Terre Pruitt's Blog

In the realm of health, wellness, fitness, and the like, or whatever inspires me.

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Posts Tagged ‘Nia training’

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No Pain, No Gain – Whatever! Relief!

Posted by terrepruitt on July 17, 2012

Because I teach Nia I am not used to wearing shoes when I workout.  Nia is a workout done in bare feet, so I don’t wear socks and shoes.  Yoga, Pilates, even resistance training can be done without shoes.  Recently I was in a training that required me to wear shoes.  And it was an all day training, eight hours.  Since my feet do not really like shoes AND my tennis shoes are kind of old, I decided to wear some additional cushion in my shoes to help my feet.  My right foot is very sensitive because the middle toes no longer straighten fully so the middle of my foot does not lie flat on the ground.  The ball of my right foot and the pinky edge get sore.  They get more work than they should.  So I decided to employ a method that I used when I was young, in addition to the extra cushion I had added relief later.

Dance Exercies, Nia, Nia Campbell, Campbell Nia, Nia classes in Campbell, evening Nia, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, NiaMaybe this method can help some females that wear those REALLY high-heeled shoes that are so popular now-a-days.  When I was younger the style was to wear pumps.  I have a wide foot and pumps were not always comfortable.  What I would do was, I would put a gym sock on my foot but I would roll the sock down to around the ball of my foot, then I would shove my foot – with the sock on – into my shoe.  Then I would get ready.  And back then I was one of those girls who took a ridiculous amount of time to get ready.  So I would end up wearing the gym sock-shoe combination for at least an hour and a half.  This accomplished two things: 1)  It somewhat stretched out my shoe and 2) (after walking around and standing while getting ready to go out with my foot squeezed into the shoe) ANYTHING felt better than that!

One time I was getting ready and I was walking around the house and after passing my dad three or four times he finally said, “You’re not going out like THAT right?”.  And I laughed and I had to explain it to him.  No rolled gym socks were not part of the outfit.

So while I did not wear rolled up gym socks in the training I wore these foot huggers that have a little gel in them.  So I had extra cushion and I had something that felt nice when half way through the day I slipped them off.  While they were not hurting me as my gym-sock-wrapped feet did they did feel more roomy and happy after I took them off.

I think this method could possibly be applied to many things.  When you have to wear shoes all day if you wear something to help cushion your foot, but might take up a bit of room in your shoe, it will feel nice when you take the cushion off in the middle of the day.  At least that is what happened to me, plus it helped when I was young and smooshing my feet into pumps.

You know everything is just easier to handle when your feet are comfortable.  That is why they make those “gellin'” insoles.  That is also why I don’t wear uncomfortable shoes any longer.  I don’t think it looks nice when a female has on a pretty shoe, but you can tell she is in pain with every step she takes.  I would rather walk with comfort.  So sometimes using the stretch-y method might help.  The “No Pain, No Gain” is just a play on that famous saying . . . although when I was young I did it just while I was getting ready, I did not do it recently.  My feet were comfortable all day.  It was just that halfway through when they were a little sweaty and tired, I took off the huggers, changed my socks and gave them more room.  Ahhhh.  I was very happy that I had thought to do that.  It worked out very well for me.

Do you have shoes that you wear that you might benefit from if applying this method?  C’mon we all have at one time in our lives.

Posted in Helpful Hints, Misc | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Small Acts of Kindness

Posted by terrepruitt on March 8, 2012

Have you ever heard about doing a random act of kindness?  We are often encouraged to commit acts of kindness.  The acts can be simple and they could be random.  Pay the toll on the bridge for the person behind you, pay for the coffee for the person behind you in line at the coffee shop, help someone whose car is broken down, things like that.  Always for other people.  But how often do you hear about doing small acts of kindness for yourself?  Small acts of kindness for your body?  I’m going to go out on a limb and say not often.  I am not talking about getting a massage or buying something new that will add to our happiness.  I am not talking about the “take time for yourself” kind of kindness.  I am talking about little things that we probably don’t even realize would be a small act of kindness to ourself and to our body.

I was listening to a Nia Continuing Education recording and Debbie Rosas said to do small acts of kindness for ourselves throughout the day.  In this Nia training she briefly mentioned the act being a shift in posture, something having to do with the body.  The reference to an adjustment in the body reminded me of the information in my post about Dance Conditioning Tips.  In reading the tips I thought they were not just for dance and could be applied to everyday living.  The tip was to sense your body while doing a task and see if is in alignment.  Well there are more things than just “off” alignment that could cause discomfort, so I was thinking of things that we could do to be kind to the body.  Maybe some of them are just adjustments in the way we are sitting that can be made.  If your neck is tense is your keyboard to high?  Can it be lowered or can your seat be raised?  Would the small act of sitting straighter be kind to you back?  How about the much talked about and needed break?  Taking just a few minutes away from the desk for a little stretch or shake out.

What about a glass of water?  A small and simple way to be kind to your body. Would you object to closing your eyes for a moment and taking deep breaths?  It’s a great way to show some body kindness.  I bet you could go for taking off your shoes and wiggling your toes and flexing your feet moving your ankles—-I bet your feet would LOVE you for that small kindness.
 
Ok, I have one, it is a big one, and don’t deny you have done it because I would bet we ALL have done it at one time or another . . . . . don’t wait!  Don’t hold it.  Get up and go to the restroom.  I bet more of us have done that than not.  We have to go to the restroom because of that small kindness of a glass of water, but we just want to finish one more thing, then we will go.  Then that one thing turns into another and next thing you realize you are sprinting to the restroom.  Do your bladder a small kindness and don’t “do one more thing”.  Stop what you are doing and go to the restroom. 

These are all little things, so small, you might not even realize how big of an impact they can have until you try one.  The “small” part allows you to do them without much or any interruption to your day.  Just little adjustments or small acts of kindness for yourself to fit in easily to your day.

So what do you think?  Do you think you any of these would be something you can do?  Can you think of a small act of kindness that you can do?  Can you think of a small act of kindness that you can do for your body?  Do tell.

Posted in Helpful Hints, Misc | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments »

Continuing Education – Nia White Belt Principle #12

Posted by terrepruitt on September 6, 2011

Nia’s training, the Nia Intensives are something that anyone can take. If you are not planning on teaching you can still attend the intensives. Nia is a practice that can be applied to life without ever having to teach it. Nia has several different ways of helping with continued education both for the livelihood member and for teachers. First for a person that is planning on teaching, #12 of the White Belt principles is continued education. There are instructions and ideas on how to learn Nia routines.

There are three stages to learning a routine. When I took my White Belt Carlos was very adamant about not skipping any of these steps. I am glad I have decided to post this because I am being reminded that there are a few steps in each stage that I could be better about doing. In the first stage we are reminded to just simply do the DVD. With each routine we have a DVD and we are instructed to just do it. Do it as if we are taking a Nia class. Do it as you would do any exercise DVD. Move, listen, and enjoy the workout. This is obviously one step that can be done several times.

Another step is to listen to the music all the time.  Listen and allow it to seep into the body. Then we are encouraged to FreeDance to the music. We are instructed to dance six of the eight stages. Keep in mind this can be over the course of days or weeks, whatever it takes. Then they advise us to just WATCH the DVD without working out to it. The last step in Stage 1 is to do the bars.

Stage 2 is where we watch the DVD and note the separate portions of the body’s choreography. Three separate steps, first we watch and note the legs, then the core, then the arms.

Stage 3 of learning a Nia Routine is where we start to go deeper into the routine by starting to have an awareness of the musical cues that signal a change in movement. By now, with having danced the routine to the Nia DVD as a student, listened to the music, mapped out the music, noted the choreography, and become aware of the sounds that tell us when there is a movement change coming we are ready to pretend. We call that teaching or dancing with your bears. It is the example used when you are at a point in the learning process where you are ready to do the workout and pretend there are students. During my Nia White Belt Intensive Carlos said something like set up stuff bears or spoons or pillows, just set up something so you can have a focus. I think the bear scenario is used in all intensives because we all call it “teaching/dancing with your bears”. Step 3 of stage 3 is to even go deeper into the music. It is amazing how the music will sound different after you have taught your bears. I might realize I need to pick a different music cue because while I am moving the one I originally chose gets lost, or I hear a better one. Sometimes I stop and don’t move at all to make sure I am hearing the music correctly. More advice includes being the student, doing the routine again, but as the student and not the teacher and getting more technical with the moves. Once you have the basic choreography down it is time to get technical and make certain you have all the levels of intensity familiarized in your body. The Nia Routine training DVD also has many other tools on it to help us learn the routine. They have a portion where they talk about the energy that goes with each move and more about the technical aspect of each move. One of the last steps is the recommendation to dance the routine with a different focus. That is a great way to learn a routine because it becomes practically brand new and you discover so much. The last stage encourages us to change the music. Because we have mapped out music and know the count of it we can pick songs that match and put the choreography to different music.

In addition to these great stages and steps they have mapped out for us to assist us in learning a routine, Nia’s continue education includes articles and telecourses. They also film classes that they hold at Nia HQ so that people can watch and learn about more ideas that delve into Nia. In 2010 the course of study was the 13 Nia White Belt Principles. The course of study for 2011 is “Becoming A Sensation Scientist”, learning about senses of the body. I am not sure of what the course of study’s name is for 2012, but it looks as if it has to do with the body itself with title such as, “Awareness of Muscles” and “Awareness of Ligaments and Tendons.” So this is part of what I mean when I say Nia is so much more than a workout.

YES, Nia is a cardio dance workout where you can go to a class and move your body to music get sweaty and get exercise for your body. But if you want, it can be a practice, where you learn more about your body. Even if you are not a teacher or a livelihood member Nia does a monthly telecourse call where everyBODY can listen, I would like to encourage you to check it out. Go to the main website for Nia and see all the education they have to offer. You might be just amazed as I always am.

Posted in Nia, Nia White Belt Principles | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

How I Found Nia

Posted by terrepruitt on May 15, 2010

People always ask me how I found Nia. Here is my story: I had just begun exercising. I had found Turbo Jam and I liked it. I did the DVDs in my living room before work. At the time I worked in San Jose not too from where I lived so I would get up early in the morning and do it before work. The women I worked with always told me that they loved to dance, but they couldn’t get their partners to dance with them. They also would tell me that they wished they could find a dance exercise.

I was also seeing a lot of people — at that time — that were my age or even younger that couldn’t walk up the stairs or sit on the floor and get up again. Plus there were some young people around me that were going on High Blood Pressure Meds and experiencing other health issues.

So I started looking online for an exercise that was dancey. I thought maybe I could find something that I could learn to teach others. I found trance dance, but from what I saw and what I read, it said that you closed your eyes and just danced. It didn’t sound like there was ANY rhyme or reason. I sounded as if you were in a trance and you danced. The information talked of having people watch so the people dancing didn’t run into or hit each other. So that didn’t sound like what I would be interested in.

Somehow I stumbled . . . . literally, I don’t know how, just clicking on this link and that link . . . .I found Nia. I checked out the main site and it sounded interesting. I found a class that wasn’t too far. I went. I liked it. I bought the book. I went to another class. Then months later, I found another class at a different time and I tried that. Then months later, I talked my friend into going with me one more time*.

In between the second and third class I was thinking about taking the training that would enable me to teach. But I wasn’t sure. Nia sounded a bit “woo-woo” to me. So I kept reading. I really focused on the fact that it is based on science. It is based on research. The movements are movements that our bodies were designed to do. The movements tie into the way it is taught. Some of the words that are used might give the impression that it is really “woo-woo”, but it is not. There are also some elements of Nia that are like ancient practices. I kept thinking that some of these practices have been around for hundreds of years and they really have a basis in health and wellness. It was all very intriguing.

*My fourth class I attended was my “deciding” class. I went to make a final decision. I decided to do it. I decided to get sign up for the intensive that would allow me to teach. It took me so long to decide I was signing up within 30 days of the training.

I had NO idea what the training would entail. And that my friends is what another post is made of.

Nia. It is awesome. It IS an exercise. It IS a cardio workout. But I will not lie to you to try to keep you interested, it IS so much more. For some reason I cannot (nor can anyone else I talk to) put my finger on, it makes you happy. Try it and see for yourself. Try MY classes, or try someone else’s. Get a DVD, I don’t care. Just try it and then let me know what you think.

Posted in Nia | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments »

Used My iPhone For My Nia 5 Stages Practice

Posted by terrepruitt on October 1, 2009

I believe that I cannot say it enough. Nia can be a lot of things. It can be a workout where you just go to class to move, dance, and have fun or it can be a practice, like Yoga. In the practice you can look at some of the elements that make up Nia and work and play with them. One of the movement practices of Nia is the Nia 5 Stages.

I think of the Nia 5 Stages as a practice because you can do it as often as you like and each time you do it you will sense improvement where your body can use improvement or “self-healing“.   And you can even do the 5 Stages with an actual focus on improving something. I am experimenting with it. Since I recently just took the training and want to share it with others in a class format and in one-on-one sessions, I am experimenting with multiple aspects of it. In addition to the DVD and CD that was part of my training, I am using my iPhone to assist me in my experimentation.

I have two applications on my iPhone that I am using. The first one is iDicto. It is a simple recording application. In teaching the Nia 5 Stages we use voice, language, and imagery to allow the participants to move through the stages in their own way. By recording my scripts into my iPhone I am able to do a lot of things, two of which are:

—–I am able to check all of the different points of my speaking that I need to learn and work on, for instance the timing of my speaking

—–I am able to play back my recordings and use them just as I do the CD and the DVD that I received with my training, as if I were taking a Nia 5 stages class

The other application I use is Chronology. First of all let me remind you that I am experimenting with the 5 Stages. So I am doing it different ways. One way is to do each stage until your body tells you to move onto the next stage. Another way is to do each stage for a minute. Now, while I am doing the 5 Stages I don’t want to be looking at the clock and I am not good at sensing when a minute is up, so that is where I LOVE Chronology. It allows me to set up six different timers. I set one up for six minutes, one for five minutes, one for four minutes, one for three minutes, one for two minutes, and one for one minute.

Then I start them all and I begin my practice by just  just relaxing. After a minute, the timer goes off and I move into the first stage, then went the next time goes off, I move into the next stage and so on. This way I know that am spending a minute in each stage. After doing each stage for a minute, I can adjust each timer for any amount of time I would like.

This is just ONE way of doing it. It is up to you if you want to do a timed stage or do it more naturally and move from one stage to the next when you are ready. As I said, I am experimenting and trying all different ways to do it. I think when I do it without a timer I spend more time on the first stage. But I don’t know, I am not being timed. 🙂

What really makes me laugh is I do find myself thinking, “There really IS an (iPhone) application for everything.”

This is just one way to do the Nia 5 Stages.  When I acquired these applications they were free.  Looks like Chronology is $2.99 now, but I bet you can find one for free that does the same thing.  It needs to be able to allow you to set up multiple timers (at least 5) and run them all at once.  And I did a search for iDicto and I don’t see it at all, but there are a lot of recording applications.  And I am sure you can find one that is perfect for you.

If you are interested in learning more about the Nia 5 Stages please let me know.  I am very excited to share this easy to do “exercise” that will allow you to move with ease and grace.

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