Posts Tagged ‘Nia’
Posted by terrepruitt on April 1, 2014
HOLY MOLY!!!! Sigh. Ok, I feel that since I started it, I need to continue with it. Right? I mean, it is not my intention to make my blog all about death, but since I asked for love and support, I think it is only fair that I give you all an update. I sat with my mother in her hospital room for roughly seven days. During that time she was presented with an option that would have been extremely painful and risky. The surgeon gave three scenarios that could occur and two of them pretty much ended with immediate death, so she opted to skip the procedure and just spend her last days with a tube down her throat, unable to speak and unable to cry. She entertained visitors. Not many because it was exhausting to her. She also was asked to pick the day on which she would have the tube removed. The thoughts were that her trachea is so encroached with cancer and would be so traumatized by the tube that when they pulled it out she would not have much time before she died.
Regarding the procedure mentioned — for those that are curious — it was a stent. A stent was to be placed in the trachea. The idea was that it would hold open the collapsing trachea so that she could breathe. But, it would only be for a few days. The stent is not a permanent or even semi-permanent solution. It is also metal and rigid, it would not have flexed and moved. It would have been very uncomfortable/painful, because the trachea moves.
She did not want to go. She had a lot left she wanted to do. Knowing she couldn’t do ALL that she wanted to do before she died, she thought she could at least do SOMETHINGS. So she decided to have the tube removed on Monday. She made that decision on a Wednesday. It is MY belief that if she knew all that she would have to go through between Wednesday, March 26th, and Monday, March 31st she would not have picked that day. But she wanted to at least get her Easter cards written out. She also wanted to advise me of who gets what in the stack of Christmas gifts she already bought. She also wanted to spend as much time with her family as she could — who wouldn’t, right? But in order to do so she suffered a lot. The medical professionals taking care of her were always there to administer the drugs she needed so she wouldn’t be in pain, but those drugs made her groggy and unable to think clearly so sometimes I think she held off a bit. Plus the procedures that need to be done to allow someone to breath through a tube are not comfortable. So anyway . . .
We got to visit for several days. As I have said several times, she was unable to talk with the tube in her throat. She also was unable to cry because the contractions that happen when one cries caused too much pain. Normally I would not tell someone not to cry because crying is such a great release. I believe crying is good for the BMES – ha, yes, that is a Nia acronym. It helps clear the tear ducts and allows for a physical release. Crying helps clear the mind also. It is an emotional release as well as a spirit helper so to me, it is a good thing. So if you want to cry, cry — except while you are driving or you have tube down your throat and it hurts too much.
I was there until Friday night. I got home around midnight on Friday. I came home to do some laundry, teach a yoga class, do some paper work, and pick up my husband. We went back up Saturday night. We visited all day Sunday and waited around for 1:00 pm on Monday. We all were under the impression that at 1:00 pm it would happen. But we all forgot that “hospital time” is not exact. They do things — even scheduled things — around other things. So our 1:00 pm scheduled extubation turned into 2:28 pm. I trusted the medical staff (although it turned out not to be who we were told it would be) would see that she was not in pain, but we still didn’t know if there would be any gasping and gagging and who knows. I was confident that it would not be a long time after. I saw the MRI of the trachea/esophagus area. Nurses and doctors helped convince me that it would be quick. Well it was not. We are going into our 29th hour. While my mom is so medicated she doesn’t know what is going on and she feels no pain . . . this is NOT what she would have wanted. Lingering on. In fact every visitor that came to visit her while I was there, her answer to their comment of “I’m praying for you.” was “Pray that I don’t linger.” Again, I am at a loss.
Yes, we all have ideas as to why she has not died . . . . she is not ready . . . . she is doing it in her own time (something we call Natural Time in Nia) . . . ALL TYPES of ideas . . . but really we don’t know. All that I know is that this is really hard on my dad. This is not a case where she might revive and be ok. This is not a hopeful, “Oh, I’ll sit by your bedside until you are awake.” This is a grueling death watch. Judge me anyway you want, I left last night. I didn’t want to see her as I know she would not want to be. I didn’t want to hear the “death rattle”. Ugh! Since it is hard on my dad, if it drags on until the weekend I will go back up.
Well, this post is way longer than I like to have my post, but I really wanted to let you know what the status is. Also . . . I guess it helps to write it out. One more thing . . . I believe that I would not have been able to handle this if it weren’t for all of you. So many people have “come out of the wood work” to share and support and deliver sparkles. So thank you all for sharing and caring and giving. I have not been told I am loved or said, “I love you” this much in as many days before in my life.
Please keep up with those thoughts, prayers, stories, sparkles, and all that jazz. It REALLY helps!
Posted in Diane Bacho | Tagged: BMES, breathing tube, cancer, death, esophagus, extubation, hanging on, lingering, love and support, Natural Time, Nia, stent, trachea | 24 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on March 27, 2014
So, I am experiencing one of the oddest situations we have created for ourselves in the world of modern medicine and technology. I am sitting with my mother waiting for her scheduled time to die. I am starting this story for you a little bit backwards, because Tuesday I didn’t have a chance to post. My mother has been sick for a bit and I have been wanting to write about it. I wanted to share plus I am surprised to find it is a bit therapeutic. But I always thought I should ask her before I posted something, but now I feel it is past that point. I came up to be with her on Monday for the day for what we thought would be a procedure that would get her back out in the world and home. But it turned out that the doctors decided that the procedure would be too risky AND it wouldn’t really give us much more time. So they advised us to decide when they should remove the breathing tube that is keeping her breathing.
My mother is fully conscious. She has cancer that has affected her throat so she has not been able to eat for probably about a year and a half. She has not been able to swallow well for about eleven months. She’s been spitting into a cup and used a feeding tube. As I said I am telling this story a bit backwards, I will do another post regarding how this all started. I thought I would have time on Tuesday after my Nia class and Yoga Class to type up the beginning of the story so you could get a glimpse of how much she has been through and to end up here is just — I have no words. I started to type it but I didn’t finish and ended up not posting on Tuesday.
The cancer has spread to a point that is has basically mangled her trachea. She was in Reno on Friday and in the hospital with a tube in her throat Sunday morning. The tube is a small one they use on pediatric patients. That is the only size they could get down there and it was a struggle at that. One is not meant to live like that. The body will keep fighting it and trying to reject it. And with her body it is really going to try to fight it because her body has already had a severely compromised immune system. So a breathing tube — especially one meant for children — is not a long term solution.
When the tube was placed in her throat the idea was that it was going to be temporary — she was in the emergency room on Saturday and the tube was placed in during the wee hours of Sunday morning. The hope was they could put in a stent on Monday. Then, the thought was things could proceed a bit more. There was talk of additional chemotherapy and maybe even more radiation. But the team of doctors met and they were not optimistic. The doctor that would be performing the surgery was very frank and honest in talking to us about the procedure and the miracle that he would have to perform. He said he would do it if my mom said yes. But with the facts in front of her she decided not to have it done.
So then her next decision was when to have the doctors remove the breathing tube, the one that is keeping her alive. What kind of decision is that to have to make? I am still just having the most difficult time with someone having to be faced with that decision. Living with a breathing tube that is so small you can hardly get any air and that has to be cleaned out all the time is not for the weak. She can’t talk, she can’t laugh, she can’t cough, and she can’t cry. That is probably the worst part. She can’t cry. The pain is too horrible. She has much to grieve for and she can’t cry.
This is just crazy. I am at a loss. I am putting it down because I have to get it out. I am not ready to cry yet because I am pretty sure I won’t stop or maybe I am still just in shock. I had an entirely different picture of what was going on.
We are visiting as much as we can. Friends and family are visiting. She is communicating by writing. Sometimes she uses a little white board and sometimes she uses paper. We are not so great at guessing what she is trying to say, so she patiently writes it down for us. She also still has her sense of humor. She is funny.
I have found that the outpouring of love from people is really up lifting and very helpful. I have vaguely mentioned on Facebook that my mom was ill and many people have responded with positive thoughts and mentions of prayers. It really is helpful — all of it. To know that people are out there doing what they do when they want to support someone in need is amazing. So I am posting this to help shed some light on my vagueness and to give some of the people who are supporting me (and my family) some idea of what is going on.
Now the big thing. The big bad. The ugly. The most important thing . . . . the hardest thing . . . the thing I am typing blindly (I can’t see through tears). . . . can you take a moment out of your day (I know I am asking a lot) on Monday, March 31, 2014 at 1:00 pm to help her on her way? She is a strong, strong woman. A woman who has a lot to live for so letting go might be really difficult for her to do. If there were thoughts and prayers and vibes and ju-ju and love and songs and dances and lights and sparkly stuff to help her let go . . . to help her on the path to the next journey–that would be awesome. The angels will be there too, but I am sure she would love the additional stuff — she always loves a party. Would you do that?
Thanks.
Posted in Diane Bacho | Tagged: 2014, angels, breathing tube, cancer, collapsed trachea, dance, death decision, Diane Bacho - 1948 to March 11, emergency room, immune system, ju-ju, March 31, modern technology, mondern medicine, Nia, outpouring of love, pediactric breathing tube, positive thoughts, prayers, scheduled time of death, vibes | 48 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on March 20, 2014
In Nia we do something we call “wag your tail”. Now there are various ways one can “wag” their tail. This move is not one of Nia’s 52 Moves, but we do it A LOT. One might think that wagging one’s tail just means to shake your butt. But shaking your butt is really just shaking your backside. While that has a purpose in dance when I say “wag your tail” I don’t mean shake your tush. There is a difference. Just like there is a difference between shaking your chest/breast and a shimmy. A shimmy is not just shaking your chest or what you have on it. A shimmy is using the muscles in your upper back and shoulders to push and pull your shoulders. While the front might shake as you shimmy, the sensation is entirely different from just shaking what’s on the front. For more info you can read my post Shimmy From The Back. With the tail wag it is somewhat the same thing — in the sense that you are not shaking your butt you are wagging your tail.
The focus is the very bottom portion of your bony spine, the coccyx — your tail. When you wag your tail the outer portion of your body, your glutes/your butt is going to move and shake, just like when you shimmy your chest/breast will shake, but that is not the focus. And believe me, I have ample of both to know the sensation is entirely different. 🙂
For many this is not something they sense right away. It is one of those things you practice. I know many belly dancers who hold classes just on shimmying . . . So by comparison shaking top and/or bottom is different from a shimmy and/or a wag of the tail.
One way I describe it to my students is to just relax the spine. Let the hips hang and then wag the tail. Some understand this and are able to do it. While it might take practice, when they focus they can do it, hips hanging tail wagging. If you can do this the sensation is amazing. It is a HUGE release to the spine. It is very relaxing. Wagging the tail is one of my favorite moves. Ask anyone on my Nia classes and they will tell you, “Yeah, she says that all the time.”
I recently posted about how my students are my teachers and one thing they taught me was to come up with a different way of explaining “letting your hips hang”. The looks I received recently while having my students practice wagging their tail was, “I am not getting what you are saying!!!” So I had to think about it and I came up with something.
Sit down on the ground with your legs out in front of you. Then use your hands to push yourself off the ground. Your lower legs and feet can still be touching but you want your tush to be off the ground. Now relax your spine. Do you sense that hanging sensation? THAT is what you are going for while standing. That is what will enable you to wag your tail.
So try it. Can you sense your hips hanging? Can you sense the difference between wagging your tail and shaking your bum?
Posted in Nia | Tagged: Belly Dance, coccyx, glutes, Nia, Nia Dance, Nia Practice, Nia's 52 Moves, sensation, shake your butt, shimmy, Shimmy From The Back, spine release, wag your tail | Leave a Comment »
Posted by terrepruitt on March 18, 2014
Maybe Jack practiced Nia. We do a lot of agility movements in a Nia class. From Wiki’s definition of agility:
“Agility or nimbleness is the ability to change the body’s position efficiently, and requires the integration of isolated movement skills using a combination of balance, coordination, speed, reflexes, strength, and endurance.”
When thinking of agility I tend to think of my entire body starting then stopping. My entire body moving one direction then changing quickly, like the definition states. But agility can be just in the fingers, in the hands, in the arms, or just in the legs. Our entire body does not have to move for it to be an agility movement—or at least that is how we call it in Nia. We do a lot of movements that require agility.
I just posted about Creeper Crawlers. That is an agility movement of the fingers. They are starting and stopping and going one direction then the other.
Drumming is a great example of agility. Your arms and/or hands are starting and stopping and changing direction. We drum in Nia. There are certain routines where it is part of the choreography. There are times when we do it in FreeDance. The music often calls for drumming. Sometimes we listen. Drumming is a fun way to connect to the sensation of agility. Without actual drums we can drum all around our space; up in the air above our heads . . . in one of our Nia routines they call this sky drumming. We can drum below our bodies, to the sides, behind our bodies, around in a circle, all over. Sometimes I invite the class to imagine they are in the middle of a HUGE drum set with drums all around them. They can’t even move without hitting a drum. That is some wild drumming.
Looking around and allowing the head to change direction is a form of agility. Look! Look! Look! As if you are watching a bug fly around. Hip bumps . . . keeping those hips juicy with that left right action. If you are really playful, hip bumps back and forth . . . it’s all about being agile.
Another great show of an agility move is kicking. Kicking like a swimmer’s kick. Fast feet, fast action action. One direction then the other. Back and forth. Of course this can be done with the action from the knee or even the hip. Whatever joint does the action, kicking is another great example of a movement that requires agility.
A number of Nia’s 52 Moves of the The Upper Extremities can be tied to agility. Blocks and punches can be done with a quick change of direction, along with webbed spaces and palm directions.
Agility is one of Nia’s Five Sensations that we practice and play with in our Nia classes. The other sensations are Flexibility, Mobility, Strength, and Stability. Like many groups and professions we have many acronyms, the one for Nia’s Five Sensations is FAMSS. The A is for Agility.
What do you do that can be considered an agility move?
Posted in Nia | Tagged: agility, Creeper Crawlers, drumming, FAMSS, Nia, Nia class, Nia routines, Nia's 5 Sensations, Nia's 52 Moves, Wiki | 6 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on March 15, 2014
Sometimes after a Nia Class or even a yoga class a student will come up to me to explain why they weren’t doing something I said to do. This is a HUGE education for me because some times what they say they can’t do is not what I intended for them to do. When my students share with me it helps me teach them better. Their understanding of what I am instructing them to do helps me hone my teaching skills and at times has me finding different ways to say things. Could be an entirely different way of saying something or it could just be a matter of me explaining it a little better. Either way, I am always learning from my students.
As an example, one day after one of my yoga classes a students explained to me that she has a very high arch so she cannot use her whole foot. Many standing poses in yoga require you to stand on the entire foot and in Nia we also use our whole foot at times. Whole foot meaning your weight is distributed over the entire foot. Not standing on the toes or leaning back on the heals, or even to either side of the foot, but to use the “whole foot”. Since I say whole foot all the time it didn’t even dawn on me that someone could take it as the WHOLE foot. To be fair, she is correct. When I say whole foot, I actually mean your whole foot PRINT. I don’t mean to include the arch of the foot which would actually be covered in the term “WHOLE foot”. I am not certain if this was ever a thought for any of my Nia students, but just to be clear, I throw whole foot PRINT out there every once in a while in all of my classes so people understand when I say whole foot, I mean the foot PRINT. Not the arch. Flash! I learned something.
There was another time when we were on our hands and knees doing the cat pose. In this pose I have my students look “down” into their lap. If the individual’s neck allows and they are comfortable with that, I go for the big stretch all the way down the spine. So when we arch down with belly towards the earth, I tell them to look up since I consider looking into the lap looking “down”. After class one day, one student told me she can’t look up because of a neck issue and when she said it we were standing and she looked up at the sky. At that moment, I just said, “Ok. Good for you for recognizing a position your body cannot do and not doing it.” I wasn’t exactly certain what she was talking about because I hadn’t instructed anyone to look up at the sky, but if her neck can’t do that, is great that she not do it. The next time I was doing the combination, I thought “look up” and – FLASH! (the light bulb again) – I understood what she was talking about. When I said look UP, she thought I meant UP at the SKY and not just up from the “down”. So, again, I learned something. I can still say look up, but I clarify that I mean up from your lap (or the other options I give).
It always amazes me and make me happy that I learn so much AS I TEACH. I think I have shared before in a post that there comes a time in my process of learning a Nia Routine where I just have to take it to the class. No matter how much time I spend at home by myself learning it, I always learn more in that hour of teaching it than all of that before time. Awesome. I might have even posted something similar to this before. It just goes to show that I am always learning something from my students! Ta-da! Students are teachers too.
Do you ever talk to your teacher about stuff? Did you ever thing that you could be teaching them something?
Posted in Nia | Tagged: cat pose, foot print, Nia, Nia class, Nia routine, Nia students, Nia Teacher, whole foot, Yoga, Yoga class | Leave a Comment »
Posted by terrepruitt on March 13, 2014
There is a move I do often at the end of my Nia Classes. I learned it as the Ragdoll Pose in yoga. Some say it is just a variation on the Uttanasana or the Forward Fold. Since it is a standing pose where you bend over I can see that. But the Forward Fold is a very active pose. You are using other muscles, you are actively lengthening your spine. Whereas in my classes, the move we do as the Ragdoll pose is just a hang. The idea is to hang, ya know, like a rag doll.
After all the movement we do in a cardio dance exercise class where moving your entire body is the key, it is nice to just hang around for a bit. This pose made my list of favorite yoga poses but is not one of my sixteen favorites. Kinda surprised me.
With the Ragdoll, as I said the idea is to hang like a rag doll folded over at the hips. Your body goes limp. Your arms can hang. Your shoulders and hang. Everything just hangs. Legs can be straight or bent at the knee. It is a relaxation pose so doing it to your optimum comfort is advised. Let the weight of your head help lengthen and stretch your back and spine. So you are not actively lengthening or straightening, it all comes from the weight of the head. Even if you are resting you forearms on your thighs you are hanging.
One way that people do this pose is with the arms hanging overhead, but bent at the elbows. The forearms are folded together allowing the hands to hold the opposite elbow. This variation is just like the bent knees and/or the arms — or even hands — on the thighs, it is up to the individual at the time of the pose.
Bending over or doing an inverted pose is good for the systems in your body. Such as the circulatory system, turning upside down helps blood flow which helps the respiratory system. The lymphatic system is assisted by inversions which stimulates the body’s immune system.
It seems as if the body enjoys the break from the normal pull of gravity and it likes to be upside down every once in a while. Calms the nerves, heightens the sense, and brings a little peace. Only when done reasonably comfortable. Poses should not be held if they cause pain or dizziness. So when you are in any pose especially and inversion stay only as long as it is comfortable.
To me, the Ragdoll is one of those comfortable poses. Usually just fold over and hanging. But I do remember at least once when my neck was not aligned properly so the full on hang did not feel good, but bending my knees and resting on my thighs was the ticket. Always remember that you do a pose for the moment you are in at the moment you are doing it. So yesterday all the way down might have been the way, but maybe today it is not. Do what your body wants in the moment.
Enjoy the weight of the head and the arms. Let it stretch your spine and bring space into your back. Hang as a rag doll would.
Do you like the Ragdoll pose? Do you like inversions? Which ones are your favorite?
Posted in Yoga/PiYo/Pilates | Tagged: active pose, cardio dance, circulatory system, dance class, dance exercise, Forward Fold, hanging pose, inversion poses, lymphatic system, Nia, Nia Classes, Ragdoll pose, relaxed pose, standing pose, Uttanasana, yoga poses | Leave a Comment »
Posted by terrepruitt on March 6, 2014
You might know from my various posts that I don’t really like beans. Beans, the legume, the protein-fiber-rich nutrient. Not my favorite thing. I like green beans. And I am ok with garbanzo beans. I will eat kidney beans but only in two things, the two bean salad (click here for recipe) or my Sausage, Beans, and Rice adaptation (click here for recipe). But otherwise I don’t eat beans. You may also know that I bought some dried garbanzo beans in bulk once. Since I didn’t know what to do with them I turned to the internet for some education. 
The internet said there were two ways to get the beans ready for a recipe: one was a “quick soak” idea, it requires cooking and doesn’t seem quick to me at all. The other was a soak-over-night way. I tried them both. I didn’t really feel there was a different outcome to the two methods, but obviously the methods themselves were different. I preferred the overnight soak because it doesn’t require any real time that I have to be in the kitchen. Rinse the beans, fill the bowl with water, let them soak, changing the water a few times as they soak. Since I haven’t taught a Nia class in the area of San Jose where I bought the last dried beans, I decided to buy some organic dried garbanzo beans online. To get them ready for cooking I opted for the let-it-set method. I didn’t time the soak because I had done it before and I know that overnight is good enough. I know I let them set from one morning, until the next afternoon. Then I rinsed them and put them on the pan to roast. Apparently not all beans can just be soaked for about 30 hours. Apparently some HAVE to be cooked — as in boiled. These beans did not come out well just soaking. I didn’t know that until I was already roasting them.
I had a huge bowl soaking so when I did the roasting I had only used about half. So I figured that if I let the remaining beans soak longer they would be fine. So I left them soaking until the next day. Throughout this soaking period I had drained the water and refilled. I even took them all out of the bowl, rinsed them, then put them back in the bowl with fresh water. So — again, I figured they had soaked enough they would be fine. Again, part way through cooking when I had a taste they were NOT good. I hadn’t tasted before I added all of my other ingredients so dinner was almost going to be REALLY gross. But I just added water and let them cook and dinner was salvaged.
But now I know. Apparently these beans HAVE to be cooked in order for them to be edible. When not cooked they are really HARD and they taste like a green seed. No good. Not the creamy mush you expect from a garbanzo bean. Also . . . these beans, while they have not popped as the other ones I soaked did, they are letting off a very large and stinky amount of gas! Whew! Again my kitchen smells of bean gas. They are gassy beans! I have yet to cook the rest.
So . . . here I am again, just sharing things I learn. Maybe I can save someone’s dinner if they are like me and think that all dried beans can just be soaked without the cooking. I was fortunate in that what I was cooking was ok with me just adding water and letting it all cook a bit longer than I had planned. But somethings you can’t do that to. So if you are like me and you like the soaking method, try it on a small batch first to see if that will be sufficient.
Please understand I am not saying there is anything wrong with these beans or the brand. I am just saying that I learned not all garbanzo beans can JUST be soaked. Apparently some need to be cooked too!
Do you have a recipe that you use garbanzo beans in? Care to share?
Posted in Food | Tagged: and Rice, bean recipe, bean salad, beans, fiber rich, Garbanzo beans, green beans, internet education, kidney beans, legume protein rich, Nia, Nia class, Nia San Jose, quick soak beans, Red Beans and Rice, roasted beans, San Jose Nia, Sausage, soaking beans | Leave a Comment »
Posted by terrepruitt on March 4, 2014
There are a lot of yoga poses. Especially since a lot of them I know are the modification of the actual pose. Some of these modifications seemed to have morphed into their own pose with their own name. In addition to teaching Nia in San Jose, I am now teaching Gentle Yoga. And I was thinking. I wanted to make a list of my favorite poses. I was thinking I could have a list and do them every day. But it turns out that I like a lot more than I was thinking. And some I don’t like at all. And some I look at the picture and guffaw, saying, “Yeah, right?” Anyway I came up with about 38 poses that I really like, ones that I would call my favorite. I have a feeling that I am forgetting a couple too so I bet my list could really be in the 40’s. I could do over 40 poses a day, but I would rather do less and repeat a handful of poses then just work my way through all of my favorites. So then I circled ones that I would like to do every day and I ended up with 16. I was thinking I could do those 16 every day. But then I realized that while I will probably do that every once in a while I would be better off just picking some from the list everyday. Whatever strikes my fancy. I feel that if I pick a group every day I will end up getting the exact practice I need for that day. It could end up being my favorite 16 of the favorites.
I do feel that my “favorites” for the day will end up being exactly what I need. I plan to post about some of my favorites. Working my way through the list. I have already posted a few of them. One of my favorites that I have posted about is the Gate Pose. This is a balance pose but it is done on a knee and an extended leg. Not all balance poses are done standing. This is a pose that helps with stabilization, strength and flexibility.
Another favorite with a post is the Locust Pose. I REALLY like this pose. This is one that I do extremely modified. I mean I’ve seen the locust pose where most of the yogi’s body is off the ground and they are resting on just their sternum, upper shoulders, and their chin. That doesn’t even look comfortable to me. I prefer the belly-on-the-earth-with-the-head, chest, arms, and legs-lifted-off-the-ground version. This is a whole body pose. Not only on my favorite list but on the favorite 16!
I also like the Sphinx. This is another backbend, but with this one we rest on the forearms and elbows. Another pose that made my list is another back bend, the Cobra. This one to me is more of a lift using the back. And another backbend – the Updog – made the list. Updog and Cobra sometimes look the same in demonstration – depending on who is demonstrating. Be sure to check out my posts to see the difference. I use Patrick Reynolds’ video to explain the difference. I think of Up Dog more like a hanging backbend. The only backbend that made my top 16 was the Locust Pose.
The Garland Pose made my list of favorites and the top 16. This is a position I try to find myself in every day. Even if I am not doing yoga or any type of practice, I will put myself in this posture to pick up something. I think that this pose is a great way to help keeps hips bones healthy and juicy. Also pushing up from this squat is good for the legs.
So I have already posted about a few of my favorite poses. So I will continue to explore and share with you.
What is your favorite yoga pose? Why is it your favorite?
Posted in Yoga/PiYo/Pilates | Tagged: backbends, balance poses, Corbra pose, favorite yoga pose, Gate pose, gentle yoga, locust pose, Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia Teacher, Patrick Reynolds, Sphinx, teaching Nia, Upward Dog pose, Yoga, yoga poses | Leave a Comment »
Posted by terrepruitt on March 1, 2014
Here is where it is obvious that the moves we include in the 52 Moves of Nia are not unique to Nia. Kicks are part of many dances, martial arts, and movement forms. Kicks can be done in many different ways. They are great for many things. In Nia while we dance we often do kicks. We count each kick as a separate move so the Front Kick, the Side Kick, and the Back Kick are three of the 52 Moves of Nia moves.
I know that we did kicks in country line dancing and in West Coast Swing. They kick in ballet and jazz dance. We all know they kick in all types of martial arts such as karate, jujutsu, and kickboxing. Kicks are even a part of exercise routines and sports. I know they do kicks in Jazzercize and Zumba.
Each kick requires balance, and that is one of the things that kicks are good for. The act of kicking helps improve, helps challenge, and helps retain balance. One must be on one leg and/or foot in order to kick the other leg.
With a Front Kick, in Nia, we balance on one whole foot, we lift the other thigh so the foot is off the ground. We keep our alignment of our three body weights. We use our arms to help maintain the balance. The leg we are standing on is firmly rooting to the earth yet the knee is not locked. Then we extend the leg of the foot that is off the ground, allowing the shin and foot to move forward, away from the body. We look where we kick. We kick at our own level. It could be that you are able to lift your thigh so it parallel to the ground or possibly your knee is higher than your hip. Remember it is your kick so it is your balance practice.
The Side Kick starts as the front kick, on one leg, the we lift our thigh, but instead of sending the foot forward and away from the body we shift our hips so the one that has the leg lifted it higher than the other one and our knee crosses the midline of the body, the we push our foot out to the side of the body. The same side as the foot that is lifted.
The Back Kick has the same start as the front kick and side kick. Stand on one leg and lift the other thigh up. As with the front kick your body is in alignment. The we push the leg that is lifted, back, as if we are stepping on the wall behind us. For an additional challenge to balance you can look behind you.
Just like all the 52 Moves in Nia, while doing these kicks in our Nia routines we often modify them a bit. Sometimes the kicks are slow and powerful. Sometimes they are fast and done with a bit of ease. Sometimes the choreography allows for the foot to rest on the earth before rising again to kick, sometimes not. Sometimes the kicks are done in a fast repetitive fashion. Sometimes they are meant to be done low, sometimes they are meant to be done high. But all kicks are meant to be done in your own body’s way.
In addition to balance, kicks help with strength. Both legs, the standing and the kick leg get the benefit of that. Also kicking is good for exercising your coordination, especially when there is travel involved and/or arm movements. Kicks are a great addition to many dance modalities and exercise forms. I would bet you are familiar with kicks.
Do you do kicks in your cardio dance class? Do you include kicks in your workout routine?
Posted in 52 Moves (of Nia), Nia | Tagged: 52 Moves of Nia, back kick, ballet, cardio dance, cardio dance San Jose, country line dancing, dance exercise, dance kicks, exercise routines, front kick, improve balance, Jazz Dance, Jazzercize, Jujitsu, jujutsu, karate, kickboxing, martial arts, Nia, Nia routines, Nia San Jose, repetitive kicks, side kick, west coast swing, Zumba | 2 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on February 27, 2014
I am aware that lunch meat is not one of the healthiest of things to be eating. But I LOVE sandwiches. I also love that my husband will eat a sandwich that I make and send to work with him instead of eating out every day. He does eat lunch out on occasion. A sandwich with lunch meat is healthier than what he eats when he eats out. But this post is not REALLY about lunch meat. It is about prices. It is about paying attention. It is about packaging. It is about knowing what you are buying. In my opinion, food manufacturers are tricky. I was in the store not too long ago buying lunch meat. I prefer the meat that my husband gets at Costco, but he has not made that trip in a bit so I am buying lunch meat from the grocery store. It is a good idea to look at the per ounce prices on things.
I looked at the package of lunch meat that I normally buy and decided upon a really quick glance that there was another brand that was less expensive and to my delight tastier. I was trying to decide which turkey to buy when I saw the roast beef. My hubby gets turkey ALL THE TIME so I thought, “Oh, I will get the roast beef instead. It is the same price.” But as I picked it up I happened to look at the per ounce price on this brand. I didn’t really expect it to be different, in fact I was confused at first because the package was the same, but there was a 12¢ difference. That is when I look at the weight. The WEIGHT was not the same. The turkey was 9 oz and the roast beef was 7 oz. So even though I would be paying the same amount I would be getting two ounces less.
I don’t know for certain, but I can imagine that I bought this roast beef before. And I bet that I didn’t even notice the weight difference because the package is the same. Exactly the same. So I bet I didn’t even look at the weight because I thought I was getting the same amount of roast beef as I was turkey for the same price.
Now, really, if you want roast beef you are probably going to get it. I just think this is tricky. But — yes, it is clearly labeled as different amounts. I just really like that little “price per unit” amount the put on shelf labels. It really helps. Sometimes things LOOK more expensive because the price on the package might be more, but when you really look and compare it could be that the price of what you are buying is really less. I say “price per unit” because sometimes it is ounce and sometimes it is something else, just depends on what you are buying. So I use this information often. But usually between different brands.
It is so small and so many of us are in a hurry — especially at the grocery store — I thought I would share. Actually, I thought I would share because this annoyed me. I felt like I would have been duped if I bought the roast beef. And that really would have just been ME . . . I mean I was the one that thought they were the same size for the same price. I know about the “price per . . .” information, but since the packages are the same I ASSUMED (uh-oh!) 🙂 Since I was comparing lunch meat prices I happened to look at the per ounce price on this brand. I was shocked and annoyed.
I have also been paying attention to the prices at the store near my Nia class because although it is really convenient, I think it might be more expensive than the one closer to my house. So I have been really looking close!
Anyway . . . I guess I am just saying if you have the time and the inkling – really LOOK at what you are buying and use the “price per unit” portion of the shelf label!
Do you compare prices when you shop? Do you stick to your particular brands? Are you like me and you just really want to get in the store and get out?
Posted in Misc | Tagged: brown bag lunch, Costco, lunch meat, Nia, Nia class, price per unit, roast beef lunch meat, sandwiches, turkey lunch meat | Leave a Comment »
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