Posts Tagged ‘Bay Area Nia’
Posted by terrepruitt on August 26, 2010
As you know from my first post on water, the body is made up of a huge percentage of water. As you probably also know, sweating is a process that the body utilizes to cool off. I must always be hot. 🙂 Here in the California Bay Area we had record temperatures. San Jose reached 102 and San Francisco reached 94. For me, when it is that hot, it is easy for me to drink water. I drank a bottle of water right after teaching Nia class today.
It is much easier to become dehydrated in the heat because your body might be sweating more in order to stay cool. Also, because air conditioning takes the moisture out of the air, drinking water even if you are not in the heat is a good thing to do. Often times when the temperatures get high outside the air conditioner goes on or stays on longer, which seems like it would dry the air out more. So even in the air conditioned office or home or mall, drink the water.
I often been told that by the time you are thirsty you are already mildly dehydrated. I like the idea of drinking water throughout the day, but it is really important on the hotter days. There are different stages of dehydration so when you get thirsty drink don’t wait for until you are lightheaded, or get muscles cramps.
Of course there are other more serious reasons people become dehydrated. There are also other treatments when the dehydration is severe. I am just addressing the normal everyday don’t-let-yourself-get-dehydrated-in-the-excessive-heat kind of thing. Funny because my last post regarding water was because it was nice and cool and sometimes a challenge to drink water. In the heat please remember to hydrate!
Posted in Water | Tagged: Bay Area, Bay Area Nia, bottle of water, dehydrated, dehydration, mild dehydration, Nia Bay Area, Nia class, Nia San Jose, San Jose Nia, Water | 4 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on July 29, 2010
I often find myself defending Twitter when I meet new people. In this world of multiple social media networks, the subject of FaceBook, Twitter, and Yelp often come up. We start talking then usually someone says, “I’ve never gotten into Twitter. I mean, really (!?!?) who wants to know what I had for lunch? And I certainly don’t care about what others had for lunch?!?!” That is not the only thing Twitter is about.
First of all, that is a Twitter stereo-type. Not ALL tweeple tweet about what they had for lunch. But those that do often get a lot of responses. If you are in a circle of people that are foodies they LOVE tweets about food! ANY MEAL AT ALL. My hubby (@JohnPruitt) used to tweet and Facebook pictures of his lunch every day. Now he actually takes lunch from home and people miss his pictures. They ask him if he is on a diet, if he is sick, they miss it. EVERYONE eats. Not everyone has the opportunity to eat what is available to us in San Jose and the Bay Area and they enjoy seeing all the different things. Food really brings people together.
What I was thinking about the other day was when someone tweets me out of the blue and says, “I thought about you . . . .” WOW! People I know only through Twitter THINK about ME! How cool is that? I love that someone out there is thinking about me. I love it when it is silly, “I was thinking about you because I was wearing blue.” I love it when it is related to healthy eating, “I was thinking about you as I ate my salad.” I love when it is about kitties, “I saw a cat and thought about you and your cat.” I love when it is about Nia, “I went to a Nia class today and I thought about you.”
Yes, I started using Twitter to promote Nia and my business. I have made business connections and friends. I have actually made some connections. Funny enough, with this post half written (up to this very point – no lie!) I had a DM* conversation with a friend today. She was asking if I thought it were possible to have “real” friends on Twitter. Ones that you only knew through Twitter. My thinking on that is “you betcha!”
Maybe the definition of “real” is different, I don’t know. But I know that I know more about a lot of my friends on Twitter than I know about my friends I have in person. I talk more to some of my Twitter friends than I do my “in person friends”. So . . . . . to me, as I always say . . . Twitter is what you make it. Connections are out there to be made. Either you know because you are on it, or you will see when you get there. It is soooooo AWESOME (inspiring, and humbling) to have someone tweet, “I was thinking about you today!” Gives me the warm fuzzies.
*DM = Direct Message
(Oh, and puleeeaase! You think I am going to write a post about Twitter warm fuzzies and not put this most excellent tweet that I received one day in my post. Ha! That would be unacceptable. Thanks, Dani!)
Posted in Twitter | Tagged: @JohnPruitt, Bay Area, Bay Area Nia, Bay Area Nia class, Direct Message, DM, Facebook, foodies, John Pruitt, Nia business, Nia class, Nia San Jose, San Jose, San Jose Nia class, social media, social media networks, Tweeple, tweets, Twitter, twitter friends, warm fuzzies, warm fuzzy, Yelp | 6 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on June 22, 2010
Someone pointed me in the direction of this great map that indicates what fruits and vegetables are at the peak of the season in a particular state in a particular month. I need assistance with that because I have never learned that.
This month it is June. I’m in California. Not only am I in California, I am in the Bay Area, the San Francisco Bay Area. In the South Bay. I have said before that we are very fortunate here in the San Jose Area because we have great weather. The map does not give specific locations as to what grows where, but I was able to get some plums and apricots off of a friend’s tree(s) (They didn’t come off of the same tree).
I ate only one apricot. I will save the rest for my hubby because he likes them more than I do. It was very good. Very sweet and rich. The plums are in varying stages of ripeness. But so far all of the ones I have had are sweet and delicious. I had a couple for breakfast before my Nia class this morning.
I am thinking of different ways we can eat the plums. Besides just popping the entire thing in our mouths. Since even the ones that aren’t that ripe are sweet I was thinking I could cut some up and throw them in a green salad. No matter the ripeness I could put them in an aluminum foil package of chicken or pork and cook that. Mmmm. I think that I am going to do a lot more cooking with fruit this summer, just to try new things.
Do you cook with fruit? What fruits and vegetables are in peak season right now in your state?
Posted in Food, Fruit | Tagged: apricots, Bay Area, Bay Area Nia, california, cooking with fruit, foil cooking, Nia, Nia class, Nia in San Jose, peak season, plums, San Francisco Nia, San Jose Area, San Jose Nia class, South Bay, the San Francisco Bay Area | 17 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on September 26, 2009
A Nia workout includes elements from three disciplines from three different arts.
From the martial arts, we use moves from T’ai chi. Actually it is not just “moves” from Tai Chi but also some of the “ideals” from Tai Chi. Nia calls Tai Chi “The Slow Dance”.* Tai Chi allows for the elements of grace, ease, precision, power, and lightness to be accessed and brought in to our dance that is our workout.
So while we do not do the sequences of postures that form a Tai Chi routine or exercise we might have some of the Tai Chi moves incorporated into a routine. And/or we might take a portion of the routine and execute it “Tai Chi like”, moving slow and graceful. Being mindful of our movements and moving from the feet with relaxed joints establishing that fluid Tai Chi like flow. We might also incorporate circular movements and shift our weight to assist in balance, all the while sensing the gentle flow of chi.
Some things we do in class to assist us in moving “Tai Chi like” is leading with our heels when we step, using our eyes to allow for our head to be included in our movement, keeping our joints open and soft, focusing on moving from our energy center, using our breath to generate power and support for movement, and moving systemically.**
Hopefully this post will serve to address some of the inquires about the aspect of Tai Chi in Nia. This will give you an idea of how Tai Chi is brought into Nia.
I love to watch the people in the parks of San Jose doing Tai Chi. I actually see them all over the Bay Area. In Nia we don’t “DO” Tai Chi, we glean from it and allow what we’ve gleaned to mix with aspects of Tae Kwon Do, Aikido, Jazz Dance, Modern Dance, Duncan Dance, Yoga, the Alexander Technique and the teachings from Feldenkrais. It is all combined to be Nia.
*Both the Nia Technique Book and The Nia Technique – White Belt Manual state this. Both books are by Debbie Rosas and Carlos Rosas.
**V3 of The Nia Technique – White Belt Manual
Posted in Movement Forms of Nia, Nia | Tagged: Aikido, Bay Area Nia, Bay Area Yoga, Carlos Rosas, Debbie Rosas, Duncan Dance, exercise classes, Feldenkrais, flow, Jazz Dance, joy, joyful, martial arts, Martial Arts Disciplines, mind, modern dance, movement, Nia, Nia classes in San Jose, Nia classes in the Bay Area, Nia San Jose, Nia White Belt, Nia workout, San Jose Dance classes, San Jose exercise, San Jose Nia, San Jose parks, San Jose workout classes, Tae kwon do, Tae kwon do San Jose, T’ai chi, T’ai chi San Jose, the Alexander Technique, The Nia Technique, White Belt, Yoga, Yoga San Jose | 12 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on September 22, 2009
I believe that positive thinking can go a long way in helping someone get better. I also believe that “happy” and “positive” can assist with improving someone’s heath and/or keeping them healthy to begin with. I believe there are a lot of things people can do to be responsible for their own health and make themselves better. But I didn’t use the term healing or self-healing. So when I first heard Nia using that term I thought, “Uh-oh, what is this?”
But it is not meant as a proclamation that any or all ills will be cured with Nia. It really is “self-healing” as in feeling better. There is always room for improvement and even just a little better is still BETTER.
More and more people, and even the medical field, are realizing that the body has its own intelligence and sometimes we need to listen to it. One BIG thing that a lot more people are paying attention to is things like “a cold”. I have recently experienced a larger number of people realizing that when they get a cold it is their body saying, “Whoa! Slow down. Rest.” And yes, most of the time that is very difficult but these people are saying, “I better take one day to rest because if I don’t it is going to be worse.” And they exercise a little self-healing, by taking one day and then taking it easy for a few more days and it seems like they can “heal” themselves faster. And taking one day off, can work out so much better than having to take a week.
See? That is self-healing? Our bodies will basically heal themselves.
Yes, there are illness and situations where we need medical attention. But there are a lot of things that we can do to feel better/self-heal.
For example: One thing I did to “heal myself” years ago was stop talking on the phone with my shoulder and head holding the phone. I used to get terrible neck aches and I talked on the phone at work a lot. It got to a point that I could no longer hold the phone like that as much as I needed to so my employer got me a headset. Ahhhh! I felt a little better. Then I realized I needed a headset for home. Ahhhhh. Totally better. Now I don’t talk on any phone holding it between my head and shoulder. Voilà! Self-healed.
So . . . Nia uses the term, self-healing, a lot because it is believed that movement is a healing act. Nia used to say: “Through Movement We Find Health”.
One of the incredible tools that Nia has (and there are many) to assist in self-healing is the Nia 5 Stages. It used to be called the Nia 5 Stages of Healing. I recently took a two day training so that I can now assist people in self-healing with the Nia 5 Stages.
I am confident that living in the Bay Area with San Jose, Mountain View, Cupertino, and Santa Clara having so many great technologies around us I can easily add the technology of the body to the Silicon Valley.
Posted in Misc, Nia | Tagged: Bay Area exericse, Bay Area Nia, Bay Area Workout, body intelligence, body technology, Cupertino exericse, Cupertino Nia, Cupertino workout, heal, heal myself, heal others, Mountain View exericse, Mountain View Nia, Mountain View workout, Nia, Nia 5 Stages, Nia 5 Stages training, Nia Bay Area, Nia Cupertino, Nia exercise, Nia Mountain View, Nia San Jose, Nia Santa Clara, Nia self-healing, Nia workout, positive thinking, San Jose exericse, San Jose Nia, San Jose Workout, Santa Clara exercise, Santa Clara Nia, Santa Clara workout, Silicon Valley exercise, Silicon Valley Nia, Silicon Valley workout | 7 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on September 17, 2009
I love the movie “Lars And the Real Girl”. For those of you that are not inclined to watch it because you think it is about a man and his blow-up doll, you are somewhat correct. There is a man in it who has a “life-sized doll named Bianca”. But it might not be what you think. Even the back of the DVD cover does not describe the movie the way I see it.
I can’t remember what made me actually want to watch it, but something did and I am so glad because it was NOTHING like I expected. I expected a comedy. While there is some humor in it and it makes me laugh, it makes me cry more. It is, in my opinion a very, very touching movie.
Now, I think that might be enough for those of you that don’t like to know too much, but thought this was a silly movie. For those of you that don’t mind knowing more, read on.
It is a silly movie, there is a life-size doll in it for heaven’s sake, but it also an amazing movie. It is really about a person having “stuff” in his life and how he deals with it. We all handle different things in different ways. This movie is about how Lars handles his “stuff”. But what I find amazing and I am getting teary-eyed just thinking about it, is how the town handles the way he handles his stuff. They are the most amazing people that I could ever hope to meet.
It is a small town so the whole town can get involved. In big cities like San Jose or big areas like the Bay Area, I don’t think this would have worked as well.
The Townspeople where Lars live rally around him. They do everything—they go out of their way—to support Lars and to help him through this period in his life. They are so incredible. I have only seen this movie twice. And the first time I was just in awe and wondering what was going to happen and how it was going to work out. The second time, I knew what was going to happen (basically, I didn’t remember everything), but I was still in awe. In fact I had more of achance to be in awe because I wasn’t wondering what was going to happen.
I honestly can’t say that I would be as strong and wonderful as the people in this movie. Their patience was exercised to the fullest! I don’t think I could or would take time out of my life for a plastic doll, but then again, they didn’t do it for the doll, they did it for Lars. They decided to particpate in his delusion because they realized that it was what he needed. So maybe I could, but I don’t know, I just think they were so amazing.
This is my “whatever” day —- Thursday, so I am just sharing a bit about a movie that I think was really good, but I think might get overlooked by some who would really enjoy it, but are turned off by the name and the idea of it. So, if you have not seen it and you are still reading, please, rent it or see it however you view movies. I think you will like it.
Just as I was about to post this I had another thought, that my Nia Friends might really enjoy this because it is about letting someone do what they need to do. In a sense, allowing someone to follow their own “body’s way” (even though it was more his mind).
If you have seen it, what did you think?
Posted in Misc | Tagged: Bay Are exercise, Bay Area Nia, Bay Area Workout, body's way, Lars and the Real Girl, life-sized doll, Nia, Nia Bay Area, Nia exercise, Nia workout, plastic doll, San Jose exercise, San Jose Nia, San Jose Workout | Leave a Comment »
Posted by terrepruitt on September 12, 2009
I have only taken two yoga classes. One was this evening and throughout the entire class, while the teacher was instructing I kept thinking, “Oh that is so Nia. Oh this is so Nia. . . . . .Oh THAT is so Nia.” Even though earlier in the class I realized that maybe Nia was “so Yoga”.
Yoga was first. It has been around for thousands of years. For some it is rooted in religion, where as Nia has been around for 25 years and is rooted in the body. I just couldn’t help thinking that this yoga class was so like a Nia class, except much slower. Slower, in the sense that in this class the movement wass not to the music, but to the breath. There was no rhythmic quality to the movement, just the flow of your breath. Every once in awhile I would hear the music and to start sway to it and realize that I was supposed to be holding a pose so I would stop my body from moving but my spirit continued to boogey away.
This yoga class is about joy in yoga, allowing for another comparison, comparing to the first principle of the Nia White Belt which is the Joy of Movement. The Joy of movement is actually found as a sensation and not a feeling. In Nia it is something that is sensed in the body and not felts as an emotion.
The teacher started the class with the suggestion that you set an intention. I actually wiggled with happiness at this because in every Nia class we set a focus and an intent (in cycle one).
This yoga class made me realize why so many people that practice yoga also practice Nia because there are many things in common. In yoga there are poses that open areas of the body, in Nia we have movements and poses that open the body and get the joints juicy. Yoga has muscle strengtheners and ligaments and tendon lengtheners and so does Nia. But with yoga it is a pose and in Nia it is primarily movements linked together in a more cardio-dance fashion. In the cool down we do poses or stretches and sometimes there are yoga poses. It just amazed me how similar they were. With the request of awareness that the teacher was giving during the ending meditation, something that we request during the entire Nia workout, I was extremely delighted to realize that yoga and Nia aren’t competing practices, but companion practices. They are so similar that you can apply a lot of the principles to both. You can have a non-impact booty shaking cardio and strength workout (Nia) that you balance with the complete stretching and strength workout (yoga).
I truly was amazed at how Nia has taken so much of what is “yoga” and created a practice that can be such a great companion. With so many similarities it really allows for an expansion of exercise and workout possibilities for so many people who do yoga in San Jose and in the Bay Area.
Posted in Nia | Tagged: Bay Area Exercies, Bay Area Nia, Bay Area Workout, Bay Area Yoga, cardio, cardio dance, cardio yoga, dance class, dance exercise, Dance Workout, exercise class, Joy of Movement, juicy joints, movement class, Nia, Nia cardio, Nia Classes, Nia Practice, Nia principles, Nia Teacher, Nia White Belt, Nia-like, San Jose exercise, San Jose Nia, San Jose Workout, San Jose Yoga, workout class, Yoga, yoga classes, yoga flow, yoga instructor, yoga meditation, yoga poses, yoga pracitce, yoga religion, Yoga San Jose, yoga stretches, yoga teacher | 6 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on September 5, 2009
Twitter is interesting. Twitter is nothing to be afraid of. Twitter is a tool to be used as one sees fit. Unlike a hammer that basically has a specific use, Twitter can be used in different ways. I have some friends that use it as a main source of instant communication: “Hey, ya wanna go to lunch today?”, “Meet me at . . .”, “I am in front of the fountain.” And other people just pump out their business information with no conversation at all. I think that however you want to use it is fine. It all works. Everyone is different, do what you want. I use twitter to meet new people, to connect with people, learn things, introduce people to Nia, get the word out about my business, and make kissy faces at my husband.
So that last part doesn’t really fall under what I think of as my “business account” but it sneaks in every once in awhile. (Shrug!) That is what is so great about it. It is MY account and I can use it like I want.
I do actually try to manage my account, and here again, people can manage their accounts all different ways.
I use TweetDeck to see stuff all at once: tweets of people I am following, mentions, DMs, and other columns I have set up. Then I use Twitter.com to look at my list of new followers and look at their profiles. I also use Twitter.com sometimes because DMs and “mentions” come to it faster than TweetDeck. Also, I look at my tweets from Twitter.com. I try NOT to tweet a bunch of tweets in a row especially if they are “general” tweets. Sometimes I am having a conversation and so they are in rapid succession. Twitter.com allows me to see them all in a stream and when I am sending out Nia information or business announcements I try to space them out.
TweetDeck allows you to do some of these things too, but I like Twitter.com for some things.
I also use Mr. Tweet to see who that system recommends.
I use FriendorFollow.com to see who I am following but who is not following me (“following”). It also shows you who is following you that you are not following (“fans”) and it shows you who you are following that is following you (“friends”).
I also use Twittergrader to sometimes check who is following me. Friendorfollow is not always accurate. I also use Twittergrader to see who I can follow in my area. One of my goals of being on Twitter, as I mentioned, is to expose people to Nia and along with that I want to obtain students for my Nia exercise classes. So I try to follow people in San Jose, Los Gatos, Milpitas, Mountain View, and basically the Bay Area, so that I can see local tweets and maybe they will follow me back. Sometimes that works out.
As you can see if you know anything about any of these programs this is a very rough overview. If you don’t know anything about anything I have just mentioned then—perfect, I told you something new hopefully without confusing and overwhelming you. Just go to these sites and check it out. I promise you can’t break them nor the internet! From these sites you can work on managing your twitter account or get information on your account.
There are so many systems and programs to use. It is amazing and overwhelming. Just try it. Don’t be afraid of it. Have fun. Be safe.
If you already use different sites and programs, what do you use? How do you use it? Please leave a comment and share with me and my readers because I am not an expert. I am just learning and I love to hear about all the other stuff out there.
Posted in Twitter | Tagged: Bay Area Exercise, Bay Area Nia, Bay Area Nia classes, Bay Area Workout, business on twitter, Friendorfollow.com, Los Gatos Exercise, Los Gatos exercise classes, Los Gatos Nia, Los Gatos Workout, Milpitas classes, Milpitas exercise, Milpitas Nia, Milpitas workout, Mountain View exercise, Mountain View Nia, Mountain View Nia classes, Mountain View workout, Mr. Tweet, Nia Classes, Nia exercise, Nia information, Nia workouts, San Jose exercise, San Jose Nia, San Jose Nia classes, San Jose Workout, TweetDeck, tweets, Twitter, twitter business, twitter help, twitter programs, twitter sites, Twitter.com, Twittergrader.com, workout Nia | 2 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on August 18, 2009
You will notice that the numbers are not sequential, that is because this is just a few of the sixteen main benefits of Nia stated in the Nia Technique Book by Debbie Rosas and Carlos Rosas.
1. Nia increases the pleasure of living in your body.
2. Nia creates weight loss and proper weight maintenance.
6. Nia increases grace and flexibility.
10. Nia enhances sensory awareness.
11. Nia heightens sexual function.
12. Nia builds reservoirs of chi.
14. Nia improves circulation of blood and improves lymphatic drainage.
Please remember that these are benefits that people practicing Nia have had. I invite you to share your experiences and tell me what benefits you have gained from Nia. You can post a comment here or send me information through my site (you can scroll down the drop down menu to “share my benefit(s) of Nia”).
Nia is a journey where you are invited to discover the wonders of your own Body.
Nia is practiced in the Bay Area (San Jose, Mountain View, Cupertino, Los Gatos, etc.) and the East Bay (San Ramon, Oakland, Walnut Creek, etc.).
Posted in Exercise and Working Out, Nia | Tagged: Bay Area Nia, Benefits of Nia, Carlos Rosas, Cupertino Nia, Debbie Rosas, Los Gatos Exercise, Los Gatos Nia, Los Gatos Workout, Mountain View Nia, Nia, Nia Bay Area, Nia Benefits, Nia Debbie, Nia exercise, Nia Oakland, Nia Practice, Nia San Jose, Nia Technique, Nia Technique Book, Nia workout, practicing Nia, San Jose exercise, San Jose Nia, San Jose Workout, San Ramon Nia | 2 Comments »
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