Terre Pruitt's Blog

In the realm of health, wellness, fitness, and the like, or whatever inspires me.

  • I teach yoga, Nia, and stretch online!

    ALL CLASSES ARE ON ZOOM AT 10:00 AM PDT

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Cucumber Salad

Posted by terrepruitt on May 18, 2020

So, I had thought about making cucumber salad. I thought I had a recipe for it so I looked on my blog and I couldn’t find it. But I really could swear I wrote about it somewhere because the one I was craving was a specific one from a restaurant that has been closed for years. And I thought I made it after I had been there. One thing I loved about it was the way they cut the cucumbers. They were cut julienne, thin match-book type slices. It was very good. I didn’t find it on my blog so I threw what I thought was the ingredients together and took pictures. But then as I was making it I decided to not use the minced garlic (hence the reason I cut it off) and I ended up using some things not pictured. So the picture of the ingredients is not an accurate representation of the ingredients. So it is somewhat false advertising. Start with a tablespoon of mayo and then after you mix everything else in decide if you want more.

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Cucumber Salad

1 Tablespoon mayonnaise
3 Tablespoons soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon sherry
A drop of olive oil
A sprinkle of onion powder
A sprinkle of garlic salt
A splash of Seasoned Rice Wine Vinegar
A splash of Sesame seed oil
1 cucumber

In a bowl that will be large enough to fit all the sliced cucumber, mix all the ingredients. While the ingredients are marrying slice the cucumber – julienne. As you finish slicing sections of cucumber you can put them in the dressing mixture or you can leave them on the cutting board and maybe let some of the water drain off them. Once you are all done cutting and putting the cucumber in the dressing, toss well. Then let it set for an hour or so.

Serve.

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I am sorry this recipe might sound like something you get from your grandma who never measures, but I didn’t put enough of the “sprinkle” or “splash” ingredients to measure. I just sprinkled and splashed. I never use pepper, but you might want to add some.

I actually made this two nights in a row.

I saved the dressing from the first night and used it again. It had gotten a little watered down so I put in another tablespoon of soy and a sprinkle more of garlic salt.

Last night – a week after we had this I realized I should have put sesame seeds on it!

Do you like cucumber salad?

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Posted in "Recipes", Food | Tagged: , , , , | 6 Comments »

Beautiful Jonquil

Posted by terrepruitt on May 15, 2020

I seem to be on a flower kick. I don’t even remember where I took this picture, but it is a GORGEOUS jonquil. Ahhh, so not remembering where I took this made me curious. The date told me that I was at my parents’ house. And now I remember. There was a few scattered about the property and I didn’t remembering seeing them before, but sometimes the memory is funny because I have since noticed them in other pictures.

So here is another flower share for my Friday Photo. I love flowers. How about you?

 

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Posted in Friday Photo | Tagged: , , , , | 8 Comments »

Another Way To Look At Zoom

Posted by terrepruitt on May 13, 2020

There are so many settings on Zoom I honestly cannot remember them all. But I love settings . . . or more accurately I love to go through and make sure I have things set the way I want them and not the way the makers of the device, platform, or application wants them. So when I get a new phone I look through everything. The issue arises when there is an update because most of the time that entails new settings. And in some cases the update changes the settings you have so time consumingly set. Most often than not there are device settings AND there are application settings so there are a lot of settings . . . but I totally digress. Sometimes when I first use a device or application I don’t know what the setting is. So I usually leave it as is. A couple of weeks ago, after I had taught a class I was wishing there was a setting that would allow me to only see the people who had their cameras on. As I was falling asleep that night I had an inkling that there might just be such a setting. And there is!

When I teach a live class I want to see the people I am teaching. Teaching live and recording a video are two different things. Both have their purposes and both are great teaching tools, but when I teach live, I want to see my students. I like to be able to teach off of what I am seeing. In yoga for instance there can be many things that one may need to be reminded of while resting in a pose, but I don’t like to go through the entire list, I would rather look at the students and guide them with the cues they need. In a live Nia class I can see if we need to/want to stay in a move longer and not move on or if they need more or different verbal cues to help them get the move. I like to interact with my students. I do miss not being able to hear them, but with so many different venues (living rooms, garages, decks, patios, bedrooms, offices, you get the picture) they get muted so everyone can hear instruction and music. Now with that being said, I know there are just as many reasons why the camera is not turned on as there are people. So I completely understand when people don’t turn on the camera.

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BUT . . . . . .when there are 25 people in a class and 5 have on their cameras and 20 don’t, it makes it difficult to see the 5. The rectangles are so small. And when teaching a class I have the camera and monitor far away so it is difficult to see. After class two weeks ago, I was wondering if there was a way to “turn off” the people that are just black rectangles. And there is! Yay. If you click the “Hide non-video participants” box the only people you will see are the ones that are transmitting a live video that way you can concentrate on the students you can see AND I could actually see them because their rectangles are large enough. YAY.  This setting is found in settings, under video and you can get to it by clicking on the ^ next to “Start video” in the left-hand corner of your user screen.

At first when I did this I was worried that if someone who is showing up in the 25th spot turned on the camera I wouldn’t be able to see them because the transmitting ones “pushed” that spot off my screen (silly me) but when I thought about it I realized it doesn’t work that way. If someone in the 25th spot turns on their camera they become one of the video participants (and so there rectangle moves from the 25th spot) and I can see them.

So . . . just another setting on Zoom that might be helpful. I realize that we are all using Zoom differently so we are all needing different settings, but the more we share the more we can really deliver quality online classes to our students.

Do you keep ALL your students on your screen? Do you like to see your students?

Posted in Online Classes, Zoom | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

Improve Your Zoom Class Sound

Posted by terrepruitt on May 11, 2020

I have not been feeling very bloggy lately. Sometimes when I have an idea I don’t have the energy to write it. And when I have the energy I don’t have any ideas. I have been wanting to share something regarding online classes so I thought I had better write it up so I can have it ready for Monday. Last month I taught a Nia live stream class and I was told the sound was good. The students could hear the music and me. Now keep in mind I do not have a studio nor equipment made especially for streaming classes. I am pretty much like most of the other dance exercise instructors that decided they needed to live stream classes. For Nia I am in my living room, most often having to try to not step on a cat. I am very lucky that we do have a laptop that I can use. And since my hubby is working from home he was able to lend me his home monitor and brought his work monitor home. Also, I am borrowing the office microphone. It is not a headset microphone, but it is super cool. For music I use my Block Rocker. I don’t know what they hear, I experimented with recording it before the actual class, but that was just a test . . . I don’t know what it sounds like when I do the actual class, but for the first class they said it was ok. But in between classes I have been visiting with people on Zoom and I had adjusted my mic volume and forgot. So my second Nia class had audio issues. They couldn’t hear me. There are so many things it could have been, so I went through everything and I just wanted to share some settings with you that might help your sound quality in your classes.

I know that Zoom has a lot of videos and instructions on many things. I get e-mails from them all the time saying they are holding classes regarding how to do this and how to do that. So they probably have some information out there regarding this but maybe not because they were originally designed to be a meeting platform. With what is going on in the world we all took it over and we are using it for everything.

The first thing I had to make sure wasn’t causing sound issues was the mic cord. So we got new ones to take care of that in case that was an issue. Then I went into the Zoom settings. Every time I use Zoom it needs an update so every time I update it I check my settings because I am afraid that they will be changed with the update and that is where I discovered I had turned down my mic. I had turned it down for a Zoom visit and didn’t turn it back up for the class.

So, I think the best way to get the best sound is to turn up your mic AND . . . go into advance settings and make sure you disable “Suppress Persistent Background Noise” and “Suppress Intermittent Background Noise” I think that having them on auto confuses the system when teaching. Originally I had both of them on “auto” because I was thinking . . . I don’t want the jackhammering outside my house to be heard, but then I thought what if the system is thinking my music/voice is background noise. Because my students had said that the music cut out once or twice. So I think, it either considers my voice or the music as “background noise”. Because, remember this platform was not designed for music and voice, and especially not designed for either/both to be directed at it from three feet away.

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Turn up the mic and speakers in the “Audio” section of “Settings” – Open settings by clicking on arrow next to audio in lower left hand corner

Now I am not sure how it sounds when the music isn’t louder than the background noise and there actually is background noise (like the jackhammer). But if you disable the suppressions it might give your students a more consistent sound. The last two classes I taught with the new cord and the adjusted settings, the students had said the music didn’t cut out and they could hear me fine.

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If I were in an uncarpeted space, I would change the “Echo Cancellation” to “Aggressive” because I have taken classes that sound so “tinny”, and I would hope that the change in setting would help that. But in both spaces where I teach I have carpet.

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I also have “Enable Original Sound” OFF because Zoom’s site states if your mic HAS auto enhancing capabilities then the sound from it will be enhanced, but if it DOES NOT, then you don’t want to use it. This might actually be the key to better sound as it allows the “Audio Processing” to work.

So, I think having music and talking as one does in a live streaming dance exercise class turning the suppressing settings to “Disable” are a good bet.

So have you taken any Zoom classes? How do they sound?  What do you think?

Posted in Nia, Online Classes, Zoom | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | 23 Comments »

Mini Roses

Posted by terrepruitt on May 8, 2020

I don’t even remember when or why, but YEARS ago my boss gave me a little mini rose bush in a pot. My husband planted it and has kept it growing ever since. Every time I send her a picture she says she can’t believe it is still alive. It is not only alive by thriving and it is rather large now. My husband brought in some of it’s flowers the other day!

Just as I was about to post this I thought, “Did I post about these before?” And a search on my blog proves that I did, about a year ago I posted Yellow Yard Roses for a Friday Photo.  I don’t remember them having been so big!

 

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Posted in Friday Photo | Tagged: , , , | Leave a Comment »

The Same Size Plates

Posted by terrepruitt on May 6, 2020

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia in the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Gentle Yoga, Group Ex classes, YMCA, Zumba, Nia Technique, SJ City Fit, SJCityFit, City of San Jose Exercise Classes, Cambrian Yoga & Cardio Dance, CYCD, Yin Yoga, online exercise, Zoom classes, virtual yogaI posted the pictures with the muffins on my Facebook page. I made the muffins a couple of days ago and took the picture at that time. Today I was going to post the link to the blog where I discovered the recipe. And as I was about to post it, I hesitated because I was confused. I looked at the plates on the counter with the muffins (now down a few muffins) and I thought, “Huh? I didn’t transfer the mini-muffins to another plate. Why are they both on the same size plate?” I looked back at the picture. I looked back at the muffins and knew I didn’t move them from one plate to another. Perspective. They are not on the same size plates.

As I was walking up stairs to try to figure out what to post on my blog after posting the picture I thought, “Why don’t I post it? It sure is pertinent, especially now.” Not so much ABOUT it, ABOUT perspective because . . . . whew! I am just not up to that . . . I wouldn’t be able to settle on one thing right now. So I am just going to say that things (pretty much all things) can be seen from different perspectives. Especially right now, in these crazy days, we are seeing the opportunity to see things from a lot of different perspectives.

One of those plates holding the muffins a salad plate. And one is a dinner plate. It COULD be that the size of the muffins is contributing to the illusion that the plates are the same size. Not sure. I am not really sure about anything except that to me, from the perspective of the picture the plates look like they are the same size. So much so that it had me questioning what I had done.

I used black eyeliner to help define the edge of the salad plate, then placed it on top of the dinner plate. With them both being the same patterned glass it was difficult to see the difference in a picture. I think the eyeliner helped.

What do you think? Do the plates with the muffins on them look the same size?

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Posted in Misc | Tagged: , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

An Explosion Of Roses

Posted by terrepruitt on May 1, 2020

Our rose bush has exploded and I woke up this morning to a counter of roses.  My husband cut them and brought them in. So awesome. I hope you enjoy them.  More crimson stinkers for a Friday Photo.

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Posted in Friday Photo | Tagged: , , , | 2 Comments »

We Are All Doing New Things

Posted by terrepruitt on April 29, 2020

You may have noticed I have missed a few days posting. I have a self-imposed schedule to post Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Three times a week is a lot when I am not a writer. It is not as if I have things I want to get out or stories to tell. I started posting Friday Photos because I still wanted to post three times a week, but I thought pictures would be fast for me to post and fast for you to “read”. I have a lot to say about what is going on in the world right now- especially since it is really somewhat ALL that is going on right now – but the information changes so fast and as with everything we are all in different situations, I don’t want to have a bunch of coronavirus / COVID-19 stuff on my blog. So, I haven’t kept to my schedule. I do want to share something somewhat related though, a post came across my Facebook feed within the last few of days and I sympathized with the person. Then last night I realized I am in the same boat and a lot of us are in similar boats due to the storm that is raging.

My “boat” is not EXACTLY like my Facebook friend’s because she is more like on a cruise ship whereas I am in a little dingy. She has a dance studio that usually has at least 35 classes a week (I am guessing because I don’t remember, but it is A LOT) and she has converted a lot of them to virtual classes. Granted she has a studio from which to transmit the classes, but she and her fellow instructors are doing a lot of classes. She had shared a list of the things she was saying she needed to be right now which included a manager, a set designer, and a camera woman, I didn’t really think too much about it because the post was long and my focus was on another portion of it. But then a couple of days later my friend asked me what else I had been doing aside from teaching classes and I thought, “Snap! What have I been doing? Why don’t I have a lot of time?”

Then shortly there after I received some payments for some classes and set about sending out thanks yous and the information needed to join the class. And doing the bookkeeping that I think needs to go along with all of it. Also, having sweet little side conversations with the students that are purchasing the classes. Then I needed to think about the classes themselves, deciding on what to teach. I don’t like to teach the same thing every class and the only way I can manage that is to plan my classes in advance. And then . . . I need to make sure that the computer is set up . . . Zoom is basically doing updates every time I start a meeting so I must make sure that my settings have not changed. Then I need to make sure that the camera/laptop is set up to capture me and not just the wall. THEN I need to make sure that the space is set up. I mean, I know that everyone understands that we are doing classes out of our homes so there is going to be a room with furniture and maybe even pets walking around, but I try to keep in clean and empty when I can . . . but that requires continual upkeep and/or rearranging things.

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia in the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Gentle Yoga, Group Ex classes, YMCA, Zumba, Nia Technique, SJ City Fit, SJCityFit, City of San Jose Exercise Classes, Cambrian Yoga & Cardio Dance, CYCD, Yin Yoga, online exercise, Zoom classes, virtual yogaAll of that takes time. And I didn’t realize I, too, was having to do many of the same things (audio technician, camera woman, key grip) on my friend’s list that she was saying we are doing for the first time and learning on the fly. And all of this takes time.  It also takes energy.

At first when my friend asked me I was thinking I must be experiencing some sort of time “event” because I wasn’t getting much done during the day nor was I just sitting around watching TV. But then I realized that all of this new stuff, this new way of teaching takes time.

I am so grateful to all of my students who keep encouraging me to continue teaching online. I am so humbled that they keep coming back. I love that they are helping me through the little speed bumps (Did I really have the input volume turned DOWN?) so that I can deliver a quality class – one that I feel good about and one that has them feeling good after taking.  But I really don’t have extra time.  I feel I am working more than I was P.C. (pre-COVID) because it is more involved to do a class.

So while we are not all in the same situation, I know a lot of us are having to do and learn new things.  So for those of you that have added a whole new set of skills to your list – Cheers.  Hears to you – to us!  Hang in there.

So are you doing anything new?  Have you learned something new?  Are you having to be an audio technician or a camera person?

Posted in Online Classes, Zoom | Tagged: , , , , , , , | 4 Comments »

Vrksanana / Tree Pose

Posted by terrepruitt on April 27, 2020

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia in the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Gentle Yoga, Group Ex classes, YMCA, Zumba, Nia Technique, SJ City Fit, SJCityFit, City of San Jose Exercise Classes, Cambrian Yoga & Cardio Dance, CYCD, Yin Yoga, online exercise, Zoom classes, virtual yogaEven if you don’t practice yoga you are probably familiar with this pose. It is a pose that is seen often . . . everywhere. I mean, people that do yoga and travel will take a picture of themselves doing this pose in front of famous monuments/scenery. It seems like any type of figure that is made will have this pose as one of its choices. I would say this is a “common” yoga pose. And as with most “common” yoga asana you will see modifications of it. Tree pose is a standing balance pose. There are many balance poses that are on two feet, there are even some that are on hands and knees, just hands, or just knees, but we tend to think of standing balance poses as being on one leg. In my yoga classes, especially the gentle yoga classes, I remind my students that they don’t have to take their foot off the ground when practicing a standing balance pose. In the gentle yoga classes we often have chairs so that people can hold on if they feel the need to when they take their foot off the ground. One can use a chair, a wall, a table – anything that gives them security in knowing they have something to steady themselves if need be.

Vrksanana (Tree Pose)

To do this asana we start in mountain pose. We keep the spine lengthening and straight (neutral) for the entire pose. With a tall spine shift the weight to the right foot. Rotate the left thigh out, away from the body, let the left knee and toes point out to the left. Then bring the left heel up onto the inner ankle of the right leg/foot. If you can, bring your hands to prayer position in front of your heart center. If this feels like enough of a challenge to your balance, then stay for a few breaths then come back to mountain and repeat on the other side. If you feel you can, lift your left foot higher up on your right leg, letting the left toes point DOWN. Some may even grab the left foot and put the heel at the groin with the foot along the upper inner thigh and the toes pointing down.  The foot can go anywhere along the supporting leg (it is recommended to NOT have the heel press into the side of the knee of the supporting leg). If at any time the left knee starts to point forward lower the foot until you have the knee point directly to the left and allowing for the stretch in the inner thigh.

Put your hands wherever it best supports you in the pose. Some people like to have their hands in prayer position at heart center. Some people like their arms up with their hands over their head and facing each other. Some people like their arms to be out. When arms are lifted whether they are up or out, the shoulders need to remain relaxed. I remind my students that they are trees and their arms are branches and they can go wherever is best for them.

The supporting foot’s toes are not gripping. The foot is relaxed allow the toes to be like roots spreading out and giving support.

As with all balance poses looking at one spot can help steady you. Also breathing is key. Holding the breath may happen, but breathing is what will allow the pose to be held – so breathe.

Remember to do both sides. Also remember that, while our sides may have been created equally, they do not function the same so just honor each side and see what it can do.

Balance poses require concentration so the idea is if you are having trouble concentrating try doing a balance pose to help your mind focus. But remember to be safe and have a chair or wall nearby if need be. This pose helps strengthen legs and feet and may even help calm the nerves. If you sense an inner thigh stretch then you are getting some flexibility in the inner thigh and hip joint.

Do you include Vrksanana in your yoga practice?  Have you seen this pose before even if you don’t practice yoga?

Posted in Yoga/PiYo/Pilates | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Crimson Stinkers

Posted by terrepruitt on April 17, 2020

We’ve had a couple of days of sun which helped with the opening up of our rose. We have two rose bushes. The oranges ones and the “Crimson Stinkers”. I woke up this morning and these were set out for me. I love having flowers in the house.

I am sharing our roses on for this Friday Photo.  How was your Friday?

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Posted in Friday Photo | Tagged: , , , , , | 4 Comments »