Posted by terrepruitt on June 4, 2009
I want to share this product with you. I have been using this product since I was in high school. It is awesome. It is not all natural, most of the ingredients I can’t pronounce, but the first one is water. It is one of those products that is so versatile. They call is an “All Purpose Skin and Hair Moisturizer”. And that is what it is for me.
SeaPlasma by Focus 21
I am not comfortable using most products on my hair and my skin, but this one I do. It is great for moisturizing without adding any kind of sticky left over feeling. And I have never had a problem with it when it comes in contact with my clothes. It is great to use to cool you off. It is awesome.
In addition to a moisturizer and a “cooling agent” it has such a great refreshing scent that you can even use it as an after exercise “freshen up” tool. I mean, face it, we would all love to take a shower after every workout, but sometimes you have to rush off to pick up the kids, meet a friend, or maybe you’re like me and you are rushing off to another class and there isn’t time for a shower. Sea Plasma can be used on your hair and skin and you can be off and running and not smell like you just finished working out.
In San Jose you can find it in the drug stores now. I used to have to buy it from my hair salon. I bet you can find it in your local drug store, too.
Posted in Just stuff | Tagged: excercise, Hair Moisturizer, moisturizing, San Jose exercise, San Jose Workout, Sea Plasma, SeaPlasma, Skin Moisturizer, Working Out, workout | 12 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on June 2, 2009
I was people watching the other day in a coffee shop in Willow Glen. I was looking at people’s shoes and it occurred to me that people might not realize feet need exercise too. The foot is an awesomely designed structure. Think about it: over 26 bones, 33 joints, 107 ligaments, and a bunch of muscles and tendons, all working to support you and transport you, and sometimes even defend you. The foot was designed to move, flex and absorb. Your foot can be subjected to up to four times your body weight.
Do you exercise them? Do you even think about them?
For most people feet are in shoes most of the day. Most shoes are very rigid and they don’t allow for the foot to bend and flex. With that kind of captivity your feet do not move much, so the bones, joints, ligaments, muscles and tendons don’t get the workout they need.
One of the reasons Nia™ is done barefoot is to exercise the feet. The Nia routines have us (at the very least) stepping flat foot, stepping into releve, stepping onto a heal lead, at times we use the ball of our foot flexing out toes—our entire foot gets a workout.
Nia can be done in shoes, but there is a reason why we do it in bare feet. We want to build a strong base. Our feet are the very bottom of that base. According to The Nia Technique® White Belt Manual: “Ida Rolf, the creator of Rolfing, teaches that the feet tell an entire story. She says to develop healthy and powerful posture, to have a strong an agile body, the feet must be structurally aligned. They must provide a firm, sturdy and flexible foundations.”
It is good for our feet to make a connection to the earth. Nia say that our feet are the hands that touch the earth. We have 7,000 nerve endings in our feet. Think about how alive they would feel out of shoes, touching the floor, assisting in the health of the rest of the body.
Next time you are working out, think about how you can help your feet get some exercise too.
Posted in Exercise and Working Out, Nia | Tagged: agile, barefoot exercise, Exercising, Nia, Nia Technique, Nia White Belt, San Jose exercise, Willow Glen, Willow Glen Exercise | 4 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on May 30, 2009
In Nia (TM) our movement is for Joy. “Joy is not a technique or a choreographic method. It is an attitude toward the body and toward life. Joy is not just for when things in like are going well. It is an open accepting energy that accepts whatever comes its way.” (1) This is Universal Joy.
So we choose during our workouts to sense Joy and to seek the Joy of Movement. Throughout our routine we seek to sustain that Universal Joy. If we are able, we actually increase it. When we lose it or if we are doing a move that causes it to faulter, we tweak.
I think these can be applied to life. That is what I love about Nia. We have all these thoughts and ideas that we apply to our workouts, but they aren’t necessarily new and they can applied to life.
When you are doing something that gives you joy don’t you want to keep doing it? When you have joy don’t you want to increase it? When you start to lose it don’t you do something to tweak it and bring it back?
That is what we do throughout our work out. We are using our bodies to seek the sensation of Joy and if we find it and we can increase it, we do. If we start to lose it we can tweak it. Our workouts are about one’s own body and how it feels. So while you are following the teacher you are also paying close attention to yourself and making sure that you are sensing the Joy of Movement.
This is one of the things that makes Nia such a different workout. We are actually “sustaining, increasing, and tweaking” the entire time. Universal Joy. Allowing our bodies to move for pure pleasure. Doesn’t that sound like something you want to do?
(I have added an Evening class to my schedule. Teaching in San Jose (Willow Glen) three times a week; two AM classes and one evening class. Teaching at a member only club in Los Gatos in the evening once a week. Check out my Nia Class schedule on my site, HelpYouWell.com)
(1) From The Nia Technique – White Belt Manual March 2001, V3 page 2-4
Posted in Nia | Tagged: joy, Joy of Movement, Los Gatos Club, Los Gatos Nia, Nia, Nia Los Gatos, Nia San Jose, Nia Technique, pleasure, San Jose Nia, San Jose Workout, Universal Joy, White Belt, Willow Glen Nia, Willow Glen Workout, workout | Leave a Comment »
Posted by terrepruitt on May 28, 2009
This past summer we were lucky enough to be the home to six baby blue jays (maybe more it was difficult to keep track). It was fun to watch them grow up. I think most of the six have gone, but I think one is still here. I think others visit because we put peanuts out for them. Since we live in San Jose, we have great weather and blue jays are always here.
It was fun to watch their different “personalities” or styles. One exercised great caution and care when it came to bath time, another one, as you will see below . . . .would get in there and just have a ball.
These are from August 28, 2008.
I actually think this one, is the one that would be very careful.
Posted in Birds | Tagged: Baby blue jays, blue jays, San Jose, San Jose exercies | 17 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on May 26, 2009
Oh, with the Memorial Day weekend behind us we are thinking forward to more barbeques, right? Especially since we had such spectacular weather in the San Jose Bay Area. Well, I honestly don’t know where this recipe came from. I will credit the person that I got it from about 10 years ago. I worked with this woman named Diana and she brought this salad to a potluck. I have been making it ever since.
Now, it is an exercise in imagination calling this a recipe, this really isn’t a recipe per se, because I don’t have amounts of ingredients. You need to decide that for yourself. I am just sharing the idea and giving you a ball park.
So basically you get some mangos peel then cube them. Then you cube or slice a peeled cucumber. Throw it all in a bowl, then you add lemon juice and salt. So easy. And so good. But you have to decide how much mango you want or how much cucumber. And the lemon and the salt again, all to taste. What I usually do is I bring a lemon and salt to the event so that people can add more if they like.
I usually start out with three mangos to an English cucumber. And I chop everything up in tiny little cubes because I like to get a bites of both mango and cucumber. I am a firm believer in eating the edible skin of my fruits and vegetables, so I don’t always cleanly peel the cucumber, but without the cucumber skin you can taste the mangos better, I think.
Mangos contain the antioxidants C and A. They also contain fiber. Even peeled cucumbers have vitamins and minerals that most could benefit from.
This salad is one of those super easy, yet packs-a-tasteful-punch kind of summer salad that I bet you will have on all of your barbeque tables from now on.
“Recipe” for Mango and Cucumber salad
- Peeled and cubed mangos and cucumbers, salt and lemon juice to taste.
Posted in "Recipes", Food | Tagged: barbeques, Bay Area, Bay Area Exercise. summer salad, bbq, cucumbers, fruit salad, lemon, lemon juice, mangos, punch, Recipe, salad, San Jose Bay Area, San Jose exercise | 7 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on May 23, 2009
I had been thinking about getting some henna decoration around my ankles or on the lower legs. I was thinking that would be cool since people tend to look at my feet a lot since I am a group exercise instructor teaching Nia. I had been looking for an artisit in San jose. But, then I saw pictures from a Yelp Event and there had been a Henna Artist there doing tattoos. These were the first tattoos I had seen that had sparkles and glitter on them. Ooooooo, now we are talking!
So I contacted her and started learning a bit about Henna and Henna Tattoos. First of all when the henna is applied and it is like puff paint, it is raised and thick and initially wet. So the glitter is applied when it is wet and I imagine this is done when one is at an event or a party, because then it looks extra pretty. As the Henna dries it starts to flake off and if you have glitter that will probably flake off too.
As I was looking at Henna and Beyond website I read that it is believed that putting henna on the skin started out as a way to cool people in the desert, “When the desert people of Rajasthan, Punjab, and Gujarat became aware of Henna’s cooling properties, they dipped their hands and feet in a mud or paste made with the crushed leaves of the plant. Even when the mud was scraped off, they noticed, as long as the color remained visible, their body temperatures stayed low.” This really fascinated me. I know so many women who, if this is true, might want to try Henna tattoos. If this works for some people think of how we could save on electricity during heat waves.
I went to Rachna of Henna and Beyond and had some art work done. One of the things you can do to help achieve a dark stain is to put oil or tiger balm on it. Well, I tried both—sort of. I put oil on it, but it was so light that I was afraid that wasn’t helping so I turned to some “hot sauce” that my hubby had made during his Jujitsu days.
Now I don’t know if the Hot sauce or the henna is making me cold, but it is a perfect temperature in my house and I have socks on and I just drank tea. I have not yet washed the hot sauce off, although I am sure there is not much on after sleeping, because I am still in the 24-hours-without-water-period that you wait in order to assist the Henna color to last. I am really thinking that the Henna does have cooling properties. It could be that it does for me because I have that in my head, I don’t know, but it is fascinating.
I like my decorations. I have learned a bit from this first time. Next time I will get the decoration a little higher and not on the foot. I want it on areas that move less so the flaking isn’t so bad with every movement. But hopefully I have weeks before I need to think about that. The tattoos will hopefully last two weeks. I invite you to try it and let me know if it cools your body temperature down. I would love to hear.
Posted in Just stuff | Tagged: 24 hours, exercise, group exercise, Henna, Henna and Beyond, henna decoration, Henna Tattoos, Jujitsu, Nia, Nia San Jose, San Jose exercise, San Jose Nia | 7 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on May 21, 2009
This morning as I was trying to figure out what to write about, it dawned on me that I wasn’t practicing what I was preaching about being true to myself.
I was trying to decide what to write. I want to write stuff that people will read. I am worried about people not reading it. I am worried that they won’t like it. I am worried that I am not following my own self initiated schedule of healthful on Tuesdays and Saturdays with Thursdays less in that realm. Because of all my worries I couldn’t think of what to write, I felt as if my thoughts were twisted like the most twisty Yoga pose. Then it hit me, my real intent of all of this, my blog is somewhat like a mini resume.
When people ask me about their resume or they share that they are confused because they don’t know what to put on it because they hear this and they hear that, I ALWAYS tell them to follow their heart and write a resume they would like. Some of who they are needs to be in that resume because they want to be happy at their new job. The person that is going to hire them and the place where they will fit the best will be the person that likes the resume at the company that accepts it. So if you put a little of yourself in it, then it should all work out.
So with my social media stuff I need to think the same way. I am tweeting so people will see me, and learn from me and want to train and workout with me. When I retweet something, it is something I like, so that is showing a little bit of me. Twitter is different for everyone, we all have different reasons for being there, so if you don’t like the tweets you are seeing don’t follow. I follow to learn and network, so I won’t follow you if I see tweets I don’t like. That is Twitter.
For me Facebook is more personal. I am not “friending” everyone because I like to be less business-y there. Although I do post a lot of stuff about Nia, that is just because I am practicing it and I like the way it makes me feel so I want to share with others. And I am growing my garden of Nia flowers so I tend to repost their information so that others can see what people think about Nia and maybe come try it for themselves.
With my blog I have a few goals. I want to share about events that happen in my areas, Los Gatos, San Jose (Willow Glen, Berryessa) and around, I want to entertain a bit, and I want to help people learn, but I don’t need to be all scientific as I first thought. Every time I go to write a blog with a bunch of interesting facts, I find a bunch of other sites with a bunch of interesting facts. I think that people can go to those sites if they want the science and the statistics. I will keep it simple. And you will either like it or you won’t, but I think if you like it then you will enjoy my classes and enjoy training with me.
My point is that I need to stop worrying and just start doing so that we can get on with it. I need to be me so you can see who I am and then say, “Yeah, I would like to go to her class.” So, whew . . . what a relief, now I just have to remember to actually practice what I preach. You are welcome to remind me.
Posted in Just stuff | Tagged: Facebook, healthful, Los Gatos Nia, Los Gatos Tuesday classes, Nia, Nia Berryessa, Nia Los Gatos, Nia San Jose, Nia Willow Glen, Practice, San Jose, San Jose Nia, San Jose Tuesday classes, San Jose Workout, San Jose Yoga, schedule of classes, social media, Tuesday classes, Twitter, Willow Glen Nia, Willow Glen Tuesday classes, Willow Glen Yoga, Yoga | 8 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on May 19, 2009
At one point there was information released that stated one could be active for 30 minutes a day, five days a week and the result would be improved health. I somehow was under a different impression, and I think my impression is better for overall health.
I thought that the information had said that the 30 minutes needed to be EVERY DAY and that it was for healthy people to maintain health. So my conclusion was that if one wanted to actually improve one’s health one needed to be doing a workout OVER and above the recommended 30 minutes of activity a day five days a week.
Maybe I was seeing into the future of recommendations. Seems like the people that make these recommendations are now saying that more activity IS needed.
What it really boils down to is that everyone is different. Recommendations that are published are broad, everyone has different goals. I would think that some people could improve their health in 30 minutes a day five days a week, but there are a lot more people that need more, just to get healthy. It is estimated that 1 in 3 adults has high blood pressure and they don’t even know it. High blood pressure is not healthy and it possible to lower it with exercise, but it might take more than 30 minutes a day.
I recommend 30 minutes of activity every day. The 30 minutes can be anything . . . .cleaning house, walking the dog, gardening, shopping, almost anything where you are moving your body and active. THEN in addition to that 30 minutes every day, there should be an exercise routine. Everyone is different. Everyone has different goals. Everyone has different likes and dislikes. If you are trying to get healthy, I would suggest you examine your goals, then look at the vast amount of exercise options out there and try some.**
There is so much out there it is amazing. There is Yoga, there is Zumba, there is Pilates, there is Nia, there is Cycling, there is Weight Training, oh, the list goes on. Try something. San Jose, Los Gatos, Cupertino, and San Ramon and all cities around have plenty of gyms, clubs, yoga studios, dance studios, etc., and most of them have a vararity of things to try.
Don’t think that the old recommendation of 30 minutes per day will give you the results you want, try more, get out there .. . . move!
**before starting any exercise program you should clear it with your doctor.
Posted in Exercise and Working Out | Tagged: 30 Minutes per day, cleaning house, Cupertino Nia, exercies routine, exercise program, gardening, high blood pressure, Los Gatos Yoga, Nia, overall health, San Jose Dance Studio, San Jose Gym, San Jose Nia, San Jose Pilates, San Jose Yoga, San Jose Zumba, San Ramon Nia, walking the dog, Yoga | 3 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on May 16, 2009
Oh my, one of my favorite things to do is go on cruises. I have talked to several people that are going on cruises in the near future and so it made me think that I could share my rule with you. I have implemented a rule for myself on cruises. NEVER take the elevator. 
When we first board we take the elevator because there is usually a glass one and we like to see it. But then that is it. I never take the elevator again. The last two cruises we went on our cabin was on the 9th deck. When we went on excursions we disembarked from the 1st or maybe the 2nd deck. But we always took the stairs. I will tell you that this is not easy after walking around all day we usually came back with extra weight in the backpack from all the goodies we bought and the hubby would whimper as we passed the elevator because sometimes the legs didn’t want to carry all that extra weight up the nine decks, but we did.
Honestly, I remember once I used my arms to drag me up the last set of stairs, but I did it. There are way too many extra calories that are consumed on cruises. That can barely be helped because, for me, even if I didn’t eat more, the food that is served is way different than what I eat at home.
Anyway, I just thought I would share that simple tip with you in case you ever find yourself fortunate enough to be going on a cruise. I would advise that you make the decision before you go to NEVER use the elevator. Then tell everyone what your plan is. Really commit to it. All of these things will help you stick to it. It really helps especially if your cabin is very far away from all of the activities.
Oh yeah, and no cheating just because you get lost! That is even better, you add to the calorie burning equation if you end up on the wrong deck at the wrong end of the ship. Yay! Think of it as a blessing in disguise and just get back on the stairs and go to the correct deck!
Safe Travels!
Posted in Helpful Hints | Tagged: calorie burner, calorie burning, calorie burning equation, Cruise, Cruise Help, Cruise travel, Crusing Rule, elevator, stairs, Terre, Terre's Rule, travel | 6 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on May 14, 2009
In Nia (TM) we have FreeDance. It is not easy for most people to do. It is not easy for me to do. I am still learning. With Nia the purpose of FreeDance is “to stimulate movement creativity”. Whoa. Stimulate movement creativity.
Per an online dictionary:
Stimulate: to excite to activity or growth or to greater activity
Movement: the act or process of moving; especially: change of place or position or posture from the same source as above
And creativity: the quality of being creative or the ability to create
So we FreeDance to excite growth or greater activity in changing our place, position, or postures into new places, positions or postures. Hmmmm.
I will take this time to remind you that our bodies are built to move. And they are built to move a certain way. Our joints allow for certain types and amounts of movement. Now barring any ailment or disease our bodies should move like they are built. But we often don’t move that way. Our way of life keeps us from moving as our bodies were built. Sometimes social stigma keeps us from moving the way our joints would like. So in FreeDance you are invited and encouraged to break habits and to move like your body was built.
I have experienced that for some, moving their head is a new thing. Think of the old way models were trained with a book on the head, some of us were taught to walk and be in that position. Can’t move your head with a book balanced on it. So moving your head could be something new in FreeDance you could do and be amazed at the result. Something as simple as moving your head, breaking that straight neck habit could release oodles of tension.
Same with rigidly straight spines or tight backs. When you Free Dance you are not dancing like you would in a club, you are pushing the limits, you are moving your body to experiment with it. You are Stimulated Movement Creativity.
There is so much more to say on this. This is Nia White Belt Principal number 4. This principal has 8 stages, so that alone is a lot to talk about, but for now, I will leave it at FreeDance – To Stimulate Movement Creativity. See if you can add a little FreeDance into your day. It doesn’t have to be wild, it could be done where no one even notices, just move one move a little different than you normally do, and you will be on your way to FreeDance!
Posted in FreeDance, Nia, Nia White Belt Principles | Tagged: dance, Free, Free Dance, Nia, Nia Dance, Nia Free Dance, Nia White Belt, stimulate, White Belt | 6 Comments »
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