Posts Tagged ‘Nia’
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 February 7, 2012
I always want to share with you, what is going on in relation to Nia, but I know that there are other things to share about besides my upcoming new evening Nia class in Campbell (Oh, please forgive me, I am soooooo excited, I just HAD to put it out there. And, be warned, I will do it again!). I was walking by my newly purchased container of yeast when I remembered hearing about Nutritional Yeast. I know I have actually heard about it before, but I dismissed it as regular old yeast but with a fancy name. Let me remind you I have been afraid of yeast. Silly, I know, but . . . Anyway . . . when I was growing up my father was really into all the health food stuff. Stuff that you could not find in any store, but a health food store. All the stuff people are now eating, most people thought was weird back then. Not only was it weird, but it was hard to find. There was not a health food store on every corner and in every mall. But because of my dad, I would bet I heard about it way back then. I just saw it in a recipe recently so I looked it up. It is not regular yeast. In fact, it has been deactivated. See activating and deactivating fungus, come on, can you kinda see why it was a bit scary to me? So Nutritional Yeast has been deactivated.
According to all the sources I see Nutritional Yeast is used often by vegans and vegetarians because it has a great nutritional value. Two heaping tablespoons gives you:
ONLY: 1 gram of fat and 5 mgs of sodium (WOW!)
320 mg of potassium
5 g of carbohydrates
4 g of dietary fiber
9 g of protein (It is a complete protein)
It is FULL of B vitamins. B-1, B-2, B-3, B-6, and B-12.
Although one does not normally just EAT two tablespoons of Nutritional Yeast. It is added to things. And again, from what I am seeing you can add it to pretty much anything! Sprinkle it on all your foods from salad to popcorn. Put it in a smoothie or added it to a meat marinade.
Informational reports say that it does have a flavor. What I am seeing is that it has a strong nutty type of flavor. Some say a cheesy flavor. So often it will be used to add the flavor of cheese to things. Whenever I see that I want to go get some. Then I get to the store and forget. I even was at the store and bought the aforementioned regular yeast but forgot all about this stuff.
Nutritional yeast is sugar-free and gluten-free. So it is a great way to get a little bit of flavor and extra nutrition.
Do you use it? I know a lot of you are much more kitchen/cooky/foodie savvy than me, so you have probably heard about it and even know what it is. Have you used it? Have you tasted it? How would YOU describe its taste?
Tell me, I wanna know!
Posted in Food | Tagged: activated yeast, Campbell Nia, deactivated yeast, evening Nia class, gluten free, health food, health food store, Nia, Nia Campbell, Nia class, Nutritional yeast, vegans, vegetarians | 4 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on February 4, 2012
My last non-Nia post was about appetite suppressants, natural kinds. The first thing I listed was almonds. As always when I post something, even if I get the idea from somewhere else I like to look up facts for myself. I feel better if there are a few sources confirming what I post about. Often in my fact finding/confirming search I find other things, maybe other things entirely or other facts.
First of all the almond is a seed and not a nut. Always makes me laugh when I learn stuff like this because all my life I thought of it as a nut . . . still do. Almonds have a lot of fat, with 15 grams of fat per ounce, that is 23% of the Daily Value. But it is the monounsaturated fat, the kind that we need, but still not too much.
Per ounce they have about three grams a fiber. I think they are a nice addition to fiber you are already eating but should not be the only source as you would need to eat almost 4 ounces to get 10 grams of fiber. That would be 60 grams of fat.
Studies have shown almonds to help in lowering cholesterol and reduce the risk of heart disease. Almonds seems to have the ability to help keep blood sugar even which can help reduce the risk of diabetes. They contain vitamin E which is an antioxidant. The magnesium and potassium help with blood flow and blood pressure. Almonds are naturally gluten free.
Nutrient Values of Almonds: Single Serving (1 ounce)
Calories—–170.0
Protein—–6.0 g Daily Value—–12%
Carbohydrate—–6.0 g Daily Value—–2%
Fat—–15.0 g Daily Value—–23%
Fats
Cholesterol 0.000 mg Daily Value—–0%
Saturated Fat 1.5 g Daily Value—–8%
Mono Fat 10.0 g
Poly Fat 3.0 g
Carbohydrates
Dietary Fiber 3.0 g Daily Value—–12%
Vitamins
Vitamin E 10.0 IU Daily Value—–35%
Riboflavin 0.22 mg Daily Value—–4%
Niacin 0.95 mg Daily Value—–4%
Vitamin B6 0.03 mg Daily Value—–2%
Folate 17.0 mcg Daily Value—–4%
Minerals
Potassium 207.0 mg Daily Value—–6%
Iron 1.0 mg Daily Value—–6%
Calcium 75.0 mg Daily Value—–8%
Magnesium 84.0 mg Daily Value—–20%
Phosphorous 147.0 mg Daily Value—–14%
Zinc 1.0 mg Daily Value—–6%
Copper 0.27 mg Daily Value—–14%
From Nutfarm
According to Wiki, there are no truly RAW almonds grown in and sold from California:
Because of two cases of salmonellosis traced to almonds in 2001 and 2004, the Almond Board of California proposed rules in 2006 regarding pasteurization of almonds available to the public, and the USDA approved them. The almond pasteurization program became mandatory for the California industry on September 1, 2007, and was implemented voluntarily over the previous two years. Since September 1, 2007, raw untreated California almonds have technically not been available in the United States. Controversially, California almonds labeled as “raw” are required to be steam-pasteurized or chemically treated with propylene oxide. This does not apply to imported almonds, or to almonds sold from the grower directly to the consumer in small quantities. Nor is the treatment required for raw almonds sold as exports to countries outside of North America.
I found the fact that California Almonds sold as “raw” are not really raw to be very interesting. Hmmmm. So much of what food labels say is untrue and deceitful. I don’t know why I was surprised.
So in case you are wondering what “propylene oxide” is besides just the chemical that California Almonds are treated with. It was according to Wiki “a racing fuel, but that usage is now prohibited under the US NHRA rules for safety reasons. It has also been used in glow fuel for model aircraft and surface vehicles.” Yes, they use a RACING FUEL that is now prohibited for safety reasons to treat California Almonds. I think I would take my chances with salmonellosis. There were TWO cases of that, but now they are treating our almonds with a, yes, get this—-a “probable human carcinogen”.
It seems as if California Almonds might not really be that healthy after all considering they are probably being treated with a chemical that has “been classified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) as Group 2B: The agent (mixture) is possibly carcinogenic to humans.” According to the California Almond Board:
PPO is also a surface treatment which has been approved for use on foods since 1958, . . . . PPO is very effective at reducing harmful bacteria on almonds and poses no risk to consumers. In fact, PPO residue dissipates after treatment.
Also according to the board Organic Almonds are steam pasteurized.
So I guess that “raw” almonds is the same as “No trans fat” on food labels. And along with all the other chemicals IN our food and used to TREAT, GROW, and MANIPULATE the very DNA of our food, there is no risk posed to consumers. Meanwhile Americans grow more obese and unhealthy and more and more drugs sold as medicine are being pushed upon the public.
I started this post ready to extol the benefits of almonds, but now all I can say is eat at your own risk, along with all of our food supply.
Posted in Food | Tagged: Almond Board of California, appetite suppressants, California Almonds, DNA, good fat, good fiber, good protein, Nia, obese American, Organic Almonds, pasteurized almonds, probable human carcinogen, propylene oxide, raw almonds, salmonella, unhealthy American, USDA, Wiki | 6 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on January 26, 2012
Sometimes there are things I just don’t understand. I find that when I ask I get answers. So my questions today revolve around packaging and waste. I am not meaning to pick on any on particular company but I am so confused as to why, in a world where we are trying to reduce waste and we have to pay for bags in which to put the stuff we just purchased, is it ok to package things like this. To me both of these packages are a waste.
I have a Nia student who always smells great and she told me the name of the perfume. I asked her if she would mind if I bought some and she said, no. It was before Christmas and I thought it would be a great gift idea for my husband to get for me. I love it when people tell me what they want and I try to help him out that way too. Since he was really busy AND there was other things that was on his mind he decided we could just order it online. I was excited. New perfume. But when I opened the box the only thing I was thinking is, “You have got to be kidding me!!!! Is it REALLY necessary to have ALL of this packaging for one bottle of perfume?” As I said, since I am not trying to necessarily bad mouth the company, I tried to take a picture that didn’t directly show the name, but you can see there is a piece of folded cardboard that goes first around the bottle, then that goes in the box, then there is a sheath that goes around that. Why? Just the ONE box would do just fine, I don’t think there is really any reason for the inner piece of cardboard and the sheath. To me the whole thing reeked of wastefulness. I was actually somewhat disappointed in the company because of that.
Then I was at the grocery store and I was faced with this. REALLY?!?!?! First of all prepackaging fruits and veggies sticks me with more than I want and second it seems like a HUGE waste of material. I could have easily used one bag to put my two zucchinis in, but no, I was forced to by five and they are packaged with a papery-plastic sheet, inside a plastic tray, wrapped with more plastic, and then labeled with even more papery-plastic. WHAT IS THAT ABOUT? How is that being responsible and cutting down on waste? FOUR things, instead of one bag? I just don’t get it.
I don’t understand when we are forced to be “green” in some areas, but in other areas waste like this is allowed to continue. This type of stuff confuses me. I am not sure the shiny material that the sheath was made out of can be recycled, but I put it in the recycling along with the rest of the wasteful packaging.
Whew. Ok, thanks, I am done with my rant. 🙂 Do you ever come across packaging of a product that you feel is excessive?
Posted in Misc | Tagged: being green, Christmas gift, going green, green, Nia, Nia student, perfume, recycle, wasteful, wasteful packaging | 18 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on January 24, 2012
The Nia Class on Friday that I teach is at a studio that recently re-located from Los Gatos to San Jose. Being in a newish area I found myself dropping by a store I don’t normally frequent. I ended up buying some tea. I know that green tea is supposed to be good for you and I found myself liking Chai, so I was happy to find some Green Tea Chai. Gently spiced with cinnamon and anise. The box also makes statements about ginger, cardamom, and licorice. I thought it just HAD to be good. I had just purchased some honey from a local bee keeper and I was so excited to try the honey with this tea. I came home and made a cup. I was very disappointed. It didn’t taste like anything, except the honey itself (which is fantastic, by the way!). It didn’t have a flavor that I could detect at all. I had been thinking that along with some of the benefits from green tea, I would be getting benefits from the cinnamon, ginger, and cardamom, and I would also get some flavor. With all of that in the tea I thought there would be something. Maybe I clearly didn’t see the “gently spiced”. But I was disappointed.
I thought I would try spicing it up myself. So I added my own ginger, cinnamon, and I even added nutmeg. I figured that I would be able to reap the benefits of the spices if I put them directly in my tea. I ended up making a pretty tasty beverage. I would imagine that I could add my own spices to hot water and make any type of “tea” I want. I know it shouldn’t really be called tea as tea is make with actually leaves from a plant and not just spices. All I need to know is it tastes good and it helps keep me warm (it has been a bit cold around here lately).
And, as I said, I can get the benefits from some of the spices. Granted the spices do tend to sink to the bottom of the mug in a wet pile, but if you keep it stirred you actually drink them. That would be the point—to drink them.
One day, I grabbed the cayenne pepper instead of cinnamon — and you frequent readers must know — I DO NOT tolerate spice at all. I don’t like heat. I made a really spicy hot concoction. I saved it for my hubby, because it didn’t TASTE bad it was just to hot for me and I thought he would like it. He did. So I guess I can make him some spicy hot beverages too.
As a reminder, ginger is an anti-inflammatory, so it is good for the body to help keep chronic inflammation at bay. It also has some nutrients and is used as a digestive aid. I usually use the powdered kind for my tea, but when I have the actual root I toss a little piece in my mug.
Cinnamon is also an anti-inflammatory food. I have thought to add it to my coffee before and as stated in this post, my tea, but now I will just start making a spice hot water mix. Cinnamon is also consider a digestive aid. So why not just add some spices to some hot water and see what you come up with? Or add it to your coffee or tea?
Honey and lemon are common things to put in hot water, I think I will try that with some of my spices. Get the whole shebang. Warmth, water, lemon, spices . . . sound like a winner to me. How about you? Spices to drink?
Posted in Food | Tagged: Bay Area Nia, chai tea, cinnamon coffee, cinnamon tea, ginger tea, green tea, hot tea, lemon tea, lemon water, Los Gatos Nia, Nia, Nia class, Nia Los Gatos, Nia San Jose, San Jose Nia, San Jose Nia class, spicy hot drink, tea leaves | 4 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on January 21, 2012
Well, I bought the kale on a whim after Nia one day. My intention was to make kale chips. I think I looked up the recipe. The one I found said to remove the stems, then rip the kale into bite sized pieces, then wash it and spin it dry in a salad spinner. That is as far as I got. I don’t remember the rest. It would have served me much better to keep reading and remember the directions. I don’t have a salad spinner so I thought I would wash the kale before hand and let it dry. I was thinking that it being dry was very important. I think I decided that garbanzo beans need to be dry. But instead of drying the garbanzo beans with a paper towel the other day I put them in the oven on a low temp without any oil, but with a little bit of salt. I let them “dry” that way. Then I put olive oil and seasonings on them and roasted them. They came out very well. So I thought I would do the same thing with the kale. But this time I thought I would use my convection setting. I really ought to “listen” to my nose when it tells me something is burning. YUP! I burned the whole tray of kale. My convection only goes on at 300 degrees and I guess I was thinking kale was much heartier than it actually is. Sigh.
But with that lesson under my belt and a half of bunch left, I put the remaining kale on the cookie sheet. I just pulled the leafy greens off the stem at the same time I ripped it into bite sized pieces. And I washed it first because I didn’t want to be handling the dirty (it was really dirty) kale.
I spayed the pan with olive oil, then set the ripped pieces of kale on the pan, then sprayed the kale with olive oil, then sprinkled garlic salt on it.
I didn’t use the convection part, but I kept the oven at 300, but only for ten minutes. Let me tell you, the kale cooks a lot slower with the convection off and oil on it. I think I cooked it a total of forty minutes — maybe it was 30? I did turn the oven down to 200 after the first ten minutes. I can’t sit there and watch stuff cook so I thought 200 would be ok, and kept checking it. I think the last 10 minutes I turned the oven off. I think it is the type of thing that I will have to cook in ten minute intervals and check on.
It was ok. It taste like roasted lettuce to me. I don’t think it deserves the rave reviews that I have heard from people. And by no means can it beat a potato chip (as so many have claimed), but it is ok. It is a way to get some greens in. It is not too hard to make. It is a great thing to snack on. And I think my husband REALLY liked them. He kept reaching for them. Anytime he reaches for something over and over again, I know it is a hit! So I will be making them again. I probably will pay as much attention to cooking them as I did this time. I should have paid more attention because I knew I was going to post about it. But I didn’t. After I burned the first batch I was kind up grumpy at myself. The funny thing is, I burned the first batch because I was so excited to write my kale post. So I set the time more based on how long it would take me to finish up and post my article then how long it would take to dry the kale.
So have you made kale chips? Have you tried them?
Posted in Food, Vegetables | Tagged: Garbanzo beans, Kale chips, leafy greens, Nia, potato chips, roasted garbanzo beans, vegan snack | 9 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on January 19, 2012
After a I teach Nia I am sweaty and going from a somewhat warm studio to the cold when you are wet is not fun. After Nia class yesterday I was so cold I just wanted to go straight home, but I had one stop to make in Willow Glen. But after that I had planned on jumping on the freeway and going straight home. Sometimes getting off the freeway at our exit is difficult. The most direct route requires one to go from the exit ramp across three to four lanes of a sometimes busy street. Most of the time I can safely move across to the turn lane, but every once in a while it is too trafficky and I don’t believe I should stop the people behind me on the ramp NOR the people driving on the street I am going to cross just because I want to make a left hand turn. I don’t believe in endangering others to make it easier on myself. So sometimes I just stay in the most right lane and drive through the light instead of turning left. Then I take a round about way home. But I get there just the same and I don’t stress other drivers or myself. Well, this happened yesterday when I was freezing and just wanted to get home. As I was deciding on my round about way home I realized I might as well just go to the grocery store since I was on that road already. We could always use fresh veggies so I decided to get some.
While I was in the store a woman started talking to me about eggplant. She said it was too difficult to cook so when her neighbors gives it to her she just throws it away. For on brief moment I considered asking her if I could give her my phone number and she could call me and I would take it! Then we started talking about some of the other vegetables that were in the same area. She was saying collard greens are good for you. I told her that my husband loves them. She asked me how I cooked them and I told her I sautéed them. She said she fried them, the same as the eggplant. While we were talking I noticed the Kale. I always forget about kale. I was happy that we were talking and it allowed me to focus for a moment on the kale. I bought some.
Kale is part of the cabbage family. It is just leaves. Kale is part of the family of vegetables that are called cruciferous vegetables. Some other cruciferous vegetables are broccoli, collard greens, cabbage, brussels sprouts, and cauliflower.
You know how I don’t understand plant species and families and all that. But more and more research is providing information that these types of vegetables are very good for us in regards to nutrients we need.
As much as we all know to take the governmental daily values with a grain of salt, a cup of kale has over 1300% of the daily value of vitamin K, over 350% of vitamin A, and over 80% of vitamin C. It also contains calcium and beta carotene. Research has shown that kale is rich in antioxidant, is an anti-inflammatory, and has properties that are thought to be of the anti-cancer nature. Steamed kale is thought to have cholesterol-lowering benefits.
According to Wiki: Kale freezes well and actually tastes sweeter and more flavourful after being exposed to a frost. I, myself, am going to try to make the oh-so-talked-about-you-have-probably-heard-about-them kale chips. In fact I could swear that one of you — one of you that I read your blog — posted about kale chips, but I can’t remember who. I went looking but I couldn’t find the post.
Anyway . . . do you eat kale? If you do how do you eat it? I am going to go experiment right now!
Posted in Vegetables | Tagged: anti cancer, anti-inflamatory, broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, choleseterol-lowering benefits, Collard Greens, cruciferous vegetables, Kale, Nia, Nia class, Nia Teacher, plant families, plant species | 7 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on January 17, 2012
I’ve mentioned before that in Nia we think of feeling as emotion and sensing as physical. I mentioned it in Feeling vs. Sensing. The other day I was lying down when I realized when someone is there you want to touch you might sink into it or scoot closer. You might acknowledge the softness of the fuzzy little footsie pajamas along the side of your body and how the bottom of the footies are not as soft on your hip. Even going so far as to hold your breath so the softness of the fuzzy material can rub up and down on your arm as the small lungs fill and empty. There could be a moment when you’re aware of the different textures along the length of your back to your tush. You notice the softness of skin and hair of the arm, maybe the roughness of an elbow then the coolness of cotton or silk. You may have had the chance to observe the sensation of fur of an animal next to you. The animal lies there giving you the impression she wants to be near you. As you stop to appreciate the moment you might shift ever so slightly and you notice the cat (tee hee) has assumed her liquid state and the very tiny bit of couch real estate you shifted from is now full of cat. The sensation of warm furry body never breaking contact from your body. With any small movement you are pushed further off (or up or over) of the couch. You might have been asleep or not paying attention in any one of the similar situations, but once you realized or remembered something was there you allowed your body to embrace the sensation.
You sense the closeness in the situations. You stopped to enjoy the contact from the other being. You stopped to concentrate on the touch. The touch of softness, the sense of warmth, the caress of the movement as breath is drawn in and let out. I was not aware of the cat sleeping next to me when I first woke up. Once I sensed the pressure on my body and realized what it was, I snuggled down into the couch further. I scooted just a tad bit closer. And, of course, I was happy.
Sometimes sensing these types of sensations can elicit emotions. In these particular situations (pleasant ones where you want the body next to you) happiness and joy can be at the top of a long list. Of course, sensation can cause a whole range of emotions depending on the situation. I find it interesting that sometimes a sensation can be happening, but we might not realize it.
Have you ever been talking to someone and someone else comes along and not wanting to interrupt with speech they place a hand on your back and you might not even realize it until you stop talking then you notice? You might not notice the dog at your feet leaning on your leg until you stop for a second and refocus. You might not notice the child tugging you in one direction because you are focused on the conversation you are having. Maybe it is not so much that we don’t NOTICE, it is that the sensation is not the focus of our brain or body at that moment so it is dulled? Then once we give it our attention we can actually really sense the touch?
I know that I didn’t notice because I was sleeping, but it still took me a second to realize that something warm was pressed up against me. Once I realized then I was able to enjoy it. Sometimes we might need to realize sensations more as we move through life so we can not take them for granted and really enjoy them.
Are there any sensations that you can take a moment to enjoy while you are going through your day? Take an extra second to sense and see how it makes you feel.
Posted in Misc | Tagged: emotions, Feeling vs. Sensing, feelings, Nia, sensations | 2 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on January 14, 2012
Nia, the dance exercise that I teach, is a great cardio workout. Classes are fun and full of energy. To become a Nia teacher one must take the White Belt Intensive. It is 40+ hours of intense learning, discovery, play, dance, reading, listening, moving, sitting, and so much more. A person that is just interesting in learning more about Nia as a practice may also take the intensive. One does not have to have the intention of teaching to participate in an intensive. In the Nia White Belt there are 13 Principles. These principles are what teachers and practitioner use to expand their Nia practice. Working and playing with the principles actually help bodies to move “better”. Nia is a body centered exercise so these principles actually help us move our bodies. The fourth Nia White Belt principle is FreeDance, this principle has eight stages. The list of the eight stages is in my post Nia Class – Levels 1, 2, 3 – FreeDance Stage 8. The fifth stage is Authentic Movement – Change.
Nia is “about” many things. One thing Nia is about is Authentic movement. Our dance is not a performance. It is not meant to be pretty. It is meant to allow us to move in our own body’s way. The idea is that we will move in our own body’s’ way and we will move as we need to move. With freedom and authenticity we will be working our bodies as they each individually need to be worked. Yes, we do have specific steps in a kata or song. But everyone’s body does the steps maybe a little differently — to their own body’s ability. With practice the body will be able to do the steps and the moves in the Body’s Way, moving the way the body was actually designed to move.
With authentic movement we are letting the body move to the music in its own way. We don’t think of how to move it, we just let it sense the music and it moves. If one is practicing the Nia White Belt Principle #4, stage 5, then the authentic movement is done for two bars, two measures of how we count our music. After two bars change the movement. Do this for each song. The idea is that after a few songs the body will have gone through all of its “normal” movements. You will have danced out all of your movement tendencies. You will have danced all of your bodies patterns and your body will seek new moves. Your body will do things it does not usually do. You might be one that often moves your hips a lot, but after a few songs and continually changing the way you move your hips you might realize that you are out of hip moves, so your body plants your feet and you end up kicking up one leg at a time. Maybe kicking is not part of your typical dance move repertoire. Maybe once your legs start kicking your arms start punching. And this was not thought out or planned it just seemed natural. Leg kick, arm punch.
So the idea is to exhaust the normal and journey into new territory. If you have never done anything like this I want to warn you, you might be a little sore the next day. If you are a booty shaker and you change to a “how-low-can-you-go-er” you will feel it the next morning. If you always keep both feet on the ground and you start kicking or even just doing knee lifts to be different, your body will remind you the next day that you did something different.
If you let your body just dance to the music and switch it up, your body will give you great feed back on how you have never moved your foot/arm/head/butt/ankle/knee/whatever-you-moved-that-was-new the next day. You will go to move foot/arm/head/butt/ankle/knee/whatever-you-moved-that-was-new and probably sense it. This information will help you learn your movement tendencies and you can learn what new moves might help you improve your body’s movements.
Try it! Put on some music and dance with Authentic Movement, then change. Keep doing this through at least five songs and see where you end up. See what new moves your body comes up with. Ready? Go!
Posted in FreeDance, Nia | Tagged: 13 White Belt Principles, Authentic Movement, cardio workout, dance class, dance exercise, dance performance, dance practice, freedance, FreeDance Stage 8, kata, Nia, Nia class, Nia Dance, Nia energy, Nia Practice, Nia student, Nia Teacher, Nia White Belt Principle #4, White Belt Intensive | Leave a Comment »
Posted by terrepruitt on January 12, 2012
What? What does THAT mean, right? Well, as you know this blog was originally started to share Nia with the world. But as you also know, I don’t feel that I need to post about Nia and my Nia classes every post. I do feel I need to mention them in every post . . . . just to remind you about it! 🙂 So where am I going with this title and this post? Sigh. Confession time. Yes, forgive me readers for I am more-than-not-perfect and I want to share with you a habit I have. It is one of those habits that I don’t even know I am doing until I stop doing it and I sense the results of having done it. It is also an unhealthy habit (I am calling it that because in no way does it contribute to my health and well-being). I have been sitting at my computer for the last hour and a half — ha! No, that is not the unhealthy habit I am talking about! I have been doing some work. It is work that is taking a bit of concentration because I am searching for information. I was searching and trying to think of ways and places I can find what I am looking for. So I was concentrating really hard. When I decided to stop I realized my jaw muscles were sore. I stopped and thought about it and I realized I was probably clenching my jaw! I can’t recall if I was grinding my teeth or not, but I KNOW I had to have been clenching my jaw because it is very sore right now. Geez! So that is what I mean by there is no slack-jawed yokel here!
Some of you might now know who THE slack-jawed yokel is. He is a character on the Simpsons. He is one of those people who you feel sorry for at the same time he annoys you because he is so not-smart. But my jaw is tense and not slack, yet I still thought of him. He is Cletus, the Slack-Jawed Yokel. You can click here for his theme song. As you know the title Yokel is not something to use for anyone . . . except maybe a made up character on a cartoon show. So please forgive me if you find this offensive, I do watch the Simpsons every once in a while and he is one of the characters and so his title popped into my head as I was trying to figure out why my jaw was so sore and tense.
After I thought about what I had to have been doing to make my jaw sore, I looked it up. The one site I read mentioned wearing a mouth guard. Since I am thinking I am not grinding my teeth, I think a mouth guard would not solve the problem of clenching my jaw and could make my jaw muscles even more sore. Unless just the fact that I have plastic in my mouth would make me think NOT to clench my jaw. Another comment was about maybe caffeine being a cause which made me laugh because I have not been having coffee daily, but today I had some. But I also have not been working on this project before so . . . . that is something I will have to pay attention to. (Caffeine + project vs. project caffeine-free)
What about you? Do you find yourself clenching your jaw? Do you hold tension in your shoulders and/or neck? Do you have any suggestions to offer?
Posted in Misc | Tagged: Cletus, Cletus the slack-jawed yokel, jaw clenching, mouth guard, Nia, Nia blog, Nia class, Nia posts, Simpsons, sore muscles, teeth grinding, tense muscles, unhealthy habit | 4 Comments »
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