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 June 2, 2009
I was people watching the other day in a coffee shop in Willow Glen. I was looking at people’s shoes and it occurred to me that people might not realize feet need exercise too. The foot is an awesomely designed structure. Think about it: over 26 bones, 33 joints, 107 ligaments, and a bunch of muscles and tendons, all working to support you and transport you, and sometimes even defend you. The foot was designed to move, flex and absorb. Your foot can be subjected to up to four times your body weight.
Do you exercise them? Do you even think about them?
For most people feet are in shoes most of the day. Most shoes are very rigid and they don’t allow for the foot to bend and flex. With that kind of captivity your feet do not move much, so the bones, joints, ligaments, muscles and tendons don’t get the workout they need.
One of the reasons Nia™ is done barefoot is to exercise the feet. The Nia routines have us (at the very least) stepping flat foot, stepping into releve, stepping onto a heal lead, at times we use the ball of our foot flexing out toes—our entire foot gets a workout.
Nia can be done in shoes, but there is a reason why we do it in bare feet. We want to build a strong base. Our feet are the very bottom of that base. According to The Nia Technique® White Belt Manual: “Ida Rolf, the creator of Rolfing, teaches that the feet tell an entire story. She says to develop healthy and powerful posture, to have a strong an agile body, the feet must be structurally aligned. They must provide a firm, sturdy and flexible foundations.”
It is good for our feet to make a connection to the earth. Nia say that our feet are the hands that touch the earth. We have 7,000 nerve endings in our feet. Think about how alive they would feel out of shoes, touching the floor, assisting in the health of the rest of the body.
Next time you are working out, think about how you can help your feet get some exercise too.
Posted in Exercise and Working Out, Nia | Tagged: agile, barefoot exercise, Exercising, Nia, Nia Technique, Nia White Belt, San Jose exercise, Willow Glen, Willow Glen Exercise | 4 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on May 30, 2009
In Nia (TM) our movement is for Joy. “Joy is not a technique or a choreographic method. It is an attitude toward the body and toward life. Joy is not just for when things in like are going well. It is an open accepting energy that accepts whatever comes its way.” (1) This is Universal Joy.
So we choose during our workouts to sense Joy and to seek the Joy of Movement. Throughout our routine we seek to sustain that Universal Joy. If we are able, we actually increase it. When we lose it or if we are doing a move that causes it to faulter, we tweak.
I think these can be applied to life. That is what I love about Nia. We have all these thoughts and ideas that we apply to our workouts, but they aren’t necessarily new and they can applied to life.
When you are doing something that gives you joy don’t you want to keep doing it? When you have joy don’t you want to increase it? When you start to lose it don’t you do something to tweak it and bring it back?
That is what we do throughout our work out. We are using our bodies to seek the sensation of Joy and if we find it and we can increase it, we do. If we start to lose it we can tweak it. Our workouts are about one’s own body and how it feels. So while you are following the teacher you are also paying close attention to yourself and making sure that you are sensing the Joy of Movement.
This is one of the things that makes Nia such a different workout. We are actually “sustaining, increasing, and tweaking” the entire time. Universal Joy. Allowing our bodies to move for pure pleasure. Doesn’t that sound like something you want to do?
(I have added an Evening class to my schedule. Teaching in San Jose (Willow Glen) three times a week; two AM classes and one evening class. Teaching at a member only club in Los Gatos in the evening once a week. Check out my Nia Class schedule on my site, HelpYouWell.com)
(1) From The Nia Technique – White Belt Manual March 2001, V3 page 2-4
Posted in Nia | Tagged: joy, Joy of Movement, Los Gatos Club, Los Gatos Nia, Nia, Nia Los Gatos, Nia San Jose, Nia Technique, pleasure, San Jose Nia, San Jose Workout, Universal Joy, White Belt, Willow Glen Nia, Willow Glen Workout, workout | Leave a Comment »
Posted by terrepruitt on April 11, 2009
I want to remind everyone that Nia™ or Nia Technique® is a specific practice.** It was created in 1983 by Debbie Rosas and Carlos Rosas. They were married and now they are not, but Nia is such an important part of their lives and so important to them, that they continue to work together.
Nia has different belt levels; White Belt, the newly added Green Belt, Blue Belt, Brown Belt, and Black Belt. Each Belt has its own set of principles, except for Green. You must wait a year in between belts before you can take the next intensive. (Except for green because it a newly added in the system to assist teachers.)
Click here for more info on classes and Nia
I am a White Belt, so I continue to work with the thirteen White Belt Principles:
1–The Joy of Movement
2–Natural Time and the Movement Forms
3–Music and the 8BC System
4–FreeDance
5–Awareness – Dancing Through Life
6–The Base; Feet and Legs
7–The Three Planes and the Three Levels of Intensity
8–The Core of the Body; Pelvis, Chest, and Head
9–Creative Arm and Hand Expressions
10–X-Ray Anatomy
11–Business and Marketing
12–Continuing Education
13–Dance What You Sense / Teach What You Sense
When I talk about Nia it is based on what Debbie and Carlos have created. They have been working and growing with Nia for 25 years. And if you look at their work and information you will see that it has morphed a little. It is the same basic practice but I believe it gets refined as they grow and change.
So please keep in mind when I talk about Nia, I am talking about something wonderful and specific and it is entirely based on the work of Debbie Rosas and Carlos Rosas.
Please join me in San Jose for a Nia class. Visit my website for the schedule http://www.helpyouwell.com/
**This post is to explain that “Nia” and “Nia-things” I talk about are primarily from the creators of Nia BUT please keep in mind . . . . Nia is also a workout that can be experienced, just like a Yoga, Zumba, Jazzercise, or any group exercise class. One can show up to class and just move and get a great workout. One does not have to participant in the intensive and the belt levels.
Visit Nia’s main website at: www.nianow.com
Posted in Nia, Nia White Belt Principles | Tagged: 8BCs, Carlos Rosas, Debbie Rosas, exercise class, exercise classes, great workout, group exercise, group exercise class, Jazzercise, joy, Nia, Nia Belt levels, Nia Practice, Nia San Jose, Nia Technique, Nia White Belt, Nia workout, San Jose exercise class, San Jose exercise classes, San Jose Nia, the joy of movement, thirteen White Belt Principles, workout class, Yoga, Yoga class, Yoga Practice, Zumba, Zumba class | 3 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on March 7, 2009
I want to talk to you about Nia™. I was looking for a different form of exercise when somehow (in the vastness that is the internet) I came across Nia. I had never heard of it. It has been around for 25 years. At one point it was known as Non-Impact Aerobics, then it was called Neuromuscular Integrative Action, then at one point it was the Nia Technique, now it is just Nia.
Debbie Rosas and Carlos Rosas created it in the early 1980s from a need and a desire to help people exercise. When I read the book and listen to Carlos, I believe that they wanted more than just traditional exercise because they really wanted to help people feel good. They were being drawn towards something that addresses the whole body.
Nia is a teacher led dance workout that allows you the freedom to get exactly the workout that your body needs. Nia is really awesome because it is done in bare feet to all kinds of music. With the absences of shoes, we are reminded that we do not have to have harsh impact to get a great work out. With Nia, the level of intensity is regulated by the participant. A workout includes movements of all of the 13 major joints and I believe that this is one of the key factors that make people feel so good after they do a Nia workout. Throughout our day we don’t always move each joint as it was built to move, so sometimes they can become stiff. In a Nia class you move them throughout the routine and it helps the balance in the body’s systems.
Nia is similar to Jazzercise in the sense that there are segments or cycles to the routine: warm-up, cardio, strength, floor, and a cool down.
A lot of people just want to go to a workout class and be told what to do, I am going to be honest with you because I want you to enjoy your experience, you need to concentrate a little. What you are concentrating on is not so much what the teacher is doing, but more what you are sensing. You are encouraged to listen to your own body and do what it is telling you it needs. It might not need what the teacher is doing. And with Nia, that is fine.
In a Nia class there is no judgment if you cannot bend, stretch, jump, kick, shout, shimmy, shake, punch, chop, cha-cha-cha, hula, jazz square, modern dance, or anything like your teacher or neighboring participant, because it is all about YOU and whatever you can do. You must seek your own Body’s Way and what gives it pleasure. With Nia you can get a great workout at the same time.
Does your present workout invite you to seek pleasure during your workout?
Posted in Nia | Tagged: bend, body's way, cardio, Carlos Rosas, cha-cha-cha, chop, cool down, cycles, dance, Debbie Rosas, encouraged, exercise, hula, impact, intensity, jazz square, Jazzercise, Jazzercise San Jose, joints, jump, kick, levels, modern dance, Nia, Nia class, Nia Technique, Non-Impact Aerobics, pleasure, punch, segments, shake, shimmy, shout, stiff, stretch, warm-up, workout | 2 Comments »
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