I am working on learning a new Nia routine. After getting coffee this morning I sat down to listen to the music and bar it. I had done some work on some of the songs already, so I was continuing. I had opened up a slider because the morning was cool and I wanted to let some cool air in and let the cat enjoy the outside. As I was sitting there I started to hear a squirrel barking. I got up to look and I couldn’t see him, but I could hear him well enough I knew he was somewhere along the edge of the yard. I spotted him on our roof. I asked him why he was barking, but I was unable to understand his answer. He kept barking as he ran from one level to the next. Since he sounded so upset I was curious as to why. He sounded as if he was near so I looked again. He was on our roof where I couldn’t see him from the slider. He barked non-stop.
Being the well-trained squirrel sap that I am, I went outside to give them some peanuts and I cleaned the bird bath and filled it with water. I thought maybe he wanted peanuts and water. But he kept barking. I think he actually moved to a place where he could see me and he knew I could see him. He was barking for so long that I decided to video him.
This is him. He is on our neighbor’s roof.
After this he stopped. Maybe he just wanted me to put him on YouTube. Maybe he is not happy that the blue jays are eating the nuts. They usually share pretty well, but the only thing I can think of is that maybe the blue jays are a bit more aggressive than normal because yesterday I noticed they brought babies with them. I don’t know if you have ever experienced baby blue jays. At this point they are flying fine and have their balance so they are a few months old, but they still have that baby cry. They are so round and fluffy and look bigger than the adults. Yesterday one just stood on the table and cried for food. But the adult with him wanted him to fend for himself. But MAYBE this is what the squirrel was barking about today, but I dont’ know.
After he stopped barking he sat in the tree like this. Giving me some kind of “eye”; evil or squirrely you decide.
So, yeah, this is part of what I mean when I posted the post about workout distractions. I could ignore them, but often times they are making a ruckus for a reason and if they are doing it in our yard I like to try to figure out why. Eventually, I shut the door and closed the curtain so I could bar some more of the Nia music and get a Nia workout in. I wanted to show you more of the “distractions” from our yard. Silly squirrel.
Yeah, I get excited when I have a Nia class. I love to teach Nia. I love to get up in front of a class and show them anyone can move and have fun. So with that in mind, the fact that I have a Nia Class this morning, I will be back to let you know about the Ten Minute Workout.
With yesterday’s post assisting you with ideas on how to do the ten exercises without the exercise ball, the resistance band, and the BOSU, maybe you’ll join me? Why not try it for ten days? It’s ten minutes. Ten exercises, ten times, in ten minutes, for ten days. Now the ten minutes is the time frame, so if you can do more than ten exercises go for it. Well, what do you say? Got ten minutes?
Ok, DONE! And it was pretty funny. I had been out today in my MBTs and I decided to practice the Nia routine Sexi in my MBTs. So after that, I decided to do the ten minute workout in my MBTs. Ha. Fun-ny!
I normally just do the workout in bare feet. So shoes — MBTs in particular — provided different sensations.
You may recall I bought the MBTs because (I’ve always wanted them but couldn’t bring myself to spend that on shoes) I thought they would help me re-learn how to walk properly. Rolling through my entire foot. I was thinking that I could do longer lunges in my MBTs because I could be on the ball of my foot but really rolled to the ball of the shoe. Well, that went as planned. I did the lunges as I originally thought when I put them in the workout.
MBTs on the BOSU . . . . different. It definitely engages even MORE muscles. I had thought of that too when I thought to do the workout with them on. What I didn’t think about was how I would notice the shoes when doing the V sit up.
Anyway . . . I’m done. Just wanted to let you know. I think I should also confess that I almost skipped it today because I had a tentative phone appointment. But I decided that I could do it even after that. But it turned out that feel through so I just did it. I mean, c’mon, it really IS only ten minutes.
It is a little past midnight, I am putting up the placeholder. I have not yet done my Ten Minute Workout for Monday, but I am hoping you will and you will comment on it. I am rooting for you. I know it is not always easy to find time. I know how beneficial exercising can be. What can happen is you squeeze in the ten minutes planning to do ten exercises ten times and you realize you have time for more. You do more. Then you realize how great you feel and you do a few more.
But you gotta just do it first. Did ya?
I will be back to let you know I did. First I have a Nia Class.
Wow! I think it was the same time last night that I was posted that I had done it. Here I am again, 7:00 pm. But I did it. I almost forgot. I was just about to do it then I got a phone call. Took me another hour to get to it, but I did. And I am glad I did.
After my Nia class this morning another teacher and I went to a park to practice. That was fun. I didn’t have the correct shoes, but I think we still made some progress. We figured out a few things. NICE! Will make it that much easier when I learn the routine.
Oh wow! Last night we went to a mystery party. It was so fun. I really was just amazed at the craziness of the character and the twists and turns and just all that was going on. Since this is a public blog, I don’t want to tell too much because I never know who is reading this and if you were invited to a mystery party with this story line and you got all the details here that wouldn’t be fun. It was my first party like that and so I was a bit overwhelmed to say the least.
We were on a ship in the 1700’s and we all had goals to accomplish, with abilities, secrets, and information. Oh and we had “items too”. And EVERYONE was looking for something. It was hilarious. It was fun and I am telling you this because I was so involved in it I forgot to post a placeholder for anyone doing the Ten Minute Workout. But alas, it doesn’t look as if that was a problem.
I just did mine, but I am going to tell you I actually took out the lunges. Yes, yes, I know, one of the prime exercises to target the glutes, but it is my foot that I am trying to save. I have been practicing a Nia routine called Sexi. I am thinking about doing it this week and it has a lot of ball of foot. A LOT! So much so that I might wait until Wednesday to do it, so that I can do it once for my San Jose Nia Class and then once for my Los Gatos Nia Class. Then have a few days where I am not doing it. Then pick it up again the following week. One of my students requested it.
Which reminds me: YES, there is Nia in San Jose at 9 am on Monday, the Fourth of July. So come on over. Many people have that day off so join us. It will be fun. We will be doing Sexi! And Sexi is sexy and fun.
Even though I didn’t do lunges I did target my glutes with the ol’ donkey kick. But I added some weights to see how that worked. Remember those donkey kicks?
So what about you? Did you do the ten exercises? Did you do ten minutes of any exercise? That is a great start/addition/quickie. So let me know.
It is much, much cooler in San Jose today. I like it much better. But I did do my ten minutes first. And now I am going to spend a good portion of the afternoon with Nia. I can’t decide whether to work on learning a new Nia Routine or brush up on one. One of the cool things about Nia is that the more you do a routine the more you can play with it. You can use flexibility, agility, mobility, strength, or stability (FAMSS) to infuse the workout and make it different every time.
I have notice that I can do that a bit with the ten minute workout too, because every time I do it I am different. Today I really, really, really, really concentrated on taking LONG steps in the lunges and I was able to confirm why I chose this exercise for the workout to target a specific muscle. I have also been experimenting with the way I hold the band for the triceps kick backs and bent over lateral raise. So even though I have been doing the same exercises I have been doing them a little different to work it in different ways. What about you?
Ok, so it is Wednesday and as you might notice, it is 1:00 am and I am not in bed yet. This means I have a few more things to do before I get to bed, which means I will not be up at 6:00 am doing my Ten Minute Workout, drinking my coffee, reviewing my Nia Routine, deciding on a Nia focus, and popping out the door in time to be at the studio 15 minutes early for my Nia class. In fact, around here, when the weather is nice traffic is worse, at least lately because our weather in the San Francisco Bay Area has been so wet and rainy, I think when it is sunny people think they have to be out. If it stays like this, then people will settle down and it won’t be so bad . . . . I hope, but on Wednesday, it is ALWAYS worse than Mondays and Fridays. Go figure. (I have my theories.) On Wednesdays I have to leave a few minutes before I do on Mondays.
Since I am not a morning person that means, I will do my Ten Ten in Ten after my class. But YOU can do it anytime. And the beauty of it is . . . . you can share . . . .
So . . . . tell me . . . . how is it going? What are you doing with it? What questions do you have? One of my readers I am lucky enough to actually see in person so I was able to answer some of her questions, what about you? What do you want to know about this workout?
Ok, after 3:00, but I did it. This workout is really meant to be something that easily fits in your day. If completing it is a challenge then it seems like ten minutes is a good start to a workout. If it is not challenging and you want more than you can add reps, sets, or weight. Or it could be that you are adding it to something else you are doing.
It really is something that can work for anyone if they want. If the way it is presented is not “working” for you but you want to do it, let me know. You can always send me an e-mail if you don’t want to comment.
My Ten Minute Workout is done. I do believe that ten minutes is not that long and it can be done, but one does have to manage their time properly and I did not do that yesterday. I had plenty of time in which to do it, but I kept getting delayed. Also, I was sensing my hamstrings wanting a rest. I didn’t really think they NEEDED a rest, they are not injured or really sore, but I am aware of them when I get up. The Nia routine I did most of last week has a lot of bows in it. The name of the Nia routine is Passion and when the music is in fully swing it allows the passion of dance to be experienced and I have been taking my bows low. I am experiencing some soreness in my hamstrings.
But the main reason for me not doing my Ten Ten in Ten is my poor time management. Unless I am in a lot of pain and think that further movement will damage my muscle for me the best course of action is to work through it, even if I tone the volume of movement down. This workout MIGHT cause DOMS to be experienced and that is when you have to decide what it best for you.
Ten minutes THEN passion is better than ten minutes OF passion.
WHAT? What is she talking about? 🙂
Often times I write what is going on then when I think about it silly things pop into my head. I am going to go do my Ten Ten in Ten (which has primarily been twenty in ten, but today I am thinking of doing the ten really slow) then I am going to practice Passion which is a Nia routine. When I thought of my plan I thought “ten minutes then Passion” and as I was typing the other thought occurred to me. Yeah, it’s a crazy train.
Did you do your Ten Minute Workout? I know that one of my friends did because she posted on yesterday’s comment. (Thank you!)
We do lunges in Nia all the time. We call them the “bow stance”. Different Nia routines have different “lunges”. Sometimes we do them fast, sometimes slow. Sometimes the music allows us to do a deep lunge, sometimes it might just be a shallow or a high one. Lunges are great for the quadriceps and glutes. In my original design of my Ten Minute Workout I wanted the concentration to be in the glutes, so I decided to do a long lunge. A long lunge gets the backside more.
Holding weights down at your sides adds to the work your leg and butt muscles have to do. Standing up from the long step requires much more effort. As a reminder only step as far as will allow you to stand back up. Also be certain that in addition to being able to stand back up you are stable, so your legs are wide enough that you cannot be easily pushed over.
As you step out also remember that it is a controlled step. The foot that is stepping out should land softly and not in a stomp. These do not need to be done fast. When including this exercise in the ten minute workout I was thinking of a long controlled step. The movement is solid and fluid.
The foot that remains stationary ends up with the heel raised (completely vertical if you can get there), weight on the ball of the foot and toes. Since this is a long lunge, the stationary leg could end up with the knee almost on the ground or on the ground.
The idea is to step one leg out then back, then the other leg steps out then back. Alternate legs, each step out is “one”. There are other ways to do lunges, modifications that can be made, but for now, this is the explanation of the exercise chosen to be included in this ten minute workout. Eventually I will post some information on different ways to do the lunges.
Today I taught Nia. It was not a Nia class, but a one-on-one session. No matter what I am teaching, a class, a playshop, a move, a song, an individual, I always learn things myself. It is amazing. Sometimes I am reminded of something. Today I was reminded of how fun it is to teach someone something new. To explain something in a way that allows them to understand. In some instances it might be the information is received and then there is still learning or “mastering” to be done, but they have the tool you gave them. In some instances they just have it. It just depends on what it is. But it is amazing.
When I am learning a new routine I would love to be able to take a perfect “product” into my class. But there is often a point where I know it is not perfect, but I can’t learn anymore by myself. So I take it into class and usually that first time in that one hour I learn more than (or just as much as) I had learned in the time it I spent getting to the point I where I took it into the class. Amazing. I might have actually said this very thing before in a previous post, so it might sound familiar to you. Or it could sound familiar because you have experienced something similar. Learning as you are teaching. I love that!
Well, it is May and for the past week, maybe two it has been cold and raining here in the San Francisco Bay Area. I don’t mind it so much. Especially since, as you may know, I have a new found love . . . making soups with my immersion blender! The last one I made I made it too spicy and I couldn’t eat it. I was very sad. But my husband loved it which was great because he was stuck eating the whole pot. I was thinking it would be the last batch before the warm weather comes in and I might have been right. The past two days have been pretty warm and very beautiful.
It seems like spring might actually finally be here.
During the cold one of my friends posted a picture of some of her flowers. She had cut them and brought them in the house and posted “At least it’s springtime inside the house.” She inspired me. It took me a few days, but I cut these from a tiny rose bush we have in our yard. These are VERY small roses. The bush is probably not even two feet high.
I just wanted to share. I wanted to share the beautiful flowers, the beauty in a sign of spring, the excitement of learning as you teach, the wonder and beauty of the world. I wanted to share and I wanted to say I am looking forward to living in the beauty that is, and learning as I go.
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