Posted by terrepruitt on January 23, 2010
As you might now be aware Nia includes elements from three disciplines from three different arts. From the dance arts, we borrow from Duncan Dance. Duncan Dance was brought to us by Isadora Duncan. Isadora believed in the freedom movement. She did not care for the stucture of ballet opting for movement of a more natural flowing nature.
Duncan Dance, like Modern Dance, helps bring freedom to Nia. For me I think of “child-like” when I think of Duncan Dance in Nia. It encourages us to skip, run, do somersaults, jump, hop, giggle, growl, laugh out loud, kick balls, jump rope, catch a balloon, and just release our adult contraints and enjoy movement for the sheer joy of moving. We are not moving to get to one place or the other. We are not moving to build a muscle or burn calories, in this modality we are moving because it is fun. Because, like a child we have so much engergy inside we need to skip-run-jump-hop-hop-hop across the floor. Then, while we are having so much fun we will be moving our muscles and burning calories, but we don’t THINK about that. We imagine we are chasing a balloon and trying to catch it. We imagine that we are playing kick ball or blowing bubbles and chasing them, we imagine we are having fun and we end up having fun. We let out our inner child that gets tucked away during our normal busy day.
While infusing our workout with this energy one might notice their ankles joints and spine opening and moving more freely. With the “child mind” one might tend towards being more “open”; standing tall, reaching up, reaching out, and standing on tippy toes. With these movements come exercises in balance, while standing on tippy toes reaching for your red balloon you are not even going to notice that you are having to balance. With being more “open” physically it sometimes helps with being more open mentally, this can assist with releasing the stress and tension of the our adult lives.
The form also encourages spontaneity, like that of a child. With less stress and tension you might find yourself giving in to your inner child and you might find yourself racing across the floor. Nia encourages it!
I think with all of the different ideas, concepts, movements, and energies that are woven together to form Nia, there is something for everyBODY.
Please note: The photo is a portion of the “Nia Energy Type Questionnaire” in The Nia Technique, by Debbie Rosas and Carlos Rosas.
Posted in Movement Forms of Nia, Nia | Tagged: ballet, Carlos Rosas, Debbie Rosas, Duncan Dance, exercise, Isadora Duncan, modern dance, Nia, Nia Energy Type, Nia exercise, Nia Technique, Nia workout, workout | 2 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on January 21, 2010
With every Nia routine there is an original focus and intent. On the Nia DVD either Debbie or Carlos* explain the focus and intent that was originally intended for the routine. With the routine Sanjana Debbie explains the focus as being Dynamic Ease.
I remember Dynamic Ease as being Dynamic and Ease. It can either be a stretch as one might do in Yoga or could be the sensation of the muscle squeezing the bone as in an isometric contraction. When I do the routine with Dynamic Ease as the focus I often borrow Debbie’s words and explain it as: “the energy moving out as in flexibility or the energy packing against the bone as in strength”.
The way we play with this is that we do a lot of the moves with one quality then the other. So while we are moving arms upward we could be calling upon the dynamic energies of strength and really squeezing the bone with the muscle. And the next time we can move our arms up with a big stretch move the energy out. A punch could be done strong as if we were really punching something or could be done more like a stretch.
The ease is just moving in a relaxed yet ready type of way. When moving arms upward, as mentioned above, we can change the quality to a nice flowing easy movement. Or a “punch” could just be the arms moving away from the body in a soft motion. Its fun to play and try any exercise with the different energy qualities.
We can do the same moves all three ways. Practicing going back and forth between these qualities assists in both balancing the energy in the body and balancing the body itself. An isometric contraction calls upon big muscles and small muscles and the combination is what is used in balancing.
I believe that it helps with the flow of fluids and energy in the body. I know that it leaves me feeling very energetic. I did this routine with this focus twice this week, once for my San Jose class and once with my San Carlos class and both times I felt very great energy afterwards. In addition to the energy I feel it brings me, I think dynamic ease can serve to add another element of challenge to the Nia workout. Dynamic Ease is one of my favorite foci for this Nia routine.
*Debbie Rosas (Stewart) and Carlos Rosas (AyaRosas) the creators of Nia
Posted in Nia | Tagged: Carlos AyaRosas, Carlos Rosas, Debbie Rosas, Debbie Stewart, Dynamis Ease, isometric contraction, muscle contraction, Nia DVD, Nia exercise, Nia routine, Nia workout, San Carlos Nia, San Carlos Nia class, San Jose Nia, San Jose Nia class, San Jose Workout, San Jose Workout class, San Jose Yoga, Sanjana | 2 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on January 19, 2010
Muscles contract. An isotonic muscle contraction is when the length of the muscle changes. The isotonic contraction could be a concentric contraction where the muscle shortens or an eccentric contraction where the muscle lengthens.
As an example, your arm is hanging at your side, when you lift your hand to touch your shoulder that is an isotonic contraction. Your biceps muscles are shortening, pulling your hand up to your shoulder in a concentric contraction, your triceps are lengthening in an eccentric contraction. Lowering your arm the biceps muscles are lengthening in an eccentric contraction and it is actually your triceps contracting in a concentric contraction that is pulling your arm down. But since gravity is helping the triceps don’t have to work very hard.
An isometric contraction is when the muscle contracts but the length of it does not change. For instance, when you sneeze or cough. Your abdominal muscle contracts, but unless you bend into the sneeze/cough the length does not change.
To strengthen the muscles resistance needs to be added to the contraction. Muscle must be challenged and learn to overcome the challenge in order to become stronger. Tension/resistance needs to be added to movement/contraction.
There are many forms of resistance; gravity, weights, bands, tubes, immoveable objects (that you try to push or pull), all of it can assist in strengthening the muscles.
The muscles can gain strength from both the concentric contraction and the eccentric contraction. So lowering the weight after having lifted a weight toward your shoulder in a biceps curl can contribute to strength.
When the muscles contract in a concentric contraction they are pulling on bone. But that is not be be confused with a push workout or a pull workout. Even when you are working your “pushing muscles” your muscles are actually contracting and pulling on the bones to complete the exercise.
Muscles contract, it is the added resistance that makes them stronger.
Posted in Exercise and Working Out | Tagged: concentric contraction, exercise, isometric contraction, isotonic contraction, Muscles, Pull workout, push workout, Working Out, workout | Leave a Comment »
Posted by terrepruitt on January 16, 2010
As you might now be aware Nia is a wonderful mix of elements from three different movement forms from three different arts. Martial Arts is one of the art forms. Aikido is one of the movement forms from the martial arts.
According to the Nia White Belt Manual that I received during my Nia White Belt Intensive Aikido was the martial art that Debbie Rosas and Carlos Rosas enjoyed the most. The spirit of it that was added to Nia was the translation of “the way of harmony”. Conflict is resolved lovingly. During the intensive I remember the idea was mentioned of using the opponents own weight and energy to take control of the situation. While in Nia we don’t have opponents or enter into competitions with each other, the example was intended to express the idea that a blending of energies makes it easy to move. Aikido in Nia is the notion of a peaceful warrior.
As with all of the art forms that have been studied in order to create Nia, it is ideas, concepts, and moves that have been integrated. All of the movement forms are understood to be something that takes practice and maybe even years of training. That is respected when we talk about forms being added to Nia.
Aikido brings grounded energy to Nia. We practice spiral swirling motion blending the energies outside with the energies inside. Focusing on our center, the hara, we practice grace. We also exercise our awareness and embrace the moment. We hone our skills of moving from lines into spirals and spirals into circles with the energy surrounding us.
Aikido somewhat reminds me of Nia itself, they are both a blending of energies and movements.
Posted in Movement Forms of Nia, Nia | Tagged: Aikido, Aikido energy, Carlos Rosas, Debbie Rosas, martial arts, Nia, Nia energy, Nia exercise, Nia Movement, peaceful warrior, spirit of Nia | Leave a Comment »
Posted by terrepruitt on January 14, 2010
Recently I had a brief conversation with one of my Nia buddies regarding a routine. She had asked if it was easy to bar. I admitted to her that barring for me was difficult, but that some songs were easier to bar than others.
Later that same evening I was listening to music from a routine I have not learned yet. I found myself stopping what I was doing and starting to do the dance that was associated with the song that was playing. I laughed because I realized that I was ready to learn the moves to the song. That is how it is with me. I will listen to the music over and over and over again. When I find myself saying, “What? What is this song? There is a kata to it?” When I don’t even recognize the song, then I know I am no where near ready to learn that set of movements. So I keep listening to the music over and over. When I find myself stopping what I am doing to do the moves or at least going over the moves in my head as the song is playing then I know that is when my body, my brain, and my spirit is ready to learn the moves. Otherwise it is a struggle for me.
It is so much easier to learn the routine well, when you can sense the moves. It is like you already basically know them and all you have to do is map out the music and put the moves on the paper where they actually belong. Doing the workout to the routine DVD over and over is one of the steps in the first set of steps in learning the routine. And I see why. Listening to the music over and over is one thing that is recommended too. And I see how these two things are important in learning a routine.
I also have learned that not only do I benefit from listening to it over and over, it helps to listen to the music on a variety of devices. I teach in two different facilities and the sound system at the Park and Rec building in San Carlos is very different than the sound system at the studio in San Jose. It it almost as if I need to learn different musical clues for each facility because the systems are so different.
As I said some music is easier for me to learn than others, but when I stick to learning it when I sense it, when I am ready to learn it, it works for me.
Posted in Nia | Tagged: barring, barring a routine, barring music, kata, Nia, Nia DVD, Nia facility, Nia Music, Nia routine, Nia San Carlos, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, San Carlos Nia, San Carlos Park, San Carlos Workout, San Jose Nia, San Jose Nia Studio, San Jose Workout | 2 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on January 12, 2010
I went to San Carlos today to teach my first Nia class for the City of San Carlos Park and Recreation Department. I wanted to get there at least 30 minutes early. I was late, not for the class but for my getting there 30 minutes early. The man at the desk was on the phone when I arrived and there was a woman in front of me needing assistance.
He was kind enough to get off the phone since he wasn’t able to help the person. Sounded like a co-worker he said he would call back. And he asked us if we needed help. The woman that was before me asked where the Nia class was and he asked her if she was the instructor at which time I pointed to myself.
So he took us to the room, helped with the music and the people started coming in. (Thanks, Nick!)
There is always “business” to handle in a class. Either signing in, or making sure everyone is signed up, or checking passes, or something. So we handled that as people were coming in.
This class room was different as it has no mirror. I have talked to a lot of people who prefer the teacher to face away from the students as we do in Nia, but I was not certain about that without a mirror to look at my participants in. So I started off facing them. Then when we got to a point when we would be moving right and left, I turned.
January 2010
Nia is so fun and amazing because even though I could not see the people in the mirror I could sense they were there and moving as I was. When I turned around to look they were doing it just beautifully. Was every doing it exactly the same? No. Was everyone perfectly on step? No. But it is so beautiful because when I turned to make sure everyone was ok, they would smile. They would laugh. They were ok, they were doing Nia.
Most of them were new to Nia. We had a good time. When we did some moving around the room using the space people were smiling and sounding. It was good. I felt as if even though I didn’t have a mirror in which to see my own face and my own body, I was still seeing my reflection. I was seeing joy in movement. Fun in exercise. Happiness in the workout. Nia.
Will all nineteen people come back? Well, some of them will because they had registered. Will the all thirteen that came for the “Try It”? No, probably not all of them. I know for a fact that one won’t because she has signed up for school with a class on that same night and she just came to try it. And other people will not have the time, but at least we danced together. We had fun. I shared Nia with some people who didn’t know about it. I am sure that even though they might not be able to make my class, they will be at others in the future. I think that is good.
Next week I will leave San Jose a few minutes earlier and get there 30 minutes early!
Posted in Nia | Tagged: City of San Carlos, City of San Carlos Park and Recreation Department, joy, Nia, Nia class, Nia exercise, Nia fun, Nia instructor, Nia participants, Nia San Carlos, Nia San Jose, Nia students, Nia workout, Park and Rec. Department, San Carlos, San Carlos Nia, San Carlos Nia class, San Jose exercise, San Jose Nia, San Jose Nia class, San Jose Workout | Leave a Comment »
Posted by terrepruitt on January 9, 2010
As you might now be aware Nia includes elements from three different movement forms from three different arts. One of the arts is the healing arts and one movement forms is The Alexander Technique. When I think of evoking the energy of The Alexander Technique as I lead the Nia workout, I always think of moving from the head and allowing heaven’s gravity to pull up. With the pull from above it enables a sense of lightness, of not being heavy and of moving from the top. Also this pull helps open the vertebrae and lengthen the posture. With the sensation of lightness and lengthening might come a sense of freedom and openness to be silly.
While we experiment with the lifting of the head from the body, we can observe how our posture might be more upright. I have a habit of hunching my shoulders. I call it scrunching because I tend to hunch and round my shoulders at the same time. With some borrowed concepts from the Alexander Technique I am reminded to straighten and lengthen and use the muscles of my back to pull my shoulders down. Even though the focus is on the head and it moving upward, it allows me to think of the rest of my posture.
With these ideas we look as we move, again moving our head away from our bodies. Sometimes we move our hands and allow our head to follow by looking at our hands. But we MOVE our head to watch our hands, we don’t just let our eyes follow, it is a movement. The movement of the head gets our spine moving too.
When I first started teaching I had a student move her hands around and had her follow them with her head and eyes. She would practice this during class. After a couple of classes she came back and said she was a better driver now because she had never moved her head before and now she was actually turn her head to look as she drove. Funny, I had never thought about Nia helping people be better drivers.
If you are not accustom to moving your head and you want to try it, I recommend that you first try this exercise sitting down. Just sit and move your hands as if they were a bird or a butterfly, and allow your head and your eyes to follow them as they fly around you. Once you feel comfortable with that, try it standing up. But be careful because if you are not used to it you may get dizzy.
Since the head is the heaviest part of the body it is important that we can stay on balance when it moves. It is important to build the strength to move it and muscle memory of what it is like when it is moved. All of this will help your dance and your general everyday movement.
Posted in Movement Forms of Nia, Nia | Tagged: exercise, heaven gravity, Nia, Nia exercise, Nia freedom, Nia workout, posture, the Alexander Technique, workout | Leave a Comment »
Posted by terrepruitt on January 7, 2010
I was awake and aware for two recent earthquakes felt in my area of San Jose. When you look at the information regarding earthquakes there are earthquakes all the time. We just don’t always feel them. The earthquakes that I have been feeling lately have been somewhat different. They have been JOLTS. Well at least two of the last three. But the two I felt just recently were both different. The first one was small. It measured 2.8. It started out as a little rumble. I didn’t hear a rumble, I felt it, like a truck driving by on the street, then it felt as if someone gave the house a little shove.
Then next one or the one I felt most recently was a 4.1. It was more of the kind I am used to. I am used to the shaking kind. I don’t like the rolling kind, I am more familiar with the shaking kind.
So, yeah, if you have never been in an earthquake they are different. I am assuming it has to do with what plates are doing the moving. But there is the kind that shake, the kind that roll, and this sort of new-to-me jolting kind. Odd. Sometimes there are ones that shake and roll, but I don’t remember having felt one of those in a while.
I was not in the Bay Area when the Loma Prieta quake hit. But I felt it all the way in Rohnert Park, near Santa Rosa, past San Francisco. It was odd the way it worked out, the day before our neighbor in the office next door had been hanging pictures and banging on the wall and shaking it. So my boss and I thought that was what was happening.
I remember hearing a long time ago that each number on the Richter Scale actually is 10 times as much movement. So if we have a point 4 earthquake it is actually 10 times as much movement as a 3 pointer would be. So the difference just sounds like a digit but in actual energy and movement it is a lot more. I can’t even begin to fathom the example that was given. It was something like, an earthquake with a magnitude of one releases as much energy as 6 ounces of TNT, but an 8 pointer is as much as 6 million tons of TNT. Huh? Either way, that is a HUGE, HUGE difference. Way more than just 7 digits of measurement it sounds like.
Earthquakes are weird. There are so many things in our world that can make it move sometimes we don’t even realize we are having an earthquake. I used to work in a building where every time someone stomped by my entire cubical it would shake. So I often didn’t even know when we were having an earthquake, I just thought it was someone walking by my cube.
Today, I saw so much talk regarding earthquakes I was amazed. It seems like everyone has something to say about an earthquake. Either they were in one, they don’t like them, they do like them, they think they are fun, they are afraid of them, or they didn’t feel it. Even people that have never been in one have stuff to say. It is amazing.
Since so many people have stuff to say about them, I thought you might want to share something. For me one of the three earthquakes I mentioned above made our house felt like it received a BIG shove. Stuff was knocked off the walls. Have you been in one? Have you never been in one, but they are still scary? Do your animals freak out right before there is one? Were you around this area in ’89? Share.
Posted in Misc | Tagged: 1989, Bay Area Earthquake, Bay Area Workout, earthquake Bay Area, earthquakes, earthquakes San Jose, Loma Prieta Earthquake, magnitude, quake, San Francisco Earthquake, San Jose Workout, Workout San Jose | 2 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on January 5, 2010
Music and the 8BC System is Nia White Belt Principle #3. This is part 2 of the principle, a brief bit about the 8BC System.
To learn our music, us Nia teachers, literally map out our music. We measure our music using a system of notations called bars. This is our map. We count out our music 1-and-2-and-3-and-4-and-5-and-6-and-7-and-8-and. Each bar 
has 16 counts. We count out the song noting the bars on a page. Then we go through and “dress” the bars adding marks to the page making notes of the sounds we hear. We use the noted sounds as cues for the choreography in a routine. No matter if the movements are matching the music or going opposite to it, the instruments and sounds are our cues.
By mapping our music, (“barring” our music) we get to know our music really well. Knowing our music really well allows us to easily play with the choreography, while at the same time, sticking to the basics of it. We can also take the music that we have learned while learning a routine and add different choreography to it.
Also practicing this barring system ensures that we can take any music and dance the Nia choreography to it. We just match the Nia music up with music that has the same count and we can pretty much just “plug” in the Nia choreography.
All of this allows us to have fun while exercising and doing our Nia routines/Nia workouts.
I have taken to the practice of mapping out my music and then scanning it so that I will have a completely mapped out song so when I am ready to add different choreography to it, I can just print my music map and put in the movement portion on my barred music.
Mapping the music allows for so much creativity. Instead of just dancing to the beat you can dance to one instrument, you can allow your body to “BE” the cymbal or the flute, or you can shimmy to the melody, or sway to the harmony. It is fun to play with the music. And you can do whatever you want and lead your class through it all because you have a map!
Since music is such a big part of Nia, I am sure that I will visit this topic often. I might even come back to the Nia White Belt Principle #3.
Posted in Nia, Nia White Belt Principles | Tagged: 8BC System, energizing workout, exercise, exercise routine, exercise workout, Music, Nia, Nia exercise, Nia routines, Nia teachers, Nia White Belt, Nia workout, White Belt, workout, workout routines | 7 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on January 2, 2010
Music and the 8BC System is Nia White Belt Principle #3. This is part 1 of the principle, a brief bit about Nia and Music.
Nia is so much about the music. As teachers we learn to dance to the music. So as we lead our participants through the workout routines it is more like dance than exercise. Sometimes we count the number of our movements as we are leading the class, but when we know our music well, we are to go to the music and use its cues and not rely on the count of the moves. So when I am leading a class and I am in a section where I am counting if I get distracted from my count, I can just listen to the music and know exactly where I am. Honestly, some songs I know better than others and I can accomplish this, some I am still learning. It is a process. It is amazing.
Music is powerful and has been used for teaching and healing. Your entire body can listen. Your body can respond to the music it senses. The body can sense the vibration.
There have been studies done that equate specific tempos with specific moods and/or emotions, in Nia we play with all of that. We can go with the music or play the opposite. A stereo-typical “happy” song, we might practice as sad and slow or excited and angry. It is a great exercise for the body as well as the mind and spirit to sense music one way and move to it in another, as an example, like previously mentioned; while “happy” is playing move to it as if you are sad or tired. It is a wonderful challenge.
It is energizing to play with the music. The rhythm or beat of the music is said to be the male or Yang energy of music. The melody is the feminine or Yin side. Harmony blends it together stimulating the spiritual energy. You can dance to the rhythm or the beat or move to the melody, or have your senses stimulated by the harmony. When you let your body sense the music you can dance it all.
There are so many ways to play with music. Another way to use music as a workout tool is to visualize what type of sound your body parts would make, match them up with the music as you listen and when you hear that sound activate that body part. Again, challenging your body, your mind, and your spirit. Getting the whole body workout that Nia is known for and at the same time letting the music be the motivation for the movement.
Nia is a workout, but it is a workout that allows you to exercise your body along with your mind and your spirit. It allows participants to be moved by the music in the body’s way. It really is so much about the music.
Posted in Nia | Tagged: 8BC System, energizing exercise, energizing workout, exercise, exercise class, exercise routine, exercise workout, Music, music vibration, Nia, Nia exercise, Nia play, Nia routines, Nia teachers, Nia White Belt, Nia workout, White Belt, workout, workout routines, Yang, Yin | Leave a Comment »
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