Posts Tagged ‘Nia Classes’
Posted by terrepruitt on September 8, 2009
This is a simple overview of TweetDeck. And by simple I mean it does not include all the features and tips and tricks of TweetDeck. My posts regarding Twitter are not for the power users to learn from. It would be great if they commented and shared information, but basically I am sharing what I know and I feel as if I have barely scratched the surface of what Twitter and all its hundreds of applications can do. In this post I do not cover all that TweetDeck can do. I only briefly address what I do, so far, with TweetDeck.
First off, one of the things that some people love about TweetDeck is that you can manage multiple Twitter Accounts with it. I don’t have multiple accounts so I don’t use TweetDeck like that so I won’t be talking about that here. All I can tell you about multiple accounts and TweetDeck is that there is something that says, “Add more accounts” and above the box you type in it says “From” and I am guessing that if you have multiple accounts it will list them there and you can indicate which account you are sending from. (I circled that in the photo. At the bottom.)
For my one account, I use TweetDeck to see various tweets all on one screen. I have an “All” column set up so that I can see tweets from all of the people that I follow. But, I am beginning to think that only the people I recently follow show up because I don’t see tweets from people that I started following when I first signed up for Twitter. So I made another column for those Twitterers.
I also have a column for “Nia People”. This is a “Group”, these are the people that I have met online that teach, do, practice, and love Nia. With this column I have actually set it up so that I see certain people that I am following that I know have something to do with Nia.
I have a “YelpSV” search column. With this column it is set up so that I see people that send a Tweet that mentions YelpSV. It searches for tweets that contain @YelpSV.
See? You can set up different columns and you can set them up different ways. You can set up a column for a search on “Workouts” and it will capture tweets that have that word in them or you can set up a column for a group called, for example “San Jose” or “Exercise Classes” and actually indicate certain people whose tweets you want to see in either of those columns.
It is quick and easy to set up columns so you can change them whenever you would like.
I also have a mentions column of HelpYouWell set up so when people @HelpYouWell I see those in a separate column—although they sometimes show up after the ones in the other columns. And I have DM (Direct Message) column so I can see messages sent directly to me, HelpYouWell.
I don’t have an issue with “API” (whatever that stands for), but I hear of people that do. Apparently Twitter only allows third party applications (systems? programs? Whatever.) 100 “touches” (that’s what I am calling them) per hour. So if your account “touches” twitter (either sending, receiving, dealing with, whatever) 100 times in an hour you have to wait for the next hour in order to “touch” twitter again. But this is only with third party stuff, like TweetDeck. If you are on Twitter.com it does not do that. So use TweetDeck and if you max out, use Twitter.com until the hour is up and go back to TweetDeck.
Posted in Twitter | Tagged: @HelpYouWell, API, exercise, exercise classes, exercise people, exercise San Jose, learn Nia, multiple Twitter accounts, Nia, Nia Classes, Nia exercise, Nia people, Nia Practice, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, San Jose exercise, San Jose Nia, San Jose Workout, teach exercise, teach Nia, teach workout, TweetDeck, TweetDeck API, TweetDeck columns, Twitter, Twitter.com, workout, workout classes, workout exercise, workout people, Workout San Jose, Yelp, YelpSV | 4 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 15, 2009
Here is a picture of the Nia spear fingers, one of the 52 Nia moves. You pose your hand as if you are going to salute someone.
The benefits according to The Nia Technique book (page 161) are that it will help with tension that “tends to build up in your wrists, elbows, shoulders, neck, and jaw.”
Also pictured is a modified version of the spear finger. At this point I use this version in a song that I lead. Throughout the entire song our hands/fingers are in the spear finger position and I find that is too stressful on my wrists. And Nia is about exercising and working out in a pleasurable manner so, I have adapted the spear finger to a more comfortable position for me. In other instances where we use spear finger for not such a long time, I employ the actual technique.
Nia is about so many things, but one thing we want to ensure participants do is modify and adapt to their own body’s way. My body’s way for that move is to cross my thumb over my bent ring finger and little finger. When you come to class you will be encouraged to listen to your own body and move the routine as your body wants to move. You will be encouraged to sense pleasure. Come experience it for yourself.
Posted in 52 Moves (of Nia), Nia | Tagged: exercise classes 52 Nia Moves, Nia 52 moves, Nia Classes, Nia exercise, Nia spear fingers, Nia Technique, Nia workout, The Nia Technique, The Nia Technique book, workout classes | 2 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on August 1, 2009
A lot of practices claim to be mind-body practices. I believe the idea is to engage our mind to control our body.
Well, I like to call Nia body-mind. For me calling it body-mind reminds me that we are first going to the body. We are engaging our bodies in movement and allowing them to move freely. Then we can allow our minds to loosely focus on what we are doing. So we don’t want our minds controlling our movement, but we want our minds registering the sensation so as to give it full power and allow us to acknowledge what feels right.
Let me give you an example of what can happen:
The music starts, and like a lot of people, we begin to move without even thinking, we start to sway or wiggle, or whatever the body senses the music is telling it to do. But then—CLICK! The mind engages and then we start to THINK about how to move, then we start judging movement, then we start choreographing movements, then we realize that we are thinking, thinking, thinking. UGH! I would be the latter as mind-body, my brain is thinking and I am doing what it tells me.
In Nia, one of the greatest tools to learn is to be body-mind and just let the body go. The body can listen to the music on its own. Then when you are able to do that, it is amazing how the body knows what it needs. It can move you in a way that your mind might keep you from. Your hips can thrust or gyrate, your shoulders can shimmy, your feet and skip and jump, and your voice can be heard—all without judgment from yourself.
Also, if we let our bodies lead us, it will keep us from doing something that is too much or not in the best interest of our bodies. Our bodies seek balance and health. When we are working out, if we are allowing our bodies to be the guide we can get the exact kind of workout we need. As our bodies guide us to what we need we can concentrate with our mind to understand the sensation that we are sensing with our bodies. When our bodies get the workout it needs both our body and our mind feel great.
I think if you have not tried Nia it will be difficult for you to “get” what I am saying. I would like to invite you to go to the Nia website and see if there is a class near you or look at my class schedule and see if one of my classes (I teach four per week) works for you. There are Nia classes in San Jose, Los Gatos, Mountian View, San Ramon, Oakland, Pleasanton, Palo Alto, Los Altos, all over, one of them has to work for you. Go out and try it!
Posted in Nia | Tagged: balance and health, body-mind practice, engaged mind, Los Altos Nia classes, Los Gatos Nia classes, Los Gatos Workout, Mind-body practice, Mountian View Nia classes, Nia, Nia Classes, Nia focus, Nia Practice, Nia San Jose, Oakland Nia classes, Palo Alto Nia classes, Pleasanton Nia classes, Practice, San Jose Nia, San Jose Nia classes, San Jose Workout, San Ramon Nia classes | 2 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on July 28, 2009
I love coffee. I am not a connoisseur, but I love it. In the August 2009 copy of Self they touted that coffee has some amazing benefits.
The article, well, it is not so much an article as a few pages filled with pictures and facts, has one statement that says that if you want the healthiest coffee you should stick to the home brewed kind because the paper filters catch coffee compounds that can raise cholesterol.
Here are some highlights from that article. The information suggests that coffee MAY:
- assist in the prevention of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s
- help your teeth with its “antibacterial and antiadhesive powers”
- reduce the risk of oral cancer by half
- help in limited cancer cell growth and DNA damage
- reduce the risk of breast cancer (in premenopausal women that drink 4 cups of regular coffee a day)
- help prevent gallstones
- reduce risk of nonmelanoma
- reduce chances of diabetes for people who drink 3 to 4 cups of regular or decaf
Information also states that drinking from 300 mg (3 cups of home brew) to 500 mg (16 oz Starbucks Pike Place Roast) in an hour could possibly make you panicky, increase stress hormones, and raise blood pressure.
Way surprising to me, it says that a shot of espresso “has less caffeine than a cup of drip does. Plus, one downside of espresso is that it may raise cholesterol.”
It also suggests to eat your cereal and dairy later, after your coffee because coffee might block the absorption of iron from fortified grains and could lower calcium uptake.
The pages reveal, along with a lot of other publications I’ve been seeing recently, that coffee helps you get through your workout. Not only does it give you a zing, it seems to block your brain from knowing your muscles are tired.
Those are just some highlights that somewhat focus on the health benefits.
Even though I teach my morning Nia classes in Willow Glen not too far from where I live, so I don’t have to get up super early, I still think I have more energy in the morning when I drink coffee. I don’t have any before I teach my evening class in San Jose, nor my late afternoon one in Los Gatos. But I feel like I need that extra “wake-up” in the morning. Do you drink coffee before your workout?
Posted in Food | Tagged: Alzheimer's, breast cancer, cholesterol, Coffee, health benefits, Los Gatos Nia, Los Gatos Workouts, Muscles, Nia Classes, Nia San Jose, Parkinsons’s, San Jose Starbucks, San Jose workouts, Self Magazine, Starbucks, Willow Glen Nia, Willow Glen workouts, workout classes | 6 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on June 20, 2009
I am not a Twitter expert. But . . . I have picked up a few things from a lot of people who could be considered experts. Plus I have picked up some things from just doing it.
Recently I have connected with a bunch of wonderful people who have less time than I do to spend learning about this. So, I am going to share a few things that I have learned so that I can just point them at this blog instead of typing it all out individually (on my iPhone, mind you). Now, here is the catch, this is my opinion and my perception of how it works. If you have a different opinion or you know that it works differently please kindly share. That would be very appreciated and helpful.
For my friends, here is my advice:
-Put a picture up. Anything, doesn’t have to be you if you don’t want, but don’t leave that twitter box up. That is not good. I actually have to be really convinced to follow people that have that (or I have to know them personally and understand that they just haven’t gotten around to putting a picture up).
-Fill out your bio. Put something there. If you are Nia person, tell them about Nia, if you can’t think of anything else. If you have to, read OTHER people’s bios to get ideas. I have followed people just because their bio has made me laugh. Make up something funny. List your likes or dislikes, list what you will be tweeting about, share that you like to work out, share that you loathe exercise . . . .who cares what you write, just put something there.
-Put your web address up. C’mon, you have a website because you want people to go to it. Put it out there. MAKE SURE YOUR LINK WORKS! (Ya, that is a big deal.)
-Tweet. Oh my, this is the most difficult thing, but the most important. I am still challenged by it. But do it. If you are like me it is kind of intimidating. If you are following some major people (like I am, and I mean “major” as in they are “celebs” on Twitter) their useful information can make me wonder, “What do I have to add?” So I started by retweeting other people’s stuff. Then people would retweet my tweets and start talking to me. And then I would think of something to share and bam . . . . so it goes. I still retweet a lot because there is a lot of good stuff out there that I like to share, but I also share my own stuff. I also like to tweet about stuff happening in the area of San Jose (Willow Glen) in which I teach classes.
The following is easier said than done: don’t worry so much (I still do, sometimes, but I try not to). The people that you want following you are the ones that want to see what you have to say. Right? So say what you want and you will get people following you. People will come and people will go. That’s ok.
Ok, I will continue this on Tuesday because right now, my word counter is saying that I am way over my self-imposed word limit. Tuesday I will tell you what I understand about @, RT, and DM. And of course, if you don’t want to wait, I am sure you can find all of this information out there somewhere else.
Posted in Twitter | Tagged: @, Direct Message, DM, iphone, Nia, Nia Classes, Nia San Jose, retweet, RT, San Jose exercise, San Jose Nia, San Jose Nia classes, San Jose work out, teach Nia, Twitter, Twitter Celebs, Willow Glen Nia, Willow Glen Workout | 14 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on April 30, 2009
Tonight we are going to dinner in Willow Glen, which is San Jose, but San Jose is large and spread out so having the sections help us determine the general location. Downtown Willow Glen is where I have my Nia classes, and is fairly close to downtown San Jose.** We went with a group of people who Yelp (so they are called Yelpers) on Yelp.com.
We are going to Opa. It is a Greek Restaurant. I am part Greek. I didn’t like Greek food until recently. Since we are going to a Greek Restaurant it started me thinking about one of my favorite snacks that I have been having lately. Greek Yogurt. I didn’t even know that there is such a thing until about two years ago—and I am Greek.
There are probably as many different brands of yogurt as there is (types of) Yoga, just like there are different brands of regular yogurt, but what you will find is that Greek Yogurt is thicker. It seems creamier. And it typically has less sugar and a lot more protein.
I have been eating plain non-fat to which I added a little bit of sugar, vanilla, and some super crunchy cereal. Yum. So I guess you could say that I am using it like milk. But I won’t drink non-fat milk, but I will eat non-fat yogurt and get a lot more protein! Plus with its smooth, think, creaminess it is like dessert for breakfast!
Also, during our heat wave I decided to make chicken salad sandwiches for dinner. I didn’t realize we were out of mayo when I decided on that refreshing dinner. But I used the yogurt instead. It worked great because it is more like mayo in consistency than regular yogurt. Don’t tell my husband because it also has less fat and more protein than mayo. And I did add a little bit of mayo so it would taste like regular mayonnaised chicken salad.
So next time you are in the store you might want to pick up some Greek yogurt and do some experimenting of your own with it. It can be used a little differently than regular yogurt. Then let me know what recipe you used it in. I am always looking for new things to make!
**Good thing I looked up the event before we went, granted it was after I posted this, but we actually ended up going to Opa in Los Gatos! It is important to check on event locations and not assume . . . . . 🙂
Posted in Food | Tagged: chicken salad, dessert for breakfast, Greek, Greek food, Greek snack, Greek yogurt, Los Gatos, Los Gatos Nia, Los Gatos Yoga, mayo substitute, Nia Classes, Nia in Los Gatos, Opa, San Jose, San Jose Greek Restaurant, San Jose Nia, San Jose Yoga, Willow Glen, Willow Glen Yoga, Yelp, Yelp.com, Yelpers, Yoga, Yoga Los Gatos | 6 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on April 21, 2009
The studio at which I teach my Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and sometimes Sunday classes, participates in the Bay Area National Dance Week. This is a week (actually 10 days) where all types of classes and performances are free.
The location of the classes range from San Francisco, to the East Bay, to the South Bay, to the Peninsula, and the North Bay. There is Zumba and Ballroom in San Francisco, Salsa in Oakland, ballet in Berkley, Mountain View, Walnut Creek, and Los Gatos. Pole dancing in Redwood City, Nia and Belly Dancing in San Jose . . . . Whew. If there is a class for it, it is part of the Bay Area National Dance Week, more classes include; Flamenco, Greek, Hip Hop, Hula, Hula Hoop, oh, far too many classes and locations to list.
Friday, April 24, 2009, at noon there is going to be a Conga line. Per the booklet: “Dancers and non-dancers, students and adults will join our downtown visitors, shoppers, and workers on the streets of San Francisco.” There will be performances on the Union Square stage.
You might want to check out their site: http://www.bayareandw.org for all the information.*
Also Friday at noon there is Dance Anywhere. Oh, yeah, that is what they mean, where ever you are at noon on Friday, dance. Now, I am thinking that the dance doesn’t have to be big. You can just tap your toe and bob your head, but whatever, I think it would be cool to join in: http://www.danceanywhere.org/
This 10 day event is from Friday, April 24, 2009, to Sunday, May 3, 2009. Don’t miss it!
If you attend one of my Nia classes from April 27th to May 1st and mention the event you can take the class for free.
Please check www.HelpYouWell.com for class schedule changes. Thank you.
*As of 06.06.20 – this site appears to not exist. Sorry.
Posted in Just stuff | Tagged: Ballroom, Bay Area National Dance Week, Certified Nia White Belt, Conga, Free classes, Free Nia Class, Hip Hop, hula, Hula Hoop, Licensed Nia Teacher, Los Gatos Nia, Nia Classes, Nia San Jose, San Jose Ballet, San Jose Belly Dancing, San Jose Nia, San Jose Salsa, San Jose Zumba, San Ramon Nia, South Bay | 2 Comments »
Terre Pruitt's Blog 