Not too long ago another Nia Teacher and I were practicing Nia in a local park. She had brought her laptop so that we could look at the DVD and practice the routine. As you might realize it is very difficult to see a laptop screen outside when you are not right in front of it. We were dancing to the DVD, so we were not right in front of it. She also brought a long a little round speaker. She hooked it up to her laptop to help boost the sound. When we finally gave up on the laptop she plugged the speaker into my iPhone. Cool. It was round and had pretty good sound. It had a little leather looking case and was it just so cute. Of course, I wanted one. It is perfect to carry around “just in case”. I pretty much always have my iPhone because I have my music on it, but not everyplace I have taught has a sound system so a little round speaker would be GREAT! It could fit in my purse.
So to Amazon I went. I am the type that looks at something online for a little while before I decide to buy it. I have a house FULL of stuff. I do not need anymore stuff. I am a stuff collector. So I tend to hesitate before I buy more stuff. When I looked online I was seeing a little round speaker for more money than I need to spend on stuff I don’t need. 😉 Right? I mean, when I am buying something I can live without I tend to have a limit as to how much I will spend. So I looked around on the website. I was finding some nice speakers. I read some reviews. I looked here and there.
I spotted a BLUE one (uh-oh, BLUE?). It was round and cute and it was blue! It was rechargeable so it doesn’t take batteries. I really like that. It also expanded to give you “larger” sound. But since it was blue, cute, expandable and rechargeable I thought it would be more than the other speakers I was looking at, but lo and behold it was LESS. And totally in my self-alloted price range. But I still hesitated because I really don’t need it and even though I thought it was completely affordable I could always use that money for something else. So, in my normal style I didn’t buy it right then. I like to “sit on it”. But then you know what happens? I think about it all the time. I end up in situations where, “Oh it would be perfect if I had that (fill in the blank) that I wanted.”
When I always find myself thinking about the item for a while, I usually give in. And I am so glad I did. It is so cute. And the sound is pretty good for the price and what it is. The sound is WAY better than the sound that comes out of the iPhone. A mini-speaker. Yay! Does it give GREAT sound? No. Is it stereo? No. But it give really good sound and I can hear the music much better than on my iPhone.
The description on Amazon says: “Speaker works with any 3.5 mm headphone jack, perfect for laptops, cell phones, portable game devices, MP3 players, etc.” So you can use it on all of your devices.
It doesn’t come with a nice leather case like my friend’s but it does have its own little bag. That is good enough for me. I just like something that fits the device AND its cord. Something some people might like is that its audio cord does not come apart from its charging cord. I know we end up having so many cords that it is easy to misplace (or as my friend says, “Put away so well.”) some of the cords. When you have a cord to charge the device and a separate one to use it sometimes the power cord can get lost because you don’t use it as often. Well, these two cords do not come apart. There is a little plastic separator that hold them together, it is the little square below the USB connector and the audio plug, and they are connected near the end too and become one cord. The cords also have a build in “clip” to keep them neat and tidy. In this picture it is to the left of the bag, the black plastic square. Cool. All built-in!
Blue things make me happy. Blue things that are cute make me happy. Blue things that are cute that allow me to hear my Nia music and all music better make me really happy. And that it was less than $20 makes me so happy I want share!
I think you have probably heard that before. You might have even said it. I know that I have. It doesn’t make sense. One pound of muscle CANNOT weigh more than one pound of fat, that is impossible. A pound of something does not weigh more than a pound of something else. Nope, just not possible. Doesn’t matter if one pound is feathers and another pound is rocks. As you probably know, it is really about volume or the SPACE that one takes up over the other. A POUND of fat actually takes up more space than a POUND of muscle, but they still WEIGH the same. There is really no getting around that weight thing.
Sometimes a scale that measures weight might be a little deceiving in terms of size and health. It all depends upon your goal. Right? I always say that, but it is true. If your mainly concerned with how much you weigh then that is what you should focus on. If you want to be smaller then maybe a scale is not the best way to measure that. If you want to build muscle or be stronger then you might not want to be concerned with the weight because it is difficult to get weight to go down and muscle to go up. Of course, this is all very general, I am not saying one is good or one is bad, I am really just trying explain the point a bit.
I find, on occasion, one of the best ways to explain something is to use a visual aide. Here is a picture.
What you see is three pounds of butter with a three pound weight. What is butter? Fat. I am using the weight as a rough sample of muscle. This is three pounds of fat compared to three pounds of muscle. Yeah, yeah, I know it is not exact, but it gives us a rough idea right? You can clearly see that three pounds of fat take up much more room than three pounds of “muscle”.
If you are working out and exercising to “lose weight” your scale might not always tell you the accurate truth. Because first of all usually we are working out and exercising to lose fat and one of the best ways to do that is with strength training. A muscled body burns more calories than a fatty body, no matter what the body is doing. So one way to help lose the fat is to gain muscle. But if you gain muscle the number on your scale might not go down as much as you think it should. Second, if you are not doing some type of resistance training you would be losing muscle.
If you are doing something in your fitness routine that builds muscle and the scale is not moving down or it is not going down fast enough for you, don’t get discouraged. Maybe it is time to take out the measure tape. It could be that you are going down in size but staying the same or even gaining pounds.
Also remember that in order for you to actually build bigger muscles you have to follow a specific training plan so chances are you are not going to get bigger. Women – in general – don’t need to be concerned with that. That is another great reason to measure because the body will change so it might look different or seem bigger to you, but with a measure of it, you will know.
Not too long before I hurt my foot I thought my scale was broken. It kept showing me the same weight but my clothes weren’t fitting the same. I threw my scale away. Turns out it really wasn’t broken, I was NOT gaining weight, I was just losing muscle mass. So now that my foot is better (better, not the same, but better) I want to get back to having more muscle. I thought this would be a great way to remind me. Sometimes I know things, I just need a reminder, what about you? Do you sometimes need a reminder? I am sure that you know that muscles DOES NOT weigh more than fat — not possible, but I thought I’d give us a visual to keep in our heads.
YAY! So happy I did it again. I had henna tattoos done in time for the Nia Jam. It had been way too long since my first henna tattoos. I have wanted to do it again since then. It just so happened that we were going to a party on Saturday night and the Nia Jam was on Sunday so it was the perfect time to get my feet done. It has been suggested that I need to love my healing foot more. Sometimes I don’t love it since it doesn’t work properly. I thought if I had henna done it would at least make me think it was pretty. I was right. Henna and Beyond does beautiful work so I think my feet look very pretty.
I had the henna done on Thursday afternoon. The henna can come off as soon as it is dried but the longer you leave it on the better the stain. The henna is squeezed onto your skin via a cone, like a small icing bag. As I mentioned in my post when I had henna done before, henna is applied and it rests on the skin like puffy paint would. It is best to leave it on your skin until dried. The longer you leave it on the darker the tattoo will be.
Rachna has printed information, but I didn’t want to take it and waste the paper because I pretty much knew what to expect. I read the information to be sure, then asked if it was on her site because I knew I wouldn’t be able to remember it exaclty. The lengths of time were a little different on the paper than that which are on the site, but they are just guidelines so you’ll have an idea of what to do. Both the paper and the website state that it is best to leave the puffy-like henna on for at least 2 hours. The paper said up to 12 hours. I am not sure why not past 12 hours, but it worked out that it was exactly 12 hours after having it done that I was ready to take it off. I slept with socks on so I wouldn’t get henna all over the bed. While not a lot of henna dropped off in the socks, I can’t say that it would not have in the bed. It could be that the socks kept it secure.
When I got up I was able to brush most of it off with just my hand. The rest I just scratched off with my nails, although she recommends using the smooth side of a butter knife. The information says that 24 hours after it is applied it will be darkest. Hmmm? Here is a picture of mine about 26 hours after. The information also said to apply oil because it will make it darker. Really? Ok. It said any cooking oil would do, but I have some moisturizing olive oil, plus some Arnica Allay. I used both. I put the Arnica Ally on my toes and the olive oil on the rest of the art. I have applied it a couple of times. And here is what it looks like exactly a week later.
I am happy. I think Rachna does a beautiful job. After looking at her books of samples I told her the designs I liked and the ones I didn’t and this is what she came up with. Brilliant! She free-handed all this and designed it as she went along.
I have also included a picture of what it looks like today. Which is a week and two days after having it done. You might notice that this time it is much darker than last time I had the henna tattoos. There are several things that could be the reason for that. One, I let it completely dry this time. Last time I did something very silly (so silly I will not even mention it here) thinking it would help keep the flaking henna from getting all over the place. What actually helps it from flaking all over is to let it dry and to not bump it off. It stays on pretty secure. Also, Rachna said that she now mixes the lemon and sugar* into the henna and so that could be another reason. And the oil, I really think applying the olive oil helped make it darker. In the pictures today I actually have a “coat” of olive oil them so they might even look shiny.
Yay! I am so happy. One of the reasons I had hesitated in doing henna tattoos again is I remember the henna flaking off and getting everywhere, but this time it didn’t. I am sure that has to do with me following her tips. I kept telling myself, “She’s been doing this for almost 30 years. I really need to trust she knows what she is talking about with all of her little tricks and tips.” And I did, and it is awesome!
*According to her website this is a mixture you make and apply that acts as a sealant.
July 9, 2011 was Fitbloggin’ World Meetup Day. I had heard of Fitbloggin’ when I was asked if Nia could be there next year. I hadn’t heard of it before or that I could remember. When I was looking for Nia people online (a few years) I found Foodie McBody on Twitter, I think. She posted a blog post about Nia. I was so excited that she had posted about Nia that I commented on her post and we starting talking a bit. I hadn’t realized when I first read her post that she is not too far from me. I think that is how it happened. I am not sure anymore, all the social media sites get blurred as I connect with more people on more than one site. But I did actually meet her briefly at a Nia Jam. And now we keep in contact via Twitter, Blogs, and FaceBook. So she was the one who asked me if Nia would be represented at the next Fitbloggin’ Conference. I will have to look into that. In the meantime the Fitbloggin’ community decided to have a World Meetup Day where Fitbloggin’ bloggers would meet in different locations all over the world. I think that is cool. Foodie volunteered to do it at her residence and she asked if I would attend and do a Nia demo.
Of course I wanted to learn more about Fitbloggin’ and, of course I wanted to introduce Nia to a group of Fitness people. So I went. There was a walk, a lunch, a talk, and a Nia demo. When I got in my car to go there I was confident I could get there just fine. Well, I didn’t get there just fine. I was later than I wanted to be. I made it for the end of lunch and the talk. The talk was awesome. Danica of Danica’s Daily shared information about how to monetize your blog. She talked about some fabulous tricks and tips. It was awesome.
She talked about tags, SEO, advertisements that you place on your site to get paid on, placement of things, colors, text, hosting, non-hosting, names, logos, content, and a lot more. Believe it or not she covered all that in an hour. It was very interesting.
A handful of people actually stayed for the Nia demo. We were not planning on doing an entire Nia Routine, we did a few songs. As often is the case with Nia the participants were surprised they worked up — or almost worked up a sweat. When you do an entire routine there is definitely a chance to work up a sweat. It all depends on what you put into it. Just like your blog. There are so many things that you can do with a blog it really depends on what you put into it. We received a lot of great information that day so we can take it from there.
I am thankful to Foodie for inviting me and letting me share Nia with the Fitbloggers. Originally the group was going to be much bigger, but things came up. It still was a great turn out and I was happy to meet all that attending. Thank you, Foodie, I appreciate it! I was happy to have a glimpse into the Fitbloggin’ community.
Two more timely posts about the Nor Cal Fitbloggin’ MeetUp:
Wow. I was practicing a new-to-me Nia routine this morning. I had taught it Monday but to me there is always room for improvement. I can always know my music more intimately. I can always cue better. I can always do a move differently. That is the thing about Nia. There is always so many ways to do the move. I find that it is best to keep it simple when first introducing a new routine. It is best to just do the basics and let the class get it down a bit before showing them any alternatives. The Nia students that get the basics down quickly can easily pick up on alternative ways to do the move themselves. Because they are already at the point of expanding. But I try to remember to keep it simple so I like to practice and learn it better. It is not always easy when the music just “makes” you move. It is easy to get carried away in the music and just start dancing. That is what Nia allows you to do, stick to the routine or dance your own dance. Well, this morning I kind of had a “routine”. Well, at least I had a plan. Ok, maybe more accurately I had a list. But sometimes even though you start out doing the first thing on the list and even the second thing, you get off the path.
It doesn’t even have to be a big thing that gets you off track. It doesn’t have to be a bad thing. Sometimes it could be a little thing or a good thing that derails you. But either way, you are off track. You find yourself at 11:00 pm with nothing to post about. I thought I had all afternoon to think of something, research it if necessary, write it up, then post, but I got off track.
THEN . . . I typed up this entire post. I was just about to add a link and save it and the laptop I was working on shut down. And I was writing in Notepad because I don’t like writing in the little box that WordPress gives me nor do I like the “full page version”. I write in Notepad, the laptop doesn’t have MS Word so it doesn’t automatically save. So this is my SECOND attempt at this post. And I am sorry to say, but the first one was much better. I had deposited all my thoughts onto the screen so I forgot them.
I am that way. I write something down so I don’t have to remember it and believe me, I don’t. I type up a thought, an idea, a post, I don’t remember it. It as if putting it in type takes it out of my head and leaves a blank spot. Which I guess can lead me right back to my post. I had a blank spot for it.
I even found myself click on “random articles” on Wiki. I figured I was safe clicking on “random” on wiki it is not like video roulette where I don’t know what I’ll get. I got a few about people I had never heard of. One person had been in “Charles in Charge” so I have been signing that for an hour. But another was about “Feather Bowling”. Made me laugh. Apparently:
Feather Bowling is a game played with wooden balls shaped like wheels of cheese. The balls are rolled down a dirt or synthetic alley towards a feather sticking out of the dirt at the other end. The object of the game is to get the ball as close to the feather as possible.
The only place to play the game in the United States is the Cadieux Cafe in Detroit, Michigan.
Who knew? Well now we do. And some of us might even have the theme song from Charles in Charge in our head. Either way, I posted and I shared and that is where I am right now. How about you? Signing? Dancing? Writing down thoughts and forgetting them? Feather bowling? Staying on track? Talk to me . . . .
I am working on learning a new Nia routine. After getting coffee this morning I sat down to listen to the music and bar it. I had done some work on some of the songs already, so I was continuing. I had opened up a slider because the morning was cool and I wanted to let some cool air in and let the cat enjoy the outside. As I was sitting there I started to hear a squirrel barking. I got up to look and I couldn’t see him, but I could hear him well enough I knew he was somewhere along the edge of the yard. I spotted him on our roof. I asked him why he was barking, but I was unable to understand his answer. He kept barking as he ran from one level to the next. Since he sounded so upset I was curious as to why. He sounded as if he was near so I looked again. He was on our roof where I couldn’t see him from the slider. He barked non-stop.
Being the well-trained squirrel sap that I am, I went outside to give them some peanuts and I cleaned the bird bath and filled it with water. I thought maybe he wanted peanuts and water. But he kept barking. I think he actually moved to a place where he could see me and he knew I could see him. He was barking for so long that I decided to video him.
This is him. He is on our neighbor’s roof.
After this he stopped. Maybe he just wanted me to put him on YouTube. Maybe he is not happy that the blue jays are eating the nuts. They usually share pretty well, but the only thing I can think of is that maybe the blue jays are a bit more aggressive than normal because yesterday I noticed they brought babies with them. I don’t know if you have ever experienced baby blue jays. At this point they are flying fine and have their balance so they are a few months old, but they still have that baby cry. They are so round and fluffy and look bigger than the adults. Yesterday one just stood on the table and cried for food. But the adult with him wanted him to fend for himself. But MAYBE this is what the squirrel was barking about today, but I dont’ know.
After he stopped barking he sat in the tree like this. Giving me some kind of “eye”; evil or squirrely you decide.
So, yeah, this is part of what I mean when I posted the post about workout distractions. I could ignore them, but often times they are making a ruckus for a reason and if they are doing it in our yard I like to try to figure out why. Eventually, I shut the door and closed the curtain so I could bar some more of the Nia music and get a Nia workout in. I wanted to show you more of the “distractions” from our yard. Silly squirrel.
It is difficult for me to do Nia at home. In Nia we actually move our head. “Huh?” You say. Well next time you are in a cardio workout out class or an exercise class you might notice that you don’t often (or at all) move your head around purposefully. In Nia we look up, we look around, we look down, we out. We could just be moving our head to sense the sensation of it, or we could be doing it to allow action to follow intention or . . . well, whatever idea we are using at the moment to move our head, we move our head. ALL AROUND. Which, makes it difficult for me to workout at home. When I look up I see spider webs. When I look around I see dust. When I look down I see Spot. When I look out I see squirrels.
We have cathedral ceilings, so there is never a time when we don’t have spider webs or something way up there. When I see it I start thinking, “I need to get the duster and the ladder and get that.” Then there is the dust. The dust never seems to NOT be there even right as I am dusting. Then there is the cat. She either wants to go out, or be pet, or she just chooses to lay right in the middle of my workout floor. And I have learned that I absolutely have to keep my curtains closed. I don’t care what the weather is, I don’t care what the temperature is, I have to keep my curtains closed because I get REALLY distracted when I don’t. Here are two examples of what I see.
First he comes to the door. Tentative. Then he will stand that like that for a long time. I have tried to just keep on going and just let him watch me dance, but after a while I feel bad. He will just stand there with his paws at his chest and look at me. He has stood like that for at least an entire song. I always end up stopping and giving him or, more accurately, them nuts. When one gets peanuts the others come along.
Then this is what they do. This was taken on a very hot day. The mat was in the shade and had been for a while so he just plopped down. I think he was enjoying the shade. A little snack in the shade. He just looked at me while he ate his snack.
They have come up to the doors and windows and put both paws on the glass and looked inside. I imagine I hear, “Hey, you in there! Where are the peanuts?” It is rather funny. I am not certain, but I think it is one in particular that does that. My hubby named him Brutus. When he comes up to the door, he will stay there and take a peanut from me. Sometimes he barely lets me put the peanut out the door.
Yes, one of the things we do in Nia is to not think about things like spider webs, dust, the grocery list, the things we need to do after class and when I am outside of my home I can do that much better. In my house I get distracted. There are so many distractions. So one way I eliminate at least one is I keep the curtains shut. On the days that I took these pictures I had obviously not done so.
While I was doing a Nia DVD today, I kept sensing some discomfort in my back. I have a spot, a muscle I guess, that sometimes becomes “whiny”. I think that particular spot on my back, directly next to my backbone to the right, right at the edge of my shoulder-blade, holds all of my stress and tension. When it came to the floorplay exercise portion of the Nia workout I was focused on my back. It was really getting my attention. I have had a student assisting me with my toe/foot and she often says she is “releasing it”. I wondered if I could touch my back and “release” it. So I did. I pressed on the spot that was speaking to me so loudly. It seemed to help. I believe in the power of touch. But since it is a place on my back that is needing touch it is not easy for me to get the entire area. While I was laying on the floor I was wishing I had a tennis ball to roll on.
Have you ever heard that? Using a tennis ball to massage your back. I had a friend who mentioned to me that she was told to put a couple of tennis balls in a sock and roll on them. You can roll on them against a wall or on the floor, whichever is most comfortable for you. I had heard to use the balls, but I hadn’t heard of the sock until she mentioned it. The tennis balls could be used to massage more than just your back, you could roll it under your legs or on your arms.
I don’t have tennis ball, but I do have a rather large “super ball”. I don’t know if that is what it is called, but that is what I remember we used to call them when I was young. You know those balls that bounce really well? It is a “The Incredibles” ball. It is kind of old so it is yellowed. It is also really hard. Much more hard than a tennis ball and a little smaller. I remembered that the last time I saw it I had used it for my foot and it was in the entertainment center. How convenient? It was right there. YAY!
At first I tried using it while laying on the floor. That didn’t work so well because it was difficult to roll on the floor without using my elbows which, in doing so, caused me to rise away from the ball. Plus the ball is really hard. So I used it with the wall. I leaned on the ball while it was on the wall. WOW! Awesome. I think the muscle that gets annoyed is small and there was almost a clicking sound as the ball rolled over it. That is how tight and grumpy it was. As I mentioned, I had used the ball on my feet before, it is a great foot massagerm just rolling it under my foot, but I hadn’t used it on my back. Glad I thought of that.
So what do you think? Have you heard of using tennis balls to massage sore muscles? Have you ever tried it? Do you use the sock method? Oh do tell, I would love to hear about it. It could definitely help with DOMS. What do you say?
This evening I went to a funeral of a man I did not know. He was a former boss of my husband. He was a huge influence in my husband’s life, in his career. According to my husband he was more of a mentor and a teacher than a person that dictates tasks for you to carry out. He was one of those bosses that you are lucky to have when you get one. A boss who actually inspires you to be a better employee, a better person. This is what I thought my husband was saying when he talked about this man. Even so a funeral is not something you look forward to. They are sad and uncomfortable. I am one of those people who believe that grieving is a very personal thing and we all do it differently. If you are one that sits in the pew and weeps loudly, that is fine, but that is not to say that the person next to you with a dry eye cares any less. Everyone grieves in their own way. No one can say what is right and what is wrong. Not having known the man nor his wife, I was a little curious when we walked up to the door and the smiling tiny figure introduced herself as his wife. Her smile was so big and genuine. She lit up more when she heard my husband’s name. We stood right inside the doorway so I heard her greet everyone as they arrived. She was happy to see and meet everyone that came up. She was allowing herself to feel joy as the friends who loved her husband came to celebrate his life.
When she got up to speak that is what she said, she said we were there to celebrate his life. She admitted that it was sad and that we will miss him, but he was so happy and positive the gathering was to be a celebration. She said she was looking forward to hearing stories about her husband. She said she was looking forward to the laughter. She said that while there might be tears, while there will probably be tears, they will be tears of love. Wow! It was amazing. “Tears of love.” (I love that!)
I am not sure, but it sounded like he might have been sick for a while and maybe even suffering so maybe not having him suffer was a relief. I know I would hate to see my loved ones suffer. I cannot speak to the actual background, I can only tell you what I saw and this woman was truly celebrating the LIFE (not the death) of her husband.
All the people who spoke confirmed what my husband said and more. They all said that this man was positive and he always smiled. A large group of his employees and co-workers were there and they all said he was a great boss. It was awesome. I really don’t think I have EVER heard so much laughter at a funeral. It was amazing. When someone dies, it is beyond sad, there are sooooo many reasons to be sad; they will be missed, they will miss things to come that are happening here and sharing that sadness is a way people begin the healing process and begin to move on. There is also great healing to be had from a celebration. Laughter is a great thing. Tears are always going to come, but there will not always be a chance to sit and hear stories and tell stories and laugh about the stories. It was nice that this gathering was held to allow for people in his life to speak of the great times they had with him. The widow said she enjoyed the stories and the laughter. Even if this celebration only gave her a few hours of relief from tears it really was a celebration of life.
“President Harry S. Truman led the effort to establish a single holiday for citizens to come together and thank our military members for their patriotic service in support of our country.”
This day replaced “separate Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force Days. The single-day celebration stemmed from the unification of the Armed Forces under one department — the Department of Defense.”
I believe that we sometimes forget the sacrifices that are made. Regardless of our beliefs or political inclinations, regardless of how we feel about war there are people who volunteer to protect us and this country. With their service they and their families make HUGE sacrifices. This day was created so that we could thank them all.
Other things might distract us from stopping and taking a moment to recognize the reality of the situation. If you have a chance thank someone in the military for all they have done.
I spotted a BLUE one (uh-oh, BLUE?). It was round and cute and it was blue! It was rechargeable so it doesn’t take batteries. I really like that. It also expanded to give you “larger” sound. But since it was blue, cute, expandable and rechargeable I thought it would be more than the other speakers I was looking at, but lo and behold it was LESS. And totally in my self-alloted price range. But I still hesitated because I really don’t need it and even though I thought it was completely affordable I could always use that money for something else. So, in my normal style I didn’t buy it right then. I like to “sit on it”. But then you know what happens? I think about it all the time. I end up in situations where, “Oh it would be perfect if I had that (fill in the blank) that I wanted.”
When I always find myself thinking about the item for a while, I usually give in. And I am so glad I did. It is so cute. And the sound is pretty good for the price and what it is. The sound is WAY better than the sound that comes out of the iPhone. A mini-speaker. Yay! Does it give GREAT sound? No. Is it stereo? No. But it give really good sound and I can hear the music much better than on my iPhone.
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