one lane of traffic, then pausing to make certain it is safe to merge into the traffic going the direction they want to go.

Also, apparently, in downtown Willow Glen, it is where all the delivery trucks park so they can make their deliveries.  Granted that seems better than blocking a lane of traffic, but that is until you see the driver/delivery person dart out into the traffic from behind the truck.

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia in the City of San Jose, Nia at the San Jose Community Centers, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Gentle Yoga, Group Ex City of San Jose, San Jose Group Ex classes, YMCA, Zumba, PiYoI have seen a petition against the Road Diet on Facebook from some Willow Glen business owners.  As I said, there are fewer cars on the road, so to me that equates less business, but I don’t know.  I am curious if there is more walking traffic and more bike traffic.  Curious, if the increase (if there is one) in bicyclists and pedestrians equates to more business for the businesses.  As I said, I have only talked to people who are avoiding the area, I haven’t talked to people actually down there — because I am one of them avoiding the area.  Also, I have only spoke with at a couple of businesses whose employees now have a longer commutes.

At least the term is accurate it is a “ROAD Diet” as opposed to a Traffic Diet or Congestion Diet because from what I have seen it has caused more traffic and congestion.  Perhaps they should remove the “diet” from the name altogether, because many people agree diets don’t work.

I believe it was scheduled for a three month test.  I am looking forward to seeing the results and finding out what the City will decide.  Again “is it working” is a matter of opinion, I guess.

What do you think?  Do you frequent downtown Willow Glen?  Have you experience a Road Diet in your area?  

Posted in Misc | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments »

Helps My Knee And My Feet

Posted by terrepruitt on May 5, 2015

My knee has been burning.  I don’t know what is the problem in my knee, but I do know why.  So I thought I would put some Arnica Allay on it.  I have mentioned arnica before.  I mentioned it in my post about the cream called Trauma.  I also mentioned it when I posted about my having henna tattoos on my legs and feet.  I used it then not for its healing properties, but because oil is said to help set henna.  Then I mentioned it in a post when I broke a blood vessel in my hand.  At that time I said I would use it.  The thing with the broken blood vessel is that it didn’t actually hurt.  I had attention called to it because I had that 400 bubble survey to do, but aside from that my hand didn’t hurt.  So putting the oil on was to help it heal, but I didn’t need any pain relief.  With my knee there is that uncomfortable burning sensation, so I am using the oil to make that go away.  And ya know what?  It does.  The second I put the oil on the burning goes away.

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia in the City of San Jose, Nia at the San Jose Community Centers, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Gentle Yoga, Group Ex City of San Jose, San Jose Group Ex classes, YMCA, Zumba, PiYoI like this oil because . . . as funny as it sounds . . . it is not really oily.  I am not sure if you are familiar with how some oil can be really oily and others are not so much, but that is the case with this.  This oil is more like moisturizer and it seems to absorb really well.  I put it on my knee then rub the oil into my knee, trying to warm it up.  Then usually by the time I am done it is pretty much absorbed into my knee.

With some oils I would not think to rub any left over into my hands, but since this oil absorbs so well, I just rub it in.

A quick Google search revealed there are many arnica products available.  There are creams, oils, ointments.  This particular oil is for external use only.  It is made by Flower Essence Services.  The ingredients are listed as:  “Olive Oil*B; with infusion of Arnica flowers*B, non-GMO tocopherols, essential oils of Sandalwood W, Cedarwood*, Vetiver*, Palmarosa*, Rose*, Cistus* and Helichrysum*; flower essences of Alpine AsterWB, ArnicaWB, Chrysanthemum*B, Indian PinkWB and Star of BethlehemWB

*certified organic, BBiodynamic®, Wwild-harvested

The bottle also states that it is an Herbal balm that provides “soothing and centering during times of trauma, injury and stress.”  It says it is good to be used with a massage or in a bath.  I have put it in my foot bath recently.  It makes my skin really soft.  I feel it helps bring a little relief to my tired feet.  The past few weeks I’ve had a least nine classes a week so little extra care for my feet goes a long way.

This particular oil also has a very nice flowery scent.

A quick Google search will also reveal that there is science has not documented that arnica works at reducing inflammation or pain.  So as with all things it is good to do the research and decide for yourself. My share is that I like it and it works for me. Even if it is just the moisturizing effects of the oil. 🙂

Do you ever use a cream(/oil/ointment) to reduce pain or swelling?  What is your preference?  Have you ever used a product with arnica in it?

Posted in Misc | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments »

These Ain’t My Yard Roses!

Posted by terrepruitt on May 2, 2015

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia in the City of San Jose, Nia at the San Jose Community Centers, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Gentle Yoga, Group Ex City of San Jose, San Jose Group Ex classes, YMCA, Zumba, PiYoWe have a beautiful rose garden in San Jose, CA.  I do not recall ever having been in there before my visit last week.  I have lived here all my life and I do not remember ever going inside the Rose Garden.  I remember going to it once, but it was closed so we didn’t get in.  This past week, my friend wanted to put up some fliers so we decided to walk through the garden.  I might have made it all the way through at a more leisurely pace if we had not stopped to talk to one of the ex-gardeners.  My friend had been telling me some of what he had said, but he had a lot of information regarding the garden and roses in general.  The rose garden is beautiful.

It is 5 1/2–acres of grass and roses.  What my friend was telling me and then the ex-gardener expounded upon was that roses get tested there.  So there is an entire section of roses that don’t have names.  You will just see numbers on the placards.  Those are patent numbers.  The roses are there for three years and the rose growers see how they do.  I am sure there is a list of things they are looking for in order to qualify as a new variety.  The are probably being tested for size and color.  Also fortitude.  I am sure they don’t want a rose that will not be able to grow well.  The ex-gardener mentioned that the rose growers are getting more interested in aroma.  You might be familiar with the fact that most roses you purchase now-a-days don’t really have a scent.  It is as if they are so busy breeding HUGE colorful roses that they bred the scent right out of them.

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia in the City of San Jose, Nia at the San Jose Community Centers, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Gentle Yoga, Group Ex City of San Jose, San Jose Group Ex classes, YMCA, Zumba, PiYoThe ex-gardner mentioned that the public wants smelly roses.  So the growers are working on putting the scent back into new varieties.
So it really seems that I picked an AWESOME day to go to the rose garden.  I mean, how lucky were we to run into this man who used to work there taking care of the roses.  He was so full of information and so kind to take his time to share his knowledge with us.  He even pointed out his roses.  Miles of Smiles they are called.

The rose garden is host to many events.  People take pictures for special events all the time.  There is enough grass to have a picnic or just spread out a blanket and relax.  There are also a few picnic tables.

The problem for me is after having stopped to talk to the ex-gardener I used up all my “outside-breathe-time”.  We ended up rushing through a portion of it so that we could have time to hang the flyers before I passed out from sneezing!  My allergies are very apparent this time of year.

We actually have TWO rose gardens in San Jose.  The one I recently visited is where they test the new roses and my friend was saying the other one is where they have the old variety of roses.  I will have to get to that one.

The website for the San Jose Municipal Rose Garden states that the garden has over 4,000 rose shrubs.  There are 189 varieties represented. Click here to visit the website.

Have you ever visited the Rose Garden in San Jose?  Did you know they tested roses there?

 

 

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Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia in the City of San Jose, Nia at the San Jose Community Centers, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Gentle Yoga, Group Ex City of San Jose, San Jose Group Ex classes, YMCA, Zumba, PiYo

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia in the City of San Jose, Nia at the San Jose Community Centers, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Gentle Yoga, Group Ex City of San Jose, San Jose Group Ex classes, YMCA, Zumba, PiYo

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia in the City of San Jose, Nia at the San Jose Community Centers, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Gentle Yoga, Group Ex City of San Jose, San Jose Group Ex classes, YMCA, Zumba, PiYo

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia in the City of San Jose, Nia at the San Jose Community Centers, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Gentle Yoga, Group Ex City of San Jose, San Jose Group Ex classes, YMCA, Zumba, PiYo

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia in the City of San Jose, Nia at the San Jose Community Centers, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Gentle Yoga, Group Ex City of San Jose, San Jose Group Ex classes, YMCA, Zumba, PiYo

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia in the City of San Jose, Nia at the San Jose Community Centers, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Gentle Yoga, Group Ex City of San Jose, San Jose Group Ex classes, YMCA, Zumba, PiYo

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia in the City of San Jose, Nia at the San Jose Community Centers, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Gentle Yoga, Group Ex City of San Jose, San Jose Group Ex classes, YMCA, Zumba, PiYo

Posted in Misc | Tagged: , , , , | 6 Comments »

May Day

Posted by terrepruitt on April 30, 2015

In the yoga class I taught earlier this week I mentioned that we were headed into May.  One of my students said we don’t really celebrate May Day any longer.  I thought they still did in the United Kingdom, but I don’t ever remember it being celebrate here.  She went onto say that when she was young they made May Day flower baskets out of paper and would fill them with flowers.  Then they would walk around the neighborhood placing flowers on people door knobs.  I asked her where that was and she said someone in the Mid-west.  I said that I didn’t think that was a California thing, but then another student mentioned that her 90 year old (or 80 year old) friend had said she did it when she was young and in California.  I was intrigued.  I had never heard of this flower tradition.  My main research site is Wiki.  According to Wiki the celebrations for May Day are primarily in Europe, the first line on the page is “May Day on May 1 is an ancient Northern Hemisphere spring festival and usually a public holiday.”

There were and are holidays and festivals and parades in Europe.  Something I don’t ever remember seeing here.  I think “ancient” is an accurate description, in regards to the US, anyway.  Seems in the more modern times the acknowledgement of May turned more towards labor and/or politics.  With Great Britain’s celebrations – at one point – coinciding with the last day of planting for the small towns and villages the farm workers would get the day off.  Wiki further cites many celebrations of May Day still being held.  Finland uses the day as an excuse to have carnival like festivities.  France celebrates May 1st by giving ladies flowers.  Lilies of the Valley.

In Germany there seems to be a tradition of Maypoles and flowers.  Not certain this tradition is still done today, but Maypoles with ribbons were placed in the lady’s yard by a love interest whereas ladies place “roses or rice in the form of a heart at the house of their beloved one”.  Roses or rice?  And May Day is a public holiday.

In Ireland they have a feast and in Bulgaria they celebrate Irminden by performing rituals to protect people from the snakes and lizards associated with the holiday.  Romania has what they call the arminden.  Their celebration might lend more to doing “rites and habits” they believe might protect farm animals and crops.  The first day of May in Sweden is “celebrated as International Workers’ Day.”

Some places in Canada celebrate May Day but it sounds more like parades and celebrations for International Workers’ Day.

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia in the City of San Jose, Nia at the San Jose Community Centers, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Gentle Yoga, Group Ex City of San Jose, San Jose Group Ex classes, YMCA, Zumba, PiYoWiki does state:

In some parts of the United States, May Baskets are made. These are small baskets usually filled with flowers or treats and left at someone’s doorstep. The giver rings the bell and runs away. The person receiving the basket tries to catch the fleeing giver; if caught, a kiss is exchanged.

But in modern day the day has changed to a more political day.  Since 2006 it has been a day of protests.  And I see from a Google Search that there are many planned for this May Day (2015).

When I was young I had heard the expression about dancing around the Maypole, but I have never heard of an actual May Day celebration. Wouldn’t it be fabulous if the days of giving flowers came back around?

Do you celebrate May Day?  Do you have plans for May Day?  Have you EVER celebrated May Day?

Posted in Misc | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments »

Bye Bye Bill

Posted by terrepruitt on April 28, 2015

We ditched cable.  Yup.  My husband has been asking me forever if he can cancel cable.  I have not been receptive to the idea because there are a few shows I like to watch on Network TV.  He got a ROKU and he signed up for Netflix.  This was a long time ago.  We watch a lot of our favorite shows on Netflix.  Not new stuff.  We tend to watch things over again.  I am in the middle of watching Fraiser for the third time.  We also watch the Star Treks over again.  We have a few other series that we watch on Netflix, but sometimes we have to wait for Netflix to get the seasons.  You may be familiar with the phenomenon of binge watching a show and then having to wait for the next season to be acquired by Netflix.  Recently my husband signed up for Hulu.  This was because some of his shows could be watched on Hulu.  Hulu gets shows sooner than Netflix.  It works out because we can watch them when we want to watch them.  We don’t have a DVR, so Hulu and Netflix work good.  That left just us needing cable even less.  But doesn’t it figure that the only channel that is not on Netflix or Hulu is the channel and the shows that I want to watch.  Well, he must have been doing a lot of research in order to get rid of cable.  He found CBS has their own streaming channel.  Ahhh . . . . my shows.  Anytime I want.  So we got rid of cable.

We didn’t have any fancy cable package because we don’t really watch that much “new” TV.  As I said, we tend to watch shows over and over and over again.  I think I mentioned that before in a post.  We have a lot of DVDs and Netflix works good for us.  Not only did we not have a lot of cable channels we didn’t have the channels in HD.  That is one of the reasons why my husband likes to watch the shows he watches on Hulu instead of when they are broadcast on TV because it is in HD.  Once he got Hulu for his shows the number of shows we watched on broadcast TV was down to three.  So he wanted to cancel cable, but as I said, CBS didn’t put their shows on Hulu or Netflix.

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia in the City of San Jose, Nia at the San Jose Community Centers, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Gentle Yoga, Group Ex City of San Jose, San Jose Group Ex classes, YMCA, Zumba, PiYoWhile he and I were in discussions about cancelling cable, a few of the CBS shows showed up on Netflix.  But not Hulu.  The shows on Netflix were past seasons.  Hmmmmm . . . interesting.  And then, as I said, he discovered CBS Access or whatever it is.  And his major sell was he held up the remote that controls the TV channels and he said, “When was the last time you used this?”  I looked at him and couldn’t say.  I laughed.  I really thought it was funny that I only watched three shows on one channel.  So yay!  Now we don’t have any TV channels and we can watch TV when we want.  I know we are kind of late to the party because we have a lot of friends that are the same way.  We will see how it goes.

We had our first giggle this past weekend while we were trying to decide if we were going to watch a re-run of Saturday Night Live.  We were discussing that it really wasn’t that good, when my husband said, “Oh, we can’t watch it even if we wanted to.”  Again, I laughed because we don’t have the TV channels any longer.  Ha!

I am already really enjoying the CBS channel on Thursday nights because I have to teach and usually I rush home to get dinner on the table by 8:00 so I can see Big Bang Theory.  I find that when I watch reruns I think I haven’t see the episode, but 10 minutes in I realize I have.  But what happens is I am busy with putting dinner on the table so I miss the first few minute.  Now . . . I can watch it when I want.  I think with both Hulu and CBS there is a time limit.  But so far I haven’t been affected by it on Hulu and we just got the CBS channel thing so I will have to see about that.

Another great thing is we have one less remote.  At one point when cable did something (I don’t even know what) they gave us a remote that we had to use INSTEAD of our TV remote.  We had five (eyes rolling).  Now we only have four.

Do you have cable?  How many channels do you have?  What are your favorite shows?  Do you have Netflix?  Do you have Hulu?

Posted in Misc | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments »

Goes With Everything

Posted by terrepruitt on April 23, 2015

Black onyx is a great stone because, well, it is black so it goes with everything.  Also if you are one that believes stones and crystals have properties that can help in supporting well being then you might benefit from black onyx.  The indication is that black onyx is good for releasing negative energy and helps with strengthening ones own energy.  I was given a pair of onyx earrings by a friend this week in one of my Nia classes. She said she received them as a free gift when she purchased something and admitted that she was passing them on because she couldn’t wear them. I was thrilled, it was kind of her to think of me! I have been wearing them everyday since.  Since I received them I have been interested in what properties it might have

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia in the City of San Jose, Nia at the San Jose Community Centers, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Gentle Yoga, Group Ex City of San Jose, San Jose Group Ex classes, YMCA, Zumba, PiYoThe stone is thought to protect, heal, and ground. It is believed to help strengthen ones’ self confidence. With that in mind some information states it is a good stone to keep near when you are going through stressful situations and times when you might feel drained both physically and emotionally . . . times of grief and sorrow. Some believe it helps one make decisions, and if any of you have suffered a death of a loved one you might concede that it is difficult to make decisions during that process. Those properties would be helpful. In addition there are beliefs that it helps one regain emotional balance as well as elevating fears and worries. All things that are needed when a loved one dies.  Of course, those things can be helpful when facing just the everyday challenges of life, it doesn’t even have to be a situation of great sorrow and/or loss.  Most of us could benefit from strengthening  of our energy and self confidence.

Additional information states there is the idea that black onyx helps treat bone disorders and blood disorders. One site Sobrietystones.com claims that this stone is “The Stone of Self Mastery and Self Control”. And “Can be used to deflect or absorb the negativity of others, and in that way is a good stone for protection from negative forces and influences.”

The combined information leads to the idea that this stone helps stabilize emotions.  I can see that one feeling more in control would feel as if their emotions are more stable and not so up and down.  Basically, to me with the main benefits of the stone all the other stuff seems logical.  With the ridding of negative energy one can feel more confident.  If one is more confident they have more faith in their decisions and have an easier time at making them.  When confident and able to make decision it is almost inevitable that the emotional roller coaster ride would end.

So . . . this sounds like a good stone to have around.  Especially if it is jewelery, because as I said, it goes with everything.

What do you think?  Could you use a stone that could ward off negative energy?  Would you like something to wear that gives you more confidence?  Do you have anything that goes with black?

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Foot Fitness Workshop — Ahhhhh!

Posted by terrepruitt on April 11, 2015

This week my friend and Nia student, Dr. Tanya Baldwin, invited me to her Foot Fitness Workshop she was holding today.  I shy away from stuff that has me working on my feet.  I tend to think I have to “save” my feet for my classes.  But, it occurred to me that thinking like that might be backwards.  I started thinking it would be a good idea to see what type of exercises and care I could do for my feet.  I think that Nia and yoga are great ways to exercise the feet.  Since both are done barefoot they allow for an individual to practice using the feet the way there were designed to be used.  Nia is done barefoot so that we can bend and flex and move our feet to help them with strength and balance.  But this workshop was solely (ha, ha, ha!) for the feet.  It was an amazing workshop.  I would HIGHLY recommend it to anyone with feet.

It was very informative and FASCINATING.  First it wasn’t so surprising that each of us had different issues with our feet.  So along that same line it wasn’t surprising that the different exercises presented different challenges for each of us.  What was surprises was how somewhat tiring it was.  Some of the exercises were as much BRAIN exercises as foot/muscles exercises.  Somewhat like what some of the things we do in Nia are – brain stuff!  With a couple of them the movement we were supposed to do with our foot was opposite of what we normally do.  For example pointing and flexing the foot.  Now when you point your toes you “point” your foot.  And when you flex your foot, your toes flex, too.  In one exercise we were pointing our toes then flexing our foot yet keeping our toes pointed.  It was hilarious.  Because at first the foot just doesn’t do it . . . but then it will, but you have to really think about it.  Or for some, even HOLD your toes in the point.

There were other exercises that really require thought.  Which is always great because that means that you are changing up patterns – both movement patterns and brain patterns.  So it is a win-win.

We started out with a self-assessment so we could see where we were at the start then sense how we felt at the end.  This included holding a pen (or not) and writing (or not) with our toes.  Then we did eleven “manual releases” without any props.  So just using our hands and the floor.  Some of these were not enjoyable for me.  My foot that I injured a few years back is very “stuck”.  So it did not enjoy some of the movements we did.

Then we had a soft spiky ball that lit up.  YUP!  That was really part of the fun.  Dr. Baldwin mentioned that at first she didn’t care for the lighting up part, but then she realized it could serve as a tool to help you see if you are putting enough pressure on the ball.  With this spiky ball, after another self-assessment, we rolled our foot over it and performed an exercise or two.

Then, our next set of exercises was with a towel.  YUP, a towel, a hand towel.  So this was great because maybe you don’t want to purchase a soft spiky ball, but most people have hand towels.  We did a variety of grabbing and moving the towels with our toes.  This portion included some other exercises (doming, inchworm, tapping, and strumming toes) without the towel.

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia in the City of San Jose, Nia at the San Jose Community Centers, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Gentle Yoga, Group Ex City of San Jose, San Jose Group Ex classes, YMCA, Zumba, PiYoThen we used a Theraband.  We did several exercises and stretches with the band.  This is the section where we did the pointed toes and flexed foot.  This section is the one that had me thinking a lot.  It was as if I had to keep my body from doing what it normally did.  It had to “forget” all that it has in its muscle memory.  The best tip from this section was when using the band to stretch the feet include the toes in the band.  I guess I think of the bands as stretching legs so I put the band over the arch of my foot.  Well, if the band is over the foot AND the toes, the toes can get involved in the stretching.  Ha!  Brilliant!

Then there was a section titled “Toe Corrector”.  Um . . . I don’t think my toes enjoyed being “corrected”.  We used a rubber band around our big toes and did various movements including walking, which was funny to me because — let’s just say I could use more practice walking.

The next section was Reflexology which sounds really nice, but it was the one that had us groaning the most.  This was done with a smaller than usual tennis ball.  We stood and rolled the ball under the various portions of our feet.  It is like that stretch or massage you know is good for you, but kinda doesn’t FEEL like it is good for you at the moment.

Then there was one last quick thing to help feet.  Kneeling with your toes curled.  By this time my right foot was tired so it didn’t care for the desired pose, where you are sitting on your heels.  But I was ok with the modifications where you take the weight off the toes by stretching forward and leaning on your arms.

This was a great workshop.  My feet are actually feeling pretty good.  Although I have to teach almost every day next week so I think I will soak them tonight just to help them recover further.

Easy(ish) things to do to help the feet.  Do you pamper your feet?  Do you specifically exercise your feet?

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Cancelling A Tradition

Posted by terrepruitt on April 4, 2015

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia in the City of San Jose, Nia at the San Jose Community Centers, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Gentle Yoga, Group Ex City of San Jose, San Jose Group Ex classes, YMCA, Zumba, PiYoWell, I just had to do it. And it is making me kind of sad.  But apparently it has been a long time coming.  I wrote about it in 2011.  So, it has been five years.  It is an end of an era.  As I typed the letter I remembered a time when I waited to open the package until my husband got home.  It was an exciting moment for me.  It was like a big reveal.  He did not care as much as I did, but it was exciting to me.  Every year I would get excited to see what pretty design they used for the snowflake.  What color the “gems” would be.  But the last two years I opened it with trepidation.  Was I going to have to go through the trouble of sending it back?  Well, this year, I didn’t have to go through the trouble of sending it back because when I called and said it was not acceptable they just said to discard it.  And they sent me a new one.  Yeah, I dreaded opening it too.  And for good reason.  The “gems” are all crooked and not quite where they should be.  My Lenox ornaments are something I collected.  They were something I treasured.  Well, this was it.  I am cancelling my annual snowflake subscription.  I really don’t see the point in paying for something of which the quality continues to get worse and worse.  So I am sending off a letter of cancellation.

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia in the City of San Jose, Nia at the San Jose Community Centers, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Gentle Yoga, Group Ex City of San Jose, San Jose Group Ex classes, YMCA, Zumba, PiYoSilly, I know.  But, to me it is always a little sad when a well loved tradition must be stopped.  There are many reasons traditions and customs must change.  Some of those reasons are good.  But when something has to stop because it just isn’t worth it any longer, that is sad.  I could continue to receive them and have that feeling of dread when I do.  I think the package actually sat on my counter for a few days before I even bothered to open it this year.  See?  Not that same.  Not the same as being so excited to open it you want to share the experience with your loved one.  Not.  The.  Same.

I know this is silly, but . . . . since I brought it up a few years ago, I thought I might as well do a follow up.  Plus, if you have seen any of my pictures at Christmastime you have seen my Lenox ornaments.  They are so pretty and sparkly I always take photos of them and I always share.  So, you are familiar with my love of them.  Sigh.

Handcrafted really is not a good selling point unless the quality of it is good.  And, the boxes say, “American By Design”.  Means nothing, especially when the quality is bad.

When I think about cancelling, I don’t want to.  I still want to receive my pretty ornament each year.  But then when I think about the dread and the quality I have been receiving . . . I just gotta do it.

Perhaps there is another collector type of ornament I can collect?  Do you have anything you collect?

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