Terre Pruitt's Blog

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

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Posts Tagged ‘emotions’

8 Stages Of Nia White Belt P4 – FreeDance – 2020

Posted by terrepruitt on July 29, 2020

As you know different people learn different ways and as we were only on stage 5 with just 20 minutes left in class on Monday, I was wishing that we had more time to explore the principles. I wanted to be able to be with each stage longer. This is my first time re-taking the Nia White Belt. After class, Debbie stays after to answer additional questions and receive comments and, funny enough, one person said she liked how fast we went through the stages. She felt she got more out of it instead of spending so much time on them. Someone else spoke up and “mirrored” that sentiment. I don’t think it was their first re-take. I would have loved to spend more time with it. For my blog, I thought I would at least separate the introduction of the principle from the stages, since for many people exercising without specific instructions is a new and challenging concept. Being able to move one’s body in their own body’s way in a dance exercise class is not the norm – unless you are in a Nia class. The Nia White Belt Principle #4 is FreeDance and it has eight stages.

With Nia FreeDance participants can dance what their body needs at the time they are in the class, but not everyone knows what to do with that freedom. Not everyone knows what their body needs. So there are eight stages we use in our practice that can help. I am not going to do a language comparison (between when I took it in 2008 and now) I am just going to say the verbiage has changed a bit but the message is the same. Here is the 2020 Nia White Belt Principle #4 8 stages with their tag lines and explanations, as usual there is a lot more, I am just sharing a bit.

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia online, San Jose Virtual classes, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Gentle Yoga, Group Ex classes, Nia Technique, Yin Yoga, stretch classes, online exercise, Zoom classes, virtual yoga, City of San Jose online exercise, live classes via Zoom1 – FreeDance ~ Anything goes movement-wise: this really means, just move your body. A lot of people have a strict idea of what “dance” means so unless someone is doing ballet or waltzing across the floor they will say, “that’s not dance”. But in Nia we kick, we punch, we shimmy, we bob our heads . . . . pretty much ANYTHING GOES MOVEMENT-WISE. Granted in a class we will make certain that is it safe.

2 – Being Seduced By The Music ~ The Art of Listening: this is where you can stop moving. You may be surprised at what you hear when you are just listening to the music. And then once you start dancing again you may be moving differently because you actually heard something you hadn’t heard before. Or you may just have a different sense of the music.

3 – Feelings + Emotions ~ Pretend, Fake it, Act “as if”: this is where you pretend. You can pick an emotion . . . and act as if you are XXXX. You can pretend to be mad, angry, happy, sad, tired, bored, flirty . . . whatever and then you dance that. You let your body MOVE that emotion.

4 – Creative Source ~ Real You: here you remember a story and allow yourself to feel that emotion and dance that. You may find that you use less energy when you are actually tapping into a real emotion than when you are acting and the emotion is coming from your head. Dance your story and see where that emotion takes your movements.

5 – Authentic Movement ~ Change!!: this is about the way your body moves. We dance and as we are “forced” to change we find authentic movement. For those that know how to count the bars we change every two bars, but until you know that, just change often . . . let’s just say you should change about 15 times in an average speed 5 minute song.

6 – Witness ~ Neutral Observer: this is where we just notice what our body does. We aren’t supposed to change it we are just noticing what it does.

7 – Accidental Click ~ Music + Movement Integration: this is where we have a “click”, when we really feel our body move to the music and we know that that is how it is supposed to be moving. Something “clicks”. Once you sense that keep doing it.

8 – Body-Centered Choreography ~ Levels 1, 2, 3: this is where you can take that movement tendency or that click and dance through the three levels. The three levels are what we want to demonstrate in a Nia class so that everyBODY can have fun and get the workout their body needs at that time. Level one is less, smaller movements, two is more, and then three is the biggest and something you may not even be able to (or want to) maintain throughout the class. It is nice to visit all the levels so that you can experience the different sensations in the body.  Also, it is important to keep in mind that these levels relate to YOUR body.  My level one might be your level three, that person over there . . . their level three might be my level two . . . . so do YOUR BODY’S levels.

I wrote out the main things that I want to remember (pictured here) and posted here.

There you have a bit about the eight stages of the 2020 Nia White Belt Principle #4 – FreeDance. These can help people with their FreeDance practice.

I could go on and on, but I need to stop here.  I hope this gave you an idea about Nia FreeDance and maybe if gave you some ideas on how you can play and practice with dancing in order to stimulate your BMES.

Posted in 2020 Nia White Belt Principles, FreeDance, Nia | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Running, Lifting Weights, And Nia

Posted by terrepruitt on January 25, 2014

Nia is a body/mind type of practice.  Or mind/body . . . however you want to say it.  I tend to say body/mind because the first step is to get into the body.  But it is different from a lot of other exercises.  It is much more like yoga and Pilates then say . . . weight lifting or running.  I recently taught a class where a woman told me afterwards that she really loves it because she is very athletic, she runs, she plays other sports, but she wanted something that was more freeing and more connected so she decided try Nia and now she is hooked.  She still does all of the other stuff and continues to love it, she is just rounding out her workouts and exercise with Nia as a body/mind addition.  Nia is really great to add to any type of workout regime you have.

Since Nia focuses on allowing the participant to participate at their own level it can easily fit into your workout schedule.  I have had many people who love more traditional sports tell me that Nia is a great addition for them.  They all love that body/mind connection and the way it allows them to feel like a kid.  They love the play of it.

I have had people come up to me before class and say, “I can’t dance are you sure I can do this?”  The answer in The Nia Technique is “if you can walk you can do Nia.”  And that is true.  In a Nia class you might even fine tune your walking a bit.  We might train you to do that Heel Lead that often gets lost in a high heeled or runner’s gait.  Get that flex and extend back in the ankle.  But really anyone can do Nia.

I would bet that you have noticed the increase in the popularity of yoga . . . well, it is that mind/body connection that draws people to it.  Many people are understanding that even a regularly scheduled exerciser benefits from having that mind/body connection.  With Nia there is also the Emotions and Spirit.  The whole enchilada.  BMES.  Body, Mind, Emotions, and Spirit.

I’ve posted about Spirit before.  It is one of the things that many people really enjoy about Nia.  It can be compared to the “feeling like a kid” again.  The play in the exercise or workout.  The “Wooohooo!”

So the intention of this post is just to remind people – because I am sure I have said it before – that Nia is for everyBODY.  To remind you that people who like the more traditional exercise and workouts, the more athletic type of stuff, as in running and weight lifting, find they really like to add in Nia to the mix.  It actually helps them in their other type of workouts.  They claim — the ones that talk to me — they are more focused when they do run and/or lift weights.  So if you are one of those people who prefer the more traditional exercise, maybe break out of that for a Nia class and see how it works for you.

Check out my schedule on my website Nia Class Schedule or if San Jose is too far for you look at the Nia Classes on the main website.

Do you ever find yourself wanting to try something different for a workout?  Do you want to add something new to your exercise regime?

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

Four Voices, Four Realms

Posted by terrepruitt on February 16, 2013

In Nia we have a lot of acronyms.  Seems as if all groups do that.  I know in the mortgage business there were many.  I know in the world of computers there are a lot.  That is just the way it is.  In Nia some of ours are FAMSS, OLG, TBW, SEB, and BMES to name just a few.  BMES stands for Body, Mind, Emotions, Spirit.  We can call these voices or realms.  I have recently posted about Spirit.  It is not the religious type of spirit, but the school-type or the team-type.  It is the part of you that — wheeee! — you just let out!  The others are pretty easy to describe, but it is very interesting to allow them into all aspects of Nia.  They are each separate and unto their own, yet they are all connected.

The body is the physical.  How we move, what we sense.  If we are open and listening to the body we can learn many things.  I know that sometimes I hear but I don’t listen.  I might “hear” my body tell me it is tired, but I don’t listen and do something about it because I am busy.  It can “tell” me it is tired by how many mistakes I make while typing, or that I keep nodding off while doing something.  But sometimes I don’t listen because I want to finish what I am doing.  In dance we can hear our body, we can choose to listen and act upon what we hear or we can continue on.  We could be moving a certain way and then feel pain (“hear”), and we can listen by giving that pain attention and tweaking our movement to remove the pain from our dance.  Also we can just let the body dance and in doing so without thinking it often moves in ways that it needs without our interruption or interpretation.

The mind is a powerful voice.  It can dictate our entire dance and life if we let it.  In Nia we use our mind to provide imagery that allows us to move our bodies in a particular way, but it is important to turn the critical part of our minds off.  We use our minds to progress us, not hold us back.  Letting thoughts flow through the brain and keeping what is useful in the dance.  Criticizing ourselves and others during Nia is not helpful or progressive.  We do not avoid moving a certain way because it looks “bad” or “not pretty”.  We do not avoid moving because people will think it is silly.  We move in safe and harmonious ways to bring FAMSS to our bodies, to relax, to rejuvenate, to allow our inner child out to play, but we don’t criticize.  We also practice turning off internal dialog or chatter.  We let our bodies dance us and not think about our to-do list.  We do use our minds when we dance, but we do not allow it to control our dance.

With our emotions we have an almost endless array of energy.  We can play with the emotions in our dance and they can provide movement and force.  While we dance we do not have to actually FEEL any of the emotions we call upon we just can ACT as if.  How would you walk around if you were angry?  Might you stomp?  How would you walk if you were happy?  Might you skip?  How would you walk if you were distracted?  Might you move slow or in an awkward pattern?  Emotions are a great part of Nia because they are feelings and feelings can be felt and/or experienced without taking over.  We can allow an emotion to happen or act as if, but in neither case does it have to control our dance.

As with many things in Nia this aspect or look at BMES is just one way to look at it.  Just one way we can connect to BMES.  Another way is with Nia Blue Belt Principle #3 where we use these realms to assist in teaching.  Nia is deep like that.  Many of the ideas, principles, “things”, can be separate and unto their own, yet they are all connected.  😉

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Sensing Sensations Can Make You Feel

Posted by terrepruitt on January 17, 2012

I’ve mentioned before that in Nia we think of feeling as emotion and sensing as physical. I mentioned it in Feeling vs. Sensing. The other day I was lying down when I realized when someone is there you want to touch you might sink into it or scoot closer. You might acknowledge the softness of the fuzzy little footsie pajamas along the side of your body and how the bottom of the footies are not as soft on your hip. Even going so far as to hold your breath so the softness of the fuzzy material can rub up and down on your arm as the small lungs fill and empty. There could be a moment when you’re aware of the different textures along the length of your back to your tush. You notice the softness of skin and hair of the arm, maybe the roughness of an elbow then the coolness of cotton or silk. You may have had the chance to observe the sensation of fur of an animal next to you. The animal lies there giving you the impression she wants to be near you. As you stop to appreciate the moment you might shift ever so slightly and you notice the cat (tee hee) has assumed her liquid state and the very tiny bit of couch real estate you shifted from is now full of cat. The sensation of warm furry body never breaking contact from your body. With any small movement you are pushed further off (or up or over) of the couch. You might have been asleep or not paying attention in any one of the similar situations, but once you realized or remembered something was there you allowed your body to embrace the sensation.

You sense the closeness in the situations. You stopped to enjoy the contact from the other being. You stopped to concentrate on the touch. The touch of softness, the sense of warmth, the caress of the movement as breath is drawn in and let out. I was not aware of the cat sleeping next to me when I first woke up. Once I sensed the pressure on my body and realized what it was, I snuggled down into the couch further. I scooted just a tad bit closer. And, of course, I was happy.

Sometimes sensing these types of sensations can elicit emotions. In these particular situations (pleasant ones where you want the body next to you) happiness and joy can be at the top of a long list. Of course, sensation can cause a whole range of emotions depending on the situation. I find it interesting that sometimes a sensation can be happening, but we might not realize it.

Have you ever been talking to someone and someone else comes along and not wanting to interrupt with speech they place a hand on your back and you might not even realize it until you stop talking then you notice? You might not notice the dog at your feet leaning on your leg until you stop for a second and refocus. You might not notice the child tugging you in one direction because you are focused on the conversation you are having. Maybe it is not so much that we don’t NOTICE, it is that the sensation is not the focus of our brain or body at that moment so it is dulled? Then once we give it our attention we can actually really sense the touch?

I know that I didn’t notice because I was sleeping, but it still took me a second to realize that something warm was pressed up against me. Once I realized then I was able to enjoy it. Sometimes we might need to realize sensations more as we move through life so we can not take them for granted and really enjoy them.

Are there any sensations that you can take a moment to enjoy while you are going through your day? Take an extra second to sense and see how it makes you feel.

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

Feeling vs. Sensing

Posted by terrepruitt on May 12, 2011

I learned through Nia that feeling is different from sensing.  Feeling is how I feel.  It is an emotion.  I feel happy.  I feel sad.  I feel emotion.  Sensing is touch or a sensation in the body.  I can feel happy, yet still sense discomfort.  I can feel sad, yet still sense or experience a sense of Joy with my body.  I try to remember to make the correct distinction between feeling with emotion and sensing with the body. I do continue to say “I feel” when I am talking about a sensation, but when I am paying attention I correct myself if I am able.

Recognizing this difference can help with really giving the body and/or the spirit/emotional self what it needs.  If my body’s sensation is soreness do I need to rest it?  Well I might feel like I need to rest because “I worked hard so I deserve to rest.”  But I know, that for me and my body I need to move otherwise the soreness will just continue to get worse.  If I feel I need to rest, actually in my spirit/emotional self then I might examine what it is I really need.  If it is a feeling of requiring rest then maybe just not being physical is not enough, maybe I need a mental break.  So just sitting at my computer working while not being physical won’t give me the same satisfaction.

While spirit and body ARE connected sometimes they need different things.   Sometimes we don’t separate the two when they need different things.  Sometimes we might assign emotion to a physical sensation. Sometimes our emotions might get in the way of giving our body what it really needs or vice versa.  We might have a sense of discomfort, but we call it pain due to an emotion.  There could also be the opposite, we feel happy and joyful so we push our physical body further than we should and with that comes the risk of injury.

Fascinating this journey we are on.  I actually started typing this with a vague idea of feeling vs. sensing leading somewhere else.  But this is where I ended up.  Makes me think I will be re-visiting this feeling vs. sensing.  For now, this is what I am sharing.  Any thoughts you care to share on this?

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