Posts Tagged ‘San Jose exercise’
Posted by terrepruitt on June 18, 2009
So my friend who writes Zebra Sounds included the fact that hummingbirds have tongues in a post recently. I learned this after having watched them at our feeders (about 10 years ago). I had always thought that they used their beak as a straw, so imagine my surprise when I caught a tongue in a picture.
I was looking through my pictures for the tongue picture for her post — but we didn’t communicate well enough for her to actually use it, but in trying to find it for her, it got me looking at more of my hummingbird pictures.
Since I am not a professional photographer, I just have to sit there and take picture after picture and hope I end up with a good one. Sometimes I do.
I will try to learn more about hummingbirds and I will continue to take pictures and probably post more of some I have already taken. I have a lot. They fascincate me. And just like our other birds, since we live in San Jose and our weather is warmer for a longer season, we have birds around for six to seven months.
For now:
Their hearts beat about 21 times per second, their wings 55 – 75 times per second. They weight 1/10 of an ounce. They can feed on up to 1000 flowers a day. The hummingbird tongue licks up nectar at the rate of 13 licks per second. And they do eat insects.
Somewhat unrelated, to these pictures, I just wanted to mention, yesterday I was outside taking pictures and working out and one flew right up to me, within arm’s reach and just hovered where I was kneeling. I think they are a very curious bird. Maybe they are almost as curious about us as we are about them?
I want to remind my awesome readers that my pictures are all mine. I take them all myself and it is not cool at all to steal them.
Posted in Birds | Tagged: Bay Area Workout, Humming bird, Hummingbird, hummingbird pictures, Hummingbird tongue, San Jose exercise, San Jose Workout, tongue, Zebra Sounds | 13 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on June 16, 2009
In my last post, I mentioned “exercise mojo“, I was saying that actually referring to a exercise schedule. Most people need to make working out a habit. They need to put it in their schedule and then do it. If you have it scheduled you are more likely to do it.
Well, I believe, from what I have been hearing around San Jose and the Bay Area, that the last of the schools are finally out. And if not, they will be this week and everyone’s schedule is all in jumble. Well, since a new schedule is going to have to be instituted into your life, you might as well schedule in some exercise. Right? It is a perfect time. If you are having to change things anyway, just shove some movement in there. Now, of course, honestly, I would like you to add MY classes or something with me into your schedule, that would be awesome. But I am really more interested in you getting healthy, so I think anything you add would be great.
Most parents pick up their kids from school now-a-days, right? Why not just keep that time that is allotted for picking up the kids and add a walk into your day. You can even walk with your child (if it is a teenager you will probably have to promise to stay a few feet back). Or workout to a DVD, do some calisthenics, run, jog, do yoga, anything. Now is the time add it. Then it might even be a smooth transition since you are already having to rearrange your day, it won’t be that big of a deal. Ha! How do you like that? Doesn’t that sound totally logical? Isn’t that a good idea? Wouldn’t you call that perfect timing?
So this tactic can work for any change of scheduling, right? Be it school letting out, or a new work schedule, or school going back into session, whatever, if you are already changing why not take the opportunity to add some change for the better?
Posted in Exercise and Working Out | Tagged: Bay Area Exercise, Bay Area Exercise classes, Bay Area Workout, Bay Area Yoga, calistehnics, exercise, jog, San Jose exercise, San Jose exercise classes, San Jose Workout, San Jose Yoga, work out, work out schedule, Working Out | 4 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on June 13, 2009
I am very fortunate that the place I teach in Willow Glen is only about 15 minutes from where I live in San Jose. But as I was driving home the other day something dawned on me. It is my opinion that people often use their brakes when it is not necessary. For example, I do not think it is safe to put on your brakes and come to a crawl on the freeway because you want to change lanes. I see this a lot in our area.
So what dawned on me is that braking or stopping is NOT always the correct course of action. I was thinking that this comparison could be used for life, then I realized it could be used for fitness too.
Some people think that if they have a little bit of discomfort they should stop doing what they are doing. And–oh my, I just realized that I am pretty much back to Sustain, Increase, and Tweak, except this is coming at it from a different angle and it is more about exercise and workout momentum and not in-the-moment-movement.
Here, I am talking about just applying the brakes and stopping, whereas it could be that the best thing to do would be just to take our foot off the petal and slow down that way . . . more naturally. Or it could mean that a swerve is necessary, or maybe even a turn, but NOT just stopping. If you are sore or you are a little stiff, sometimes just stopping and not doing any exercise or movement is not the best way to get through it. I am not one for stopping when I am sore, I just might slow down or work another part of my body, but just stopping kills my exercise mojo. I gotta keep at it every day!
Part of what we need to do is understand the difference between pain and an injury and just discomfort and soreness. So you need to be your own guide through this, but always think twice before you just stop. I personally believe that sometimes just doing a percentage of what you normally might do is better than nothing at all. When the situation is just soreness. An actual injury needs to be treated with caution, but you still don’t always have to stop.
I might have partly been on this train (of thought) because one of my students came in with a sore hip flexor but instead of just not coming she said she was going to take it easy on her hip. Nice, huh? And then I know of another Nia teacher who recently injured herself and she is still going to teach, but she is going to modify her class. She wrote an e-mail to her students and a blog explaining that she is going to listen to her body’s way. So she is teaching them a lot by doing that: she is going to show them what we talk about all the time in Nia and that is listening to our bodies and following the body’s way and she is going to show them a different way to do Nia. But the point is, she isn’t stopping. She is swerving or even turning but not stopping.
I think sometimes before we stop we need to think of how we can adjust to what we need, but keep going. And as I said this can be applied to fitness/training/working out or just everyday life. Do you think before you apply the brakes and stop?
Posted in Exercise and Working Out | Tagged: body's way, exercise soreness, movement, Nia, San Jose exercise, San Jose Fitness, San Jose Nia, San Jose training, San Jose Workout, training, Willow Glen Exercise, Willow Glen Nia | 2 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on June 4, 2009
I want to share this product with you. I have been using this product since I was in high school. It is awesome. It is not all natural, most of the ingredients I can’t pronounce, but the first one is water. It is one of those products that is so versatile. They call is an “All Purpose Skin and Hair Moisturizer”. And that is what it is for me.
SeaPlasma by Focus 21
I am not comfortable using most products on my hair and my skin, but this one I do. It is great for moisturizing without adding any kind of sticky left over feeling. And I have never had a problem with it when it comes in contact with my clothes. It is great to use to cool you off. It is awesome.
In addition to a moisturizer and a “cooling agent” it has such a great refreshing scent that you can even use it as an after exercise “freshen up” tool. I mean, face it, we would all love to take a shower after every workout, but sometimes you have to rush off to pick up the kids, meet a friend, or maybe you’re like me and you are rushing off to another class and there isn’t time for a shower. Sea Plasma can be used on your hair and skin and you can be off and running and not smell like you just finished working out.
In San Jose you can find it in the drug stores now. I used to have to buy it from my hair salon. I bet you can find it in your local drug store, too.
Posted in Just stuff | Tagged: excercise, Hair Moisturizer, moisturizing, San Jose exercise, San Jose Workout, Sea Plasma, SeaPlasma, Skin Moisturizer, Working Out, workout | 12 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on June 2, 2009
I was people watching the other day in a coffee shop in Willow Glen. I was looking at people’s shoes and it occurred to me that people might not realize feet need exercise too. The foot is an awesomely designed structure. Think about it: over 26 bones, 33 joints, 107 ligaments, and a bunch of muscles and tendons, all working to support you and transport you, and sometimes even defend you. The foot was designed to move, flex and absorb. Your foot can be subjected to up to four times your body weight.
Do you exercise them? Do you even think about them?
For most people feet are in shoes most of the day. Most shoes are very rigid and they don’t allow for the foot to bend and flex. With that kind of captivity your feet do not move much, so the bones, joints, ligaments, muscles and tendons don’t get the workout they need.
One of the reasons Nia™ is done barefoot is to exercise the feet. The Nia routines have us (at the very least) stepping flat foot, stepping into releve, stepping onto a heal lead, at times we use the ball of our foot flexing out toes—our entire foot gets a workout.
Nia can be done in shoes, but there is a reason why we do it in bare feet. We want to build a strong base. Our feet are the very bottom of that base. According to The Nia Technique® White Belt Manual: “Ida Rolf, the creator of Rolfing, teaches that the feet tell an entire story. She says to develop healthy and powerful posture, to have a strong an agile body, the feet must be structurally aligned. They must provide a firm, sturdy and flexible foundations.”
It is good for our feet to make a connection to the earth. Nia say that our feet are the hands that touch the earth. We have 7,000 nerve endings in our feet. Think about how alive they would feel out of shoes, touching the floor, assisting in the health of the rest of the body.
Next time you are working out, think about how you can help your feet get some exercise too.
Posted in Exercise and Working Out, Nia | Tagged: agile, barefoot exercise, Exercising, Nia, Nia Technique, Nia White Belt, San Jose exercise, Willow Glen, Willow Glen Exercise | 4 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on May 26, 2009
Oh, with the Memorial Day weekend behind us we are thinking forward to more barbeques, right? Especially since we had such spectacular weather in the San Jose Bay Area. Well, I honestly don’t know where this recipe came from. I will credit the person that I got it from about 10 years ago. I worked with this woman named Diana and she brought this salad to a potluck. I have been making it ever since.
Now, it is an exercise in imagination calling this a recipe, this really isn’t a recipe per se, because I don’t have amounts of ingredients. You need to decide that for yourself. I am just sharing the idea and giving you a ball park.
So basically you get some mangos peel then cube them. Then you cube or slice a peeled cucumber. Throw it all in a bowl, then you add lemon juice and salt. So easy. And so good. But you have to decide how much mango you want or how much cucumber. And the lemon and the salt again, all to taste. What I usually do is I bring a lemon and salt to the event so that people can add more if they like.
I usually start out with three mangos to an English cucumber. And I chop everything up in tiny little cubes because I like to get a bites of both mango and cucumber. I am a firm believer in eating the edible skin of my fruits and vegetables, so I don’t always cleanly peel the cucumber, but without the cucumber skin you can taste the mangos better, I think.
Mangos contain the antioxidants C and A. They also contain fiber. Even peeled cucumbers have vitamins and minerals that most could benefit from.
This salad is one of those super easy, yet packs-a-tasteful-punch kind of summer salad that I bet you will have on all of your barbeque tables from now on.
“Recipe” for Mango and Cucumber salad
- Peeled and cubed mangos and cucumbers, salt and lemon juice to taste.
Posted in "Recipes", Food | Tagged: barbeques, Bay Area, Bay Area Exercise. summer salad, bbq, cucumbers, fruit salad, lemon, lemon juice, mangos, punch, Recipe, salad, San Jose Bay Area, San Jose exercise | 7 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on May 23, 2009
I had been thinking about getting some henna decoration around my ankles or on the lower legs. I was thinking that would be cool since people tend to look at my feet a lot since I am a group exercise instructor teaching Nia. I had been looking for an artisit in San jose. But, then I saw pictures from a Yelp Event and there had been a Henna Artist there doing tattoos. These were the first tattoos I had seen that had sparkles and glitter on them. Ooooooo, now we are talking!
So I contacted her and started learning a bit about Henna and Henna Tattoos. First of all when the henna is applied and it is like puff paint, it is raised and thick and initially wet. So the glitter is applied when it is wet and I imagine this is done when one is at an event or a party, because then it looks extra pretty. As the Henna dries it starts to flake off and if you have glitter that will probably flake off too.
As I was looking at Henna and Beyond website I read that it is believed that putting henna on the skin started out as a way to cool people in the desert, “When the desert people of Rajasthan, Punjab, and Gujarat became aware of Henna’s cooling properties, they dipped their hands and feet in a mud or paste made with the crushed leaves of the plant. Even when the mud was scraped off, they noticed, as long as the color remained visible, their body temperatures stayed low.” This really fascinated me. I know so many women who, if this is true, might want to try Henna tattoos. If this works for some people think of how we could save on electricity during heat waves.
I went to Rachna of Henna and Beyond and had some art work done. One of the things you can do to help achieve a dark stain is to put oil or tiger balm on it. Well, I tried both—sort of. I put oil on it, but it was so light that I was afraid that wasn’t helping so I turned to some “hot sauce” that my hubby had made during his Jujitsu days.
Now I don’t know if the Hot sauce or the henna is making me cold, but it is a perfect temperature in my house and I have socks on and I just drank tea. I have not yet washed the hot sauce off, although I am sure there is not much on after sleeping, because I am still in the 24-hours-without-water-period that you wait in order to assist the Henna color to last. I am really thinking that the Henna does have cooling properties. It could be that it does for me because I have that in my head, I don’t know, but it is fascinating.
I like my decorations. I have learned a bit from this first time. Next time I will get the decoration a little higher and not on the foot. I want it on areas that move less so the flaking isn’t so bad with every movement. But hopefully I have weeks before I need to think about that. The tattoos will hopefully last two weeks. I invite you to try it and let me know if it cools your body temperature down. I would love to hear.
Posted in Just stuff | Tagged: 24 hours, exercise, group exercise, Henna, Henna and Beyond, henna decoration, Henna Tattoos, Jujitsu, Nia, Nia San Jose, San Jose exercise, San Jose Nia | 7 Comments »
Terre Pruitt's Blog 