Posted by terrepruitt on December 24, 2011
It is Christmas Eve and while I never really take time off from Nia and being self-employed, I am posting about decorations again. Another post inspired by yet another blog friend. My friend shared her snowmen with us on her blog and I told her I wanted to share ours. I wasn’t sure how, but I took pictures anyway. I was just going to e-mail them to her, but then I thought I should just post them on Facebook. But then I decided that snowmen would be a nice little Christmas Eve post. Some of my favorite decorations that we have are snowmen. We have one set in particular that I always receive compliments on. They were our first set and they are simple and sweet. They always go in the same place every year. Some of our other snowmen migrate around the house. Sometimes I forget where I put what so things are not always the same. But these ones always go in the same spot — basically. They might end up on the left or the right or the center, but they are always on the same shelf.
So funny . . . now that I am actually looking at them while cropping the picture, they aren’t really even snowmen, are they? They were labeled snowmen when I bought them (I think) so I think of them as the family of snowmen. Well, whatever they are they are cute and sparkly!
You might notice that a few of our snowmen are snow angels. I really like that. They are so cute. I actually didn’t put up a set of our hanging snow angels. I didn’t put up a lot this year. When I was decorating I allowed the fact that our tree was dead three days after we bought it to put a damper on my Christmas decorating spirit. I didn’t put as many ornaments on the tree as usual because the more it was touched the more the needles just fell off. I was afraid it wouldn’t last until Christmas. With this being our first Holiday Season without John’s mom, the whole tree thing made me sad. Then since we weren’t going to have anyone over during the Holidays I decided the less I put up, the less I will have to clean around and the less I will have to take down. I do have a goal of “Christmas everywhere you look” so I did that, it is just not as much as usual. But it is just fine. I do “tests” and turn my head this way and that, and YUP! still Christmas wherever I look so it’s grand!
There are snowmen in various spots of the house. I believe last year these (the ones directly to the left, pictured in front of the sleigh) were our latest addition. I do not collect snowmen, nor do I particularly fancy them, there are just some that I see and I like. But I don’t like all snowmen. I like sparkle, glitter, shine, and blue. So I really love that they make so many Chanukah decorations because the color scheme for that seems to be blue! So yay, more blue!
Do you decorate for Christmas? Or for the Holidays that you and your family celebrate?
I wish you a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and peace and joy throughout the year!
Posted in Misc | Tagged: angels, Chanukah decorations, Christams Eve, Christmas, Christmas decorations, Facebook, Facebook Friend, Hanukkah, Hanukkah decorations, Happy Holidays, Nia, snow angels, Snowmen, Snowpeople, Twitter | 10 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on December 22, 2011
I first want to say that Nia in San Jose is on it’s regular schedule even with the surrounding Holidays. Next, I want to say with so much holiday stuff around me it is more fun to post about decorations, cards sent, cards received, gifts given and received, Christmas Trees, ornaments, lights, and the cheer, than about how to exercise “off” those extra calories you might be consuming. It is better to avoid eating too much than to try to work it off. Many websites give you advice on how to avoid over indulging at parties, I posted one myself last year. They are articles of advice on how to keep motivated during the holidays everywhere you turn. As you know I like to post about other things. I love Christmas and all of its decorations and cheer that it brings. I love how people get creative with gifts and decorations. When I first saw this I wanted to post about it. But I often hesitate because I do also want to post about exercises and working out, but this kept popping into my head. I love it that much.
I have a friend I know through blogging. I believe I “met” him on another friend’s blog. I forget exactly how the timeline went but we started following eachother on Twitter and we are friends on Facebook. He is one of those people that seems to be everywhere. I don’t know how he does it, but he comments or “likes” my posts and my photos on several sites. He is one of those people that is very supportive. He is always there to support me in my internet dabblings.
He takes great pictures. I am always amazed at the shots he gets on his morning walks. But the latest photo that had me clapping with glee and I just can’t get out of my head is the photo of his book tree. I keep thinking, “Who would think of that?” Well, the answer is a man that works in a bookstore, but still, I love it. It is so cute and so imaginative. Really why can’t you decorate anything, right. I also kind of think of it as a bit of a joint effort. He, of course, came up with the biggest part, putting it together and stringing it with garland. I just make a tiny suggestion of using paper clips (or a strong wire) to hang the ornaments.
This is one of those things that just makes me happy. Do you have simple things in your life that make you happy and make you smile? This is one of them. Simon is often making me laugh and smile, but I really loved this one and wanted to share. I received permission to post his picture here. You can see it here (click) on one of his blogs.
A note to Simon: Simon, my friend, you are a constant source of smiles and laughter to me. I appreciate how you are always so supportive with your “likes” and comments. I think you are a great photographer and look forward to the pictures of your morning walks and all your pictures. Thank you for this lovely book tree, it makes me giggle when I think about it.
_____________
I hope you all enjoyed his little book tree. I hope that no matter what holiday you celebrate at this time of year you are having a happy and peaceful time. Thanks for being here!
Posted in Misc | Tagged: a book tree, a tree made of books, Christmas, Christmas decorations, Christmas Ornaments, Christmas Tree, Facebook, Facebook Friend, holiday stuff, Holidays, Nia, Nia San Jose, San Jose Nia, Simon's Book Tree, Twitter | 6 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on December 20, 2011
Last Monday on the way home from my Nia Class I stopped at the store to buy a huge bunch of veggies. I was wondering what I was going to cook them in. I needed a new pan. I think that it is perfect acceptable to give pots and pans as a gift — when one asks for it/them. Last Christmas I asked for a pan. A 14 inch fry type pan. I had a really difficult time finding one. I really wonder why it is so hard to find such a large pan. It is not as difficult to find a 12 inch pan and everyone; every store, every brand, EVERYONE has a 10 inch pan. But a 14 inch pan is really difficult to find. Once they go over 12 inches they start measuring by quart it seems. Last year I had to search and search and search but I finally found one. It was great.
A lot of my pans spin on the glass top. The other ones wobble. When pans don’t lie flat on the glass surface they don’t heat very evenly. My 12 inch pan is a wobbler AND a spinner. And it is not as large as I would like. I wanted a 14 inch pan, and as I said I had finally found one. I was so happy when I found it that I asked for it for Christmas. It was 14 inch, it was non-stick, it was affordable. So that was one of my Christmas presents last year. I used it all the time. It was heavy enough that it didn’t spin on the glass top. It was also flat so it didn’t wobble. I used it all the time. A lot of the pictures on my blog of food are in that pan.
But it was affordable and maybe on this side of cheap because after a year it is rusting. This pan did NOT go in the dishwasher. Things that say they are dishwasher safe don’t always last as long when they go through a washing with the tough detergent that goes into dishwashers. Plus I am not even sure this pan would have fit in the dishwasher. So it never went in the dishwasher. Well, it started rusting anyway, so now I can’t use it.
I was on a quest for a new 14 inch pan. I could get another one same as the one I got last year, but then would I be having to buy a new pan every year? Probably. I could get one to match my really nice set, but they are not cheap. So I debated. Buy it not, buy it. I have always wanted it, but it is difficult for me to spend that much on a pan, but once you do, they really last forever. I decided that I would ask for it as a Christmas present. Not a traditional gift. A lot of money for just one thing, but I figured if you added up all the other stuff it would equal about the same.
So, I am happy to report that I will be getting a 14 inch all-clad for Christmas. Just the thought makes me happy. The other day I wanted to cook a huge pan of veggies. As I was adding more and more vegetables, I kept hoping they would all fit. I kept wishing I had a bigger pan. I kept thinking . . . . why is it so hard to find a 14 inch pan? Doesn’t everyone want to cook AT LEAST 14 inches of veggies? I mean a pan full of veggies with a little bit of rice is a great meal. The larger the pan the more veggies. Oooooo! That is exciting! More veggies.
Can’t wait! Can’t wait! Can’t wait. I am so like a kid at Christmas. I love getting surprise gifts. I love getting gifts I know are coming. I love getting gifts I will use all the time. And you know I will use that pan all the time. You know it will become a regular feather on my blog.
What about you? Are you one to ask for something practical for a gift? Are you ok with getting a small appliance or cookware for Christmas?
Posted in Misc | Tagged: 14 inch pan, AllClad, Christmas gift, Monday Nia class, Nia, Nia class, non-stick, practical gift, small appliances | 10 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on December 17, 2011
I am so impress I have to share AND comment:
I love the list of 25 clever ideas to make life easier. So amazing. Some of the ideas I have seen before, some of them were new to me. The are all pretty awesome. I love the straw and strawberry idea. Kind of funny using a straw to “pit” a strawberry. Saves you from having to buy a tool for it. Someone try the walnut on the wood and tell me if it REALLY works. And for how long? I mean I am thinking that it is just the oil from the walnut that moisturizes the wood so the scratch is concealed. I bet you could use any oil to do that. Regarding the TV, I guess if you HAVE to get crayon marks off a TV or computer screen you would be desperate enough to try WD-40. Otherwise no way. I can’t imagine putting WD-40 on a monitor.
I do know how to get crayon or wax off the carpet. It might even work for other fabric. Use an iron and a paper bag or any type of rough paper. Put the paper bag over the crayon/wax and then run the hot iron over it. The heat from the iron melts the crayon/wax and the paper absorbs it. If it is a lot of crayon/wax it is not a quick fix, but it works. I had a melted candle spill onto carpet once and I was able to get it all up with this method. But it took me a couple of weeks. I didn’t sit there for long, long periods of time. I would probably do a bag at a time. Eventually it all came up.
I love the apple idea. I can’t wait to try that. Seems like that would work. The old, “put lemon (or citrus) on it” doesn’t work for me because it DOES leave a lemon taste. I don’t care for my apples to taste like lemon. Wouldn’t it be fabulous to pull out a pillow case full of the entire sheet set? I like that idea, but my hubby does do the sheets like shown here and he gets them completely flat. I have mentioned before how I can’t tell the difference between the flat sheet and the fitted sheet.
The bowl does kind of help the volume of the iPhone. But you may know I have a little blue speaker, so I don’t need a bowl. Ingenious use of a wet-wipe container–storing plastic bags in it, but I just use a plastic bag to store my plastic bags and it works pretty good too!
I really want to hear from you to know if some of these things really work. Can you really get sand off your skin by using baby powder? Then how do you get the baby powder off? Sand? Or water? Which you could have just used to get the sand off in the first place, right?
I would imagine that putting a velcro strip on the wall could help store a lot of things besides just soft toys in a child’s room. Ok, I LOVE the wrapping paper idea. It is pretty smart to use the ceiling of a closet to store wrapping paper, but my closet ceilings are REALLY high. I actually have a wrapping paper holder that hangs in my closet.
I have heard of using a nylon over a vacuum cleaner hose to find stuff. GREAT idea! I recently heard of cutting Xs in a shirt box to make a cupcake holder. Another GREAT idea. I love the magnetic strip for storing bobby pins, but I honestly didn’t realize that other people used bobby pins any longer. Shoes in a shower cap. Great idea. I use plastic bags. The ones that the newspaper come in. Or ones that might be around certain product you buy.
Plastic cups in a muffin tin held in place by a magnet as a craft caddy . . . . dare I say it? That is pretty crafty! Love the use of bread bag closure things as power cord labels. That is smart. But my bread comes with wire twists. I have seen the ice cream cone cup cake thing before. Have you ever tried that? I have a friend that told me about popcorn in a regular paper bag in the microwave. However I don’t buy paper bags and I have never wanted to put my food in one that I might have gotten from a store purchase. A tension rod to hold spray bottles is a nice idea, but my cupboards aren’t that tall. Are yours? Mine could have hanging bottles AND stuff on the “floor”.
If I made hard boiled eggs, I would so try making them heart shaped. But I don’t. I also don’t have such fancy muffin tins. But I bet it would work with regular muffins tins. Aloe Vera in ice cube trays. Oh my. Will someone remind me of this when I get a sunburn? This is GREAT. Think of how wonderful that would feel. I hear angels singing. Gutters as planters. Nice idea. And it is brilliant to use egg cartons to hold ornaments. Fantastic!
So that is my take on the list. What about you? Have you tried any of these ideas before? Are you going to? I really want to know about the walnut and how long that lasts.
Posted in Helpful Hints, Misc | Tagged: clever ideas, cupcake holder, Daily Buzz, get wax pout of carpet, hard boiled eggs, how to fold a fitted sheet, iphone, keep apple from browning, pit a strawberry, velcro, WD-40, wrapping paper | 10 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on December 15, 2011
I have a Nia student who bakes bread all the time. Challah to be exact. YUM! Several times when I’ve gone to her house she answers the door with flour on her. I have another friend who bakes bread and pizza dough and yummy things all the time. She even makes her own little slider buns. So cute. So yummy. I am a bread lover. Bread it awesome. Bread is so versatile. I love bread. It is absolutely silly that I don’t make my own bread. But I was afraid of yeast. I know that sounds ridiculous, especially to you bread makers, but it is the truth. The whole “active” and rising and “proofing” just scared me. What if it wasn’t active? What if it didn’t rise? What is proofing anyway?
I was talking with someone who was telling me someone else wasn’t doing something. We were trying to figure out why. Why wouldn’t this person want to do that? The person talking suggested it was because she was afraid and didn’t want to fail and her comment was, “So what? Fail, but at least you tried and you can do it again. Do it until you don’t fail.” Ah-ha! It was one of those moments. What I was not doing because I was afraid of failure was much less serious than what we were talking about. I am being vague to protect the innocent. 🙂 But believe me, yeast is a lot less serious and traumatic than the other situation. So I realized how silly I was being. It’s bread. It’s yeast. Whoppedee-do, if it doesn’t work. Granted I wouldn’t want to waste all the ingredients that go into it, but it is not THAT big of a thing.
I had even bought the yeast a long time ago (well, not THAT long ago because then again, don’t want it not to be able to be activated). So I decided to start with something I think of as even easier than bread—pizza dough. Now you might know that I think of both sandwiches and pizza as the perfect foods. They are bread/grains, veggies, dairy, and meat —- perfect. Even more perfect because you can eat it with your hands. Anyway . . . . I found an easy pizza dough recipe. After going back and forth, “Do I follow the directions on the yeast package or the directions on the recipe?” I decided to just go with the recipe. Actually, now that I am typing this up, I bought the yeast to make pita bread, but I let it sit until I had the above mentioned conversation at which time I decided to try pizza dough because I felt it was easier.
Anyway . . . my first shot was ok. The flavor was good but it was very “bready”. It was REALLY THICK, so I decided on my next try I would split the dough up and make two crust. But the second one didn’t rise nearly has much. Ya see, the recipe says to let the dough rise for 30 minutes. But a few of the comments said they let it sit longer. So I did that. I let it sit for hours, then I rolled it out to as large as my pan, which seemed pretty thin to me, but during the baking it puffed up. It was like thick crust pizza. So that is why I decided to split it the second time. But the second time the ball of dough seemed smaller, so I used it all and rolled it thin and it still puffed up. Not as puffy as the first time, but thicker than I wanted. I like thick crust, but I was trying to make thin(ner) crust pizza. After I cooked it —- and we ate it, I thought, “Oh the temperature.” Was that it? Did it not rise as much because it was colder the second time? I didn’t think about that until AFTER all was said and done. But it was much colder in the house the second time than the first time. So bready-people/pizza dough makers the temperature that the dough is left to rise in affects it, huh?
Here is a picture of my second pizza. This is two meals. Mine is the bottom portion, a half with spinach and mushrooms, and one with just spinach. The top portion has mushrooms and raw onions for my hubby. He is not a bready person, but he says he like the pizza even though the crust is REALLY thick. I will keep at it. I will experiment and play. Now that I am not so afraid to fail I can play. I am sure that one of these days I will get some bad yeast or I will do something wrong, but that is ok, at least I tried . . . . . and I look forward to all the pizza it will give us!
Posted in Food | Tagged: bread, bread dough, breadmakers, Challah, failure, Nia, Nia students, perfect food, pizza, pizza crust, pizza dough, proofing the yeast, yeast | 10 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on December 13, 2011
I teach Nia at a studio in San Jose. The studio is in a part of San Jose called Willow Glen. In January (2012) I will have been holding Nia classes there for three years. It is a studio that is owned by two women who teach and perform belly dancing. One woman is named Hala and the other Amanda. The name of the studio is Halanda. See how they did that? Well, every year they have a Holiday Party which is like Christmas Parties at offices once were, a BIG thank you. The teachers come together to display their talent in front of the audience made up of students, other dancers, and neighborhood people. It was an awesome show and a great party.
As I mentioned in a previous post, this is the first year that I have been able to attend. I was very amazed and impressed. I am going to spend from now until the next party telling my students they really want to attend next year. It is a busy time of the year, but it is so great to come and see all the beautiful dance we have going on in the studio.
There was a lot of food. As you can see there were vegetables, fruit, meat, and cheese. There were several types of crackers. Someone brought sandwiches. Someone brought spanakopita! There were trays of cookies. You can see the huge trays of turkey wraps. There was so much food. As one dish was emptied something else would replace it. The table was like the never ending table of food.
As you may know it is difficult to watch something AND take pictures at the same time. So I really rushed through taking pictures. I was using my phone and my camera. I was taking pictures on my phone and posting them to various social networks, like Facebook, Twitter, and Streamzoo. In addition to this being a “thank you” party, it is also a networking party and a way to try to get people interested in taking classes at the studio. So I was trying to watch at the same time I was Facebooking, tweeting, and posting to Streamzoo. All of this in addition to the fact that the subject(s) are shaking, shimmying, bouncing, and jittering caused me to have mostly very blurry shots.
The first dance shot is of Farima and her Students performing a Silk Road Fusion.
Then there is Marie Manila showing us what Hot Hula is. It appeared to be hula dance, with her telling you what muscles you are working. Maybe they repeat some moves more than they would in a typical hula dance.
Then there is a picture of Farima and some more of her students. They are doing a Persian Dance and they are dressed like princesses. I think the costumes are one of my favorite things about belly dancing. They can be very sparkly and shiny. I love that.
Here is a shot of my friend Laura Thompson. She is multi-talented. Here she is dancing under her stage name, Setareh , with a sword. I have known here for years and I have never seen her dance. It was awesome. Her other passion is jewelry making and her talent lies not only in the beautiful pieces she creates, but in the way she can tweak one of her creations to match you perfectly.
Here is Amanda, a co-owner of the studio, doing a Turkish Dance. 
Below is photo of Vy performing an Egyptian Oriental Dance.
Next is Hala, the other co-owner, doing Egyptian Bellydance.
And then a shot of Michelle and her students. Michelle teaches something called No Rules Dance, which I believe is for belly dancer who have belly dancing experience, but want to learn new things and “break” the rules.
I didn’t take pictures of all the performers, plus some that I did take were too blurry to post. Every dance was a delight to see. So much talent at the studio!
I did a two song Nia demo and many people joined me. It was awesome. We had a great time. I was so happy to be able to share Nia with so many people.
Well, I will probably point you to this post as NEXT December nears so that you can be reminded of what a GREAT time the party is and maybe (if you are around) you will attend. It really is a treat to be able to see so many different types of dance and belly dance all in one show. Thanks always to Hala and Amanda for having such a great little place we all can dance!
Posted in Exercise and Working Out, Nia | Tagged: Amanda, Belly Dance, Certified PiYo Instructor, Christmas party, CPT, exercise, Facebook, Hala, Halanda Dance Studio, Holiday party, http://www.HelpYouWell.com, Los Gatos Nia, Nia, Nia class, Nia Dance, Nia San Jose, Nia studio, Nia Teacher, Nia White Belt, No Rules Belly Dance, Performance, Pilates, PiYo/Pilates/Yoga, San Jose exercise classes, San Jose Nia, San Jose Nia classes, San Jose Nia Teacher, San Jose Workout, social networks, Streamzoo, Terre Pruitt, Twitter, Willow Glen Nia, workout, www.HelpYouWell.com, www.NiaSanJose.com, www.TerrePruitt.com, Yoga | 6 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on December 10, 2011
The studio I teach Nia at in the Willow Glen Area of San Jose is having their annual Holiday Party. I have been teaching at the studio for almost three years (three years in January 2012). This is the first time I have been able to make it to the party. I am very excited. They have food, performances, demos, make-up, drumming, dancing, and just plain fun. If you are local and you are able join us. (02.16.12 The even has taken place, see my next post https://terrepruitt.com/2011/12/13/halanda-studio-holiday-party-2011/ for a little summary and pictures.)
I think that people are not comfortable turning their head. While out today I was watching people back out of parking spaces in parking lots and I was amazed. Most of the people I watched did not look back while backing up? What is up with that? You are actually supposed to TURN YOUR HEAD AND LOOK BACK while backing up. I saw so many people glance left then right then front and just start going and KEEP going. I understand sometimes you look left, then right, then front as you start easing out, but then you turn and keep looking back. Nope, not the people I saw. They just zipped out as if people coming around the big huge car parked besides them could see they were backing out and would stop. Crazy. I am surprised I didn’t see a lot of collisions.
Last night we went out to dinner with a group of friends. It is our second annual Christmas dinner. Last year it was at a friend’s house. This year we went to a restaurant. We ordered a few of everything from each section of the menu and we shared it family style. It was all very good. Some of it was very unusual. It is one of those restaurants where the menu changes all the time so you can’t go there expecting to get something you got last time. One of the stand out items for me was Pumpkin Ravioli, Sage-Walnut Pesto, and Pomegranate. The Pomegranate just pushed it over the edge of yummy. The Lasagna of Pork Sausage, Zucchini and Mozzarella was excellent too. One of the weirdest things was Pumpkin Ice Cream, Hazelnuts, Aged Balsamico. I cannot say that I would recommend this. The Balsamico was not sweet enough to tie the flavors together. In fact when it hit the portion of my tongue that registers sour my face did the lemon taste face and my eyes started pouring water. A bit TOO much of a contrast to me. I am not usually a fan of the family style eating but since there were so many things to taste I really enjoyed it last night.
We got a bum tree this year. I picked it. I thought I did GREAT. My husband was shocked when he came home and I told him to be careful. We can’t understand why it is perfectly green and looks great, but it acting as if it is dead and brown. Needles are falling off it at an incredible rate. I am bummed. It will be a very short Christmas tree time this year. The cat will be happy. She is really good with a tree in the house for about 30 days. She will tolerate it. Maybe bat at an ornament once or twice. But on the 31st day. She had been known to give an ornament a whack. To me that is her telling me that she is done. When we have a tree we move her cat tower away from the best window to another window. The other window is not as tall so she can’t see as well on the top. Plus it is just not in the “right” spot. There is a TREE in the right spot. This displacement doesn’t really make her happy. At first she is a little excited to be in a new spot but that wears off quickly. Also the tree is in the best sun spot. And with this tree I am not even opening the curtains to let the sun and heat on it. For as long as we have had her, she will let the tree be until we are over 30 days. Then she tells me in a very catly way that she is done. So this year she will be happy because it will not last 30 days. Sad but true.
I am still working on my 31 Things Project. How about you?
So, do you have anything to share? An event? Perhaps some thoughts? Anything happening with you? What about Christmas; have you decorated? Are you done shopping? Anything?
Posted in Misc | Tagged: 31 Thing project, Cats and Christmas trees, Christmas decorations, Christmas party, Christmas Tree, dance party, dance performances, dance studio, dangerous drivers, family style restaurant, helpyouwell.com, Holiday dinner. Christmas dinner, Holiday party, Nia San Jose, Nia Teacher, Nia Willow Glen, Pumpkin Ravioli, San Jose Nia, teach Nia | 6 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on December 8, 2011
I was talking about Nia with my Nia students recently after our Nia Class. They were telling me what they think Nia is. They said that Nia should come up if they were doing a search on the internet using the term dance exercise. I was really happy to hear that. I always get stuck when people ask me what Nia is because to me it is a lot of things. If you have read any of my posts on this blog about Nia you know how its principles can be applied to life and how at its very basic level it is a workout. But way beyond that it is a practice. When people ask me about it my enthusiasm takes over and I want to tell them ALL about Nia, when I could just stick to the basic level – it is dance and dance is exercise.
Even though it is exercise and it is a workout it is fun. I love that “Dancing With The Stars” really helped show people what a great workout dancing is. Dancers have always known that dancing is a great workout–both aerobic and strength. I think people have always known to some extent that PROFESSIONAL dancers get a workout, but I think that show opened the door to more people understanding that dancing even if you aren’t a professional is a workout. Yes, the “stars” do end up dancing as much as professionals to learn the dances, but still for some reason it seems like it enabled people to see that dancing is exercise—but it is fun!
As with any workout the participants can put what they want into it. If you really want to get a workout you can move bigger, farther, higher, lower, faster . . . whatever works for you to get the workout you need and want. The possibility to move small, slow, and just be mellow is always there. It is very versatile. It is cardio but if you really move — especially during floorplay — it can be a great strength training workout.
I actually started teaching Nia because it was a dance exercise. I don’t know if I have mentioned that before in this blog, but I was looking for something to teach that was very dance-y yet was exercise. I knew a lot of women who said they loved to dance and they would like to dance but their partners didn’t like it, so they thought that a workout that was dance would be great. It is. It is very fun. We dance to all types of music. There is a lot of opportunity for self-expression. Even when we are doing specific steps there is a lot of room for one’s own movements.
Nia was created to be fun, to address the entire being. Debbie Rosas-Stewart and Carlos Aya-Rosas brought us this wonderful movement practice through years of hard work and research, that started in 1983. Carlos retired at the end of 2010, and Debbie is moving Nia forward in a great direction. Body-centered, spirit-filling, and mind-blowing. We are dancing up a storm and loving it. It is dance, it is exercise, it is dance exercise and if you try it you will love it.
Posted in Nia | Tagged: aerobic workout, cardio workout, Carlos Rosas, dance exercise, dance practice, Dance Workout, Dancing with the stars, Debbie Rosas, Nia, Nia class, Nia Dance, Nia Practice, Nia students, Nia teachers, Nia workout, professional dancers, professional dancing, strength training workout, White Belt Principles | 4 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on December 7, 2011
Reporting in. How are you doing with the 31 Things Project? Getting rid of anything? Today after teaching my Nia Class I took my trunk full of plastic water bottles to the recycler. Those things take up a lot of space. My entire trunk and half my back seat was full. I have a big trunk. There were two large bags and a box sitting in our garage the rest I stored in my trunk. It is not easy to save up recycling because it takes up a lot of space but it isn’t worth it to go to a recycling place unless you have a lot of stuff to recycle. So we have it around for a long time and are always having to dance around bags of bottles. But there is a place in San Jose next to the Willow Glen studio I teach at and the people there were SOOOO nice I think I might drop by more often.
My list thus far is: today, I rid our space of plastic bottles. Yesterday, I went into my office closet for something and ended up throwing some stuff out. Closet is still not clean, but it is a bit more organized and some of the stuff in it is more easily accessible. The day before I noticed a drawer in the kitchen that had gotten a bit out of control so I tidied that up and threw out some of the stuff in there that was no longer useful. The day before that I fixed a watch band. I have several watches and most them need batteries or new bands (sounds like a perfect “thing” for my project). The one that has a working battery has a “broken” band. Well, the leather band itself was fine, it was the pin that hold the band to the watch that had broken. Now, please understand that I know it is easy to remedy these things, I just don’t always think about them. They slip my mind. I was looking for something in a box and I found some pins. I had saved the pins from a broken watch band. So I was able to put the saved pin into my watch band and — Voila! A watch. Yeah! I love watches and I have not had one that could actually be worn in so long.
Fixing that band did two things; 1) it has encouraged me to put “fix watches” on my 31 Thing Project list and 2) it changed two useless items (a pin and broken watch) to two useful items. Unfortunately that little tiny pin was not taking up a lot of space so no space was created, but time certainly was. Ha, ha. Ok, times was not CREATED, but I now know what time it is!
This is proving less easy than I thought because of the Holiday season, but I am committed to the project so I am going to do it. I need to remember that the idea is not to take up a lot of time. Give me a chance to exercise focus. Yesterday I spent way too much time in my closet! I got distracted by things in the closet that I was not looking for. So . . . how are you doing? Do you have seven things on your list of “done”?
Posted in Misc | Tagged: 31 Things Project, clean closet, create space, create time, dance exercise, fix things, Nia, Nia class, Nia classes in San Jose, Nia Dance, Nia exercise, Nia Teacher, recycle, San Jose Nia, water bottles, Willow Glen Nia | 2 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on December 6, 2011
I believe one of my Nia friends on FB posted a reposting of Bonnie Ware’s Top 5 Regrets of Dying*. You might have seen it. You’ve probably heard many people repeat the saying and maybe some people even admit that they don’t regret things they have done as much as things they did not do. This saying kind of sums up what Bonnie said most people’s regrets were. Or at least the majority of regrets had to do with things they did not do.
The list she compiled consisted of the following 5 things. To see her post you can click here.
1. I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.
Wow, huh? She said this was the most common regret. I think living a life true to oneself is very difficult for some people. First of all one has to decide who they are. With so much information out there and so many ways to be it is not easy for some to decide who they are, so it is even more difficult to be true to oneself. Then add on the fact that there are people in your life who expect things from you. Not an easy task, but according to Bonnie one of the ones that people regret most not doing. So while you have a chance, I would suggest you work on it. I work on it daily.
2. I wish I didn’t work so hard.
Again not an easy task. Especially if you have kids, bills, and/or a mortgage. Sad that having kids is the very thing that makes you work more because you want to provide THINGS for them. They are inundated with WANTING and MUST HAVE, so you, as a good parent want to give them things. With all the extra hours maybe you end up working through a lot of special times.
Most of us could probably learn to live without a few things, exercise restraint when it comes to certain things. The article states to simplify which could lead to less need, which could lead to more space and happiness.
Yes, I know easier said than done. But if we listen to lessons from people who have been there sometimes we can save ourselves a lot of heartache.
Remember Bonnie has shared this information from people who are dying. And these are common regrets.
3. I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.
I think learning how to express one’s feelings correctly helps supply courage. Feelings are emotions that cannot always be helped. But our actions based on feelings CAN be controlled. If we are hurt or angry; screaming, yelling, hitting, throwing things, etc. are not good ways to express your feelings. These things might be therapeutic ways to vent, but they are not good ways to express feelings. Learning better ways is a step in having the courage. Also, being in tune with who you are expressing your feelings too helps. If you have feelings which are strong you want to share with someone and you are having to work very hard to NOT scream and yell it is usually a good idea to do it at a time when the person is receptive. Try not to have a serious talk where you are emotional when the other person has had a bad day, is tired, or is in the middle of something. These circumstance make it difficult for the person you are trying to share with to listen openly and give you what you need. If they had a bad day and you coming to them telling them they hurt your feelings, might make them feel guilty with an instant reaction of yelling and blaming you. Putting yourself in that type of situation would do the opposite of helping you have courage. While Bonnie reminds us we can’t control the reactions of others, we can control WHEN we share with them in order to receive a better response.
4. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.
Wow. None of these are easy, huh? I mean, I have many friends I don’t see as often as I’d like. Life is busy. And maybe #2 and #3 actually had an effect on #4? Could be. But maybe if we work less and have less stuff to deal with we would have more time for friends. I know that I could be a little bit more timely with some things instead of waiting for the last minute. Then I might be free to meet with a friend when she called instead of having to buckle down and get stuff done.
But with all of the social networking available to us, keeping in touch with people might be a little easier than in the past. We will have to see. Because it also leads to us having more friends to keep in touch with.
5. I wish that I had let myself be happier.
Hmmm. Interesting. Seems like people on their death bed actually admitted to keeping themselves from being happy. According to Bonnie, they didn’t realize until they were dying that it is a choice. One chooses to be happy. Again, maybe this ones ties in with the ones above. If you figure out who you are and are true to yourself you’ve probably realized you made a choice to be happy. If you work less and fill you life and your heart up with more wonderful moments you have made a choice. If you learn the dance of self expression, you will have allowed yourself to be happy. If you keep in touch with friends and they are the good ones that fill your life and heart, then you’ve made a choice to be happy.
Wow. Seems like all the regrets on the list are related. Seems to be that working on these now could help keep us from having regrets when it is too late. Doing these things when you have the health to do them is important. As I mentioned maybe #1 thru #4 can help with #5. Or maybe it is the other way around. What do you think?
*Bonnie Ware is the author of the new book The Top Five Regrets of the Dying. Visit her official website Inspiration and Chai.
Posted in Misc | Tagged: Bonnie Ware, can't help feelings, courage to express my feelings, dance exercise, Facebook post, Inspiration and Chai, live a life true to myself, Nia, Nia Dance, Nia exercise, One chooses to be happy, Social Networking, Top 5 Regrets of Dying | 4 Comments »
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