Posts Tagged ‘San Jose Nia classes’
Posted by terrepruitt on November 19, 2009
As a Nia teacher there are prescribed steps we are to take to learn a routine. It is easy to skip steps in the interest of time. We all learn in different ways and as humans we tend to follow the easiest path. No matter what we are doing our tendency is to do it the easiest way possible. So some of the steps might be skipped.
I recently attended a FAB*, it was short workshop that covered some of those steps. Being in a workshop with everyone focusing on the same thing made it a lot easier to learn. At home, when I set about working on learning a routine, I get very distracted by things. So being in a room where there was no cat, no computer, no dirty dishes, no laundry, and no cleaning that needed to be done was awesome. It really enabled me to focus.
The routine that we were working on is called Aya (one of Carlos AyaRosas, FKA Carlos Rosas). It is very Latin based–it has both Latin music and Latin moves allowing for a lot of hip swaying and sexy moves. One of the songs that we reviewed was not in English and someone translated it for us. I have to say that sometimes when you know the words of the song it can make the movements different.
This workshop was a shortened version of another workshop that was recently held in Concord. That was a two day workshop where they reviewed the entire routine. The one I attended in Nevada City was only four hours. We reviewed two songs. I will be honest and tell you that I could not do the songs without seeing them again. But I am confident that once I purchase the routine and set out to learn it, these two songs will be a snap.
I also returned to San Jose with a renewed sense of knowledge. I might KNOW something, but it always helps to review and to look at it from different angles. I enjoy hearing how information filters into people differently.
Nia is so wonderful because it is so many things. It is a workout, it is a practice, it is exercise, it is something that brings people together, it can be the basis of a workshop, it is just fabulous.
*FAB = For all belts. Nia White Belts, Blue Belts, Brown Belts, and Black Belts.
NOTE: The pictures are actually from the little birthday acknowlegement we had for the owner of the studio.
Posted in Nia | Tagged: and Nia Black Belts, Aya, Carlos Rosas, exercise, exercise routine, FAB, For all belts, latin moves, Latin music, Latin routine, latin songs, Nia, Nia Blue Belts, Nia Brown Belts, Nia Concord, Nia exercise, Nia Nevada City, Nia Practice, Nia routine, Nia San Jose, Nia Teacher, Nia White Belt, Nia White Belts, Nia workshop, San Jose exercise classes, San Jose Nia, San Jose Nia classes, San Jose Workout, workout, workout routine, workshop | Leave a Comment »
Posted by terrepruitt on November 12, 2009
Today is “whatever” Thursday, I wanted to find some pictures to post, but nothing really struck me. I have thought about it all day and I couldn’t come up with anything. Then I thought of lists. People are always posting lists. In fact, my last post was somewhat of a list; a list of benefits of resistance training. On my short drive after class from Santa Clara to San Jose, I decided to post ten of my favorite exercise in no particular order:
1) Dumbbell Chest Press (especially on a stability ball)
2) Upright Row (on one Pilates DVD I have she calls this the “Zip Up”)
3) Lat Pull Down with Alternating Backward Lunge
4) Tricep Kickback (with a dumbbell)
5) Standing Tricep Pushdown
6) Heel Raises
7) Wood Chops
8) Bent-Over Row
9) Bicep Curl
10) Sit-ups (on the BOSU) (she did NOT just say that, oh yeah, I did)
Of course, I love Nia for my aerobic (cardio) workout and with that I get a lot of these same motions as some of my favorite exercise, but this is just a list of some of my favorite exercises I like to do with equipment and/or weights.
Comments? Questions? What are your favorite exercises? What do you like to include in your workout?
Share your list.
Posted in Exercise and Working Out | Tagged: aerobic classes, aerobic workout classes, Backward Lunge, Bent-Over Row, Bicep Curl, BOSU, Cardio classes, cardio workout, dumbbell, Dumbbell Chest Press, Dumbell Chest Press, exercies classes, exercise, exercise equipment, favorite exercise, Heel Raises, Lat Pull Down, list of exercises, Nia Classes, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia workout classes, Pilates DVD, San Jose exercise, San Jose Nia, San Jose Nia classes, San Jose Pilates, San Jose Workout, Santa Clara exercise, Santa Clara Nia, Santa Clara workout, Sit-up, stability ball, Standing Tricep Pushdown, Tricep Kickback, Upright Row, Wood Chops, Zip Up | 4 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on October 31, 2009
I teach my Nia classes in a studio in San Jose that is next to a pet store. The groomer that works there usually gets there before the shop is open so she sits outside in front waiting. Often she has a puppy or a dog that she has rescued and is trying to adopt out. She seems to be able to rescue them and it works out that she can find someone to adopt them pretty quick.
This time she had her own animals. I heard them yelping and realized they were puppies so I peeked out. Imagine my surprise when I saw a purple puppy with black patches. Her sister was black and pink. They were jumping and yelping and vying for attention. They were obviously cute little girls, but with their bright colors it made them even more adorable.
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Keep in mind these animals are puppies and you know how puppies are. It was a miracle that they were still long enough to get a shot, but having them be in a particular spot for correct lighting was not possible. In fact I don’t think the little one was still at all. I did not retouch the puppies, but I did blur some of the background.
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The sun was really bright when it was shining on the purple puppy. The sun almost washed out the purple. It definitely made her color seem less bright.
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But she was pretty purple. And her sister had a pink muzzle, chest, and pink feet.
It was really cute. They were really cute. Full of energy.
Since it is Halloween, I thought it would be cute to post pictures of Purple and Pink puppies!
Posted in Entertainment, Misc | Tagged: adopt a puppy, Halloween, Nia Classes, Nia classes in San Jose, Nia workout, pink puppy, puppies, Purple puppy, San Jose Nia classes, San Jose pet store, San Jose studio, San Jose Workout, workout classes in San Jose | 2 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on September 5, 2009
Twitter is interesting. Twitter is nothing to be afraid of. Twitter is a tool to be used as one sees fit. Unlike a hammer that basically has a specific use, Twitter can be used in different ways. I have some friends that use it as a main source of instant communication: “Hey, ya wanna go to lunch today?”, “Meet me at . . .”, “I am in front of the fountain.” And other people just pump out their business information with no conversation at all. I think that however you want to use it is fine. It all works. Everyone is different, do what you want. I use twitter to meet new people, to connect with people, learn things, introduce people to Nia, get the word out about my business, and make kissy faces at my husband.
So that last part doesn’t really fall under what I think of as my “business account” but it sneaks in every once in awhile. (Shrug!) That is what is so great about it. It is MY account and I can use it like I want.
I do actually try to manage my account, and here again, people can manage their accounts all different ways.
I use TweetDeck to see stuff all at once: tweets of people I am following, mentions, DMs, and other columns I have set up. Then I use Twitter.com to look at my list of new followers and look at their profiles. I also use Twitter.com sometimes because DMs and “mentions” come to it faster than TweetDeck. Also, I look at my tweets from Twitter.com. I try NOT to tweet a bunch of tweets in a row especially if they are “general” tweets. Sometimes I am having a conversation and so they are in rapid succession. Twitter.com allows me to see them all in a stream and when I am sending out Nia information or business announcements I try to space them out.
TweetDeck allows you to do some of these things too, but I like Twitter.com for some things.
I also use Mr. Tweet to see who that system recommends.
I use FriendorFollow.com to see who I am following but who is not following me (“following”). It also shows you who is following you that you are not following (“fans”) and it shows you who you are following that is following you (“friends”).
I also use Twittergrader to sometimes check who is following me. Friendorfollow is not always accurate. I also use Twittergrader to see who I can follow in my area. One of my goals of being on Twitter, as I mentioned, is to expose people to Nia and along with that I want to obtain students for my Nia exercise classes. So I try to follow people in San Jose, Los Gatos, Milpitas, Mountain View, and basically the Bay Area, so that I can see local tweets and maybe they will follow me back. Sometimes that works out.
As you can see if you know anything about any of these programs this is a very rough overview. If you don’t know anything about anything I have just mentioned then—perfect, I told you something new hopefully without confusing and overwhelming you. Just go to these sites and check it out. I promise you can’t break them nor the internet! From these sites you can work on managing your twitter account or get information on your account.
There are so many systems and programs to use. It is amazing and overwhelming. Just try it. Don’t be afraid of it. Have fun. Be safe.
If you already use different sites and programs, what do you use? How do you use it? Please leave a comment and share with me and my readers because I am not an expert. I am just learning and I love to hear about all the other stuff out there.
Posted in Twitter | Tagged: Bay Area Exercise, Bay Area Nia, Bay Area Nia classes, Bay Area Workout, business on twitter, Friendorfollow.com, Los Gatos Exercise, Los Gatos exercise classes, Los Gatos Nia, Los Gatos Workout, Milpitas classes, Milpitas exercise, Milpitas Nia, Milpitas workout, Mountain View exercise, Mountain View Nia, Mountain View Nia classes, Mountain View workout, Mr. Tweet, Nia Classes, Nia exercise, Nia information, Nia workouts, San Jose exercise, San Jose Nia, San Jose Nia classes, San Jose Workout, TweetDeck, tweets, Twitter, twitter business, twitter help, twitter programs, twitter sites, Twitter.com, Twittergrader.com, workout Nia | 2 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on August 1, 2009
A lot of practices claim to be mind-body practices. I believe the idea is to engage our mind to control our body.
Well, I like to call Nia body-mind. For me calling it body-mind reminds me that we are first going to the body. We are engaging our bodies in movement and allowing them to move freely. Then we can allow our minds to loosely focus on what we are doing. So we don’t want our minds controlling our movement, but we want our minds registering the sensation so as to give it full power and allow us to acknowledge what feels right.
Let me give you an example of what can happen:
The music starts, and like a lot of people, we begin to move without even thinking, we start to sway or wiggle, or whatever the body senses the music is telling it to do. But then—CLICK! The mind engages and then we start to THINK about how to move, then we start judging movement, then we start choreographing movements, then we realize that we are thinking, thinking, thinking. UGH! I would be the latter as mind-body, my brain is thinking and I am doing what it tells me.
In Nia, one of the greatest tools to learn is to be body-mind and just let the body go. The body can listen to the music on its own. Then when you are able to do that, it is amazing how the body knows what it needs. It can move you in a way that your mind might keep you from. Your hips can thrust or gyrate, your shoulders can shimmy, your feet and skip and jump, and your voice can be heard—all without judgment from yourself.
Also, if we let our bodies lead us, it will keep us from doing something that is too much or not in the best interest of our bodies. Our bodies seek balance and health. When we are working out, if we are allowing our bodies to be the guide we can get the exact kind of workout we need. As our bodies guide us to what we need we can concentrate with our mind to understand the sensation that we are sensing with our bodies. When our bodies get the workout it needs both our body and our mind feel great.
I think if you have not tried Nia it will be difficult for you to “get” what I am saying. I would like to invite you to go to the Nia website and see if there is a class near you or look at my class schedule and see if one of my classes (I teach four per week) works for you. There are Nia classes in San Jose, Los Gatos, Mountian View, San Ramon, Oakland, Pleasanton, Palo Alto, Los Altos, all over, one of them has to work for you. Go out and try it!
Posted in Nia | Tagged: balance and health, body-mind practice, engaged mind, Los Altos Nia classes, Los Gatos Nia classes, Los Gatos Workout, Mind-body practice, Mountian View Nia classes, Nia, Nia Classes, Nia focus, Nia Practice, Nia San Jose, Oakland Nia classes, Palo Alto Nia classes, Pleasanton Nia classes, Practice, San Jose Nia, San Jose Nia classes, San Jose Workout, San Ramon Nia classes | 2 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on June 20, 2009
I am not a Twitter expert. But . . . I have picked up a few things from a lot of people who could be considered experts. Plus I have picked up some things from just doing it.
Recently I have connected with a bunch of wonderful people who have less time than I do to spend learning about this. So, I am going to share a few things that I have learned so that I can just point them at this blog instead of typing it all out individually (on my iPhone, mind you). Now, here is the catch, this is my opinion and my perception of how it works. If you have a different opinion or you know that it works differently please kindly share. That would be very appreciated and helpful.
For my friends, here is my advice:
-Put a picture up. Anything, doesn’t have to be you if you don’t want, but don’t leave that twitter box up. That is not good. I actually have to be really convinced to follow people that have that (or I have to know them personally and understand that they just haven’t gotten around to putting a picture up).
-Fill out your bio. Put something there. If you are Nia person, tell them about Nia, if you can’t think of anything else. If you have to, read OTHER people’s bios to get ideas. I have followed people just because their bio has made me laugh. Make up something funny. List your likes or dislikes, list what you will be tweeting about, share that you like to work out, share that you loathe exercise . . . .who cares what you write, just put something there.
-Put your web address up. C’mon, you have a website because you want people to go to it. Put it out there. MAKE SURE YOUR LINK WORKS! (Ya, that is a big deal.)
-Tweet. Oh my, this is the most difficult thing, but the most important. I am still challenged by it. But do it. If you are like me it is kind of intimidating. If you are following some major people (like I am, and I mean “major” as in they are “celebs” on Twitter) their useful information can make me wonder, “What do I have to add?” So I started by retweeting other people’s stuff. Then people would retweet my tweets and start talking to me. And then I would think of something to share and bam . . . . so it goes. I still retweet a lot because there is a lot of good stuff out there that I like to share, but I also share my own stuff. I also like to tweet about stuff happening in the area of San Jose (Willow Glen) in which I teach classes.
The following is easier said than done: don’t worry so much (I still do, sometimes, but I try not to). The people that you want following you are the ones that want to see what you have to say. Right? So say what you want and you will get people following you. People will come and people will go. That’s ok.
Ok, I will continue this on Tuesday because right now, my word counter is saying that I am way over my self-imposed word limit. Tuesday I will tell you what I understand about @, RT, and DM. And of course, if you don’t want to wait, I am sure you can find all of this information out there somewhere else.
Posted in Twitter | Tagged: @, Direct Message, DM, iphone, Nia, Nia Classes, Nia San Jose, retweet, RT, San Jose exercise, San Jose Nia, San Jose Nia classes, San Jose work out, teach Nia, Twitter, Twitter Celebs, Willow Glen Nia, Willow Glen Workout | 14 Comments »
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