Posts Tagged ‘Nia routine’
Posted by terrepruitt on August 27, 2013
There are a lot of things I like about yoga, one thing that I really like is that many of the asanas or poses are executed with a lengthening of the spine. In many poses the idea is to reach with the top of your head, or the crown of your head, in the opposite direction of your tailbone. Often the cue is to reach with the crown of your head to the sky while reaching with your tailbone into the earth. I feel as if the reaching and stretching in the opposite directions really help the body be taller.
While standing, sitting, bending the motion or action is to reach. Reach in opposite directions. Create space in between each vertebra. While consciously stretching the backbone, you are pulling your shoulders back and down. Create a long neck by reaching. Push the shoulders away from the ears. The ribs lift upwards, and off and away from the hips.
One motion or thought to help straighten and lengthen is to extend your sternum skyward. This somewhat juts the chest out and the shoulder automatically go back and down. With this as an image there might be some adjusting that needs to take place, but it can help move you in the right direction. With the lengthening of the spine comes the separating of the ribs. Allowing space in between each rib can sometimes help increase lung capacity. If your lungs have more room to move in they might expand further. This all lending to bigger, deeper breaths.
In the Gentle Yoga class I am currently teaching I am continually reminding the students to lengthen their spine. I, myself, have a habit of scrunching. I think I have mentioned this before. I both scrunch my shoulders up to my ears and round my back. I liken my posture to that of a spoon. So it is very easy for me to fall into that even while I am leading a class because I begin to shift my concentration. So the reminder is for all of us. A reminder is nice because then you can check to make certain you are doing all the things involved in lengthening the spine. Although sometimes I feel a bit repetitive, I think it is worth it. In addition to myself I usually see at least one participant make an adjustment.
In Nia while we might not always be lengthening and reaching with our spine throughout an entire routine there is often at least a moment. If not in one of the dances itself in the cool down or the floorplay. I often include imaging space in between each vertebra as we sit or bend over in a stretch. The Nia routing might not include yoga poses by the idea of it is included. Part of the yoga inclusion “is the conscious alignment of bones and joints”* While lengthening the spine we are lining up the bones and the joints. Our posture is intact.
I really enjoy the growing taller sensation that yoga can offer through a variety of asanas where we are reaching and lengthening. To me it makes for a taller me.
Do you sense you are taller after doing yoga? Do you sense your spine is more straight after yoga? Do you do a pose that really has you feeling you are taller after?
*The Nia Technique, page 276. A yoga focus.
Posted in Nia, Yoga/PiYo/Pilates | Tagged: asanas, crown of the head, gentle yoga, lengthening of the spine, Nia, Nia class, Nia Dance, Nia floorplay, Nia routine, Nia Teacher, Yoga, yoga poses, yoga posture | 14 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on June 22, 2013
One of Nia’s 52 Moves is the Sink and Pivot Table Wipe. Ha! Sounds funny. I always think of cleaning when I say this move in class, but not many people LIKE to clean so I don’t like to remind them of cleaning while we are in our Joy! There are many other ways to describe the movement, but “table wipe” really gets the point across. It could be a dramatic sweep of the table. Regardless of what spirit might have me say in the midst of the move there is a particular way to do it. As with all of Nia’s 52 Moves there is a specific way to do it. And . . . as I have said . . . often times the specifics are adjusted to work into the song and the moment’s choreography. To me the Sink and Pivot Table Wipe is a combination of an arm movement and a bow stance.
To practice the Sink and Pivot Table Wipe you start in an A Stance. Doing one side at a time, say the left, you would place your left arm out. As you lift up your left foot you turn your body towards the right, your left arm sweeps across the horizon to the right. Your left foot lands gently on the earth on the ball of your foot and your left leg is bent. Your right leg is also bent. The bent legs become the “sink” part of the move. Your arm sweeping is the wiping part of the move. That “table” part is the imaginative part of the move to assist in knowing how the arms sweeps. The arm is straight out and just moves parallel to the ground. Doing the other side, you would you would place your right arm out. As you lift up your right foot you turn your body towards the left, your right arm sweeps out and around to the left. You place your right ball of foot gently on the floor with your right leg bent. Your left leg is also bent. The legs are similar to a bow stance.
In most instances — the ones I can think of — in the choreography, I usually do a tiny hop so that my front foot ends up with the toes facing the same direction as the foot in the back, the foot that is “ball of foot”. So as I continue to say, the instructions in The Nia Technique book* show the exact perfect way to do a move. Which is the way to learn it, but then once you know the move the choreography dictates the exact way it is done.
The book recommends the word “Whoosh” be said while doing this move. Of course that is just one of many words and sounds that can be made. Sounds are dictated by so many things. The “Whoosh” can be used in the practice of the move, if you would like. When in a Nia class anything goes!
I believe this move is a great stability move because as I said I am normally moving both feet in order to sink, pivot, and wipe the table so I need to “land” stable. Also, I think it is great for the legs because any sink type of move helps condition them. It is also good for coordination because you are moving both the upper body and lower body at the same time, but in a little different manner.
Tee hee . . . . it is really great for a lot of things, depends on what you put into it. The last couple of times I did it in the current Nia routine I am doing I had the class stretching the arm as far as they could reach as they wiped that table. It was a HUGE table and we wanted to wipe it all in one pass!
So what do you imagine you are doing when you do this move?
*The Nia Technique written by Debbie Rosas and Carlos Rosas
Posted in 52 Moves (of Nia), Nia | Tagged: A Stance, Bow Stance, Carlos Rosas, Debbie Rosas, Nia, Nia 52 moves, Nia class, Nia routine, Sink and Pivot Table Wipe, The Nia Technique, The Nia Technique book | Leave a Comment »
Posted by terrepruitt on March 28, 2013
Nia is a great dance exercise. Go to a Nia Class and get a great workout. It is also a practice. As with any practice there are workshops. In one particular workshop produced by Danielle Woermann and led by Helen Terry we were reminded to go slow. Helen was here teaching us her adaptation of a Nia Routine to a specific album. Helen is hilarious. She is down to earth, professional, wonderful to listen to (she has an English accent), and currently living in Texas. The “currently living in” needs to be mentioned because of one of the stories she shared with us . . . but before I get to that let me tell you something she reminded us of. She reminded us to go slow. I know often times I want to rush moves . . . that could mean doing it faster than it needs to be done or not “staying through my enoughs”. But either way the idea is to slow down. When I slow down I can be aware of more. I can pay more attention to a move or even to my class. There seems to a tendency to rush, could be our lifestyles and/or society, whatever, so the lesson was to slow down and the result could be catching a chicken.
There is one song in particular in her adapted routine that I am severely challenged in slowing down. It just seems so incredible slow. I have not yet been able to FEEL/SENSE the music and I have been doing the routine for a month. Which, with the current way I am structuring my San Jose Nia classes, equates to eleven times, thus far. I have done it correctly, but only when I am COUNTING. Yes, I am having to COUNT in order to get it. For this song I really have to learn to listen, sense, feel, taste, hear, smell, become the music in order to slow down. I have even announced to the class so I have a better chance of doing it, “We have to go really incredibly slow here.” Sometimes I have to close my eyes so I don’t see them rushing through and join them. S L O W. (Where’s that chicken?)
Slow down. Work the muscles. Enjoy the song. Enjoy the movement. EnJOY. SLOW. Geez . . . it seems so difficult to slow down sometimes. Sigh. But really often times slowing down in combination with “staying with the enoughs” (as I already mentioned) helps in catching those chickens! Ah-ha, here we are . . . . at the chicken story . . . (remember this is coming from a person who is currently living in Texas!).
I might not have the details exactly right, but you will get the point. Helen said that one day her husband and her neighbor were going to work on building a table. The neighbor says, “Let’s go catch some chickens.” This sounded very odd to Helen because they were building a table not catching chickens. So she asked her neighbor what he meant. He said that when he was young his mother used to send him out to get dinner. He said that he would go outside to do the task, sometimes he would end up with a handful of feathers and sometimes he would end up with a chicken. A handful of feathers means not quite getting it. So catching the chicken is when task is accomplished! Makes sense!
In dancing this routine all month, I have enough feathers to fill a king sized down comforter! So . . . see there? Feathers really aren’t all THAT bad. Feathers can be useful. Feathers can be fun. A handful of feathers does not ruin a Nia class or even the moment, but it is NOT a chicken. When you hit the mark, the music, the cue just right that is catching a chicken.
Whatever it is, whether it is slowing down or staying with the enoughs, or learning the music really well, it is a great feeling to catch that chicken. When you attend one of my Nia classes you might hear me sputter and/or you might hear me “bacbac”. When you do, you will know either I grabbed a handful of feathers and the escaped ones are floating at me causing me to sputter or I caught that chicken!
You know what we’re talking about when we say, “Catch a Chicken”, right? Isn’t that a great feeling? Do you ever feel the need to slow down?
Posted in Nia | Tagged: catch some chickens, dance exercise, Dannielle Woermann, handful of feathers, Helen Terry, Nia, Nia chickens, Nia class, Nia Practice, Nia routine, Nia trainer, Nia workout, Nia workshop, staying through your enoughs, Texas Nia teacher | 8 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on March 26, 2013
One of the things I learned in a Nia workshop at the end of February, 2013 was the phrase “stay with your enoughs”. Trainer Helen Terry, currently located in Texas, was here in the San Francisco Bay Area to teach us how to dance a Nia Routine that she adapted to an entire album of different music. When Helen said that, I laughed. Because there has been so many times when I thought, “this is enough of that move, it MUST be time to move on” and I wasn’t REALLY clued into the music and I went onto the next move and sure “enough” I hadn’t stayed long “enough”. It was really funny at the time that I took the training because I was doing a Nia routine in which I almost always moved on before I should in accordance with the choreography. Shortly before the workshop I had just started telling myself (and listening to myself—what a novel idea!) that when I THOUGHT we were done is not when we should be if I were going to match the original choreography. There was at least one more bar to go through. And so when teaching that routine, my mind would say, “This is it. This is enough.” And my body would say, “Terre, we’ve been through this before. If you THINK this is it, then you KNOW it is not. Stay.” So Helen’s words “Stay with your enoughs” are perfect.
Nia is so lovely that pretty much most of the time if I lead us into the next sequences of moves before we are actually supposed to go or if we stay longer than the original choreography intended it doesn’t really matter. We might miss that wonderful “perfect match up” to the music, but it never really feels badly off. The choreography flows very well with the music so most of the time it doesn’t feel WRONG. We have the flexibility to stay and go as we please, but when coached to “stay with the enoughs” sometimes it is the perfect idea to help with those troubled spots.
In the workshop that Helen was leading since she was teaching us how to dance a specific Nia Routine to a specific album, there were specific songs and specific examples of where she thought it might feel like as if it is enough. The idea is to keep the faith and “stay with your enoughs”. Just stay past the point you think you should be done with that move. She said one track in particular would “give you a lot of ‘enoughs'”. Which for me that is not the “enough” song, but that is ok. She reminded me of the tool so I can apply it to any and all songs where I have enoughs. I get to relax and stay with them!
There were so many wonderful things presented in the workshop I could probably do a month’s worth of posts. But for now I’ll say “enough” . . . . until my next post . . . .
Do you stay with your enoughs?
Posted in Nia | Tagged: Helen Terry, Nia, Nia choreography, Nia routine, Nia trainer, Nia training, Nia workshop, San Francisco Bay Area, San Francisco Bay Area Nia, stay with your enoughs, Texas Nia, Texas Nia Trainer | 2 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on December 8, 2012
Off the top of my head, Nia’s Blue Belt Principle #2 – The Power of Two makes me think of Nia’s Energy Allies or the more commonly known four agreements. The tag line for this principle is Communication. The details involve a transmitter and a receiver. So to me it is a perfect connection to the energy allies. To me to be a clear transmitter one must speak with impeccability. One must stay on task of what the idea is that is being communicated. It is the job of the transmitter to be clear so that the receiver can understand what is being conveyed. To add to that the transmitter doesn’t assume the receiver knows what is being said, another reason to be impeccable. To be a pure receiver, the receiver shouldn’t be assuming they know what the transmitter is saying. The receiver shouldn’t be making up stories in his/her head as the transmitter is speaking. The receiver should be quietly listening, with no inner dialog happening. Also there is the added mission of not taking anything personally. This can be more easily accomplished if the third person — the one in the receiver’s head — is quiet. Both the transmitter and the receiver always strive to do their best. That is how I connect Nia’s Energy Allies to Nia’s Blue Belt Principle #2.
Since communication can be thought of as the exchange of energy between two, this principle and its details can easily be applied to everyday life. The exchange of energy can be between people or things. The exchange is a giving and a receiving. It does not have to be verbal, the exchange, the communication, could be a touch, a gesture, or any of the other ways things are communicated. So you might be able to see how within the scope of life it can be applied to more than just communicating with another person.
As a Nia teacher we can apply it to our Nia practice. There is a transmitter and a receiver with our bodies’ movements. There is a transmitter and a receiver with the music. There is a transmitter and a receiver with a Nia routine and the choreography. There is definitely a transmitter and a receiver in a Nia class and the transmitter is not always the teacher.
With the principle being The POWER of TWO, I can’t help but connect it the Nia Energy Allies when thinking of the communication between people. My connecting probably stems from the fact that I truly feel I need to strengthen my relationship with all FOUR allies in order to allow the POWER of two to shine through.
This is just my immediate thoughts on Nia’s Blue Belt Principle #2. As I live with it longer and read the manual and process it, I am certain I will come up with more. My relationship with will become stronger. Nia has a “craft” for working with this principle, but I am still determining my relationship with that idea. We will see if a post ever becomes of their idea.
Are you familiar with Nina’s Energy Allies (or the four agreements)? Can you see how they can be instrumental in communication? Can you see how the Allies could assist in making two powerful?
Posted in Blue Belt, Nia | Tagged: Four Agreements, inner dialog happening, Nia choreography, Nia class, Nia Practice, Nia routine, Nia Teacher, Nia's Blue Belt Principle #2, Nia's Energy Allies, NiaNow.com, receiver, speak with impeccability, The Power of Two, transmitter | 4 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on September 22, 2012
Since I am still busy with my Nia classes and I have my Zumba teaching debut coming up, it really helps to have produce delivered. I know Nia and Zumba instructors that can learn a routine in an afternoon and teach it that night. I am not one of those teachers. It takes me a long time, so something that saves me a trip to the store is awesome. But then I do spend a little time trying to figure out what to do with the new-to-me produce. I also like to look up the nutrition. One thing I didn’t remember when I received my beets is that the beet greens can be eaten. I forgot about my own post Borscht Is Beets and I just chopped them off and threw them away. Now I know. I do have faith that beets have more nutrition than dirt, but I don’t actually know the nutrition value of dirt, so I really am just going off of faith.
As a reminder beets have anti-inflammatory affects along with antioxidant properties. According to World’s Healthiest Food website here are some numbers on a cup of raw beet:
1.00 cup raw
136.00 grams
58.48 calories
folate 148.24 mcg
manganese 0.45 mg
fiber 3.81 g
potassium 442.00 mg
vitamin C 6.66 mg
tryptophan 0.03 g
magnesium 31.28 mg
iron 1.09 mg
phosphorus 54.40 mg
copper 0.10 mg
The website states that the phytonutrients in beets are called betalains and the longer the beets are cooked, the less there are in the root. They “recommend that you keep beet steaming times to 15 minutes or less, and roasting times under an hour.” So some of the nutritional value is higher the less they are cooked. I had mentioned something similar in my Borscht post.
The paper that comes with the produce I have delivered states that the beets were gold beets. Being unfamiliar with beets I say, “Ok.”, but they were not yellow. They were deep red/purple — as you can see. And I KNOW, I have seen yellow beets before. I had a co-worker who loved beets and she would eat them in all the colors. Maybe the yellow ones aren’t called gold beets and these really were gold beets? I don’t know. The red and yellow pigment in beets lose their “super powers” the more the beets are cooked.
Since I have had my first foray into cooking beets and making something with beets I think I can do it again. I know I just made a salad, but it wasn’t terrible. I think I need to move onto something my husband just loves. In fact when I asked him if he liked beets he said yes and he reminded me that he loves borscht. I forgot he loved borscht and I forgot I posted about it. So I think I will actually purchase some beets and give it a try.
This is exactly one of the reasons I chose to have a produce box delivered. I never would have bought beets — obviously since back in January 2011 I talked about them and STILL haven’t done it. So now it is one of the things I can add to our list of vegetables for us to eat. I have the tendency to buy the same vegetables over and over even though I know variety is good. I just don’t buy it if I don’t know what to do with it. But when it lands on my doorstep, I feel as if I have to find something to do with it. I am so excited to be expanding my produce horizons. I also love that so many people have ideas on what to do with these new-to-me items.
Do any of you like Borscht? Do you have a recipe for it?
Posted in Food, Vegetables | Tagged: anti-inflammatory, antioxidants, beets, borscht, Nia, Nia Classes, Nia instructor, Nia routine, Nia Teacher, organic produce, teaching debut, World's Healthiest Food, yellow beets, Zumba, Zumba classes, Zumba instructor, Zumba teacher | 2 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on September 1, 2012
At the end of July I thought it would be nice to switch things up during the month of August. My idea was triggered by comments from people talking about the scale not changing. It seemed that the scale not budging at all for one day affected the people’s moods. So I thought perhaps a break from the scale would be something some people would benefit from. I planned the challenge to be 21 days and 30 days so that both timeframes would land on a day that I post. I post on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. I managed to post about the challenge on the 21st, but I didn’t post about it on the 30th. On the 30th I thought about it, then forgot about it, then thought about it when I was more than halfway done with my post about one of Nia’s 52 Moves – Knee Sweeps and didn’t have time to measure. It takes more time to strip down and measure than it does to hop on the scale, huh? Well, how did you do if you did? Did you see a change in your measurements? Did you also keep track of your weight at day one and day 21/30?
For me it turned out to be necessary to go the 30 days. At 21 days, I wasn’t seeing a good change, but by 31 (as I said, on Thursday the 30th I didn’t measure because time got away from me) I saw a good change. What I didn’t do at 21 days was get on the scale, I was thinking the point was to avoid the scale, but now I am thinking it might have been nice to have a comparison. Perhaps you thought of that option. I did not until today.
I also learned that I need to be a little more specific on my notes of where I am measuring. I know I made a point to instruct you to make notes, and I did, I just need to make better notes. For one place I said something like, “3.25 inches below the dot.” Well, when I wrote that note I must have had a clear idea on what “the dot” was, but 20 days later I had no idea. I laughed at that and hoped you make better notes on the “landmarks”.
So here ends the challenge, but of course you are free to stay off the scale and/or add measuring to your routine. The real point is to not let the scale frustrate you and to remember it does not always tell the whole story. There are other things to help complete the story; mirrors, measurements, clothes, people, etc. Of course, not everyone allows the scale to frustrate them, I understand that, I was trying to present a way to help some from getting frustrated. And maybe just another way to see things.
So how did you do? Did you see a change via measurements? Did you learn anything (as I shared with you what I learned)? Would you rather use a scale or a tape measure? Or both?
Posted in Misc | Tagged: 30 day challenge, Knee Sweeps, measurement change, measurements vs. weight, Nia, Nia routine, Nia's 52 Moves, tape measure, weight change | 2 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on August 30, 2012
Now, I know that I’ve been doing the knee sweep a lot longer than I have been doing Nia. So it is true that Nia’s 52 moves are not necessarily unique to Nia, but they are part of the core of Nia. You will find a large portion of Nia’s 52 moves in every routine. There are correct ways to do them, but Nia allows for the body’s way and also, I believe Nia allows for the move to be incorporated into the dance. For instance, The Nia Technique book states that the starting position for a knee sweep is the sumo stance. I am sure that I have done a knee sweep from a sumo stance at one time, but the first dance that pops into my head where we do the knee sweep it is not from a sumo position. But the by the book (oh, yeah, that reminds me, “BUY THE BOOK!” 🙂 ), anyway, the by-the-book version of the knee sweep starts from a sumo position, complete with arms in ready position and everything. Then the body rises as you come up on one leg bringing the other leg up with a bent knee. The knee crosses the midline of the body, the opposite hand “pushes” the knee out. The knee swings out so the pelvis is open. Then the leg comes down and the foot lands on the earth. That is the knee sweep of Nia’s 52 moves.
The book does not indicate that when your foot comes down it is in the toes-to-the-front position, but that is how I teach it. I don’t want my students landing on their foot with their knee out to the side. If we are just doing knee sweeps as an exercise, maybe I would have them do that, because they would be aware of the torque in their hip, but probably not.
When I was first doing this move in Nia I was trying to do it as the book shows and as many of the people on the Nia instructional DVDs do and as the instructor does (whether it be Debbie Rosas or Carlos AyaRosas). And that was with the knee out to the side very wide. REALLY opening the pelvis. But when I did that I noticed a “something” – I don’t know what it was, but it was something – in my lower back. So I decided that opening my hip that wide and having my leg out that far was not MY body’s way, so I do not do that. I share with my students that I found the comfortable spot to be about as far as my forearms can reach. I “glue” my elbows to my sides and hold my forearms out to the side. As far as they can go is as far as I allow my knee to go. That is what works for me.
Some of the time that we are doing the knee sweep it is at the end of a “up-two-three-four (knee sweep), back-two-three-four (knee sweep)”. So that would not allow for the sumo position to be the start. Other times we are standing upright. As I said, I am sure I have done it from the sumo position because I bet it is in a routine I am not thinking of. But the ones I am thinking of it is done from a walking or standing position.
The amazing thing about the knee sweep is that it calls for the knee to cross the midline of the body. So that means that if you were doing a left knee sweep (with your left leg) your left knee would enter into the right hemisphere of your body. If you were doing a right knee sweep (with your right leg) your right knee would enter into the right hemisphere of your body. It is a great thing when your limbs cross the midline. It helps stimulate the brain. So there is a reason in many exercise routines and cardio classes that we have you do “cross overs”.
The knee sweep is one of those moves that requires balance. Since at one point you are standing on one leg, you will be able to improve your balance or practice what you have. Also the moving of the leg helps with that stability. Standing on one leg helps with strength and opening the hip helps with mobility and flexibility. The knee sweep of Nia’s 52 moves does a body and brain good!
Are you familiar with this move? Have you done it before in your exercise class? Did you give it a try?
Posted in 52 Moves (of Nia), Nia | Tagged: Cardio classes, cardio dance class, Carlos AyaRosas, cross the midline of the body, dance, Debbie Rosas, exercise routines, flexibility, improve balance, Knee Sweep, Mobility, my body's way, Nia, Nia instructional DVDs, Nia routine, Nia students, Nia's 52 Moves, stability, strength, Sumo Stance, the Nia Technique books | Leave a Comment »
Posted by terrepruitt on August 7, 2012
Well, Palo Alto seems to be as close to as to what I consider the South Bay as we have gotten since I have been attending Nia. I really want to have a Nia Jam in San Jose. I am going to work on that for 2013. The Nia Jam for San Francisco Bay Area Nia Association in the South Bay in 2012 was at a Jewish Community Center in Palo Alto. As I have described before, a Nia Jam is a Nia class only longer with multiple teachers. It is like a Nia class on steroids. A typical Nia class is 60 minutes, a Nia Jam is usually 90 minutes. In a Nia Jam there is a group of teachers who take turns teaching. As with all Nia classes the Nia Jam had a focus and an intent. The focus of this Nia Jam was Yin & Ying of Creative Play, with the intent of providing both a high energy experience and a quieter, more reflective experience as Nia can support either or both. I have to be honest, I didn’t get a quiet, reflective experience out of this jam. We were on fire! The energy was so high it was tangible. It was amazing!
I am so glad that the energy is always so high because I had taught my Saturday morning class in San Jose. Then I stayed at the studio and took a class, then I raced over to Palo Alto to teach at the Jam. The energy energized me!
There were six teachers who taught. It is so fun to dance and be led by a variety of teachers. It is a wonderful thing to be able to experience a song, a kata, that you know, in a different way. While usually the basics are there, there is often a little nuance that the teacher adds to the song. It could be just a sound that is not normally made, a word not usually spoken, or it could be the addition of a different step or the removal of a step, it could just be their way of cueing that makes it different. Whatever the difference it is so invigorating to do what you know a little differently. I also love doing the unknown. I don’t know all of the Nia routines and I love to get to dance katas I don’t know.
At the same time a Nia Jam is perfect for someone new to Nia because they get to dance with many different teachers and experience different styles. They also can witness the warmth of the Nia community. New participants can also enjoy the astronomical energy that is present at Nia Jams. They can also confirm that Nia students and Nia teachers do sweat as Nia is a moving grooving cardio dance exercise. They can corroborate what I have been sharing — a great workout does not have to be done extremely fast and hard it can be done with movements of the whole body.
Monday in class my students were still talking about the Nia Jam. It was THAT fun! It was THAT energizing. It was great! I know Nia is a great workout. I invite you to go to a class, one of mine (click for schedule) or one you find near you (click for worldwide listings), but I implore you to go to a Nia Jam. If there is one not far from you, go. You will enjoy it for all the reasons I mentioned above, for reasons I have not mentioned, and for reasons of your own. Nia Jams are always fun and the Nia Jam for the South Bay on the Peninsula did not disappoint!
For more pictures go to: http://www.helpyouwell.com/nia-jams.html
Posted in Nia | Tagged: cardio dance class, cardio exercise, Jewish Community Center, Nia, Nia class, Nia community, Nia experience, Nia focus, Nia in San Jose, Nia kata, Nia participants, Nia routine, Nia Song, Nia students, Nia teachers, Palo Alto Nia, pictures of Nia Jam, San Francisco Bay Area Nia Association, San Jose dance exercise, Saturday morning class, SF Bay Nia, South Bay Dance exercise, South Bay Nia Jam, who does Nia, www.HelpYouWell.com, Yin & Ying | Leave a Comment »
Posted by terrepruitt on August 4, 2012
I have a confession to make. It is one I might have even confessed before. I know I have done it before. It is easy for me to get caught up. I want to please people. I want the supervisor to know that I am working to keep the students IN the class. I want the students attending the class to like it and want to be there. When you are a substitute instructor leading a different format than is usually taught it is very different from when you are teaching a class of the expected format. Many people are taught that cardio – aerobic exercise – is extremely fast, high impact, and difficult so it is very hard to change that mindset. I was asked by someone who understands both the fact that cardio does not have to be extremely fast or high impact and that people are trained to think it is, if I could do Nia a little higher because people expect cardio to be a specific way. So caught up in wanting to give the students what they are accustomed to getting I put together a routine . . . kind of rushed . . . that didn’t have ALL the elements that a Nia class normally has. It was not good. It felt “off”. I was trying to make Nia something it is not. Nia is not Zumba. Nia is not Cardio-Sculpt. Nia is not extremely fast, rushed, and high impact. Nia is not Jazzercise. Nia is not UJAM. Nia is not all of or any of these other names that there are for classes that are fast, rushed, and high impact. Nia is an amazing practice. Nia is a great workout. Nia is a wonderful cardio dance exercise. And I need to stop trying to make it be something it is not just because people are used to cardio a specific way.
So I did a routine that didn’t feel right to me. I thought I would get up the next morning and do the same routine for the class I was asked at the last minute to sub, I was going to try to “bring it” to the students. As I was getting into bed a little agitated from the “not feeling right class”, it washed over me like a refreshing revelation . . . . DO NIA! Duh! Bring “IT”, and make that “IT” Nia. I got caught up and in my trying to bring the students what they are used to, I didn’t allow them the richness of something new. The richness of Nia.
Now, I want you to understand that the Nia Technique creates wonderful routines and all we teachers have to do is learn them and teach them. But we are also allowed to use other music, make up our own routines, mix and match the routines they have created, and make up our own katas. Of course, we need to follow the Nia class formula and the seven cycles which contain the traditional warm-up, move it, and cool-down. I also think when creating a routine/class – in general – it should be balanced; as an example not all songs/movements should be lateral ones or forward and back ones, there should be a mix of movement and the 52 Nia moves. I create routines from Nia routines all the time. So it was not the fact that I put songs together that created the not feeling right routine, it was ME. It was ME trying to make Nia something it is not.
I need to center myself. I need to stick to what I know and not try to give people the class they are used to. I KNOW Nia is amazing and awesome and does need to try to be anything it is not. I KNOW THAT. I just get caught up.
Another point I want to make is, I am not saying those other formats are bad. In fact, I like some of the other formats I have tried. One of these days I might even teach another cardio format. I am saying Nia is Nia, it is not any of the other formats and I need to remember that and let it stand on its own. I need to remember to trust Nia and allow it to touch the people it needs to touch and let the others attend the other dance classes. I need to remember that when I am asked to sub a class I am going to sub it with Nia and not try to make Nia be what that class usually is. I keep thinking to myself, “DUH!”
Thank you for letting me confess and do a public face-in-the-hand-plant!
Do you EVER do that in any section of your life – try to make something be something else even though what you have is just perfect the way it is?
Posted in Nia | Tagged: 52 Nia Moves, aerobic dance class, cardio, Cardio-Sculpt, class format, dance exercise, dance format, exercise format, fast formats, high impact, Jazzercise, Nia, Nia Music, Nia Practice, Nia routine, Nia student, Nia Teacher, substitute instructor, Ujam, Zumba, Zumba routines | 4 Comments »
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