Posts Tagged ‘Nia’
Posted by terrepruitt on April 16, 2013
One day I was having my Chai Tea Latte (you can check out that recipe I got from a fellow Nia Teacher here: Venting Gets Me Good). Even though the tea needs to be stirred constantly, the spoon I was using to stir the tea ended up on my plate with my turkey sandwich. Some of the ginger from the tea came off the spoon and I ended up taking a bite of sandwich with ginger on it. “Oooooo!” I thought. That was good. So I got up and sprinkled more ginger on my sandwich. Right now the lunch meat we have is sliced turkey breast from Costco and it is a sweet flavor so it was nice to have the little bit of spicy from the ginger. I don’t know if other sandwich meats would taste as good.
Since then I have been making our sandwiches with ginger on them. I don’t know if my hubby has even noticed . . . .well, in all fairness, I have not been doing it on his everyday lunch sandwiches. Just on the weekend sandwiches. I know the poor guy eats a sandwich every day for lunch and then on the weekend I make him yet ANOTHER sandwich. Ahh, but yes, thank you for the reminder (I heard your future thoughts, he COULD make something for himself). But since I am making a sandwich I just make two so we can each have one. With each sandwich I make I get a little more bold and add more ginger. So far I have not made it too hot or spicy for me.
I really like the little drama that the ginger adds to the sandwich. This is really funny to me because two years (maybe about that long) ago if you would have asked me if I like ginger I would have said no. But then again, I always thought of that pink slimy stuff that comes on a sushi and sashimi plate as ginger. I mean, it IS ginger, but it is PICKLED ginger. I hadn’t known that fresh ginger or even powdered ginger can add just enough of a zing to food to make it a nice change of pace.
Like many things I post, some people might be reading this and wondering why I am doing an entire post on adding ginger to my sandwich and it is for the others saying, “Oh, I would have never thought of that. I bet it IS good. I’m gonna give it a try.” I can’t take for granted and/or assume that everything I know other people know. That is ridiculous. And just because it is simple doesn’t mean that it is not worth sharing.
And here is a picture of my lovely half eaten sandwich. There is turkey, cheese, mayo, bell peppers, and ginger on the sandwich! Pretty good.
Remember that ginger is a digestive aide and can help relieve nausea. It is also considered an anti-inflammatory root/herb/spice. So in addition to adding a little zip to your sandwich ginger could add some health benefits!
Are you a ginger fan? What do you put it in? Have you tried it on a sandwich?
Posted in Food | Tagged: anti-inflammatory, bell peppers, Chai Tea Latte, digestive aide, drama, ginger, ginger root, health benefits, lunchtime, Nia, Nia Teacher, sandwich, sashimi, sushi, turkey sandwich | 4 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on April 11, 2013
We have energy running through our bodies. I mean literally we have electric currents in our bodies. Some people believe there are specific points where these energies converge and concentrate. The points, called Chakras, “correspond to vital points in the physical body i.e. major plexusaes of arteries, veins and nerves.” (According to Wiki.) Energy flows through our bodies and often with the belief of these energy points or chakras there is the belief that they can be blocked or imbalanced. With the belief that the flow of energy can be blocked or chakras out of balance there are beliefs that they (the chakras) can be cleared or put back in balance. I believe that there are at least as many beliefs of ways to open the chakras as there are the cultures believe in this type of thing. There are exercises one can do to get energy moving again. There are meditations one can do. I wrote a post about sounds one can make to help heal and open the chakras, you can see that post by clicking here. Another way to deal with imbalances is with essential oils.
There are many ways this treatment can be done. The one noted below can be done on oneself, it is an adaptation of the one in the doTERRA Spa Manual. The oils used in this treatment are blends from doTERRA, but there are single oils that can be used in association with each chakra. That will be my next post.
I feel steps one and two are optional when performing this therapy on oneself. You might not feel the need to find out which areas are blocked and may not be concerned with vulnerability since the treatment you are about to do will help with that. The same goes with step four.
Chakra Balancing with doTERRA Essential Oil Blends
60 minutes
Create chakra balance by applying specific oils to assist and support spiritual development and awakening of the chakra energies.
Step 1: Start by lying face up. Check your chakras by using a pendant over each of the 7 chakras. Look for movement of the pendant:
Clockwise circles = an open, balanced chakra
Counter clockwise or oblong circles = imbalance
No movement = blocked
Step 2: Apply OnGuard on the crown for protection, as you are creating some vulnerability by working on chakras.
Step 3: (To avoid mixing the oils use a different finger with each oil application.) Apply oil directly to chakras in clockwise motion. For the Root chakra apply the oil to the feet.
1. Crown (#7): apply Elevation
2. Third Eye (#6): apply Serenity
3. Throat (#5): apply Whisper
4. Heart (#4): apply Breathe
5. Solar Plexus (#3): apply Digestzen
6. Sacral (#2): apply Citrus Bliss
7. Root (#1): apply Balance
Step 4: Check the chakras. If they are not in balance, apply Purify to the chakra that did not clear, then apply the oil for that chakra again. Repeat until chakra clears or consider other options, such as discussing the emotions or relationships associated with that chakra or doing the exercise associated with that chakra.
Finish by sitting cross legged and just hold your feet and close your eyes until you feel ready to move into your day/evening/night.
This might be something that could help you if you are interested. I am interested in chakras and essential oils. I hadn’t really thought of them together until one day when Marlies came to one of my Nia Classes. After class several of us were discussing essential oils and chakra balancing came up. She sent a copy of this treatment to me and I immediately asked for permission to share it on my blog. I thought it would be something of interest to my readers.
As I stated the oil mentioned in the above are blends from doTERRA. But a little bit of research on the internet and I found several sites that had lists of oils associated with the different chakras. I am sure you could order the blends or the individual oils from Marlies. I am preparing a list of individual essential oils associated with each chakra for my next post.
When Marlies attended my Nia class she brought me a sample of Elevation. She also gave me another sample but I don’t think it is a blend. I love the way Elevation smells. I have the little bottle in my living room and I pick it up and sniff at it all the time. It is such a lovely scent. If I had a diffuser I would definitely enjoy having that aroma fill my home. Other than that, I have not yet tried these other blends.
Well? What are your thoughts? Do you have any thoughts on chakras? What about balancing them with essential oils?
Posted in Chakras, Essential Oils | Tagged: blocked chakras, chakra balancing, chakra treatment, chakras, doTERRA, Elevation, essential oil treatment, essential oils, Nia, Nia class, seven chakras | 9 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on April 9, 2013
My cat has been on a “bland diet” of beef and sweet potatoes. I keep thinking “today is the day” — meaning, today will be the last day, but until “things” have gotten back to normal I am not comfortable putting her back on her cat food. Part of the prescription of the bland diet was “very lean” beef. So I am feeding my cat lean beef. One day I was about to cook two dinners. One for my cat and one for my hubby and I. Then I realized I could just cook one. So I put away what I had originally planned for my hubby and I and just cooked up some beef for us too. As I was cooking the meat I was thinking of what veggies I had in my fridge . . . yeah, my door note does not always get updated. Of course I couldn’t remember but when I opened the door I spotted the mushrooms . . . cool, I decided to put the meat on/in tiny tortillas with some mushrooms and cheese. Then, I decided that in addition to mushrooms I would add some garbanzo beans. As I was putting something in the fridge I spotted the zucchini and I decided to grate some of that into our mushrooms. I was making this dinner up as I was cooking it! (I can do that when I don’t have a Nia class.)
I have to cook the cat’s meat without flavoring, so I figured I would just salt the meat after and put some raw onions on it. I figured that would be enough flavor. But then I took hers out to prepare it and I left ours in the pan and I added cumin and garlic salt. I am starting to add cumin to different things now. Ever since I used it in my adjusted version of Bobby Deen’s Red Beans and Rice recipe. It was not a spice I was accustomed to cooking with. I like it.
We ended up with a pretty tasty dinner, I think. I think the raw onions on the topping it all off really gave it the perfect finishing touch.
Beef, Beans, Mushrooms, Zucchini, And Cheesy Tortillas
small wedge of onion, chopped
1 tsp olive oil
1 pound mushrooms, sliced
four shakes of garlic salt
half of a zucchini, grated
four shakes of garlic salt
1 can of garbanzo beans
four shakes of garlic salt
1/4 of a pound beef
four shakes of cumin
four shakes of garlic salt
10 small thin slices of cheese
five tiny corn tortillas
Heat the oil and onion (save some for garnish), then put the mushrooms in, add garlic salt. Cook them until they are almost done, then put the grated zucchini in, add garlic salt. Cook until it looks done almost done, then add the beans and the garlic salt. In a different pan, cook the beef with the cumin and garlic salt.
When the mushroom mixture and beef are almost done, heat the tortillas, melt the cheese on the tortillas. Spoon the beef onto four of the cheesy tortilla, then spoon the mushroom bean mixture. Top with raw onions. (One tortilla was meatless!)
I had to cook the meat separate because of my cat, but if I were just making this for us I would cook the mushrooms first . . . I like my mushrooms caramelized, then I would add the beef . . . and I would use more so that it would work for all five tortillas. I would add the cumin to the meat. Then I would add the zucchini, then the beans. I don’t like the beans to get to cooked so I add them last. With each ingredient I would add garlic salt.
I have an electric grill/panini press I used for the tortillas. I grilled them.
This was very good. I will be making this again. But since we rarely have ground beef (we are only eating it because the cat is!) I will use our regular ground turkey.
I like cooking with cumin!
I know I don’t come up with very inventive stuff, but we like it and sometimes all you need is an IDEA of what to cook for dinner. Maybe this will help you.
What do you think? Any ideas on what you might add?
Posted in "Recipes" | Tagged: beef, Cheesy Tortillas, cumin, easy recipe, Garbanzo beans, mushrooms, Nia, Nia class, quick dinner, zucchini | 4 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on April 7, 2013
Ack! Ok, I really thought I could do this challenge, but considering we are seven days in and I have already forgotten entirely on one day and only did one on another, it is more difficult than I thought. What is happening on my end is I think to do it as I am leaving so then I only do one because that is what I have time for. I know three minutes doesn’t seem like a long time, but apparently it is! 🙂
Yesterday I remember on the way out to the 52 Nia Moves Class so I did one. And while we did a long plank in the class it was a straight-armed plank so I am not counting that. I remembered I had two more to do, but when I remembered I had a cat on me. In my house that is a special thing so we don’t move! Then once she moved I had forgotten and I didn’t remember until I was going to bed after midnight.
I will do better with the rest of the month. This week I am going to try an actual schedule and see if I can remember to get them all in.
And next week I will post the check-in in a more timely manner!
Cheers!
So, how many days did you manage to get three planks in?
.
Posted in Planking | Tagged: 52 moves, 52 Moves class, cat furniture, first check in, Multiple Plank a Day Challenge, multiple planks, Nia, Nia class, Nia's 52 Moves, straight-armed plank | Leave a Comment »
Posted by terrepruitt on April 4, 2013
I have such wonderful Nia students. One day I was talking to one of my students and she shared with me something she and her husband are doing before bed. She said that they each share THREE good things that happened throughout the day. Now this is just like the good thing jar idea in that the “good thing” is up to the person doing the sharing. It can be anything you think of as a good thing. You could say you heard your favorite song on the radio, saw a hummingbird, had a door held open for you, held a door open for someone else, you attended a Nia class . . . . whatever you want. The “Good Thing” is up to you. The idea is to help the day end on a positive note. And it could lead to a nice conversation with whomever you are doing it with. If you are doing it by yourself it could allow you to remember more good things about your day. Whatever the situation it is a nice positive way to end the day. Three good things is a beautiful thought to fall asleep on.
It could be particularly helpful in a stressful time. Often when something is causing stress we tend to think about it a lot. For me the quiet time as I am falling asleep is prime thinking time. Is it for you? With thinking time the mind can easily go to the stressful thought. But if you have spent a little time with three good things maybe the good has pushed the stress off to a corner. Falling asleep on a positive note seems like it would help you have a good sleep. Sleep is a great tool in handling stress. It could be you are happily thinking about your good things as you drift off. Could be, if you have a partner you are talking about good things with, your partners good things are on your mind.
It also seems like this fun exercise would be good for people who tend to think of the negative instead of the positive. This would help direct the negative attention to positive and shift the energy. We all have things going on in our lives that we could dwell on and conduct negative thoughts and energy, so having to think about positive and good things that happened throughout the day and talk about three of them . . . that can really get the good stuff flowing. Not thinking about the negative side of things can really work wonders.
I really like this idea. I am looking forward to reading all the good things at the end of the year that I have document throughout the year, but this is a way to keep that “good thing” idea at the forefront. This can provide “instant” gratification and help shift energy from negative and stressful to positive and peaceful.
Manifest the positive by sharing the good things!
What do you think?
Posted in Misc | Tagged: energy shift, Good Thing jar, good things, negative energy, negative thoughts, Nia, Nia class, Nia students, peaceful thoughts, positive energy, positive thoughts, sharing | Leave a Comment »
Posted by terrepruitt on April 2, 2013
So in my post Venting Gets Me Good I explain how my complaint about Starbucks’ Chai Tea Latte landed me a great Chai Tea recipe AND cardamom, one of the spices used to make it. Well, the original recipe calls for “pinches’ which didn’t seem like enough to me and is difficult to translate in a recipe. So I decided that a pinch would be about an 1/8 of a teaspoon. I felt that made a bit of a weak tea. So I have increased the measurements and changed the water to milk ratio. Also, lately when I have been in the mood to make this tea and have actually had the time and the milk I have not had fresh ginger so I have been using ground ginger. It works for me and I am not left chewing on ginger. While my fabulous Nia friend who gave me the recipe pointed out I could use a tea strainer to get out the ginger and the cloves, one reason I like to drink the tea is to drink the ginger and get the benefits from it.
Like many recipes SOMEONE has to have created it. Then others morph it into what works for them. I keep telling one of my friends about this recipe and that I made adjustments. She seems excited to try it so she says, “And you put the adjustments on your blog?” I had not so that makes it difficult for her to make the tea with my adjustments when I have not noted them. So I decided to do it. Plus it helps me. I use my blog as my recipe book and when I have to keep remember to adjust it is not as helpful as when the measurements are just documented accurately.
Here is the recipe I have been using and I think it is very lovely.
Terre’s Favorite Chai Tea Latte:
2 cups of water
2 tea green bags
10 cloves
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 (heaping) tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cardamom
1/2 tsp ground ginger
2 cups milk
Boil the water then add the tea bags. Let simmer for a few minutes. (Here is where you decide how long according to how strong you like your tea). Squeeze out the tea bags and remove them from sauce pan (or whatever you are using to make the tea). Then add all the spices. Allow it to sit and simmer a bit. Then add the milk and let it simmer gently. Add sweetener of your choice. Serve and enjoy!
The original recipe said to use “2 tea bags (black, green, redbush, etc.)” so I it seems you can use whatever you like. If green does not agree with you, then don’t use it.
I think this makes a very yummy tea. And I call it Chai because that is what the recipe said when I first got it. One thing I do like to do while drinking this tea is stir often. I want to drink the spices and get their flavor. When all the spices end up at the bottom of the mug it is not as flavorful a cup of tea. Plus in order to get the benefits from the spices you need to drink them.
One day when I tweeted out that I was making Chai someone responded that she makes it every day and she adds fennel. I have yet to try that. I don’t see why you can’t add anything you want. This is just a starting place . . . .
So . . . . . tell me what you think? Do you like it? What changes did YOU make to make it “Chai Tea Latte For You”?
Posted in "Recipes" | Tagged: black tea, cadamom, chai tea, Chai Tea Latte, chai tea recipe, cinnamon, cloves, complaint, flavorful tea, ginger, green tea, how to make chai tea from scratch, Nia, Nia friend, nutmeg, Redbush, Starbucks, tea recipe, Venting, yummy tea | 6 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on March 30, 2013
So, what do you think? Do you want to do a Multiple Planks In One Day For Thirty Days Challenge? Oh, c’mon. You do. You saw how just doing one a day helped you feel good so why not do more than one a day? The challenge will be for three a day for thirty days, for the entire month of April. The idea is to take your last duration time and just do it three times a day. Or you can just let the stopwatch run, three times a day. If you want you can do it all at once or throughout the day. The ideal is THREE PLANKS A DAY. But two is better than one, and one is better than none. So even if you don’t get in all three it is still good. But aim for the three.
I will tell you (again, I think I’ve already mentioned it) posting on a blog EVERY SINGLE DAY is not easy. Even if it is just a few sentences. As you probably have experienced when checking-in with the challenges. Plus I know I have some lovely readers who have subscribed (THANK YOU!) and they get a notification when I post. Even if it is not an e-mail everyday it might start clogging up the in-box. So . . . . as you can see on the calendar in this post I have designated a check in day! I have made the check in day on Sunday. With a Sunday check in we can report on the previous week and get psyched up for the week to come! That will also spread out my check ins and posts a little. I have a Friday Goodie Jar check in and I post on Saturdays, so I thought Sunday would be good.
Also with a once a week check-in that will free up time to do the planks! Yay!
The forearm planks are what we are talking about. The ones where you are on your elbows and forearms, not the straight armed ones. No matter if you plank for a set time or just let the clock run be sure to keep the bones in alignment. Arms bones straight down from shoulders, head aligned with hips, straight spine, no peaks or valleys, straight legs, and feet hip joint width apart.
Remember the challenges we do are just to set a goal and get it done. But the way you do the challenge exactly is up to you. Our guidelines are: 1) Plank every day three planks a day 2) Document the number of times/planks you do a day 3) Post on Sunday how many times you planked the past week.
Your three planks could be the longest duration to short or the other way around. Or all three the same duration. There are a lot of ways you can do that portion, just do it three times a day/three planks a day, yes? Yes. However you are going to do it decide before you start so you have a your own guidelines to stick too. When you have a plan it makes it easier to get it done.
I will have to get at least one in before Nia everyday!
Well, you in? C’mon . . . . . .
Posted in Planking | Tagged: multiple planks in a day, Nia, planking challenge, planks, thirty day challenge, three planks a day | 2 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on March 28, 2013
Nia is a great dance exercise. Go to a Nia Class and get a great workout. It is also a practice. As with any practice there are workshops. In one particular workshop produced by Danielle Woermann and led by Helen Terry we were reminded to go slow. Helen was here teaching us her adaptation of a Nia Routine to a specific album. Helen is hilarious. She is down to earth, professional, wonderful to listen to (she has an English accent), and currently living in Texas. The “currently living in” needs to be mentioned because of one of the stories she shared with us . . . but before I get to that let me tell you something she reminded us of. She reminded us to go slow. I know often times I want to rush moves . . . that could mean doing it faster than it needs to be done or not “staying through my enoughs”. But either way the idea is to slow down. When I slow down I can be aware of more. I can pay more attention to a move or even to my class. There seems to a tendency to rush, could be our lifestyles and/or society, whatever, so the lesson was to slow down and the result could be catching a chicken.
There is one song in particular in her adapted routine that I am severely challenged in slowing down. It just seems so incredible slow. I have not yet been able to FEEL/SENSE the music and I have been doing the routine for a month. Which, with the current way I am structuring my San Jose Nia classes, equates to eleven times, thus far. I have done it correctly, but only when I am COUNTING. Yes, I am having to COUNT in order to get it. For this song I really have to learn to listen, sense, feel, taste, hear, smell, become the music in order to slow down. I have even announced to the class so I have a better chance of doing it, “We have to go really incredibly slow here.” Sometimes I have to close my eyes so I don’t see them rushing through and join them. S L O W. (Where’s that chicken?)
Slow down. Work the muscles. Enjoy the song. Enjoy the movement. EnJOY. SLOW. Geez . . . it seems so difficult to slow down sometimes. Sigh. But really often times slowing down in combination with “staying with the enoughs” (as I already mentioned) helps in catching those chickens! Ah-ha, here we are . . . . at the chicken story . . . (remember this is coming from a person who is currently living in Texas!).
I might not have the details exactly right, but you will get the point. Helen said that one day her husband and her neighbor were going to work on building a table. The neighbor says, “Let’s go catch some chickens.” This sounded very odd to Helen because they were building a table not catching chickens. So she asked her neighbor what he meant. He said that when he was young his mother used to send him out to get dinner. He said that he would go outside to do the task, sometimes he would end up with a handful of feathers and sometimes he would end up with a chicken. A handful of feathers means not quite getting it. So catching the chicken is when task is accomplished! Makes sense!
In dancing this routine all month, I have enough feathers to fill a king sized down comforter! So . . . see there? Feathers really aren’t all THAT bad. Feathers can be useful. Feathers can be fun. A handful of feathers does not ruin a Nia class or even the moment, but it is NOT a chicken. When you hit the mark, the music, the cue just right that is catching a chicken.
Whatever it is, whether it is slowing down or staying with the enoughs, or learning the music really well, it is a great feeling to catch that chicken. When you attend one of my Nia classes you might hear me sputter and/or you might hear me “bacbac”. When you do, you will know either I grabbed a handful of feathers and the escaped ones are floating at me causing me to sputter or I caught that chicken!
You know what we’re talking about when we say, “Catch a Chicken”, right? Isn’t that a great feeling? Do you ever feel the need to slow down?
Posted in Nia | Tagged: catch some chickens, dance exercise, Dannielle Woermann, handful of feathers, Helen Terry, Nia, Nia chickens, Nia class, Nia Practice, Nia routine, Nia trainer, Nia workout, Nia workshop, staying through your enoughs, Texas Nia teacher | 8 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on March 28, 2013
Here we are with four more days left of our Plank A Day For A Month Challenge.
I’ve decided I like doing my plank on Thursdays before my evening Nia class, otherwise I tend to almost forget!
Are you going to make it the last four days?
Posted in Planking | Tagged: Nia, Nia class, Nia in the evening, plank, Plank A Day For A Month Challenge, planking, planking challenge | 7 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on March 26, 2013
One of the things I learned in a Nia workshop at the end of February, 2013 was the phrase “stay with your enoughs”. Trainer Helen Terry, currently located in Texas, was here in the San Francisco Bay Area to teach us how to dance a Nia Routine that she adapted to an entire album of different music. When Helen said that, I laughed. Because there has been so many times when I thought, “this is enough of that move, it MUST be time to move on” and I wasn’t REALLY clued into the music and I went onto the next move and sure “enough” I hadn’t stayed long “enough”. It was really funny at the time that I took the training because I was doing a Nia routine in which I almost always moved on before I should in accordance with the choreography. Shortly before the workshop I had just started telling myself (and listening to myself—what a novel idea!) that when I THOUGHT we were done is not when we should be if I were going to match the original choreography. There was at least one more bar to go through. And so when teaching that routine, my mind would say, “This is it. This is enough.” And my body would say, “Terre, we’ve been through this before. If you THINK this is it, then you KNOW it is not. Stay.” So Helen’s words “Stay with your enoughs” are perfect.
Nia is so lovely that pretty much most of the time if I lead us into the next sequences of moves before we are actually supposed to go or if we stay longer than the original choreography intended it doesn’t really matter. We might miss that wonderful “perfect match up” to the music, but it never really feels badly off. The choreography flows very well with the music so most of the time it doesn’t feel WRONG. We have the flexibility to stay and go as we please, but when coached to “stay with the enoughs” sometimes it is the perfect idea to help with those troubled spots.
In the workshop that Helen was leading since she was teaching us how to dance a specific Nia Routine to a specific album, there were specific songs and specific examples of where she thought it might feel like as if it is enough. The idea is to keep the faith and “stay with your enoughs”. Just stay past the point you think you should be done with that move. She said one track in particular would “give you a lot of ‘enoughs'”. Which for me that is not the “enough” song, but that is ok. She reminded me of the tool so I can apply it to any and all songs where I have enoughs. I get to relax and stay with them!
There were so many wonderful things presented in the workshop I could probably do a month’s worth of posts. But for now I’ll say “enough” . . . . until my next post . . . .
Do you stay with your enoughs?
Posted in Nia | Tagged: Helen Terry, Nia, Nia choreography, Nia routine, Nia trainer, Nia training, Nia workshop, San Francisco Bay Area, San Francisco Bay Area Nia, stay with your enoughs, Texas Nia, Texas Nia Trainer | 2 Comments »
Terre Pruitt's Blog 