Posts Tagged ‘Nia White Belt’
Posted by terrepruitt on November 13, 2012
Last week I cancelled my Monday and Wednesday Nia class and got a substitute for my Tuesday Nia class with the City of San Jose. I decided to take the next level of Nia training. I was a White Belt, now I am a Blue Belt. Nia calls their trainings intensive. I cannot assume to know why, but I am glad they do. They are very intense. The training is part lecture and part moving. The moving can be dancing or types of exercises to further the learning process. People tend to learn better when they are doing, so there is a lot of doing. In my rough calculations it was about 53 hours of instruction, including the Master Classes. It was Saturday through Friday. It was exhausting. It was energizing. It was incredible. As I have mentioned before and I will continue to mention Nia is a cardio dance exercise. Come to a class. Move. Have fun. Sweat. Get your workout in. But Nia is also a practice. I compare it to yoga in that a person can go into a yoga class and work out and do the exercise and then leave and not give it a second though. Or they could give it a second thought. They could take on some of the aspects of yoga, they could practice breathing and/or meditating or anything else that might be attached to their yoga class on a deeper level. That is what a person can do with Nia too. So some people take the intensives for self-growth with no intention of teaching at all. Even if they are not planning on teaching or are not currently doing so, the training is just as intense.
Each belt level has its own focus and intent. Blue Belt focus is Communication, Relationship and Intimacy with the intent to energize personal connection through self-discovery and communication by following The Body’s Way. Sounds like a lot. Ok, it IS a lot. LOL!
In addition to a focus and intent, each belt level (aside from Green) has its own set of principles. With the Blue Belt, the principles were made to layer onto or over the White Belt Principles. Some of the information is very close to being the same, but with a little more added to it. It is very interesting the way Nia does things. It is very amazing the training they come up with and the delivery of it.
In this training we were shown many things, one was an enlightened way to use the Nia 5 Stages or the Developmental Anatomy to measure all types of things and where we might be in a process. It is a pretty cool tool. It is part of the Body’s Way.
I am 100% positive I will have more posts regarding the Blue Belt Intensive, the Blue Belt Principles, and my thoughts on it all. I am still processing it right now. My mind is racing with thoughts, ideas, things I learned, things I didn’t learn, just a lot of things. There is so much that I want to share. There is also a lot I don’t want to share. Nia is not a secret society by any means. There are no secrets to the intensives, in fact most of the information is things that have been around for as long as I can remember. The information is stuff you have probably heard before. It is just the WAY they deliver it. And the way it is connected to the body that is somewhat unique. If I decide not to share something or talk vaguely about some things it is because I don’t want to ruin the surprise of some things for those of you that will be taking the Blue Belt. Since the Blue Belt Principles are layered onto the White Belt Principles I will probably write more post about them too. And we will see what comes up. I have chosen to participate in Nia as a practice. For now, I will revel in Blue!
Is there something that you have in your life you consider a practice?
Posted in Blue Belt, Nia | Tagged: 13 principles, Blue Belt Principles, cardio dance, cardio dance exercise, cardio dance exercise classes, City of San Jose Nia Classes, dance exercise, Developmental Anatomy, focus and intent, Master classes, Nia 5 Stages, Nia Blue Belt, Nia dancing, Nia exercise, Nia Intensives, Nia Practice, Nia training, Nia White Belt, TBW, White Belt Principles, Yoga, Yoga Practice | 2 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on July 5, 2012
Nia is both a dance exercise and a life practice. Kind of like yoga. You can go to a class and get the exercise you want and have it end there or you can learn about its principles and take them into your life. There are levels of the practice. Nia has chosen to use a “belt” system as their levels. Instead of just having numbers or names, they have assigned belt colors to the levels. There are five levels; White Belt, Green Belt, Blue Belt, Brown Belt, and Black Belt. The intensives to gain the belts can be taken and enjoyed by people who aren’t teaching. Each belt has 13 principles, except Green. Green does not have its own set of principles because green is the belt level that is actually designed specifically for teachers and helps them hone their teaching skills. It delves into the 13 principles of the White Belt. The White Belt’s principle #4 is FreeDance. FreeDance as a practice has eight stages. I have posted about eight through two. This post is about stage one. Stage #1 of Nia’s 4th White Belt Principle is Freedance – Anything Goes (movement wise).
While you are dancing any movement is great if it is authentic movement. With Nia there is choreographed moves, but within the patterns of movement there is the ability to freedance. Also with many routines there is sometimes just freedance where we are allowed to dance free to the music without any choreography. Stage one: Freedance, anything goes, allows us the greatest of freedoms. You can dance using the wall, the mirror, a chair, the floor, or a ballet barre that might be in the room. You can dance fast, slow, high, low, or in the middle. Anything that you sense your body wants to do to the music. It is up to you.
The idea with freedance is to just let the body go. Don’t think about it. When you think about it often comes the judgment. Sometimes the judgment can interfere with movement, especially if it is judgment along the lines of, “Oh I must look silly doing this.” “Oh that probably isn’t pretty.” “Oh, I am not graceful enough to spin.” “Oh, I need to do this or that.” This is all inner dialog that clogs up the muscles and their movements.
Freedance also, as I believe I’ve mentioned before, in not club dancing. We are NOT just bouncing or undulating to the beat, we are moving to the music. We are moving our bodies towards as pleasurable sensation of health and well being.
Freedance is also not patterned dancing, we save the patterns for our choreographed movements. Freedance is just free. It is spinning twirling, diving and whirling. It could be hopping or dropping. It really is whatever your body does.
Freedance is not easy. It takes practice. It is not easy to just be on the floor and not think about how you are going to move and just let your body go. It is a challenge. But once you can stop thinking and talking in your head you will find yourself moving to the music. Sometimes you might even notice that you are moving in a way that you didn’t think about and it is really amazing to have that sensation. But don’t think too much, just keep moving.
I would like to invite and encourage you to make some space in your home or if you are so inclined find a space to dance outside . . . find a space turn on some music and just dance. Let yourself go. Let yourself be free. Allow the time, space, frame of mind and spirit to freedance. Remember, anything goes!
Wahoo! I have to add that in the middle of typing this up I secured another class to sub for the City of San Jose. So exciting to be able to share Nia through the city! Yay!
Posted in FreeDance, Nia | Tagged: Authentic Movement, City of San Jose, dance exercise, dance practice, freedance, Green Belt, Group Ex, life practice, Nia choreography, Nia class, Nia Dance, Nia Practice, Nia San Jose, Nia student, Nia Teacher, Nia White Belt, Nia's White Belt Principles, San Jose Nia, stage dance, substitute teacher for the City of San Jose, Yoga, Yoga Practice | 2 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on June 26, 2012
I have posted before about the 13 Principles in the Nia White Belt. The fourth principle, FreeDance, has eight stages. I am working my way backwards posting about each stage. This post is about second stage: Being Seduced by the Music – The Art of Listening. In the second stage of Nia FreeDance the exercise we perform is stillness. We keep our bodies still while we listen to the music. We allow ourselves to be seduced by the music and practice the art of listening. When listening to a song that is not familiar or doesn’t have that “get-up-and-dance” beat it is not so difficult, but when the song is one that makes every part of your body want to move, when it is familiar, or one you love it is not easy sitting still. It is not easy to sit with a tall spine that does not gyrate to the beat. But when we do practice the art of listening with only our ears we might hear sounds we had not been aware of before. While we are listening the idea is to name instruments and sounds that you hear. Sometimes you might not know what you are hearing, either you don’t know the name of the instrument or it isn’t really an instrument at all, so you can give them their own names. For instance something might sound like rushing water or trash can lids. I know a Nia teacher whose husband is in a band and she is familiar with a lot of different instruments and the sounds they make. She is very good at naming them when she hears them. Me, if you look at my bars you will see a lot of spaceships. There is a sound that I think of as a spaceship so I use that symbol to signify that sound. I HEAR a spaceship.
This stage might sound a bit like RAW, where we are Relaxed, Alert, and Waiting while we listen to the music, but it is not. Our bodies might be in the same position, of a lengthened spine and a relaxed state but in RAW we are just listening without opinion or too much thought. We have no inner dialogue so there is no naming of sounds. In RAW we are just waiting to receive. With Being Seduced by the Music we are practicing the art of listening and naming what we hear. We are engaged in the music even though we are not moving.
For me this stage of FreeDance might even produce a few pearls. It could be that I don’t know the instrument so I think of what it sounds like which allows us to move “as if we are sloshing in mud”. Or it could be that the sound just makes me think of a certain movement such as “throwing your arms in the air with a burst of sound”. While I might not be purposefully trying to think of pearls with the seduction I just let my mind flow. If there is a dialog then there is, if not, that is fine. I just let the music flow and I listen giving names to this sound and that sound.
Listening to the music without giving it dance or without it allowing to move us in dance allows us a deep relationship with it. We are not imposing our own ideals onto it as we move or we are not interpreting it, we are just letting it in. We are just listening. With that we learn about it. We hear things we might have missed while floating about the space. It is nice to be able to have that connection with the music.
Stage two of FreeDance, Being Seduced by the Music – The Art of Listening is just another toy in our toy box that Nia has given us to play with to become better teachers and better dancers.
Have you ever been sitting still listening to a song you have heard many times before and heard something you hadn’t heard before?
Posted in FreeDance, Nia | Tagged: 13 Principles in the Nia White Belt, Art of Listening, eight stages, Nia, Nia dancers, Nia FreeDance, Nia Music, Nia pearls, Nia RAW, Nia teachers, Nia White Belt, seduced | 2 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on May 12, 2012
We move our hips A LOT in Nia. With all the hip movements we do I say we have juicy hips. Not only do we shake and shimmy our hips we take time to stretch and open our hips. Hip flexors are a group of muscles that move the thigh towards the chest. These muscles can get short and tight, especially from sitting. Office jobs usually mean sitting in a chair all day while at work. Add the commute time to the sitting on the job and many people end up sitting over eight hours a day. Sometimes the hip flexors can become so short and tight they can keep an individual from standing up straight. In addition, the origin of one of the muscles in the hip flexor group is in the lower back, if this set of muscles is short and tight it can sometimes result in lower back pain. For many individuals stretching and lengthening these muscles can bring relief from back pain and help individuals stand up straighter.
There are a lot of stretches that can help lengthen this group of muscles. The yoga Pigeon Pose comes to mind. This is a great pose because the leg that is straight out towards the back get the lengthening benefit and sensation, while the bent leg assist in opening the groin area and stretching those muscles. The butterfly stretch really stretches the groin area, too. The closer you can get your feet to your pelvis the bigger the stretch, and the close the knees to the ground the bigger the stretch. This is a great stretch you will definitely feel in the inner thighs. The spinal twist both supine and seated can bring great relief. So whether you are laying down and allowing your legs to be on one side of you or whether you are sitting up with one leg out and hugging one bent knee, you still get a nice stretch for the pair of muscles whose origins starts in the lower back.
One stretch I love to do is somewhat like a spinal twist in that you let the legs twist to one side, but instead of bringing them over to one side as a pair you let one leg start its journey to the other side of your body and the other one follows in its own time. Think of your legs as pages in a book.** One leg goes then the other leg flips (as a page) slowly. No rush. Also if you allow one leg to fall to one side while the other is on the first side (think open book) it is similar to the butterfly stretch but with hips completely open. Then “close the book” having your legs end up on one side while gently twisting to the other, you get the nice gentle stretch in your back. In Nia our floorplay cycle often includes many of these.
Swinging your leg from front to back either in a standing position or lying down on your side can stretch the muscles. Let the leg swing as far to the front as comfortable and then as far back as is comfortable. In both the standing and lying position you want to keep you back straight. Don’t let it get into the swing of things, just let your leg swing.
Some exercises can assist in stretching the muscles too. The lunge, especially a long lunge, helps stretch and lengthen the muscles and open the hips a bit. The leg that is stretch back with get the stretch in the front. You can either do the lunge stepping forward or back, but the longer the step the bigger the stretch.
These are just some simple stretches that might help loosen up your hips if you have tight hip flexors. If you tend to sit at a desk that could be something that is happening. Make your hips juicy and happy by stretching them a bit. It might even help you walk taller and with more ease.
**This image I learned from Debbie Rosas at my Nia White Belt Intensive. I use it all the time in class.
Do you ever sit so long when you stand up you kind of are bent over at the hips?
Posted in Exercise and Working Out | Tagged: back pain, butterfly stretch, Debbie Rosas, groin area, groin muscles, Hip flexors, hip movements, hip muscles, hip shake, hip shimmy, lunge, Nia, Nia cycles, Nia exercise, Nia floorplay, Nia White Belt, Pigeon pose, spinal twist | 3 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on April 7, 2012
In Nia we do something that is called cooking all four sides. When I first learned this I thought it to be just when we were on the ground. “Cooking” to me was the “side” of the body that was on the ground. When you “cook” all four sides you allow your belly, your back, your left side, and your side to “cook” on the ground. So basically you are lying on a different “side” at one point in the dance. In one routine, I can’t remember which one, while we are standing we turn and face one wall, then turn again, then turn again, then turn again and Debbie called it cooking all four sides. I thought, “Wow! I hadn’t thought to call THAT cooking all four sides, because (as I mentioned) I think of ‘cooking’ as being on the floor.” But it works. We are “cooking” or facing all sides, all walls. In country line dancing we call it a four-wall dance. Often times there are a few steps then a turn, a few steps, then a turn, and so on, eventually you face all four walls. There are two wall dances and maybe even three, but the point is you face a different direction. Generally the back becomes the front and the front becomes the back.
I’ve posted about Nia Routines before. I explained a bit about how the routines are created and teachers can purchase them. Nia routines used to be choreographed and performed on the training DVD by Debbie Rosas or Carlos Rosas or both. I’ve also posted about the fact that Nia morphs and changes. At the end of 2010 Carlos AyaRosas, the male co-creator of Nia retired. As with any company that wants to continue on after a founder retires Nia had to make some changes. To me it seems as if Nia had been thinking about this for a while. I know when I attended my Nia White Belt Intensive both Debbie and Carlos talked about Nia continuing on after they leave. So it seems to me that they had plans and ideas for how Nia will change. I think it is evident in the way that Nia does not seem to be a flag flapping in the wind, it has true direction. With the exit of Carlos a new era has been born. Debbie is now co-creating routines with Nia Black Belt Trainers. I love Nia and enjoy both the routines Debbie created and the ones Carlos created. There are some I like more than others. I am not saying that I like the new one I have seen more than I liked the “old” ones, I am just saying, “Yay! Nia is not disappointing me.” The new routine I have looked at is just as fabulous as the old routines I love.
As a little background: In order to teach Nia we must pay a licensing fee. When we pay the fee we are purchasing the right to teach, continued education, and four Nia routines. We are free to purchase additional routines when they are available, but four are included in the licensing fee and we are obligated to learn at least four a year. I just recently renewed my license and ordered my routines. I ordered two that are older (from 2007 and 2008) and two that are considered our new ones, dated 2011. Usually I skim through all four before deciding which one to learn next. One of them I ordered I have done once before in a class so I know that I like it and I was planning on learning that next, but my curiosity about one of the new ones got to me. I decided to learn it next after having watched it.
I am very excited about this routine because it has the “four-wall” or cooking all four sides technique in it. The routine I am currently teaching has it too but only briefly, this new routine has this technique in more than one song. Since a Nia class is not a dance lesson we just lead follow like other cardio workout classes the cooking all four sides is to not a series of complicated steps, but it does allow us to face other directions. In FreeDance there is always opportunities to face many directions and sometimes in the Nia movements alone one can be turning far enough to achieve facing another wall, but this is choreographed to have the entire class turn. It allows the class to see a different perspective. I think it is fabulous.
It could be making me nostalgic and thinking of country dancing days . . . but more so, I am excited to have this technique used in a Nia routine so my students can see things from the front if they are always in the back or the back, if they are always in the front. It will help move the class in new directions and Beyond!
Have you ever thought about the fact that a cardio dance class is pretty much like a line dance?
Posted in Nia | Tagged: cardio class, cardio dance, cardio workout, Carlos Aya Rosas, Carlos retired, Carlos Rosas, CEU, continued education, cooking all four sides, country line dancing, dance class, dance technique, Debbie Rosas, four wall dance, freedance, Nia, Nia Black Belt, Nia class, Nia DVD, Nia education, Nia license, Nia routine, Nia students, Nia teachers, Nia Technique, Nia White Belt | Leave a Comment »
Posted by terrepruitt on February 9, 2012
In Nia we have FreeDance. FreeDance allows for so many things. One way we FreeDance is we dance to the music with no choreography. We let our bodies sense the music and allow it to move us. When we let our body move freely without thinking and without judging it is a great workout. Many of the Nia Routines have songs where there is no choreography and we just FreeDance, and many of the routines have choreography in addition to FreeDance. Our feet might have set patterns, but our arms and hands are free. Or our arms and hands might have the pattern and our feet are free. Many combinations of dance, choreography, and body parts. Nia FreeDance also has stages. A Nia teacher can call upon these stages for many things. The stages in FreeDance are used for learning a new routine, they might be used as a focus in a class, they might be used for a playshop, we have many options. In Nia FreeDance the fourth stage is The Creative Source – The Real You.
With this stage during the White Belt Nia Intensive I participated in, we were instructed to remember a situation and tell ourself the story of the situation and allow ourself to feel the emotion of that situation. We all walked around the room telling ourselves a story. Some of us talked out loud, some of us were silent. All of us used the emotion the story evoked to move. Our movements might not have been considered a dance by some, because in this stage we are not necessarily dancing. We are not moving our bodies with the intent of dance, we are allowing the emotion from the story to move our bodies. Depending upon the story it could appear as if our movements were a dance. Yet, since we do “dance through life” in Nia, all of our movements are a dance . . . just not the typical dance. In this stage we are not intent upon dancing.
The purpose of FreeDance is to the purpose of stimulate movement creativity. So we use the stages to assist in that. So using a story and the emotions along with the story can really allow for movement we might not have thought to bring to the dance floor. Some stories we use to practice stage 4 might be happy, some might be sad, some might be filled with anger, whatever the story and the emotion it is what moves us.
In the intensive there was all types of movements when we practiced this stage. There was stomping, jumping, running, rolling, skipping, punching, kicking, screaming, laughing, smiling, frowning . . . . all types as you can imagine would occure with a group of people with many different stories. As stated this is a tool to awaken different movement.
When we dance I think that we have a tendency to move in the same pattern. We might move in different patterns to different types of music or different beats, but there might just be a handful of different patterns. When we are challenged by using the different tools of Nia, when we practice and play with the eight stages of FreeDance we move in different ways. Sometimes muscles that don’t normally get to join us in our dance come alive. They are happy to be allowed to join in on the dance.
Using different muscles than we normally do in our dance fuels the creativity even further. When you let go and FreeDance you will be surprised. Here I invite you to try this fourth stage of FreeDance. I suggest choosing music without lyrics. Sometimes lyrics and interfere with FreeDance when trying to practice specific stages because lyrics can sometimes compel certain movements or emotions. So music without lyrics allows for you tell the story and listen to your body’s response to the emotion.
Well, what story are you going to tell?
Posted in FreeDance, Nia | Tagged: dance pattern, Nia, Nia choreography, Nia class, Nia creativity, Nia Dance, Nia FreeDance, Nia FreeDance stage 4, Nia Intensive, Nia Playshop, Nia routine, Nia Teacher, Nia White Belt | 2 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on December 13, 2011
I teach Nia at a studio in San Jose. The studio is in a part of San Jose called Willow Glen. In January (2012) I will have been holding Nia classes there for three years. It is a studio that is owned by two women who teach and perform belly dancing. One woman is named Hala and the other Amanda. The name of the studio is Halanda. See how they did that? Well, every year they have a Holiday Party which is like Christmas Parties at offices once were, a BIG thank you. The teachers come together to display their talent in front of the audience made up of students, other dancers, and neighborhood people. It was an awesome show and a great party.
As I mentioned in a previous post, this is the first year that I have been able to attend. I was very amazed and impressed. I am going to spend from now until the next party telling my students they really want to attend next year. It is a busy time of the year, but it is so great to come and see all the beautiful dance we have going on in the studio.
There was a lot of food. As you can see there were vegetables, fruit, meat, and cheese. There were several types of crackers. Someone brought sandwiches. Someone brought spanakopita! There were trays of cookies. You can see the huge trays of turkey wraps. There was so much food. As one dish was emptied something else would replace it. The table was like the never ending table of food.
As you may know it is difficult to watch something AND take pictures at the same time. So I really rushed through taking pictures. I was using my phone and my camera. I was taking pictures on my phone and posting them to various social networks, like Facebook, Twitter, and Streamzoo. In addition to this being a “thank you” party, it is also a networking party and a way to try to get people interested in taking classes at the studio. So I was trying to watch at the same time I was Facebooking, tweeting, and posting to Streamzoo. All of this in addition to the fact that the subject(s) are shaking, shimmying, bouncing, and jittering caused me to have mostly very blurry shots.
The first dance shot is of Farima and her Students performing a Silk Road Fusion.
Then there is Marie Manila showing us what Hot Hula is. It appeared to be hula dance, with her telling you what muscles you are working. Maybe they repeat some moves more than they would in a typical hula dance.
Then there is a picture of Farima and some more of her students. They are doing a Persian Dance and they are dressed like princesses. I think the costumes are one of my favorite things about belly dancing. They can be very sparkly and shiny. I love that.
Here is a shot of my friend Laura Thompson. She is multi-talented. Here she is dancing under her stage name, Setareh , with a sword. I have known here for years and I have never seen her dance. It was awesome. Her other passion is jewelry making and her talent lies not only in the beautiful pieces she creates, but in the way she can tweak one of her creations to match you perfectly.
Here is Amanda, a co-owner of the studio, doing a Turkish Dance. 
Below is photo of Vy performing an Egyptian Oriental Dance.
Next is Hala, the other co-owner, doing Egyptian Bellydance.
And then a shot of Michelle and her students. Michelle teaches something called No Rules Dance, which I believe is for belly dancer who have belly dancing experience, but want to learn new things and “break” the rules.
I didn’t take pictures of all the performers, plus some that I did take were too blurry to post. Every dance was a delight to see. So much talent at the studio!
I did a two song Nia demo and many people joined me. It was awesome. We had a great time. I was so happy to be able to share Nia with so many people.
Well, I will probably point you to this post as NEXT December nears so that you can be reminded of what a GREAT time the party is and maybe (if you are around) you will attend. It really is a treat to be able to see so many different types of dance and belly dance all in one show. Thanks always to Hala and Amanda for having such a great little place we all can dance!
Posted in Exercise and Working Out, Nia | Tagged: Amanda, Belly Dance, Certified PiYo Instructor, Christmas party, CPT, exercise, Facebook, Hala, Halanda Dance Studio, Holiday party, http://www.HelpYouWell.com, Los Gatos Nia, Nia, Nia class, Nia Dance, Nia San Jose, Nia studio, Nia Teacher, Nia White Belt, No Rules Belly Dance, Performance, Pilates, PiYo/Pilates/Yoga, San Jose exercise classes, San Jose Nia, San Jose Nia classes, San Jose Nia Teacher, San Jose Workout, social networks, Streamzoo, Terre Pruitt, Twitter, Willow Glen Nia, workout, www.HelpYouWell.com, www.NiaSanJose.com, www.TerrePruitt.com, Yoga | 6 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on October 22, 2011
I have learned a lot in my 43 years. I know there is a lot more I could learn, but one thing I have learned AND that I find fascinating is that I need to be ready to receive. Have you ever shared something with someone and they “pishawed” you? You had tried to tell them something you found fascinating/interesting/money-saving/yummy/good to do and they had acted as if you didn’t know what you were talking about. Then two weeks later they come to you to tell you the very thing you tried to share with them? I used to get offended, even upset, but I am starting to see it differently. I am starting to see that when I tell people things and I feel as if I have been “pishawed” it is not as I once perceived it . . . it is not their mind is snapping closed . . . but, maybe, just maybe it is the mind just saying, “What? I have never heard of that . . . let me deal with that later . . .” And then when it is heard again the mind has a space for it because they had heard it before, so their mind is more open to accepting and listening.
It is somewhat like Natural Time in a Nia workout. In Nia, in our workouts, we have natural time allowing individuals to move their bodies in their own time. Could be they are not ready to do the move the first time they see it, but after a few repetitions they are ready to receive. Their bodies are ready. — Funny. I didn’t start this post off as relating to Nia, but as I was sitting here typing it dawned on me that being ready to receive is Natural Time. And as you know, all of the Nia White Belt Principles can be applied to everyday life. Just as many principles from any practice; Yoga, Jujitsu, aikido, Ballet, etc. can be applied to life.
Sometimes we have so much on our minds that adding something new just isn’t gonna work. So maybe when we first hear something we just say, “NO!” Then our brains move on. But maybe the new “thing” left a spot, like rust . . . . but good, where it just stays and either it actually starts seeping into our brain or it just sits there until we hear it again. Then we are able to open to the idea. It is like the old idea of a seed. Sometimes it is not ready to be planted, but it is there in its own little space.
I can actually remember specific times when this has happened, especially with my hubby, but I am posting about it because I recognized awhile ago that I do this. Because I have heard something and pishawed it then later examined it. It fascinates me. It makes me wonder why I didn’t recognize good advice/information when I first heard it. I wonder why I am not smart enough to recognize beneficial information when I see it. So that is why I think that we have to be ready to receive. It really doesn’t have to do with being intelligent. Sometimes being ready is something of natural time. We have to be ready in our own time. In our own time is the best time in which to learn. Amazes me.
Have you ever learned or heard something and when you really thought about it realized that you had heard the same thing before but it didn’t sink in? Have you ever experienced the second time around as being the time you benefited from something?
Posted in Misc | Tagged: Aikido, ballet, Jujitsu, Natural Time, Nia, Nia Moves, Nia principles, Nia White Belt, Nia White Belt Principles, Nia workout, ready to receive, Yoga | 4 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on September 29, 2011
Nia White Belts focus on the body. The body is what we can use to teach. It is fascinating. By the time we teach a routine in front of a class we should know the music and the choreography so well we don’t have to think about it. I know I have shared before about how there is a point where I can’t learn any more without taking it to the class. That is not necessarily the way we were trained to do it, but that is how I do it. I have worked on learning a routine, got as far as I felt I could go, taken it to class and only done it for one class before I go back and work on learning it some more. With that one class I was able to get past the learning plateau. But for the most part we know the music and the routine well by the time we share it with our Nia students. This allows us to concentrate on what we are sensing. This is White Belt Principle #13, Teaching What You Sense.
One of the Nia White Belt Manuals says:
While Nia impacts every aspect of our lives, it is first and foremost a somatic practice rooted in physical sensation.
© 2010 Nia Technique, Inc. | NiaNow.com Principle 13 Lesson Plan | 1
Teaching what we sense, what we are experiencing in our own bodies allows us to connect with what is going on in our students’ bodies. When I feel the stretch in my side, I can say, “Everybody sense your side.” This allows each participant, each individual body to sense what is going on in his or her own body. It could be a stretch. It could be a twinge which might be a signal to tweak the movement. Whatever is sensed belongs to the individual. I am not saying, “You SHOULD feel . . ” I don’t know exactly what they should sense. Each person is different. Nia teachers invite Nia students to SENSE parts of the body so each person can get the workout their body needs.
While we are dancing the moves we are showing the Nia students the Nia choreography, we are also guiding them with our words. In addition to guiding them through the Nia routine’s choreography we are guiding them through a somatic workout. A workout that is rooted in the Body’s Way. By teaching what my body is sensing participants learn what THEIR bodies are sensing and in turn we all learn our our own individual’s body’s way.
Learning all of this in a cardio dance workout class might seem like a lot, but it is something that happens over time. It might also sound different than other exercise classes, and that is because it is different. It is unique. Each class brings new awareness. When students desire to they can take what we touch upon in class out into their lives. Being aware of the body’s sensation as we live and go about our everyday chores and pleasures. We could call it “Noticing what we sense.” But for me, as a Nia teacher/student I am encouraged to teach what I sense and it makes a world of difference in the workout you receive.
Posted in Nia, Nia White Belt Principles | Tagged: cardio, cardio dance workout, Dance Workout, Nia cardio dance workout, Nia choreography, Nia class, Nia Music, Nia participants, Nia routine, Nia students, Nia teachers, Nia White Belt, somatic practice, the body's way, White Belt Principle #13 | 2 Comments »
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: awareness of the body. Nia class, Carlos AyaRosas, Carlos Rosas, core, Nia, Nia bars, Nia bears, Nia cardio dance class, Nia choreography, Nia Dance, Nia DVD, Nia education, Nia exercise, Nia HQ, Nia Intensives, Nia Music, Nia Practice, Nia routine, Nia Teacher, Nia Telecourse, Nia training, Nia website, Nia White Belt, Nia White Belt Intensive, Nia workout, NiaNow.com, Sensation Scientist, teach Nia | Leave a Comment »
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