We recently went through an extremely hot spell. This is the San Francisco Bay Area, so we are not really accustomed to having EXTREMELY hot weather. Many homes in this area don’t have air conditioning. Most often when we do have hot days, we get cooler nights so it makes the hot days somewhat bearable because the night air has cooled everything down. But with this last heat wave there was no reprieve from the heat of the day at all. So it was hot and it stayed hot for days. Record breaking temperatures were recorded all over. So the idea of making dinner was really unappealing. And the idea of using anything that created heat was just unthinkable. I was trying to come up with something we could eat that wouldn’t require heat at all. The only thing I could think of was Chicken Salad. Now this was all I could think of without me having to go to the store. But I thought that was kind of average because when I make chicken salad I use mayonnaise, pickles, and garlic salt. Not just that, but that is the basic idea. But I wanted a different flavor. I was thinking I could give it a Mexican flavor and we could put it on a tortilla with a little cheese and salsa on top. Had we had avocado and sour cream that would have gone on top, too, for my hubby. So here is what I came up with.
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Mexican Chicken Salad
1 can of chicken
1 can of corn
1/4 cup of chopped white onion
1/4 cup of chopped red onion
1 teaspoon minced garlic
2 teaspoons garlic salt
1 teaspoon coriander
1 teaspoon cilantro
1 teaspoon cumin
Sprinkle of pepper
Half of a green bell pepper
– – – –
2 teaspoons white vinegar
2 teaspoons lime juice
Flour tortillas
Shredded cheese
Salsa
(The dashes indicate ingredients that were good on their own. They didn’t even need the rest. But it was good all together.)
Chop the bell pepper. Mix the chicken, corn, onion, garlic, garlic salt, coriander, cilantro, cumin, pepper, bell pepper vinegar, and lime juice together. Let it chill for at least an hour, to let the flavors meld together a bit.
Then spoon the mixture onto a flour tortilla and top with shredded cheese and salsa. Roll it up to eat it like a burrito.
As I said, if you have avocado and/or sour cream you could put that on top.
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As I mentioned, these ingredients are what I had. I did not go to the store so I used dried cilantro. When I make this in the future I am going to use fresh cilantro and I think that will make a big difference flavorwise. I was kind of flying by the seat of my pants because it was just too hot. Too hot to go to the store and too hot to create heat and cook.
I like this because it is chicken salad without mayonnaise. So this means we can have chicken salad twice as often because it won’t be the same ol’ same ol’ chicken salad.
This was even better two days later when the flavors REALLY had time to settle in. So you can make it a day or so before you want to eat it.
Do you like chicken salad? What do you put in your chicken salad?
I have this photo in a file and every time I go through the file I am attracted to this photo. It was such a beautiful day and the view was spectacular. I was driving up a little hillside road and I had to pull over at one of the buildings along the way and stop to take a picture. This is a shot overlooking Fremont (I think it would be Fremont). So, since I think this is a pretty view I thought I would share it for my Friday Photo today. That is what I started the Friday Photo series for: sharing shots I liked, but really hadn’t posted or wanted people to see. Some photos I have posted as a Friday Photo I might have already posted on Facebook or even Twitter, but most not. Most are just oddball shots. Here is one of those oddball ones.
At the end of March (2015) there were two Special Nia Events in Campbell, California. They were special for a lot of reasons. One reason being is because a visiting teacher was going to be doing them. It is always special when someone who does not live in the area comes and shares their talents. Another reason is because the Nia Class is a one-of-a-kind-creation. The visiting teacher created the routine and was going to lead us through it. ANOTHER reason, they were special, was that one of the classes was a workshop or a playshop as we like to call them in Nia. And it was also, the creation of the visiting teacher and it was something that I think anyone that dances Nia can benefit from. Another reason they special was they were the first Nia Events that I produced. Produced meaning, when I heard that the Nia Teacher who created the Playshop was coming to my area I contacted him to invite him to do these events. I secured the location, I created marketing material, I promoted the events (as I am sure you have seen, I posted about them often), I worked to get participants to the events, and I worried about how it would all turn out. So, two special Nia Events. I have posted two separate posts (What Did Frankie Say? and Dancing, Learning, Posting, Editing) about the Nia Class that was held on Friday, March 27, 2015. This post is about the Playshop.
The Playshop on Saturday, March 28, 2015 was a playshop regarding Nia FreeDance. In a Nia class, there is normally choreography. Nia Headquarters and the training staff create Nia Routines. There are Nia Routine DVDs that Nia Teachers purchase. We learn the routines and lead our students through them. We have a lot of freedom with our classes. We can follow the routines “exactly” or we can play with them. We can create our own routines from a mix of Nia Routines or we can take the Nia choreography and add it to other music. Or we can create our own routines with other non-Nia music. But with almost every routine there is FreeDance.
FreeDance is where there is not specific choreography. You are not told exactly how to move. Now, I have heard the creators of Nia express very different opinions on FreeDance. I heard one of them say in the past that FreeDance should ALWAYS be guided and the other one say that FreeDance can just be free. So . . . there are different opinions on the matter. I think that in keeping with the Nia White Belt Principle #4, Nia FreeDance does not need to be guided because “Anything Goes . . . movement-wise”. But FreeDance in an exercise class is a challenge to many people. There are many reasons as to why people cannot or will not just move their bodies in their own way in an exercise class.
This playshop was brought here to help people with that. Many of the tools (ideas) Jason shared were covered in the Nia Intensives. So if you have not attended a Nia White Belt Intensive or Nia Blue Belt Intensive, they would be new to you. They are GREAT! And they were the reminder and push I needed to pull them out to use them. The most valuable things he shared with me though were not necessarily the guiding ideas, but more about how the individuals in class can be left to be.
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When I see people in my class not moving or seeming to struggle with FreeDance, I take responsibility and blame myself for not getting them to move with my suggestions and guidance. But he brought up some very good points that I will now take to class and practice just letting those people be where they are, at that moment, in class.
Although I will still strive for the “When Harry Met Sally Moment” of wanting people to look at us and say, “I’ll have what SHE’S having.” I will also take into consideration that they could very well be doing my suggestion, but it looks different to me than I would do it. Or that they are just not in a place to FreeDance. Could be a case of Natural Time.
I learned a lot. I had a lot of fun. I am excited for Jason to come back again! This video and the video on my website are the same song. As I only stopped participating one time to video. The videos are at different times so they are a little different. Also shown here are a few of the pictures I took during the Playshop. I took more pictures during the hour Frankie Say Nia class than I did during the 3.75 hours of the Nia FreeDance Playshop.
There might be one more blog post about this, but we will see. These are the extent of pictures and videos. Enjoy!
Please share your comments. Please ask if you have any questions!
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Ahhh, it is December, and by the pure grace of God we are getting some rain. We need a lot of rain. Our state is dry and the water is pretty much gone, but every little bit helps. And the latest storm is bringing in some nice rain. This year the “storms” we’ve had in the San Francisco Bay Area have not really been storms and have not brought rain. Some have even just been “mistings”. But this one is good. It is an awesome way to bring in a season of Joy! One way I like to bring in the season is by oiling my entertainment center and my buffet. I don’t always have a chance to do it, some years are more hectic than others, but it is one thing I like to do. I somewhat consider it part of decorating for Christmas. Since I don’t really do “Spring Cleaning” I like to oil the furniture before I decorate at Christmastime.
It used to be that the oil came in a plastic bottle with a top like the ones that come on salad dressing bottles. The oil had to be squeezed out or shook out. But then someone got the brilliant idea to put it in spray bottles. WOW! That was an awesome idea. It makes it much easier to get the oil everywhere. I did use an entire bottle on the entertainment center. I am not sure that I oiled it last year. As I said, I like to do it every year, but sometimes it just doesn’t happen. So many factors go into what you time for and what you don’t have time for, as I am sure you know . . . different things going on make different things possible or not. Sometimes you just have to let things you want to do, but aren’t that important (like oiling the furniture), go.
I take everything out of the entertainment center except the TV, stereo, and what is in the cabinet. (Yes, we still have a stereo.) When I oil the furniture I put a good coat on so I like to let it dry. I usually let it set for a day or two, to make sure it is dry and all the oil is soaked in before I put the items back. And since it is Christmastime I will leave some stuff off so that I can have room for the decorations. At least one whole shelf on the entertainment center is left empty for my nativity set. With the buffet I take everything out of the cabinets and oil inside.
I was not planning – I know I always say this, but really – on blogging about this otherwise I would have taken a “before” picture so that you could see the difference in the wood. The wood gets darkened by the oil. I think it likes it. I think it helps preserve the wood. This is really important since I’ve had the entertainment center for almost 25 years.
The buffet I got at a consignment store not to long after we moved here. I do not know its previous story.
Getting this done makes me feel good. As I said I don’t do spring cleaning, I clean for the Holidays and this is one of the things I like to do. Helps get my decorating mojo ignited. I love decorating for Christmas. I like for everywhere you look to be at least a little Christmas!
Do you have any furniture that would like to be oiled? Do you oil your furniture? Do you use Old English?
I am so grateful that all of the Niaclasses I teach are in air conditioning because it is has been really hot the last few days and the weather predictions for the next few days are just as hot if not hotter. I know that a lot of areas get hotter than us, but we usually don’t have such hot weather. Since the San Francisco Bay Area doesn’t always get into the triple digits it is not uncommon for people to NOT have air conditioning. We don’t have air conditioning. Usually with the few days of heat that we do get it is ok. Our traditional — and wonderful, I might add — weather patterns consist of cooled off nights even when the days are blistering. But sometimes or when the days of heat drag onto six or seven days in a row, it just doesn’t seem to cool off and it makes sleeping difficult. I often see posts on Facebook and tweets on Twitter about how people can’t sleep because it is too hot. When it has been too hot for me to sleep it is usually immediately. As in when I go to bed it is too hot for me to fall asleep. I have a little method of cooling down that at least allows me to sleep. I wanted to share it in hopes that it might allow you, if you are too hot, a few hours of sleep.
Even if this is not new to you or sounds elementary, it might help someone. I know when I mentioned it to someone once they said, “Oh, I never thought of that.” So — hey, it might help.
So what you do before you go to bed is take a cold shower. As cold as you can stand. Now I don’t know what it is about showers, but the other day I got into take a shower and even though the weather was really hot I started taking a warm shower, then I realized that it was really hot and I should try a cool shower at least. So when I say take a cold shower, I really mean COLD. As in jump-in-the-pool-stop-your-breathe type of cold. Now if you are actually taking a shower than I supposed that would be long enough, but if you are just in there to cool down stay as long as you can to actually get cool maybe even chilled. Once you are done don’t dry off all the way. Yeah, that is the big part of this. First cool your body down. Drop your temperature as low as you can in cool/cold water then don’t dry off. Then set a fan up to blow on you while you are in bed. Then go to bed, wet hair, damp body, and all.
Part of the sleep process is lowering your body temperature so when it is hot outside and your body can’t cool down it makes it difficult to sleep. But if you HELP your body’s natural sleep process by cooling your body down you are a step closer to sleep. The fan is an added bonus to help keep you cool. Of course have the air blowing on you however you prefer. I don’t like it on my face and I don’t care for it on my back so often I just have it on my feet, either in a constant rush or the breezy kind.
So this is a simple procedure that might assist you in getting to sleep. For many people once they are asleep they can stay asleep, but if you wake up because it is too hot at least you got a few hours (hopefully) in. You could always repeat the process if you’d like. Usually it helps me get through the night.
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 . . . .
Whether you do Nia, Zumba, yoga, Pilates, country western dance, motor-cycle race, play tennis, or just about anything there are the “Gods” or celebrities of the practice/dance/sport. Often the “Gods” or gurus are the masters or the top teachers, but sometimes it is the CREATOR himself/herself. That is when the event is really rockin’. That is when the events sell out or get so crowded it is crazy. Well, Nia is going through a lot of changes and they have been working for a couple of years training the top instructors to move up even further to become top trainers. The male of the male-female combo that created Nia, Carlos AyaRosas (FKA Carlos Rosas) retired a bit ago, so that left the female creator to continue on. She is coming to the San Francisco Bay Area . . . . . which is a rather large area. She is going to be in the North Bay, the East Bay, and the Peninsula. And it is going to be rockin’. She and a top trainer are going to be here.
April 2013
Debbie Rosas is the (co-)creator of Nia. Kevin VerEecke is a Nia Trainer. They are going to be in the San Francisco Bay Area in the beginning of April (2013). They are going to have seven classes. It is going to be incredible. Every thing has its superstars, its celebrities and these are ours. It is really exciting.
I took my Nia White Belt Intensive at the Nia Headquarters in Portland. The trainers doing the intensive were Debbie and Carlos. Plus they were here for a “Spirit of Nia” tour within the last four years. So I have met them both. I have never met Kevin.
I am excited that Debbie and Kevin will be here sharing the Nia experience. The classes that they are going to be doing are 52 Moves classes. While we have a basic set of 52 Moves we don’t typically do all 52 in every Nia Routine. We do many, but not usually all. In these classes they are going to lead us through all 52 Moves. There are going to be seven chances to check it out.
The first class that will be held will be with Keven VerEecke only in San Rafael. Then Friday’s classes, Saturday’s Classes, and Sunday’s Classes will be both Debbie and Kevin.
The flyer indicates that all classes will have a different playlist. I guess for some people that is important. I know Nia enough to know that all seven classes could be the same EXACT playlist yet all seven classes could be totally different. That is the beauty of Nia. And with two masters leading the dance it wouldn’t matter. BUT . . . the flyer does indicate all classes will have different play lists.
I hope you will take this opportunity. Nia is always fun, but when you have the creator up in front of a room full of people who are there to dance, move, and have fun there is no way you can experience anything but MAGIC.
Recently 30 seconds into the second song in my Nia Class, one of my students stopped dancing and started to limp away. I asked her what was up and she replied that she got a bee sting on her foot. I asked if it just happened now (during the class) because she had appeared to be moving fine during the first song — but then again, the first song in the Nia routine we were doing is basically whole foot stances. She had said it had happened over the weekend. She said that she was hoping she could dance, but the sting got too aggravated. After class one of my other students inquired as to why the student left. She had not heard the exchange between me and bee-stung person. I told her that her fellow student had been stung by a bee over the weekend but had hoped to be able to dance but could not. The inquiring student said, “Oh I wish I would have heard because she might want to try meat tenderizer.” Huh? So that started a whole conversation about her having been told to use meat tenderizer on a bee sting.
My student related the story where she and her son had been walking down the street in Palo Alto (a city in near San Fransisco) and she had been stung by a bee. She said since it happened right there on the street others had observed the incident. She said one woman offered the suggestion of putting meat tenderizertenderizer on the sting. She said the woman was a nurse. I asked my student if the meat tenderizer worked. She said it did, she said she didn’t know why, but it did.
Times like that is when I truly LOVE wireless devices that can instantly connect me to the answers to “Why?/How?” I had to look it up. WHY would MEAT TENDERIZER work on a bee sting?
The first site that came up stated that bee stings are acidic and the meat tenderizer is alkaline so it works to counteract the acidity of the sting. At the time that is all that I read. Good enough for me. Just a quick answer as to why. In researching it for this post it appears that this treatment of the symptoms of a sting is an old home remedy.
The information on the internet states to mix the meat tenderizer with water to form a paste, apply it to the stung area so that it covers the entire area, and leave it on for 10 to 20 minutes. Then wash it off and apply ice.
Some information stated that mixing the meat tenderizer with vinegar is another option.
Several sites state it is the papain in the meat tenderizer. Papain is a natural enzyme that works to break down the protein in the venom. It is suggested that a meat tenderizer without this enzyme would not work.
Some sites indicated that this remedy used to relieve the symptoms of a bee sting will work for other stings (wasp, jelly fish) and bites as well. Of course — as stated this remedy would just relieve minor symptoms of a sting. If there is a chance of an allergic reaction medical attention should be obtained.
Also . . . more stuff I learned while researching the meat tenderizer for a bee sting is that the stinger should not be removed with tweezers. I saw many instructions stating to SCRAP it out. The suggestion is to use a credit card or a metal blade. The idea is that pulling the stinger out might just cause MORE venom to be pushed into the victim and the scraping will get it all out. I would have just pulled it out with my finger nails or tweezers.
I found all of this very interesting. I know many people who have been stung by bees and they might know this information. I know many people who have not been stung by bees and they might want to know this information. I don’t actually have meat tenderizer in my pantry. I am not one that cooks meat without it having been marinated and I believe the marinades work to tenderize the meat. But if you do happen to get stung by a bee and have meat tenderizer in your pantry maybe you would like to give it a try.
Have you ever been stung by a bee? What did you do? If you get stung might you try meat tenderizer on the sting?
I have been teaching Nia in the San Francisco Bay Area for two and a half years. So far every Holiday that falls on one of my regularl class days, I have taught. I keep seeing postings on Facebook, Twitter, and other places on the internet about how classes are suspended or cancelled over the Holiday weekend. The classes will resume normal schedule on Tuesday. I understand this because some of the places where the classes are taught are closed over the three-day weekend. Also, a lot of people do go away during Holidays, but a lot of people stay home too. I find that because I have morning classes, my holiday classes are bigger. People that are normally at work get to come to a morning exercise class. I love it.
I also understand that holidays are family time so it is nice to be with the family. Especially since most of the time people are having to get up and rush off on their separate ways. I am fortunate that my Monday and Wednesday classes in San Jose are at 9:00 am. Often times people can come take the class and be back with the family before the family is even up and ready to go about the day. AWESOME!
It seems as if the actual independence day was July 2, 1776, when the actual legal separation from Great Britain occurred. The document clarifying and explaining what the meant was finalized on July 4th so it seems that was adopted as Independence Day. In 1938, Congress changed Independence Day to a paid federal holiday. This is all according to Wiki.
I feel it is nice to take a moment to remember why we have a day off. Usually we are so excited by the fact we have an extra day to play we might forget why. I know I do. It really is my blog that helps me stop and remember. On Holidays I often look up them up to see if I should or could post about them. Today I decided to post a bit about it and about the fact that Help You Well / me has not taken a Holiday yet. I post the information on my site too, so that my students know I will be there and people looking for a class will know. Some people like to try a new class when they have the day off.
I am fortunate to rent the studio where I teach on Monday so I am not subject to a “company” being open or closed. So I am there. You can find me at the studio in San Jose. Even though that is the one day when my hubby might be home and I have to get up and leave him, I am motivated by my students that show up that normally can’t attend on regular work days. Come join me.
At the time of this post there is a Free Class pass on my site. Print it out. Use it. Come dance with us. Come celebrate freedom, barbeques, fireworks, picnics, and grilling. Yeah, dancing can be like that a celebration of it all. Come see.
Happy Fourth of July regardless of where you live! 🙂
Ok, so it is Wednesday and as you might notice, it is 1:00 am and I am not in bed yet. This means I have a few more things to do before I get to bed, which means I will not be up at 6:00 am doing my Ten Minute Workout, drinking my coffee, reviewing my Nia Routine, deciding on a Nia focus, and popping out the door in time to be at the studio 15 minutes early for my Nia class. In fact, around here, when the weather is nice traffic is worse, at least lately because our weather in the San Francisco Bay Area has been so wet and rainy, I think when it is sunny people think they have to be out. If it stays like this, then people will settle down and it won’t be so bad . . . . I hope, but on Wednesday, it is ALWAYS worse than Mondays and Fridays. Go figure. (I have my theories.) On Wednesdays I have to leave a few minutes before I do on Mondays.
Since I am not a morning person that means, I will do my Ten Ten in Ten after my class. But YOU can do it anytime. And the beauty of it is . . . . you can share . . . .
So . . . . tell me . . . . how is it going? What are you doing with it? What questions do you have? One of my readers I am lucky enough to actually see in person so I was able to answer some of her questions, what about you? What do you want to know about this workout?
Ok, after 3:00, but I did it. This workout is really meant to be something that easily fits in your day. If completing it is a challenge then it seems like ten minutes is a good start to a workout. If it is not challenging and you want more than you can add reps, sets, or weight. Or it could be that you are adding it to something else you are doing.
It really is something that can work for anyone if they want. If the way it is presented is not “working” for you but you want to do it, let me know. You can always send me an e-mail if you don’t want to comment.
We recently went through an extremely hot spell. This is the San Francisco Bay Area, so we are not really accustomed to having EXTREMELY hot weather. Many homes in this area don’t have air conditioning. Most often when we do have hot days, we get cooler nights so it makes the hot days somewhat bearable because the night air has cooled everything down. But with this last heat wave there was no reprieve from the heat of the day at all. So it was hot and it stayed hot for days. Record breaking temperatures were recorded all over. So the idea of making dinner was really unappealing. And the idea of using anything that created heat was just unthinkable. I was trying to come up with something we could eat that wouldn’t require heat at all. The only thing I could think of was Chicken Salad. Now this was all I could think of without me having to go to the store. But I thought that was kind of average because when I make chicken salad I use mayonnaise, pickles, and garlic salt. Not just that, but that is the basic idea. But I wanted a different flavor. I was thinking I could give it a Mexican flavor and we could put it on a tortilla with a little cheese and salsa on top. Had we had avocado and sour cream that would have gone on top, too, for my hubby. So here is what I came up with.
Mexican Chicken Salad
(The dashes indicate ingredients that were good on their own. They didn’t even need the rest. But it was good all together.)
As I mentioned, these ingredients are what I had. I did not go to the store so I used dried cilantro. When I make this in the future I am going to use fresh cilantro and I think that will make a big difference flavorwise. I was kind of flying by the seat of my pants because it was just too hot. Too hot to go to the store and too hot to create heat and cook.
Terre Pruitt's Blog 