Posts Tagged ‘dance exercise’
Posted by terrepruitt on December 8, 2011
I was talking about Nia with my Nia students recently after our Nia Class. They were telling me what they think Nia is. They said that Nia should come up if they were doing a search on the internet using the term dance exercise. I was really happy to hear that. I always get stuck when people ask me what Nia is because to me it is a lot of things. If you have read any of my posts on this blog about Nia you know how its principles can be applied to life and how at its very basic level it is a workout. But way beyond that it is a practice. When people ask me about it my enthusiasm takes over and I want to tell them ALL about Nia, when I could just stick to the basic level – it is dance and dance is exercise.
Even though it is exercise and it is a workout it is fun. I love that “Dancing With The Stars” really helped show people what a great workout dancing is. Dancers have always known that dancing is a great workout–both aerobic and strength. I think people have always known to some extent that PROFESSIONAL dancers get a workout, but I think that show opened the door to more people understanding that dancing even if you aren’t a professional is a workout. Yes, the “stars” do end up dancing as much as professionals to learn the dances, but still for some reason it seems like it enabled people to see that dancing is exercise—but it is fun!
As with any workout the participants can put what they want into it. If you really want to get a workout you can move bigger, farther, higher, lower, faster . . . whatever works for you to get the workout you need and want. The possibility to move small, slow, and just be mellow is always there. It is very versatile. It is cardio but if you really move — especially during floorplay — it can be a great strength training workout.
I actually started teaching Nia because it was a dance exercise. I don’t know if I have mentioned that before in this blog, but I was looking for something to teach that was very dance-y yet was exercise. I knew a lot of women who said they loved to dance and they would like to dance but their partners didn’t like it, so they thought that a workout that was dance would be great. It is. It is very fun. We dance to all types of music. There is a lot of opportunity for self-expression. Even when we are doing specific steps there is a lot of room for one’s own movements.
Nia was created to be fun, to address the entire being. Debbie Rosas-Stewart and Carlos Aya-Rosas brought us this wonderful movement practice through years of hard work and research, that started in 1983. Carlos retired at the end of 2010, and Debbie is moving Nia forward in a great direction. Body-centered, spirit-filling, and mind-blowing. We are dancing up a storm and loving it. It is dance, it is exercise, it is dance exercise and if you try it you will love it.
Posted in Nia | Tagged: aerobic workout, cardio workout, Carlos Rosas, dance exercise, dance practice, Dance Workout, Dancing with the stars, Debbie Rosas, Nia, Nia class, Nia Dance, Nia Practice, Nia students, Nia teachers, Nia workout, professional dancers, professional dancing, strength training workout, White Belt Principles | 4 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on December 7, 2011
Reporting in. How are you doing with the 31 Things Project? Getting rid of anything? Today after teaching my Nia Class I took my trunk full of plastic water bottles to the recycler. Those things take up a lot of space. My entire trunk and half my back seat was full. I have a big trunk. There were two large bags and a box sitting in our garage the rest I stored in my trunk. It is not easy to save up recycling because it takes up a lot of space but it isn’t worth it to go to a recycling place unless you have a lot of stuff to recycle. So we have it around for a long time and are always having to dance around bags of bottles. But there is a place in San Jose next to the Willow Glen studio I teach at and the people there were SOOOO nice I think I might drop by more often.
My list thus far is: today, I rid our space of plastic bottles. Yesterday, I went into my office closet for something and ended up throwing some stuff out. Closet is still not clean, but it is a bit more organized and some of the stuff in it is more easily accessible. The day before I noticed a drawer in the kitchen that had gotten a bit out of control so I tidied that up and threw out some of the stuff in there that was no longer useful. The day before that I fixed a watch band. I have several watches and most them need batteries or new bands (sounds like a perfect “thing” for my project). The one that has a working battery has a “broken” band. Well, the leather band itself was fine, it was the pin that hold the band to the watch that had broken. Now, please understand that I know it is easy to remedy these things, I just don’t always think about them. They slip my mind. I was looking for something in a box and I found some pins. I had saved the pins from a broken watch band. So I was able to put the saved pin into my watch band and — Voila! A watch. Yeah! I love watches and I have not had one that could actually be worn in so long.
Fixing that band did two things; 1) it has encouraged me to put “fix watches” on my 31 Thing Project list and 2) it changed two useless items (a pin and broken watch) to two useful items. Unfortunately that little tiny pin was not taking up a lot of space so no space was created, but time certainly was. Ha, ha. Ok, times was not CREATED, but I now know what time it is!
This is proving less easy than I thought because of the Holiday season, but I am committed to the project so I am going to do it. I need to remember that the idea is not to take up a lot of time. Give me a chance to exercise focus. Yesterday I spent way too much time in my closet! I got distracted by things in the closet that I was not looking for. So . . . how are you doing? Do you have seven things on your list of “done”?
Posted in Misc | Tagged: 31 Things Project, clean closet, create space, create time, dance exercise, fix things, Nia, Nia class, Nia classes in San Jose, Nia Dance, Nia exercise, Nia Teacher, recycle, San Jose Nia, water bottles, Willow Glen Nia | 2 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on December 6, 2011
I believe one of my Nia friends on FB posted a reposting of Bonnie Ware’s Top 5 Regrets of Dying*. You might have seen it. You’ve probably heard many people repeat the saying and maybe some people even admit that they don’t regret things they have done as much as things they did not do. This saying kind of sums up what Bonnie said most people’s regrets were. Or at least the majority of regrets had to do with things they did not do.
The list she compiled consisted of the following 5 things. To see her post you can click here.
1. I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.
Wow, huh? She said this was the most common regret. I think living a life true to oneself is very difficult for some people. First of all one has to decide who they are. With so much information out there and so many ways to be it is not easy for some to decide who they are, so it is even more difficult to be true to oneself. Then add on the fact that there are people in your life who expect things from you. Not an easy task, but according to Bonnie one of the ones that people regret most not doing. So while you have a chance, I would suggest you work on it. I work on it daily.
2. I wish I didn’t work so hard.
Again not an easy task. Especially if you have kids, bills, and/or a mortgage. Sad that having kids is the very thing that makes you work more because you want to provide THINGS for them. They are inundated with WANTING and MUST HAVE, so you, as a good parent want to give them things. With all the extra hours maybe you end up working through a lot of special times.
Most of us could probably learn to live without a few things, exercise restraint when it comes to certain things. The article states to simplify which could lead to less need, which could lead to more space and happiness.
Yes, I know easier said than done. But if we listen to lessons from people who have been there sometimes we can save ourselves a lot of heartache.
Remember Bonnie has shared this information from people who are dying. And these are common regrets.
3. I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.
I think learning how to express one’s feelings correctly helps supply courage. Feelings are emotions that cannot always be helped. But our actions based on feelings CAN be controlled. If we are hurt or angry; screaming, yelling, hitting, throwing things, etc. are not good ways to express your feelings. These things might be therapeutic ways to vent, but they are not good ways to express feelings. Learning better ways is a step in having the courage. Also, being in tune with who you are expressing your feelings too helps. If you have feelings which are strong you want to share with someone and you are having to work very hard to NOT scream and yell it is usually a good idea to do it at a time when the person is receptive. Try not to have a serious talk where you are emotional when the other person has had a bad day, is tired, or is in the middle of something. These circumstance make it difficult for the person you are trying to share with to listen openly and give you what you need. If they had a bad day and you coming to them telling them they hurt your feelings, might make them feel guilty with an instant reaction of yelling and blaming you. Putting yourself in that type of situation would do the opposite of helping you have courage. While Bonnie reminds us we can’t control the reactions of others, we can control WHEN we share with them in order to receive a better response.
4. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.
Wow. None of these are easy, huh? I mean, I have many friends I don’t see as often as I’d like. Life is busy. And maybe #2 and #3 actually had an effect on #4? Could be. But maybe if we work less and have less stuff to deal with we would have more time for friends. I know that I could be a little bit more timely with some things instead of waiting for the last minute. Then I might be free to meet with a friend when she called instead of having to buckle down and get stuff done.
But with all of the social networking available to us, keeping in touch with people might be a little easier than in the past. We will have to see. Because it also leads to us having more friends to keep in touch with.
5. I wish that I had let myself be happier.
Hmmm. Interesting. Seems like people on their death bed actually admitted to keeping themselves from being happy. According to Bonnie, they didn’t realize until they were dying that it is a choice. One chooses to be happy. Again, maybe this ones ties in with the ones above. If you figure out who you are and are true to yourself you’ve probably realized you made a choice to be happy. If you work less and fill you life and your heart up with more wonderful moments you have made a choice. If you learn the dance of self expression, you will have allowed yourself to be happy. If you keep in touch with friends and they are the good ones that fill your life and heart, then you’ve made a choice to be happy.
Wow. Seems like all the regrets on the list are related. Seems to be that working on these now could help keep us from having regrets when it is too late. Doing these things when you have the health to do them is important. As I mentioned maybe #1 thru #4 can help with #5. Or maybe it is the other way around. What do you think?
*Bonnie Ware is the author of the new book The Top Five Regrets of the Dying. Visit her official website Inspiration and Chai.
Posted in Misc | Tagged: Bonnie Ware, can't help feelings, courage to express my feelings, dance exercise, Facebook post, Inspiration and Chai, live a life true to myself, Nia, Nia Dance, Nia exercise, One chooses to be happy, Social Networking, Top 5 Regrets of Dying | 4 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on December 3, 2011
Whew! Of course the first two days into December were busy or to state it more accurately – already scheduled. So my 31 Things in December Project almost didn’t get started until the 3rd of December, but as I was going along I realized that I could count what I was already doing as part of the project. I was originally thinking of things to do specifically for the project so I hadn’t made the connection that what I was doing could be included in the project, which is just plain silly. As you may know from my posts one of my best friends is moving away. Yes, I can still talk to her and keep in touch, but visiting will be a much larger ordeal and will not happen as often as we would like. So this past week I spent two days visiting her just to see her two more times before she left. The last visit was on December 1st, the first day of my project. I hadn’t thought of something to do for the project. But I did get a new rug which is to replace TWO rugs in my entry way. So without even thinking about my project I was able to get rid of two things, but since I replaced it with one, some sticklers might consider the “getting rid of count” at one. But that is ok, it is still ONE thing. And it is much easier to vacuum, clean, wash, etc. ONE rug instead of two. And that is the point of this project. If making more space, if getting rid of things, if de-cluttering, if fixing something helps make life easier and less time is consumed then that is what we want.
Then on December 2nd, I had a Nia class to teach late morning and then my mother-in-laws memorial service to go to, so again I was not thinking of my project. But I was thinking of making sure the house was not a disaster when some people came to visit afterwards, so I employed my refrigerator cleaning technique. With my technique I don’t empty out the fridge so I don’t always throw stuff out. But this time I decided to throw a few things out. Afterwards I realized that my getting rid of stuff in the fridge could be considered “things” for my project. So, yay, since I had other things on my mind it worked out great.
Then today – I made sure I did it BEFORE I posted so I could be honest – I did one of the things I was originally thinking about doing for this project. Now this is going to probably sound really silly to a lot of people, especially men, but I’m going to share anyway. First I am going to try to set it up so it might not sound as silly. If someone is going to do a project, let’s say, build something, they might need a variety of tools in order to do it correctly. A cook or a chef usually has many tools at his/her disposal in order to cook a nice meal. A hairdresser has many tools in order to style, cut, color, and work on people’s hair. Well, for some the same thing goes with make-up. I don’t think I wear a lot of make-up but I do realize that there are some tools that help with the make-up applying process. One tool some of you that wear make-up might use is an eyelash or eyebrow brush. Well, I don’t think that there is any sense in buying them. What I do is I use the brushes in that come with the mascara I buy. I like certain shaped brushes when I apply mascara so sometimes I will buy my mascara based on the brush. Well, since I use the brushes in my make-up applying process sometimes I don’t throw the tube of mascara away even when I have stopped using it.
Mascara does not last a long time. I think they have even perfect formulas so that is gets clumpy and sticking after about 45 days so you are forced to go out and buy more. Anyway . . . with the fact that there is a point that I stop using it and I use the brushes after I am done with the mascara, I have ended up with a lot of unused tubes of mascara in my drawer. Now, my intent as I save every tube is to “deal with it”, but it is a messy process. It is not that it takes a long time, but when I am doing my make-up I am usually trying to get out of the house so I don’t want to take time to stop and look at all the tubes I have, decide which brushes I might want, then wash them out. I am too busy trying to get ready. Then when I am home I don’t think, “Oh my mascara brushes!” So you might be able to imagine how they can pile up. So that is one of the things I have taken care of as part of my 31 Things in December Project.
I went through all of the tubes of mascara I had. I decided which brushes seemed as if they would make good tools, then I pulled them out of the tubes, THREW THE TUBES AWAY (YAY!), and washed the brushes. I ended up with a few brushes, but they are all different shapes and different bristle hardness, so I think they will be able to be used differently. I am going to evaluate them when they are dry to make a final decision. If the bristles are to soft after they dry then they really aren’t what I want. So I might end up throwing away even more.
But now I have a little more space in my make-up drawer. I know the whole make-up thing might seem silly to some, but as I stated the whole idea of this project is to help eliminate things to help free up space and/or time. With less things in my drawer there is more space which creates more time because I am not having to paw through useless tubes of mascara. Plus with this particular thing I have created tools that will help me apply my make-up more efficiently. Not that I actually do that often anymore because I dance it off when teaching Nia, but when I do it is nice to have help.
So? What about you? Have you been able to get rid of at least three things? Or move somethings from the broken pile to the usable pile? Have you decided to participate in this exercise of making space? Well, share. Tell us what you have done to make your life more free.
Posted in Misc | Tagged: 31 Things in December Project, cleaning refigerator, dance exercise, make-up tools, making more space, mascara brushes, memorial service, Nia class, Nia Dance, Nia exercise, Nia Teacher, Nia Technique, teach Nia classes, unclutter | 6 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on October 20, 2011
Nia routines are choreographed movements to music. Nia’s choreography is pretty. In fact in many cases it is beautiful. Most Nia katas are based on the 52 Nia moves. Steps and moves have been carefully selected to fit with the music, for the most part. There are times when we are invited to just dance without a design. No matter the choreography we are always encouraged to dance in our own way–and that just might not be “pretty” to some people. The body — our bodies — the human body is put together in a specific way. Our parts are connected in a specific way. Movement is allowed and restricted by the way the body is constructed. Some bodies cannot move as was intended. Some bodies might have actual physical limitations that do not allow for soft, fluid, “pretty” movement. For some lifting their arm over their head might cause discomfort. It could be that they are not accustomed to lifting their arm that high so it might not be easy—at first. Some might have tight hamstrings or other muscles so their movement might be less than natural. But Nia is a journey, a practice. Over time the joints will loosen with practice and/or the muscles will become more flexible and be able to move with ease. It could become “pretty” or not. Nia might not be pretty, but it is authentic. It is not a performance. It is how our bodies move. Your body, my body, not the same body so we will move differently and it could be pretty or not. What I might think is pretty you might not. Let it be authentic.
Some bodies have other types of restrictions, could be mental or emotional. It could be, having been taught all her life “ladies” don’t move their hips “like that”, there is an automatic stop placed in her mind so her hips don’t thrust or gyrate. It could be that she thinks that movement is “ugly” so she won’t allow her body to do it. It could be that chipping away at that barrier will take time. And the learning might not be “pretty”. It might be choppy and not happen all at once. It could be that there is an emotion attached to a particular movement. An emotion can act as another type of mental block and not enable or allow the Nia participant to move as the body was designed. And that could, in turn, result in something that isn’t “pretty”. Nia might not be pretty, but it is authentic.
It could also be as previously mentioned — some have an idea of what moves are “pretty” and what moves are not, so for them maybe the “ugly” moves should be kept off of the dance floor, but Nia is not a performance. It is authentic movement of the body.
It could be an arm-raising, hair-whipping, sweat-dripping, face-reddening, body-jiggling, foot-stomping, voice-howling, eyes-crying, heart-softening, spirit-raising, mind-opening, body-moving dance exercise which, to some, just might not be pretty. It is not a show, it is not a performance it is a movement, it is a practice, it is a dance, it is an exercise, it is a workout, it is an experience, it is authentic. It is what you allow your body to do. It is what you want it to be. It is what you sense.
When we allow our bodies to move in an honest way we defer to the body’s intelligence. The body speaks to us, but we need to listen. It will tell us if what we are doing is causing pain so we can tweak the movement and move towards pleasure. Also we can learn which areas of our bodies would benefit from more flexibility or more strength if we listen. All the while, to someone who is expecting a performance this might appear “not pretty”. But to those who have experienced the freedom of listening to the body’s intelligence we see it as beautiful. We know there is a path, there is a journey.
I personally feel that it is beautiful when a participant moves to the music in a way that only s/he can move. Sometimes I might catch a glimpse of one of my Nia students and I have to remind myself that I too need to move according to the sense of the music because otherwise I would stop and watch. It is an amazing wonder to witness a surrender to the music. To some it might not be “pretty”, but it is truly beautiful. So dance your dance. Dance in your body’s way. Don’t judge. Don’t worry about if it is “pretty”. Movement is a glorious and beautiful gift to be enjoyed and not stifled. Let your movements be authentic and don’t worry about those who might think it is not pretty.
Posted in Nia | Tagged: body intelligence, dance exercise, dance performance, Dance Workout, Nia, Nia 52 moves, Nia choreography, Nia katas, Nia Music, Nia Practice, Nia routines, Nia students, the body's way | 4 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on July 12, 2011
Nia is a cardio dance workout. We turn on music and we dance. We have Nia routines that we do to certain music or we can put the patterns to different music. We are not limited to these two choices this is just an example. We dance to music, we have fun, we don’t even realize we are exercising. To me, it is “like” Zumba in that way. But Nia is a practice. Nia has different levels and each level has principles. If you choose to experience the different levels you can, but even if not the principles of Nia can be applied to the workout and to life. To me, Nia is like Yoga because of the fact that some of the “stuff” you do in a workout can be applied to life. Since the ideas and principles of Nia can be applied to life they are not necessarily “new”, most of it is not made up by the creators of Nia. Some of it you might recognize and have heard elsewhere. It is the way it is applied and put together. I have stated this before . . . that things are not new, so you aren’t imaging that. I do like to repeat it because a lot of people have not heard of Nia so they might think it is something new and “way out there”, but it is not, it is based on science and things you know. Some of the things I am learning are things that I have to continue to “practice”. 🙂
Here are a few of the things, in no particular order:
–It is ok not to be perfect. That is not really the way we state it when we talk about it, but I have started many posts with what we really say and maybe one day I will post one, but I am not ready to deal with the spam and odd comments I might receive from our actually verbiage of this same idea. But basically we don’t have to do things perfectly. Which is really great because there really is no such thing.
—The Four Engery Allies are always something I am having to practice. (Speak with impeccability / Don’t assume anything / Don’t take anything personally / Always do your best)
–Even silence is music. We actually practice listening for the silences in our music. A lot can happen in a silence, it could be a birthing place for something spectacular. Or it could just be a place of rest and calm. Either way it is sometimes something to look forward to.
–Natural Time is a gift. Moving and living in ones own natural time and not having to do everything by the clock that society runs on, is not always possible. There are some things you just have to do, so when there is an opportunity to move and live in natural time I take advantage of it and I consider it a treasured gift.
–Live in the moment. I am always doing one thing and thinking another. We live in a society of multi-tasking. It is celebrated and even rewarded, but it is not joyful nor rewarding. Sometimes I forget why I walked into a room because I started walking there to do something and then after the first two steps my brain has already jumped to the next task. So I arrive in the room thinking, “What am I doing here? I know what I want to do when I am done with why I came in here, but I don’t know why I am here.” So this is something I am always having to practice.
All of these things are things we learn in our Nia workout. We don’t have to dance perfect, we have our energy allies when we dance, silence can be part of our movement, we move in our own natural time, and we move in the moment and dance to the music. All of these things work in and off the dance floor. So Nia teaches me a lot and it continues to teach me.
Posted in Nia | Tagged: cardio dance, cardio dance workout, dance exercise, Dance Workout, Energy Allies, exercise workout, joyful exercise, Natural Time, Nia, Nia Dance, Nia Movement, Nia Music, Nia Practice, Nia principles, Nia routines, Nia workout, Principles of Nia, Yoga, Yoga Practice, Yoga workout, Zumba, Zumba exercise, Zumba music, Zumba routines | 2 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on March 5, 2011
Do you collect anything? My husband collects shot glasses. He has them from all over. ALL over . . . . . . even space. This one is probably from the furthest away. This is a shot glass from Ferenginar 🙂 . Ferengi is from the Star Trek Empire.
You might be able to see it is made up of two pieces. The metal piece made up of rings that hold the glass “shot glass” portion. It is a fun design. I guess it is perfect for off world shot taking. I don’t know if he has ever drank out of it. Now that I think about it is quite funny. He collects shot glasses, but he doesn’t really drink shots. He does like to buy a shot glasses from places we have been. So it is the collecting of the item that brings him pleasure. It is a bonus if the shot glass is cool or unusual.
Because I started this blog to promote Nia, my Nia classes, and grow in my Nia practice by writing and posting about it, I always have Nia in the back of my mind when I am writing a post. Even if it has nothing to do with Nia, like this one. It is about collecting, it is to share picture of this particular shot glass. But as I was typing the part about my husband collecting shot glass because it makes him happy, it brings him pleasure I thought of a comparison to Nia.
The similarity is that he doesn’t really like to drink shots, a person could not really like to workout or exercise. My hubby likes to buy shot glasses, it brings him pleasure, Nia is a dance, if you like to dance it brings pleasure. If the shot glass is cool or unusual it is better, Nia is cool, it is unusual, it is different. The fact that John doesn’t really drink shots doesn’t mean that it is not nice to have shot glasses around in case he wants one so he gets the benefits of owning them. Nia doesn’t really FEEL like exercise because the participants are involved in a movement that bring pleasure, but since we are moving in all different ways, up down, around, fast, slow, and engaging so many body parts and muscles it IS a workout. You DO receive benefits as you do when you do traditional exercise.
Funny how things can be connected. Funny how things can be collected. Do you collect anything? What?
Posted in Misc | Tagged: collections, dance exercise, Dance Workout, drinking shots, Ferengi, Ferengi shot glass, Ferenginar, Nia, Nia Classes, Nia Dance, Nia exercise, Nia Practice, Nia work out, Nia workout, shot glass collection, shot glasses, Star Trek, Star Trek empire | 18 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on February 5, 2011
I teach Nia. I found Nia while looking on the internet for a workout that was exercise as well as dance. Dance is exercise and with so many people enjoying dancing I was hoping to find a combination of both that I could teach. Nia is a non-impact cardio dance. The “non-impact” often causes people to think that it is low intensity, but with Nia you regulate your own intensity. Nia was created using The Body’s Way, and designed so that you can practice is in Your Body’s Way. So participants receive the workout their body needs at that moment.
I believe that is one of the great things about Nia, but it is also one of the things that greatly challenge people. Some people do not know how to listen to their own bodies and give them what they need. They are accustomed to being told what they need and what to do. So Nia might not be for everyone. But there is something out there that is.
In the Fall 2010 issue of Conscious Dancer, they shared 100 modes of movement. They highlighted movements from A-Z. They pointed out AcroYoga, AlivEmotion, BeachDance, Bellyfit, Biodanza, Chakradance, Dancing with Pain, DolphinDance, 5Rhythms, Gyrotonic Expansion System, Hoop Dance, InterPlay, Jazzercise, Laughter Yoga, Nia, Pilates, Shake Your Soul, Soul Motion, SpritisDancing, Trance Dance, Wowzacise, Yoga Booty Ballet, YogaFit, Zumba, and more.
From yoga to yoga dancing, spiritual exercise, water workouts, healing, structured, non-structured, standing, sitting, rolling, running, jumping, bouncing, everything from here to there and anything you can thing of and more. So what is your excuse? Maybe there isn’t a Nia class in your area or that is convenient to you or your schedule. What about a Zumba class? Get some of your Latin on. Zumba not your thing? What about BellyFit? Maybe there is a class near you and a form of fitness that has a bit of yoga, meditation, and Pilates in it is something you would like? Laughter Yoga (who doesn’t like to laugh?) is in 60 countries. Maybe you would like the group type of moving mediation that is 5Rhytms. Or you wanna take it back to your childhood circling your hips and other body parts in a Hoop Dance. Have you tried Jazzercise lately? Even though it has been around since the 60’s it has kept up with the times. Like Nia, you learn that the joy of dance that is Shake Your Soul can be a healing experience. What about Wowzacise? Created by Wowza it is a form of fitness done on different size stability balls. Yoga Booty Ballet is a set of workouts that is yoga, cardio, and ballet and there are DVDs so you don’t even have to go out to do that one.
See? So as I am often saying there is soooooo much out there. If you don’t like one thing try another. Take into consideration your goals and what you really like to do, then go out there and find it. It has to be there. Even though Nia is for everyBODY, it really is not for everyone, but please find something that is for you and do it and stick to it!
Posted in Exercise and Working Out, Nia | Tagged: 5Rhythms, ballet, Bellyfit, Biodanza, cardio, cardio dance, Chakradance, Councious Dancer, dance exercise, Dance Workout, DolphinDance, Gyrotonic, healing, Hoop Dance, http://www.consciousdancer.com/, InterPlay, Jazzercise, Laughter Yoga, meditation, modes of movement, Nia, Nia class, Nia Dance, Nia exercise, Nia workout, non impact ardio dance, non impact workout, Pilates, Soul Motion, spiritual exercise, SpritisDancing, trance dance, water workouts, Wowzacise, Yoga, Yoga Booty Ballet, yoga dancing, YogaFit, Your Body's Way. AcroYoga, Zumba | 4 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on November 4, 2010
One of my San Jose Nia class students lent me a book*. With all that is going on I haven’t gotten to get into it in depth but I read the beginning and I love it. I was very happy to see that this particular book addressed whole body conditioning.
The author, Eric Franklin (yes, THE Eric Franklin), says that aerobic training is necessary for dancers. Yet, he states that dancers are able to achieve what they do because their training involves presence and awareness. He is talking about the mind body connection. In Nia we call it body mind connection because we go to the intelligence of the body. Either way the idea is that they are both connected and when exercising the benefits are greater when they are working as one.
This book is wonderful because it states much of the same information that is incorporated into Nia. That your state of mind and attitude has an effect on your movements and results. That is just a small example.
It also states the same information we actually apply to personal training. Such as, training specifically for a specific result—the Principle of Specificity. Also it talks about the Principle of Progressive Overload–how you need to increase the intensity in order to improve. But it also advises you to listen to your body and learn to work with it.
I need to spend more time reading it to see what else he has to say. I will definitely do another post on it because it has much more information in it and it is so exciting to see that it mimics so many other things I have learned. It matches up with so much information from other fitness modalities and the information they are saying. It is nice to hear that so many people are recognizing the mind-body / body-mind connection. It has been happening for awhile now, it is just nice that it is getting so “mainstream”. It is exciting to see we are all on the same page—whole body conditioning is better conditioning.
*Conditioning for Dance you can purchase through Amazon, its under “Interesting Reading”.
Posted in Exercise and Working Out | Tagged: aerobic exercise, aerobic training, Body-mind, Conditioning for Dance, Dance conditioning, dance exercise, Eric Franklin, mind body, mind-body exercise, Nia exercise, Nia San Jose, Nia students, Principle of Progressive Overload, principle of specificity, San Jose Nia, whole body conditioning | Leave a Comment »
Posted by terrepruitt on October 9, 2010
In my last post about the Nia workout I referenced an index I created for the Nia Technique Book. I want to point out that some of the section titles you see might be different than some of the information you hear now coming from Nia. The Nia Technique Book was published in 2004. The creators of Nia – Debbie Rosas and Carlos Rosas wrote the book to explain how Nia came about and to share its principles and moves. As you read the book you will see how Nia was not just thought up over night — actually it wasn’t thought up at all — it was born and it was grown and continues to grow and change. That is my point here, the names you might see of sections or principles in the index and in the book, might be different now because Nia is always moving, changing, and growing.
The basics remain the same. The core principles themselves have not changed but, they might have morphed a bit. In my post about Principle #11, I have said some of this before. I try not to repeat myself in entirety but often times it is ok to repeat some things. I like to repeat that Nia has been around for 26 years, the main ideas of moving to increase health, moving as the body was designed, and many more are still the same, but at the same time Nia has changed.
As I was typing up the index for the Nia Technique Book I noticed that, aside from Principle #11, Principle #9, #12, and #13 had different names then when I learned them and as we move forward the names change. But that is just a natural way of things. Things need to adapt a bit in order to survive. The core of it does not have to change, but it might need to be tweaked a bit. Even as the things have changed the book is still great information. Things have not changed enough for the book to be obsolete or have to be rewritten. The book is still an excellent starting point if you are just beginning and an excellent tool if you’ve been doing Nia for years.
Another thing I like to remind people is that I am a Nia Teacher and Nia Student. I post information on my website and blog about Nia. I might voice my opinion or my understanding about Nia, but the concept and the idea of Nia originated with Debbie Rosas and Carlos Rosas. I am just helping to promote Nia. It is a workout, an exercise, a dance that makes one feel energized and happy. It is something I love to share. Come to one of my Nia classes or find one near you!
Posted in Nia | Tagged: Carlos Rosas, concept of Nia, dance exercise, Dance Workout, Debbie Rosas, exercise dance, how Nia originated, Nia, Nia book, Nia class, Nia Dance, Nia exercise, Nia Principle #11, Nia Principle #12, Nia Principle #13, Nia Principle #9, Nia principles, Nia student, Nia Teacher, Nia Technique, Nia workout, The Nia Technique book | 7 Comments »
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