Terre Pruitt's Blog

In the realm of health, wellness, fitness, and the like, or whatever inspires me.

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Posts Tagged ‘stances’

Nia White Belt P6 – Base – 2020

Posted by terrepruitt on August 10, 2020

Wow. We are already on Principle 6 of the Nia White Belt Principles in the first ever Nia White Belt Training Online. Remember this is somatic training so it is about the body. For people that have not taken any type of anatomy training or exercise training the information might be new, but since Nia is based on the body a lot of it is not new because we pretty much have had the same number of bones in our feet since they have been able to count all the bones in the feet (26 in each foot). Nia is based on science but the way Debbie relates it to your everyday life is what makes it fun and amazing. Nia White Belt P6 Base. It is about the base, our foundation, from our feet to our hip joint.  The triad consists of feet, legs, hip joints.

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia online, San Jose Virtual classes, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Gentle Yoga, Group Ex classes, Nia Technique, Yin Yoga, stretch classes, online exercise, Zoom classes, virtual yoga, City of San Jose online exercise, live classes via ZoomI love to remind my students that feet need to be flexible in order to provide the shock absorption we need with each step. Also, in order to help with the entire health of the body they need to be strong, and also allow the energy to flow through. Nia refers to the feet as the Hands that touch the Earth.   Feet like hands relay a lot of information to the body.  In Nia we dance barefoot to not only receive that information through the hundreds of thousands of nerve endings in each foot, but to help with the health of our feet.  Nia has 52 Moves the routines focus on.  Twenty seven of them are associated with the base and each move can help keep feet flexible, strong, and allow energy to flow up to the body.

There are four categories associated with the base. The “Feet” category has 8 moves, the “Stances” category has 6 moves, the “Steps” category 9 moves, and the “Kicks” category has 4 moves.  Below is the list of “base” moves and links to my posts about them, except the Cha-Cha-Cha.

Foot Moves (8)
1.  Heel LeadDance Exercise, Nia, Nia online, San Jose Virtual classes, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Gentle Yoga, Group Ex classes, Nia Technique, Yin Yoga, stretch classes, online exercise, Zoom classes, virtual yoga, City of San Jose online exercise, live classes via Zoom
2.  Whole Foot
3.  Ball of the Foot
4.  Relevé
5.  Rock Around the Clock
6.  Squish Walk
7.  Duck Walk
8.  Toes In, Out, Parallel

Stances (6)
9.  Closed Stance
10.  Open Stance
11.  “A” Stance
12.  Riding (Sumo) Stance
13.  Bow Stance
14.  Cat Stance

Steps (9)
15.  Sink and Pivot Table Wipe
16.  Stepping Back onto the Ball of Your Foot
17.  Cross Front
18.  Cross Behind
19.  Traveling in Directions
20.  Lateral Traveling
21.  Cha-Cha-Cha
22.  Slow Clock
23.  Fast Clock

Kicks (4)
24.  Front Kick
25.  Side Kick
26.  Back Kick
27.  Knee Sweep

If you have never been to a Nia class you might be amazed at how many ways you can do each of these moves. There are many ways . . . you could shift your intention, you could shift your energy, you could shift your focus, you could shift your weight . . . . all of these things would allow you to sense the move differently.  And the great thing about them is you don’t even have to be in a dance class to practice them.

Can you spot one you might call a favorite?

Posted in 2020 Nia White Belt Principles, Nia | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Claw Hand – Nia’s 52 Moves

Posted by terrepruitt on January 20, 2015

As you may know if you have perused my blog or website, Nia has moves called the 52 Moves of Nia or Nia’s 52 Moves.  Moves concentrated and focused on.  Generally moves included in all of the routines.  Not all the moves are included in all of the routines, but the routines are jam-packed with most of the moves.  The moves on the list have physical benefits.  Some are fun or silly so they can have mental or spiritual benefits.  And in this case I am talking about your spirit or inner child, the part of you that likes to have fun, the part of you that you might not get to display in your regular everyday work life.  So not the religious type of spirit but the kind of spirit that you think of when you say or hear “school spirit” or inner child.  The fun playful side of you.  To me, one of those moves is Claw Hand.

Claw Hand is a great move.  It is super easy.  It can be done all on its own.  You can just stand or sit and do claw hand.  You can add it to some foot work.  You can add it to some complicated choreography.  You can make it soft or hard.  You can do it fast or slow.  It is very versatile.

You can even make noises when you do it.  You can growl like a big cat or a bear.  You can meow like a kitty-cat.  You can make any noise you want.  It is fun stuff.

As I said you can do it standing or sitting and this moves gets done in to all the stances and steps in the Nia Routines.  The Nia Technique Book (by Debbie and Carlos Rosas) recommends it be practiced in all the stances and steps.  And that is a great idea since we use it with all of them.  The routine I am doing now even add it to blocks.  We block in with claw hand and we block out with claw hand.  Why not?

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia in the City of San Jose, Nia at the San Jose Community Centers, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Gentle Yoga, Group Ex City of San Jose, San Jose Group Ex classes, YMCA, Zumba, PiYoYou can probably figure out what this move is from the description but I tell you what the book says:

“Mimic a claw with your finger and claw the air, as if you were in a cat fight.  Keep your wrists relaxed, and sound a cat’s hisses as you do the move.  Use both hands.”

The benefits can include strengthening your fingers and hands.

In addition to keeping a relaxed wrist I like to use the claw shape to bring tension into my entire arm.  I imagine I am really clawing something.  I figure I would need strength to do that so I put my entire arm into it.  You can use one had to “claw” and the other hand to feel the muscles in your arm (forearm and upper arm) contract.

The book states that this move can increase your sense of power.  When I am doing it with muscles contracted as if I am REALLY clawing something I do have a sense of power.  I imagine that is how an animal feels when they wield their claw.

This move allows you to practice bending your fingers too.  That helps with the mobility of the joints.  I like this move.  I like to add sounding to it.

Ok, so stop and try it?  What sound do you like to do best with your Claw Hand?

 

Posted in 52 Moves (of Nia), Nia | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Tenderizing A Tender Sting

Posted by terrepruitt on August 16, 2012

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?

Posted in Helpful Hints, Misc | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

The 52 Nia Moves Highlighted at the Recent Nia Jam

Posted by terrepruitt on August 11, 2009

The focus for the most recent Nia Jam was the 52 Nia Moves.  We were to pick songs in which we could highlight one or more of the 52 Nia moves.  So we moved a lot because we all wanted to really highlight the moves.  The idea was to pick one song that highlighted the move then pick another song that contained the same move that you could play with.  There was a couple of us that picked two songs with different moves so we highlighted more moves instead.  I think it worked out fine.   

Movements Highlighted included:
   
~Pelvic Circle             
~Spinal Roll  
~Heel Lead & Ball of Foot  
~Closed Stance, Open Stance, “A” Stance, and Sumo Stance,   
~Front Kick, Side Kick, and Back kicks 
~Releve   
~Lateral Traveling   
~Shimmy   
~Blocks   
~Undulation 
~Wrist & Hand movements 

We do not do all 52 Nia moves in every workout (unless we are doing the 52 Nia Move routine), but we do cover a lot of them.  The moves are not necessarily new moves, some are quite common and you will be familiar with them.  Some you could be familiar with, but not familiar with DOING, but that is part of the fun.  Come to a class and see.  I have classes in San Jose and Los Gatos.

Posted in Nia | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 12 Comments »