Posts Tagged ‘San Jose Workout’
Posted by terrepruitt on August 8, 2009
You might have seen me “talk” about it somewhere. They have them four times a year in the wide Bay Area (and beyond) recently I went to my first one. Not only was it my first Nia Jam, but I was going to teach. Nice.
It is somewhat like a “Jam Session” we’ve all heard of, a bunch of musicians get together and play, sometimes certain songs, sometimes making stuff up as they go . . . whatever, it is a jam.
Well, with the Nia Jam they pick a focus and arrange the music to comply with the Nia Workout cycles and to assist in sticking with the focus. And then a group of teachers teach and just have a good time. Students that attend the jams get treated to a variety of styles and music. It is just like one big party.
It was so fun to be able to workout with all the different teachers getting a sample of all the different Nia classes around the area**.
The room we held the class in was awesome. It was in a open room at Stanford University in Palo Alto. The room was rectangle shape and there were mirrors on one of the longs walls and the other long wall opened up, it was glass doors. The floor was wood, I believe, I want to say it was cushioned because It felt somewhat like the floor at the studio where I teach in San Jose. We danced a lot and it didn’t feel like cement directly under the floor.
The wall that opened up, opened onto a patio we had all to ourselves. The weather was perfect.
The Nia Jam was fabulous, it was freeing, it was inspirational. I met a lovely group of Nia Teachers from around the area and beyond. It left me feeling really sweaty and alive. Very energized. I would like to invite you to our next one. When I have the details I will let you know.
**Check the main website for regular classes, if you don’t see one in your area call the nearest instructor, she might know about one that is NOT on the main website. NiaNow.com Or visit my site for current information about classes in San Jose and Los Gatos.
Posted in Nia | Tagged: Jam Session, Nia Bay Area, Nia Exercies, Nia focus, Nia instructor, Nia Jam, Nia Teacher, Nia workout, Nia Workout Cycles, nianow, NiaNow.com, Palo Alto Nia, San Jose exercise, San Jose Workout, teach Nia | 3 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on August 6, 2009
I am thinking about playing this game every first Thursday of the month. Let’s see if that works out. I am not sure that I can come up with material every month. I know that I have sung and heard others sing a lot of wrong lyrics, but I can’t remember them.
I was thinking of doing it different ways, sometimes asking for guesses, sometimes just throwing them out there, but, always, of course, asking you to share. We’ll see huh?
What are the correct lyrics?
1. Don’t let go, if you cling to tightly your gonna lose your soul.
2. Strumming my fate with his fingers . .
3. It’s safe to dance . . .
So, on this rainy day in San Jose, these might not be a challenging exercise on your brain, but maybe coming up with of some lyrics you have sung incorrectly or that you have heard someone sing might be. So tell me what the correct lyrics are and share with me some other ones you have found out about.
Posted in Entertainment, Misc | Tagged: safe to dance, San Jose exercise, San Jose Workout, song lyrics, wrong song lyrics | 12 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 July 30, 2009
I love these. At first I was disappointed because you can’t actually see the colors, but I looked at them again, and, I like them.
Look, you can see the tiny feet.
He’s not landing because he keeps getting chased off.
Their little feet are so cute!
I always think that we are so lucky because in San Jose, California, we get to see them for a long period during the year. And we have about eight. My friend just posted on FaceBook that she has too many to count. She has to fill her feeders twice a day. We have six feeders and we don’t fill them that much. When it is hot, it works out to maybe twice a week, but when it is cooler they don’t drink at much.
Posted in Birds | Tagged: Facebook Hummingbirds, Hummingbird Silhouettes, Hummingbirds, Nia, Nia San Jose, San Jose Hummingbirds, San Jose Nia, San Jose Workout, Silhouettes | 8 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on July 25, 2009
I am actually interested in hearing what you think, because I know what annoys me. So let me know what you think. Add comments to what I have or come up with your own.
It’s annoying when people don’t use:
Car blinkers
Car ashtrays
Car gas pedals
Door mats
Manners
Headsets (hands free devices) for cell phones while driving (yeah, in California it is illegal to hold your phone)
Headsets for office phones (we all do not need to hear your conversation even if it is a “business” conversation)
Office doors (see the above)
Crook of your arm when sneezing or coughing (it is better to cough/sneeze into the crook of your arm as opposed to your hand that touches things)
Bathroom sinks (they’re for washing your hands after you use the restroom before you go back to work. Oh yeah, I’ve seen it happen.)
Ok, I honestly just started out with two, but then I thought that looked kind of measly and I let my brain wander. Let’s see how this one works out. What about you? What bugs you when they are not used properly?
Yeah, “do you know the way to San Jose?” that is what pops into my head, because my blog has strayed . . . . oh well, thanks for putting up with it!
Posted in Entertainment, Misc | Tagged: annoy, california, cell phone, manners, Nia, Nia workout, San Jose Workout, workout | 10 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on July 21, 2009
Do you know how much fiber is ideal? Do you know how much fiber the average American eats?
First of all let me tell you a little “un-detailed” story. I visited a friend on the outskirts of San Jose one day and she had a snack sitting on her counter. She asked me to try it and she said if I liked it I could have it because she didn’t really like them and they “didn’t agree” with her partner. Well, I liked them, and so she let me have them. When I got home, I had to laugh. I was looking at the Nutrition information on the package and one serving works out to be almost as much fiber as the average American gets per day. So it dawned on me that maybe it “didn’t agree” with her partner because of that.
Ideally we should be eating about 35 to 50 grams of fiber a day. The average American eats less than 1/3 of that—yes, about 10 grams a day.
Now, as a refresher, fiber is the plant material that is not digested by humans. Our digestive enzymes just can’t cut it. It can be found in whole grain, fruit, vegetables, nuts, and beans.
So, I’ll leave you with this suggestion, try to add a little bit more fiber in your daily intake. Do not add a lot of fiber all at once. But do try a little bit a day. What could you add to your diet today that would add fiber to it?
Posted in Food | Tagged: Average American, beans, digestive enzymes, fiber, Fiber intake of average American, fruit, grams of fiber, nuts, San Jose work out, San Jose Workout, Vegetables | 6 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on July 16, 2009
Are you bold enough? Are you secure enough? Do you have it in you? Can you admit to what you THOUGHT the lyrics were?
Well, here are a few I can share—whether they were from me or not, I won’t tell—hey, maybe I won’t tell. Let’s make this post twofold.
1–share with me some lyrics you had wrong (or that a friend of yours had wrong or that someone you know of had wrong.)
2–guess what songs these are:
A–In the Garden of Eden
B–Our Love Is Japanese
C–Painted Glove (oh, c’mon, that one is way easy)
Its too hot here in San Jose, California. I know this will work out, right? Care to play?
Posted in Entertainment, Misc | Tagged: Garden of Eden, love, Love is Japanese, Lyrics, Nia play, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Painted Glove, San Jose, San Jose Workout | 32 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on July 9, 2009
It is funny to me because when we first moved to San Jose, this rose bush had JUST orange roses. Bright orange. Now some come in pink. The ones that do come in orange turn pink.
All of our rose bushes are multi-colored now. Funny how it worked out that way.
I still think they are awesome.
I wish you would smell them.
Posted in Flowers | Tagged: Roses, San Jose, San Jose Roses, San Jose Workout, work out | 8 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on July 7, 2009
This past weekend we went to a park in Fremont, not too far from San Jose. I was thinking we would be in shade, but we were not so much. I was terrible and got sunburned and worse, I “let” Hubby get sunburned too.
Now we all know the bad stuff about sunburns. You got the whole risk of skin cancer increase going on. This, of course is serious because the sun damages the skin’s cells and when they try to rebuild if something doesn’t work out right that is when cancer occurs. Since most of us are immune to cancer (Ya know, “That won’t happen to me.”), maybe we can use some other incentive.
What about the other things that happen that might interrupt our quest for health? In comparison to cancer these things are really nothing but inconveniences, but sometimes that is what it takes for us to take action.
I am talking about being uncomfortable. I was looking outside and I wanted to go, but I knew it was too hot. Even if I didn’t go out in the direct sun, I knew just the heat of the day would be too much. So any normal activity you might do outside could be restricted.
What about sleep? One of the best things we can do for our body and one of the things that is absolutely essential to health, but ya can’t do it well when you are sunburned. The first night I think I woke up four or five times.
And exercise. How uncomfortable is that? Think about bending a sunburned limb into a yoga pose just gives me chills. I wore a big shirt to teach the day after (the sunburn occurred) because I was thinking a shirt with tighter arms would be too much but every time I lifted my arms I was in pain because my shirt rubbed on my sunburned arms.
And shower just plain hurts. Even if you opt for cold water sometimes just the water hitting the sunburn is enough to hurt!
So, I guess, I wrote this blog to myself, because I need to remember the inconveniences so that I remember the sunscreen not matter what.
The latest information is stating that products that block the UVA and UVB rays on the best. Products containing titanium dioxide and Zinc oxide. They don’t soak into the skin, they sit on top and scatter the rays. Also, I am seeing that it doesn’t matter what number SPF you buy, you should apply it often.
So, think not only about avoiding the BIG thing, think short term, think in the now, think about wanting to remain healthy by continuing your normal outdoor activities, sleeping soundly, being able to exercise, and, oh yeah, for the sake of the rest of us—shower! If you do get sunburned, what do you do to ease it?
Posted in Just stuff | Tagged: exercise outdoors, Outdoor activities, San Jose exercise, San Jose work out, San Jose Workout, San Jose Yoga, sun burned, sunburned, yoga pose San Jose | 2 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on June 30, 2009
Where is it written that you have to walk into a workout class or a dance class and know every step? Can you point me to that grand writing? No. It doesn’t exist. Nowhere is it written that you walk in and know the steps or even that you know them after the first workout or the first class. But we still think that we should “get it” right away. Almost immediately we pull out labels like awkward and uncoordinated. Not often do we stop to give ourselves a break. Did we not have to learn how to walk, why is it that we think we must know how to move or dance?
I bring this up because I keep having this brought up to me. People say they feel like a klutz or that they have two left feet. Well, this could all be true as a feeling of what they feel, but how are they ever going to get over it?
With Nia (one of) the point(s) is to move how you need to move that day, in that class, in that moment. NOT to move exactly like the teacher or like the other students, or to be perfect or workout like it is a performance. It is to move how your body needs to move. It is to stop judging HOW you are moving and just MOVE. Yes, there are steps, there is a routine, most of the time you are doing guided movements, but you aren’t expected to know them and do them perfect. And even if you do know them, sometimes you might need to adjust them.
I understand that there is a desire to do it right, but with Nia™ we really take that saying “If you stumble make it part of your dance” to heart. No one is perfect, we are not expecting the routine to be done perfect. We are expecting respecting, respecting your body and your heart. You move, you mess up, you forgive yourself, you keep moving. It is not because you are awkward or uncoordinated no labels, take the next step. Come to class, learn, practice. Once you get the moves down then the fun really begins because then you can play with the move making it big or small fast or slow do it with ease or make it dynamic.
But you have to start at the beginning.
Honest? Want me to be honest here? After I get the gist of the routine down, I stop watching the training DVD. I refer back to it when I get stuck or want to refresh my memory or “tighten it up”. But I don’t practice to it. I don’t move like Debbie or Carlos*. I can’t concentrate on my music and the movements when I try. I have to turn them off and tune them out and concentrate on me and my workout. I have to listen to the music and sense when I am supposed to cue. I can’t learn what my body needs and get the work out I need if I am trying to do it exactly like them. I am not them. I am me. I have to pay attention to what I can do especially since what I can do in my living room is entirely different then what I can do when I teach. I have to make certain I practice the different levels so I have a chance to show them in class. When I workout to the DVD, I don’t practice level one, I am trying to keep up with Debbie.
So what I am saying is give yourself a break. We cannot all move the same. So we need to practice quieting our inner dialog that tells us we have to do it like whomever, and just do it like our body needs. It probably won’t be perfect because we are not perfect. We are there to move and improve and enjoy. So are you ready to give yourself a break and just move?
My schedule of classes in San Jose and Los Gatos.
*Debbie Rosas and Carlos Rosas, the people that have brought us Nia.
Posted in Exercise and Working Out, Nia | Tagged: Carlos Rosas, Debbie Rosas, Los Gatos Workout, Los Gatos Workout class, Nia, Nia San Jose, San Jose Nia, San Jose performance, San Jose Workout, San Jose Workout class, workout, workout class | 8 Comments »
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