Posted by terrepruitt on August 13, 2009
The moment I read this I wanted to post it on my blog. But then I didn’t want to post someone else’s stuff on my blog. But then I thought if I gave full credit it would be ok and I knew that one of these days (whether it was today or not) I would be compelled to post someone’s something. So all day I have been debating with myself. And after teaching my class today at the Los Gatos Swim and Raquet Club I decided to post it.
To me, it is very “Nia“. We don’t dance for others, we dance for ourselves. And when we dance it is a workout and it is very much exercise, yet healing and spiritual, like Yoga.
The author had other reasons for writing it. I’ve read some of her other poems posted on her blog. She has been through a lot. She expresses it well. I hope you enjoy it:
We Have Come To Be Danced by Jewel Mathieson
We have come to be danced
Not the pretty dance
Not the pretty pretty, pick me, pick me dance
But the claw our way back into the belly
Of the sacred, sensual animal dance
The unhinged, unplugged, cat is out of its box dance
The holding the precious moment in the palms
Of our hands and feet dance.
We have come to be danced
Not the jiffy booby, shake your booty for him dance
But the wring the sadness from our skin dance
The blow the chip off our shoulder dance.
The slap the apology from our posture dance.
We have come to be danced
Not the monkey see, monkey do dance
One two dance like you
One two three, dance like me dance
but the grave robber, tomb stalker
Tearing scabs and scars open dance
The rub the rhythm raw against our soul dance.
We have come to be danced
Not the nice, invisible, self-conscious shuffle
But the matted hair flying, voodoo mama
Shaman shakin’ ancient bones dance
The strip us from our casings, return our wings
Sharpen our claws and tongues dance
The shed dead cells and slip into
The luminous skin of love dance.
We have come to be danced
Not the hold our breath and wallow in the shallow end of the floor dance
But the meeting of the trinity, the body breath and beat dance
The shout hallelujah from the top of our thighs dance
The mother may I?
Yes you may take 10 giant leaps dance
The olly olly oxen free free free dance
The everyone can come to our heaven dance.
We have come to be danced
Where the kingdom’s collide
In the cathedral of flesh
To burn back into the light
To unravel, to play, to fly, to pray
To root in skin sanctuary
We have come to be danced
We have come.
Thank you Jewel Mathieson for this might have been about your anger and your pain and your healing, to me it is also about joy and healing, and being one own’s self and being ok with that. Thank you for sharing, Ms. Mathieson.
I also need to thank Danielle Eastman for posting this on Facebook and bringing it to my attention. Thanks Danielle, I learn so much from you.
Posted in Nia | Tagged: Danielle Eastman, Facebook, Healing exercise, Healing Nia, Healing workout, Healing Yoga, heaven dance, Jewel Mathieson, Los Gatos Exercise, Los Gatos Nia, Los Gatos Swim and Raquet Club, Los Gatos Workout, Los Gatos Yoga, Poem, San Jose exercise, San Jose Nia, San Jose Workout, San Jose Yoga, sanctuary, We Have Come To Be Danced, Yoga, Yoga workout | 8 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on August 11, 2009
The focus for the most recent Nia Jam was the 52 Nia Moves. We were to pick songs in which we could highlight one or more of the 52 Nia moves. So we moved a lot because we all wanted to really highlight the moves. The idea was to pick one song that highlighted the move then pick another song that contained the same move that you could play with. There was a couple of us that picked two songs with different moves so we highlighted more moves instead. I think it worked out fine.
Movements Highlighted included:
~Pelvic Circle
~Spinal Roll
~Heel Lead & Ball of Foot
~Closed Stance, Open Stance, “A” Stance, and Sumo Stance,
~Front Kick, Side Kick, and Back kicks
~Releve
~Lateral Traveling
~Shimmy
~Blocks
~Undulation
~Wrist & Hand movements
We do not do all 52 Nia moves in every workout (unless we are doing the 52 Nia Move routine), but we do cover a lot of them. The moves are not necessarily new moves, some are quite common and you will be familiar with them. Some you could be familiar with, but not familiar with DOING, but that is part of the fun. Come to a class and see. I have classes in San Jose and Los Gatos.
Posted in Nia | Tagged: 52 Nia Moves, blocks, Fifty two Nia Moves, Los Gatos Nia, Los Gatos Workout, Nia class, Nia Jam, Nia Los Gatos, Nia routine, Nia San Jose, San Jose Nia, San Jose Workout, shimmy, stances | 12 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on August 8, 2009
You might have seen me “talk” about it somewhere. They have them four times a year in the wide Bay Area (and beyond) recently I went to my first one. Not only was it my first Nia Jam, but I was going to teach. Nice.
It is somewhat like a “Jam Session” we’ve all heard of, a bunch of musicians get together and play, sometimes certain songs, sometimes making stuff up as they go . . . whatever, it is a jam.
Well, with the Nia Jam they pick a focus and arrange the music to comply with the Nia Workout cycles and to assist in sticking with the focus. And then a group of teachers teach and just have a good time. Students that attend the jams get treated to a variety of styles and music. It is just like one big party.
It was so fun to be able to workout with all the different teachers getting a sample of all the different Nia classes around the area**.
The room we held the class in was awesome. It was in a open room at Stanford University in Palo Alto. The room was rectangle shape and there were mirrors on one of the longs walls and the other long wall opened up, it was glass doors. The floor was wood, I believe, I want to say it was cushioned because It felt somewhat like the floor at the studio where I teach in San Jose. We danced a lot and it didn’t feel like cement directly under the floor.
The wall that opened up, opened onto a patio we had all to ourselves. The weather was perfect.
The Nia Jam was fabulous, it was freeing, it was inspirational. I met a lovely group of Nia Teachers from around the area and beyond. It left me feeling really sweaty and alive. Very energized. I would like to invite you to our next one. When I have the details I will let you know.
**Check the main website for regular classes, if you don’t see one in your area call the nearest instructor, she might know about one that is NOT on the main website. NiaNow.com Or visit my site for current information about classes in San Jose and Los Gatos.
Posted in Nia | Tagged: Jam Session, Nia Bay Area, Nia Exercies, Nia focus, Nia instructor, Nia Jam, Nia Teacher, Nia workout, Nia Workout Cycles, nianow, NiaNow.com, Palo Alto Nia, San Jose exercise, San Jose Workout, teach Nia | 3 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on August 6, 2009
I am thinking about playing this game every first Thursday of the month. Let’s see if that works out. I am not sure that I can come up with material every month. I know that I have sung and heard others sing a lot of wrong lyrics, but I can’t remember them.
I was thinking of doing it different ways, sometimes asking for guesses, sometimes just throwing them out there, but, always, of course, asking you to share. We’ll see huh?
What are the correct lyrics?
1. Don’t let go, if you cling to tightly your gonna lose your soul.
2. Strumming my fate with his fingers . .
3. It’s safe to dance . . .
So, on this rainy day in San Jose, these might not be a challenging exercise on your brain, but maybe coming up with of some lyrics you have sung incorrectly or that you have heard someone sing might be. So tell me what the correct lyrics are and share with me some other ones you have found out about.
Posted in Entertainment, Misc | Tagged: safe to dance, San Jose exercise, San Jose Workout, song lyrics, wrong song lyrics | 12 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on August 4, 2009
Serious. Do it. Every day. It is a great exercise. Get down on the floor and get up again. Over and over. At least 10 times. For some of you it might be easy, fine then, make it challenging, put a book on your head, hold a glass of water, chew gum, don’t use your arms, do it on one leg, who cares, just make it an exercise for you that challenges your body and your brain. That way your brain will be trained and it will know how to get up.
If it is already a challenge, then do it. And do it again. Start off however you can. Use a couch, a chair, a person, a cane, a dog, whatever . . . .just get down, and get up at least five times. Keep doing it every day until you can do it more and without help.
Whether it is a challenge or not, while you are doing it, think about it. Think about what muscles you are using to get up. Try to get down on the floor differently every time, think about all the different muscles you are using. Also, try getting up differently, thinking about all of those muscles.
No, this will not increase the size of your muscles, for some of you it won’t even tone them, but if you try to make it a challenge it will challenge your muscles. Balance and being able to get up are a key part of health that we just either don’t think about or we take it for granted. But it really is a great exercise, right up there with the push-up, but maybe more functional.
Of course this is just ONE exercise of many that I believe qualifies as a functional exercise. And for a lot of you it should not be your only workout, but for some it might be a start and a good start.
Posted in Exercise and Working Out | Tagged: challenge, exercise, functional exercise, get down, Get up, muscle challenge, Muscles, workout | 6 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on August 1, 2009
A lot of practices claim to be mind-body practices. I believe the idea is to engage our mind to control our body.
Well, I like to call Nia body-mind. For me calling it body-mind reminds me that we are first going to the body. We are engaging our bodies in movement and allowing them to move freely. Then we can allow our minds to loosely focus on what we are doing. So we don’t want our minds controlling our movement, but we want our minds registering the sensation so as to give it full power and allow us to acknowledge what feels right.
Let me give you an example of what can happen:
The music starts, and like a lot of people, we begin to move without even thinking, we start to sway or wiggle, or whatever the body senses the music is telling it to do. But then—CLICK! The mind engages and then we start to THINK about how to move, then we start judging movement, then we start choreographing movements, then we realize that we are thinking, thinking, thinking. UGH! I would be the latter as mind-body, my brain is thinking and I am doing what it tells me.
In Nia, one of the greatest tools to learn is to be body-mind and just let the body go. The body can listen to the music on its own. Then when you are able to do that, it is amazing how the body knows what it needs. It can move you in a way that your mind might keep you from. Your hips can thrust or gyrate, your shoulders can shimmy, your feet and skip and jump, and your voice can be heard—all without judgment from yourself.
Also, if we let our bodies lead us, it will keep us from doing something that is too much or not in the best interest of our bodies. Our bodies seek balance and health. When we are working out, if we are allowing our bodies to be the guide we can get the exact kind of workout we need. As our bodies guide us to what we need we can concentrate with our mind to understand the sensation that we are sensing with our bodies. When our bodies get the workout it needs both our body and our mind feel great.
I think if you have not tried Nia it will be difficult for you to “get” what I am saying. I would like to invite you to go to the Nia website and see if there is a class near you or look at my class schedule and see if one of my classes (I teach four per week) works for you. There are Nia classes in San Jose, Los Gatos, Mountian View, San Ramon, Oakland, Pleasanton, Palo Alto, Los Altos, all over, one of them has to work for you. Go out and try it!
Posted in Nia | Tagged: balance and health, body-mind practice, engaged mind, Los Altos Nia classes, Los Gatos Nia classes, Los Gatos Workout, Mind-body practice, Mountian View Nia classes, Nia, Nia Classes, Nia focus, Nia Practice, Nia San Jose, Oakland Nia classes, Palo Alto Nia classes, Pleasanton Nia classes, Practice, San Jose Nia, San Jose Nia classes, San Jose Workout, San Ramon Nia classes | 2 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on July 30, 2009
I love these. At first I was disappointed because you can’t actually see the colors, but I looked at them again, and, I like them.
Look, you can see the tiny feet.
He’s not landing because he keeps getting chased off.
Their little feet are so cute!
I always think that we are so lucky because in San Jose, California, we get to see them for a long period during the year. And we have about eight. My friend just posted on FaceBook that she has too many to count. She has to fill her feeders twice a day. We have six feeders and we don’t fill them that much. When it is hot, it works out to maybe twice a week, but when it is cooler they don’t drink at much.
Posted in Birds | Tagged: Facebook Hummingbirds, Hummingbird Silhouettes, Hummingbirds, Nia, Nia San Jose, San Jose Hummingbirds, San Jose Nia, San Jose Workout, Silhouettes | 8 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on July 28, 2009
I love coffee. I am not a connoisseur, but I love it. In the August 2009 copy of Self they touted that coffee has some amazing benefits.
The article, well, it is not so much an article as a few pages filled with pictures and facts, has one statement that says that if you want the healthiest coffee you should stick to the home brewed kind because the paper filters catch coffee compounds that can raise cholesterol.
Here are some highlights from that article. The information suggests that coffee MAY:
- assist in the prevention of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s
- help your teeth with its “antibacterial and antiadhesive powers”
- reduce the risk of oral cancer by half
- help in limited cancer cell growth and DNA damage
- reduce the risk of breast cancer (in premenopausal women that drink 4 cups of regular coffee a day)
- help prevent gallstones
- reduce risk of nonmelanoma
- reduce chances of diabetes for people who drink 3 to 4 cups of regular or decaf
Information also states that drinking from 300 mg (3 cups of home brew) to 500 mg (16 oz Starbucks Pike Place Roast) in an hour could possibly make you panicky, increase stress hormones, and raise blood pressure.
Way surprising to me, it says that a shot of espresso “has less caffeine than a cup of drip does. Plus, one downside of espresso is that it may raise cholesterol.”
It also suggests to eat your cereal and dairy later, after your coffee because coffee might block the absorption of iron from fortified grains and could lower calcium uptake.
The pages reveal, along with a lot of other publications I’ve been seeing recently, that coffee helps you get through your workout. Not only does it give you a zing, it seems to block your brain from knowing your muscles are tired.
Those are just some highlights that somewhat focus on the health benefits.
Even though I teach my morning Nia classes in Willow Glen not too far from where I live, so I don’t have to get up super early, I still think I have more energy in the morning when I drink coffee. I don’t have any before I teach my evening class in San Jose, nor my late afternoon one in Los Gatos. But I feel like I need that extra “wake-up” in the morning. Do you drink coffee before your workout?
Posted in Food | Tagged: Alzheimer's, breast cancer, cholesterol, Coffee, health benefits, Los Gatos Nia, Los Gatos Workouts, Muscles, Nia Classes, Nia San Jose, Parkinsons’s, San Jose Starbucks, San Jose workouts, Self Magazine, Starbucks, Willow Glen Nia, Willow Glen workouts, workout classes | 6 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on July 25, 2009
I am actually interested in hearing what you think, because I know what annoys me. So let me know what you think. Add comments to what I have or come up with your own.
It’s annoying when people don’t use:
Car blinkers
Car ashtrays
Car gas pedals
Door mats
Manners
Headsets (hands free devices) for cell phones while driving (yeah, in California it is illegal to hold your phone)
Headsets for office phones (we all do not need to hear your conversation even if it is a “business” conversation)
Office doors (see the above)
Crook of your arm when sneezing or coughing (it is better to cough/sneeze into the crook of your arm as opposed to your hand that touches things)
Bathroom sinks (they’re for washing your hands after you use the restroom before you go back to work. Oh yeah, I’ve seen it happen.)
Ok, I honestly just started out with two, but then I thought that looked kind of measly and I let my brain wander. Let’s see how this one works out. What about you? What bugs you when they are not used properly?
Yeah, “do you know the way to San Jose?” that is what pops into my head, because my blog has strayed . . . . oh well, thanks for putting up with it!
Posted in Entertainment, Misc | Tagged: annoy, california, cell phone, manners, Nia, Nia workout, San Jose Workout, workout | 10 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on July 23, 2009
I learn new stuff all the time. Some of it is useful and some of it is not. Some of it is fascinating and some of it is not. Some of it is blog-worthy and some of it is not, but I might blog about it anyway.
I was in Santa Clara at a party and I recently met a Miniature Pinscher. Did you know that Min Pins are NOT miniature Doberman Pinschers? I had always thought they were miniature Doberman Pinschers, but they are not. They are actually just a small breed of dog. Miniature Pinschers have reportedly been around longer than the Doberman Pinchers.
“Pinscher” is a “type” of dog, like terrier is a type of dog. This designation refers to the way the dogs behave. There are Doberman Pinschers, German Pinschers, Austraian Pinschers, and another small terrier, the Affenpinscher. According to all that I have seen the Pinshers were developed to catch rats on farms, or fight or guard.
The word Pinscher does not translate from German into terrier, it is actually pincher or biter or some places say “cropped”.
But from what I am reading, the way I am understanding it, the breed is somewhat classified as a terrier due to its high energy level. So even though it is small it is not considered a toy breed, which I guess can be mellow. Min Pins (oh yeah they are sometimes called Min Pins) are quite hyper and need a lot of exercise. Just walking doesn’t sound like that will do for these high energy dogs, they need a lot of play to get there energy worked out.
Also from what I can tell the different Dog clubs that decide what dog is what and what dog gets papers, some say this dog is from a Dachshund with an Italian Greyhound and some say that the German Pinscher was added in with those other two to create the Miniature Pinscher. So who knows. All they seem to agree upon is that it is NOT a miniature Doberman Pinscher. This fact is what made me look into this whole thing in the first place. And there you have it.
Posted in Just stuff | Tagged: Doberman Pinscher, German Pinschers, Min Pin, Miniature Pinsher, Santa Clara workout, terrier, workedout | 8 Comments »
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