Posts Tagged ‘Nia San Jose’
Posted by terrepruitt on March 24, 2011
Holy Moly! Our weather has been wet lately. Really wet. No, not as wet as a tsunami and it will not leave as much devastation as was left in Japan. But it is really wet for us. I am glad I teach Nia inside. It has been raining for days, but for us, here in San Jose we have had hours, even a day when it has stopped. This is La Niña. I had to look it up, because when my husband and I got married 13 years ago there was El Niño. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration: “The 1997/98 El Niño ranks as one of the major climatic events of this century.”
The administration studied the information available and was able to predict as early as January 1997 that the winter of 1997/98 was going to be wet. As the year progressed they became more confident with their predictions of heavy rainfall and flooding. So I had heard all of this while planning our outdoor wedding. We had a plan if it rained or if the ground was too wet, good thing because that is what ended up happening. It rained the day of and the ground was too wet for us to be outside. Because El Niño is a warm type of storm pattern we were actually able to go outside for a few pictures.
This storm we are having now is cold. That is why I looked it up because I remember hearing that this year was an La Niña year and I didn’t know the difference between the El Niño and the La Niña. Colder than normal temperatures is the characteristics of La Niña. Another characteristic is that it follows El Niño. I remember there being rain last winter, but it didn’t seem more than normal and the temperatures weren’t as cold. It seems as if we have these weather patterns all the time. I guess we only really hear about them when they are really severe.
Right now the rain is causing flooding and landslides. We are fortunate because with raining happening non-stop in some areas there can be planning and people can take precautions. There is time in some cases to prepare. Not always, early this week I heard that an area where there was only one way in and one way out got closed off. The gulch had a landslide so those that were IN the neighborhood were stuck and those that were out were stuck. Some people are being evacuated. My heart goes out to them. I hope they remain safe and are able to come back to a home intact.
I’m just thinking out loud. I was curious about the weather. I also keep thinking that this is a long period of rain, but I keep thinking 40 days and 40 nights must have really seemed like forever. Also as much water as we are getting it is still not as much as Japan. I guess I keep thinking about Japan. I hope you are too, not to dwell and be upset, but to hold space for them. To pray for them and to think positive thoughts.
Posted in Misc | Tagged: bad weather March 2011, El Nina, El Nino, flooding of March 2011, Japan March 2011, Japan tsunami, La Nina, La Nino, March 2011, National Oceanic and Atmospheri Adminstartion, Nia San Jose, NOAA, San Jose Nia, San Jose rain, San Jose Weather, storm patters, weather prediction, wet weather | 5 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on March 12, 2011
I believe that I have mentioned before Nia allows us—even encourages us—to do routines with different focuses. I know I have posted about focuses before. This past week I led my classes in the Nia routine called Sanjana. I believe this is a routine created by Debbie Rosas NKA Debbie Rosas-Stewart. It is an awesome routine (well, yeah . . . its Nia). I decided that I would do one of the nine movement forms per class. I know I have posted about Nia’s Nine Movement Forms before, too. I had used some of the movement forms previously with this routine, so I decided the ones we did this week would be ones I had not paired up with Sanjana. Monday in my San Jose Nia class we did the ideas of Moshe Feldenkrais. For Wednesdays Nia class in San Jose we utilized the energy of Tae Kwon Do. My Los Gatos class on Friday experienced Sanjana with the Modern Dance flair.
I love this about Nia. I love that doing the same routine, but doing it with different energies allows for different movement, different sensations. Each movement form has its own energy, that is how we apply them to a routine and come up with something unique. I chose Feldenkrais for Monday because often times participants are a bit sleepy on Monday mornings. Sometimes we prefer something that moves us but something more along the lines of a stretch or a healing art. It could be that too much was done over the weekend or not enough, so Mondays are a little different. With this conscious movement as our guide we were able to focus on the sensation of the body as we moved. The dance was conscious. We could concentrate on areas that needed attention, either from the over-use during the weekend or lack of use. Whatever the case, the idea is ease. Move with ease into one’s own power and strength. This is a gentle movement form but that does not mean it is not intense. We can still move our bodies to get a great strength and/or cardio workout when playing with the healing arts, but it is with greater awareness.
By the middle of the week, Wednesday’s class was perfect for Martial Arts. Nia students have “recovered” from the weekend so the whole body can be used. We have the strength to utilize the power of the Tae Kwon Do energy. The dance can be precise, by this time of the week. Two days are behind, only three are left (class is in the morning), the desire and focus needed to push on is there. Sanjana has great opportunity for dynamic ease to be exercised. There are katas that allow for the fluid moves of martial arts with dance, kicking, punching, blocking, and striking. In fact the “Exercises” listed in The Nia Technique White Belt Manual* under the Tae Kwon Do craft seems as if they were written expressly for Sanjana.
Friday, unknown to me at the time I planned my dance week, was a great day to do Modern Dance. With the tsunami that hit Japan over the night (Thursday night for us, Japan’s Friday) it was a great time for dance. Modern Dance calls you to express yourself. This movement form is one of imagination. You can be big and/or small, fast and/or slow, a tree, a rock, sand, water, air, even a feeling. People can truly dance whatever they want. So while we are still practicing our stances the feelings put into it are those of the participant. Movements led by me are executed by whatever sense is being experienced. Many people had different issues and feelings to work through. Even if some of those feelings were a celebration with the understanding that life is short and precious so we need to celebrate what we have while we have it. This form is that of balance–both on and off, flexibility, strength, power, drama, emotions . . . whatever fits. It was a great way to let our bodies move while our hearts went out to all that were affected.
Nia is awesome like that. We danced the same routine for all three classes this week. With each class it was different while we paired up the routine with different movement forms. While the movement forms were able supply the energy, the “feel”, the sensation that was required for the day.
(Thoughts and prayers go out to ALL that are/were/and will be affected by the earthquake in Japan on March 12, 2011 and the subsequent tsunami.)
*March 2001, V# Page 2-19 thru 2-20
Posted in Nia | Tagged: 2011 tsunami, cardio dance, cardio exercises, cardio workout, Debbie Rosas, Debbie Rosas Stewart, dynamic ease, Feldenkrais, Japan's Tsunami, Los Gatos Nia, Los Gatos Nia Class, March 12, Mondern Dance, Moshe Feldenkrais, Nia cardio, Nia class, Nia Dance, Nia exercise, Nia focus, Nia katas, Nia Los Gatos, Nia Practice, Nia routine Sanjana, Nia routines, Nia San Jose, Nia Technique, Nia White Belt, Nia White Belt Manual, Nia workout, Nia's movement forms, Nine Movement Forms, San Jose Nia, San Jose Nia class, Sanjana, Tae kwon do, White Belt | 3 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on January 8, 2011
On Wednesday after my Nia Class in San Jose I was talking to one of my students. Some how we ended up on a subject that had her telling me about a friend of hers who is blind but has no issue navigating the step that is not too far from her front entry way inside her home. She was explaining that people have no problem with it on the way in, but on the way out they forget about it and usually stumble on it when leaving the house. This led to many other tangents in our conversation but one thing it had me thinking about was sight/seeing and our focus.
I was thinking that the sighted people were focusing on the door on the way out of the house. For me, I imagined myself leaving her house, part of my focus on her and saying our goodbyes, then another part on the door—–but with the door a multitude of other things would come into my mind and into my focus. I would see the door and begin to think about my car, which would make me think about my drive, which would lead me to think about what I need to do on the way home, which (depending upon the hour of the day) might have me thinking about what to cook for dinner and if I needed to stop at the store on the way home—-all of which would make me trip. I would not be focused at all on my feet and on the step and I am sure that I would stumble into the door.
With that in mind I had a focus and an intent for my next Nia class which was the one in Los Gatos. The focus was Awareness, the intent was to connect to one’s body. While I have used awareness as a focus before, and I have probably even used the same intent before, and I have even invited the participants to close their eyes, this time I did it more frequently. With this routine there is a song where we are completely stationary so closing one’s eyes to allow for complete focus on one’s body is perfect. There is also a song where we turn and face different walls (in line dancing it would be called a four-wall dance). When we turn it often takes me and other people out of the line of sight which can often lead to one “having” to be aware of one’s own body.
To me one of the fundamentals of Nia is being in one’s body and dancing in your own body’s way, but I think that we often get distracted by the things we see. I know that while I teach sometimes I will get distracted because I see my hair sticking up or I see something else I should not be concentrating on. So I think that having Awareness, with the intent of connecting to the body and adding “eyes closed” to be a great tool. We did not dance the entire routine with our eyes closed, just when it was safe to do so, when our movements were not far from our spot and there was no chance of bumping into someone. Also, it was just an invitation to assist with the focus and intent it is not something that was required.
As the teacher I do not close my eyes as much as I would if I were the student because I am teaching and making certain that all is well in the class, but I know that the few times I did I was able to really embrace the focus and the intent.
What do you think? Do you think that if you close your eyes you can focus more on your body?
Posted in Nia | Tagged: body's way, dance class, focus and intent, four wall dance, fundamentals of Nia, line dancing, Los Gatos Nia, Nia, Nia class, Nia dancing, Nia fundamentals, Nia Los Gatos, Nia participant, Nia San Jose, Nia student, San Jose line dancing, San Jose Nia | 6 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on December 18, 2010
As I was getting ready for my Nia class the other day, I thought “How cold is it?” I was trying to decide how to wear my scarf. Then I thought this would be a great blog post because when I first learned how to wear a scarf I was amazed. Then as I grabbed the laptop to type this up I realized that a lot of my readers probably already know this because they are from colder areas than California. Maybe if you don’t live in the Bay Area then you might not know how we wear our scarves so I will be sharing that with you.
A few years back I was getting ready to leave work, I hung my scarf on my neck then grabbed one end and started wrapping. My co-worker saw me and started chuckling when I asked her what she was laughing about she explained that people in California wear their scarves different from people back East. She was from back East and was accustomed too much lower temperatures. I was so curious. I had never thought about wearing my scarf a different way so I asked her to show me. She took my scarf, folded it in half, hung it around my neck and tucked the loose ends into the folded end. WHOA! I laughed. I instantly recognized how much warmer that is.
Here in the San Jose Bay Area – maybe all over California we wear scarves more as an accessory than for warmth. Then when we want to be warm we throw one end over our shoulder. If we want to be REALLY warm we wrap the scarf around our neck a few times. All of these methods leave our lower neck/upper chest area exposed. But when you fold then hang it around your neck then tuck the loose ends your lower neck/upper chest area get completely covered. It is so warm and cozy that way.
I actually wear my scarves these two different ways. Usually on my way TO my Nia class I fold and tuck. On the way home because I am usually hot and sweaty from working out I just throw it over my neck and wrap. This helps me stay a little warm but not as warm as when I fold it and tuck it. So? What do you think? Did you know this?
How do you wear your scarf? Do you wrap? Do you tuck? Do you do one or the other depending on the need?
Folded in half then tucked.
Posted in Helpful Hints | Tagged: Bay Area Nia, California weather, cold weather, East Coast, Nia, Nia class, Nia San Jose, San Jose Bay Area Nia class, San Jose Nia, scarf | 14 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on November 27, 2010
This Thanksgiving, I was blessed with two different Thanksgiving dinners. On Thanksgiving we went to my in-laws in the San Jose area. Then after I taught my Nia class in Los Gatos on Friday, we went to another family members and had ANOTHER Thanksgiving dinner. What do you do with your leftover turkey meat?
If I am lucky enough to get any (my mother-in-law gave us a huge bag full—yay!), I usually make turkey sandwiches, but they are usually pretty plain. Bread, cheese, mayo, and lettuce. Well, that is for my hubby, I usually have cheese OR mayo. What about you? Do you make sandwiches out of your leftover turkey? How? Toasted whole wheat? A dinner roll? Do you use all the fixins? The cranberries and everything? What about avacado?
Do you make turkey chili? A turkey salad? Or turkey salad . . . . .like chicken or tuna salad but with turkey instead. If you have enough left over you can make a multitude of things and never really eat the same thing over again.
I am seeing information that turkey is a super food. Ya know, that “super food” stuff, but it is in a lot of the websites so it must be considered one of those foods.
Here is an idea of what you are getting when you eat your turkey. Either right after it is cooked or when it is remade into a new meal.
A portion of turkey about the size of a deck of cards is as follows:
–Breast with skin has 194 calories, 8 grams of fat, and 29 grams of protein
–Breast without skin has 161 calories, 4 grams of fat, and 30 grams of protein
–Leg with skin has 213 calories, 11 grams of fat, and 28 grams of protein
–Dark meat with skin has 232 calories, 13 grams of fat, and 27 grams of protein
–Dark meat with skin has 232 calories, 13 grams of fat, and 27 grams of protein
–Dark meat without skin has 192 calories, 8 grams of fat, and 28 grams of protein
From http://urbanext.illinois.edu/turkey/nutrition.cfm
I am just about to make myself a plate of leftovers, but I would still love to hear what you do with yours leftovers. Do tell!
Posted in Food | Tagged: dark meat, Los Gatos Nia, Nia class, Nia Los Gatos, Nia San Jose, San Jose Nia, San Jose Nia class, super food, Thanksgiving dinner, turkey chili, Turkey dinner, turkey leftovers, turkey meat, turkey protein, turkey sandwich, white meat | 4 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on November 13, 2010
The Fall weather, sometimes winter conditions upon us now–at least in my area — the San Francisco Bay Area —it is the perfect time to try out some indoor exercise. With the weather being unpredictable it is nice to have a class that you can count on. If you can find an indoor class that you can participate in three times a week that is great. It is often recommended to do a type of aerobic or cardio exercise three times a week — depending upon your goals. If you are doing cardio for weight loss or for cardiovascular health it requires consistent and frequent sessions. Sometimes it can be a matter of just having that class available three times a week so when the weather doesn’t cooperate with any other plans you might have you have the option of going to a class.
I believe that you need to find something that you like, no matter what it is be it Zumba, Jazzercise, Cycling, or Kickboxing or a cardio workout that engages your body, mind, and spirit like Nia. Whatever you find that you like you need to do it and not let the weather — the cold-I-want-to-sit-on-my-couch-in-sweats weather — sit you down. What is so great is that you have all of these things available to you. If you live in San Jose or around San Jose anywhere in the Bay Area you have all of the aforementioned classes and more available to you. I myself lead Nia classes three times a week. That alone gives you at least three opportunities for you to move, groove, and get your cardio on.
I look forward to you joining me for at least one cardio session a week! So yes, I am using this post to promote my classes, but I am so excited to have added a third class, I just can’t help it. I had one student say to me, “This is perfect because I was just thinking about adding a third day of cardio to my routine. I am so glad to have three days of Nia.” Perfect timing. I hope you will think of it as perfect timing too and take the opportunity to come to Nia, one day, two days, or even all three days.
What do you do when the weather turns cold? Do you have an exercise you turn to for the cold winter months?
Posted in Exercise and Working Out, Nia | Tagged: aerobic exercise, cardio exercise, Cycling, fall exercise class, Jazzercise, kickboxing, Nia class, Nia exercise, Nia San Jose, San Francisco Bay Area Nia, San Jose exercise class, San Jose Nia, winter exercise class, Zumba | 4 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on November 4, 2010
One of my San Jose Nia class students lent me a book*. With all that is going on I haven’t gotten to get into it in depth but I read the beginning and I love it. I was very happy to see that this particular book addressed whole body conditioning.
The author, Eric Franklin (yes, THE Eric Franklin), says that aerobic training is necessary for dancers. Yet, he states that dancers are able to achieve what they do because their training involves presence and awareness. He is talking about the mind body connection. In Nia we call it body mind connection because we go to the intelligence of the body. Either way the idea is that they are both connected and when exercising the benefits are greater when they are working as one.
This book is wonderful because it states much of the same information that is incorporated into Nia. That your state of mind and attitude has an effect on your movements and results. That is just a small example.
It also states the same information we actually apply to personal training. Such as, training specifically for a specific result—the Principle of Specificity. Also it talks about the Principle of Progressive Overload–how you need to increase the intensity in order to improve. But it also advises you to listen to your body and learn to work with it.
I need to spend more time reading it to see what else he has to say. I will definitely do another post on it because it has much more information in it and it is so exciting to see that it mimics so many other things I have learned. It matches up with so much information from other fitness modalities and the information they are saying. It is nice to hear that so many people are recognizing the mind-body / body-mind connection. It has been happening for awhile now, it is just nice that it is getting so “mainstream”. It is exciting to see we are all on the same page—whole body conditioning is better conditioning.
*Conditioning for Dance you can purchase through Amazon, its under “Interesting Reading”.
Posted in Exercise and Working Out | Tagged: aerobic exercise, aerobic training, Body-mind, Conditioning for Dance, Dance conditioning, dance exercise, Eric Franklin, mind body, mind-body exercise, Nia exercise, Nia San Jose, Nia students, Principle of Progressive Overload, principle of specificity, San Jose Nia, whole body conditioning | Leave a Comment »
Posted by terrepruitt on October 21, 2010
Tonight I went to a TweetUp, I love to be able to talk to people in person about Nia. In our area there is a group of fabulous people (Michael Brito, Jennifer Leggio, and Gabriel Carrejo) that put together the SVTweetups. Tonight it was in San Jose — I like them when they are super close. I wrote about the Halloween event last year. I posted a picture of my favorite costume of the night–last year. Tonight there was not that many costumes. Someone said he thought it was because Halloween was too far away. But since so many people dressed up last year, both my husband and I dressed up this year, I was thinking that more people would dress up. I was not original at all. I had a meeting right before the event, so I wore some scrubs and went as a Medical Professional. I figured that people at my meeting wouldn’t know if that was a costume or it was real. My hubby, bought a costume but came up with another one and pulled it off with ease.
He was Keith Stone. You know that guy from the commercial that sells the beer? Well, it was good. Did I get a picture? No, but I got a picture of his prize. See the TweetUps–the Silicon Valley Tweetups, while they are social events, they are also networking events, and charity events.
So while we paid an entrance fee it was really a donation to the San Jose Family Shelter. Which is a great shelter that helps families in need. If a family is going through a rough patch they can live at the shelter for a bit and they help to get them on their feet. Then there is usually a company that sponsors the event and tonight it was Plantronics. Ya know the company that specializes in headsets. I’ve always had a plantronics at my corporate jobs. And now they are making Bluetooth devices too! They were the costume contest sponsors and my hubby’s costume really was great and he won a prize.
Then there is the social aspect where I get to meet the people with whom I tweet. It is awesome. I have met more people at tweetups and I have a great time.
Here I am—just sharing again. Do you tweet? If you do what is your handle? I want to follow you. You can follow me if you want. I’m @HelpYouWell on Twitter!
Posted in Just stuff | Tagged: @HelpYouWell, beer commercial, bluetooth, Gabriel Carrejo, Jennifer Leggio, Keith Stone, Keystone Beer, Michael Brito, network event, Nia, Nia San Jose, Plantronics, San Jose Family Shelter, San Jose Nia, Silicon Valley charity, Silicon Valley Nia, Silicon Valley TweetUp, social event, SV Tweetup, Youtube | 10 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on October 5, 2010
I teach Nia in the San Francisco Bay Area. One thing I am trying to do is increase awareness of Nia and also, at the same time, increase my class sizes. So recently I hosted a Playshop in San Jose at the studio in Willow Glen where I hold my Nia classes. My topic for the Playshop was some of the 52 Moves of Nia. It was a success. I felt good about it, even though I put my students to work.
I had spent a day and a half or so preparing what moves I wanted to go over in the Playshop and what Nia katas from the various Nia routines I wanted to use in the Nia Class. I wanted the class routine to include all the various moves we explored in the Playshop. I spend a couple of days between doing other things reviewing to make certain I was comfortable with my presentation and to make certain I could get through it within the allotted time. So I was confident the Playshop and the Nia Class would go smooth. What I was nervous about was being able to get in and set up.
If you are a teacher of almost anything, you know that here is time needed to set up. Showing up early to set up and be ready to greet your students is not always possible with the time allowed in between workout classes. In exercise class situations sometimes there is NO time in between classes. They are scheduled to end on the hour and start at the same time. So I had scheduled 15 minutes in between, but there was still things that needed to be done and I wasn’t wanting to rush the class before us out.
So I came up with an idea . . . . now, I would bet I am not the only one to come up with this and I bet if I were to do minimum research I would find all the “Planning a workshop” information to tell me exactly this, but I am still going share it.
I realized that I could put my students to work! So I did. Most of the time people are more than willing to help. One of my students showed up really early—before me even. So I knew she was ready to do something. So I set her on one task. Then two of my students who I had been plotting to do this work all along were assigned tasks.
This assigning of tasks can also be connected to my post about “If You want something done right“. Because I had to be willing to “let go” and let my students do the tasks. And I have to say they did them beautifully. I was so proud. I was proud of myself for having thought of having them do it and I was proud of myself that I just let them do it. And I was especially proud that they did it so well. I believe they did better than I could have–it was awesome.
It was a great learning experience for me.
My hubby (thanks, Hubby!) also came to help. With him mopping the floor and some of my students setting up the room, I was able to concentrate on the participants coming in that needed to sign waivers and get settled. All of this allowed us to start on time . . . which allowed us to end on time — for the Playshop at least. The Nia routine I put together was a little longer than an hour so we went over on that. But all-in-all it was my students that allowed me to have a successful Playshop.
(Thanks Students!)
Posted in 52 Moves (of Nia), Nia | Tagged: exercise class, katas, Nia 52 moves, Nia class, Nia exercise, Nia exercise class, Nia katas, Nia participants, Nia Playshop, Nia routines, Nia San Francisco, Nia San Jose, Nia students, Nia Teacher, Nia Willow Glen, Nia workout, Nia workshop, San Francisco Bay Area Nia, San Francisco Nia, San Jose Nia, San Jose Nia class, SFBay Nia, Willow Glen Nia, working students, workout class | 4 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on September 23, 2010
(Click here for CURRENT schedule!)
This week I went to San Carlos to teach my Nia Class for the San Carlos Park and Recreation Department. Only a couple of people had signed up but I was hoping more would show up and sign up. As with most Park and Rec Departments and community classes, there needs to be a minimum amount of participants. Well, in this case the people that had thought were going to make it didn’t. I had just tweeted @JohnPruitt that I was going to be leaving in a few minutes when a woman came in. She said something about she guessed no one signed up and how that happens with Park and Rec classes. People don’t sign up and they get cancelled. She was hoping to just watch the class to see if she wanted to take it. Ha! I invited her to BE my class, she was game.
We did the warm up song, then the next one, and part way into the third song she said, “WAHOOOO! I like this.” After the song was over she said that was her favorite, she loved it and she could do it all night long. Made me happy. Nia is like that. She loved it. With only a couple of people signed up though, we cancelled the class, but we will try again when the next six week session starts in November (2nd, 2010).
The enthusiasm of this woman was fun and very contagious. I am confident that we have a new Nia participant in our midst. I believe that she will excitedly join in the other Nia events that happen around the San Francisco Bay Area and the South Bay Area. I love that. I love that I decided to drive up there from San Jose, to give the people that had signed up for Nia at least one class and explain in person that we need more participants. I love that even though they didn’t show up I was able to share Nia with a new person. I love that she loved it. I loved that even though it was her first time she was not worried about how she was doing—-she was just doing—and loving it.
I really enjoy working with the people in San Carlos Park and Recreation Department. They are very kind and supportive. I sense they feel sad when a class has to cancel, no one likes to see classes and programs cancelled. So maybe we can rally the troops and make the next session on Nia classes in San Carlos a huge success. I am certain my new student would love to be able to take a class with more people, more energy, more people shouting “Woohoooo!” Because Nia is like that.
Posted in Nia | Tagged: @JohnPruitt, community classes, Nia Classes, Nia enthusiasm, Nia events, Nia San Jose, San Carlos Nia class, San Carlos Park and Recreation Department, San Francisco Bay Area Nia, San Jose Nia, San Jose Nia class, South Bay Area Nia | 4 Comments »
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