Posts Tagged ‘yoga poses’
Posted by terrepruitt on December 12, 2013
I was talking to a friend after Nia class recently and I don’t even know how we got to this but she said the main difference between Up Dog and Cobra was the feet. I just looked at her a smiled. Since I didn’t reply she went on to explain how the feet are this way in that pose and that way in this pose and still I just smiled. If you research any pose in a book, on the internet, in a class, with a teacher, with another yogi you are probably going to get a different answer on how to do it. I am finding that just like with so many things you are going to find a lot of different – and often conflicting information. I am thinking that as yoga has become more “main stream” and available to more people it has morphed — a lot. So while I was not familiar with the feet being different in Up Dog and Corbra I didn’t want to tell her that what she was saying was incorrect because she could have learned it differently or be doing a different version or modification than what I do or what I am familiar with. As we talked she concluded for herself that she thinks she was thinking the feet positions were different because of the pose before or the one after. So she could just be thinking of her feet in terms of another pose. Seems as if the Upward Facing Dog or Up Dog and the Cobra are sometimes called the same thing or thought of as interchangeable. I view them and I do them as two different poses. This post is focusing on Cobra.
With both poses you start on your belly. With Up Dog your hands are below your body, in line with your shoulders. With Corbra, when your body is extended, your hands are forward of your body.
Cobra / Bhujangasana, you lie on your stomach. Your legs are stretched out behind you. The tops of your feet are on the earth. Place your palms on the earth a bit forward of your shoulders. The starting position of the hands are the staying position. The hands do not move. So they start a little forward of the shoulders. When you are ready you push gently down with your pelvis and pushup with your arms. Think of a cobra. Think of how they raise themselves off of the ground, they don’t have any arms. So let the power come from your back. Your arms are holding and supporting.
As with so many poses continue to keep your shoulders down, the blades back. The neck is lengthening. Keep the space open between your shoulders and your ears. No scrunching or hunching. The arms do not necessarily straighten in Cobra. They are not bent and with elbows resting on the ground as with Sphinx, but they are bent. For a bigger stretch in the back you can straighten your arms, but since the power and energy are coming primarily from the back, straight arms are not necessary.
Your legs remain together. With firm thighs and glutes. Toes are pointed away from you.
(11/17/21: Click Picturing Cobra And Updog for a picture.)
Hold this pose until your body says stop and repeat. Remember to breathe, allow your breath to flow easily. This pose strengthens the back and arms. It opens the front of the body. It is a great stress reliever.
This pose is similar to Updog, but it is different. It is primarily the placement of the arms and where the energy comes from. Corbra has arms forward and power comes from the back.
Are you a fan of the Cobra pose?
Some Benefits Of Doing Back Bends
Posted in Yoga/PiYo/Pilates | Tagged: cobra, Nia class, prone poses, stress relievers, Up Doc, yoga poses | Leave a Comment »
Posted by terrepruitt on November 21, 2013
As with all workouts, it is important to warm up before beginning. In a Nia class our warm up is one or two songs. When I was young and was first learning to exercise the way to warm up was to perform a series of static stretches. Science has proved that static stretching can actually increase relaxation and in a sense put your muscles to sleep. Research has now shown that the best type of warm up is to actually prepare your body for the activity it is about to do. So moving in a slower and more gentle way that you will be moving in the activity you are preparing for is a great way to actually warm up the muscles. Walking and/or a slow jog is always a great way to warm up the entire body — depending upon the planned workout. For a yoga practice a warmup could include moving the muscles that you will be using as you do the sequence of poses in your practice for the day. It is important to warm up the muscles before you put them into a full on stretch or expect them to hold you in a pose. A warmed muscle moves more easily and can stretch better than a “cold” muscle. In the beginning of our classes we often do an Upward Salute. I think it is a great way to start the warming up process.
The Upward Salute is sometimes called Extended Mountain Pose / Mountain Pose with Upward Stretch / Mountain Pose with Arms Overhead. The basis of the pose is the Mountain Pose. To do this pose first position your body in the mountain pose.
Summary of Mountain Pose: Toes touch and feet are parallel sense a stable base. Distribute the weight over the entire foot – both feet. Your legs are active and rooting you to the earth. The abdominals are engaged. The crown of your head is reaching up creating a long spine. Your muscles are active. Once you are comfortable in the Mountain Pose (for more details about the pose click here) turn your palms out and raise your arms up in a sweeping motion. Allow your arms to reach over the top of your head. Your palms come together. You gently look up.
If it is not comfortable to look up then keep your gaze forward. If it is not comfortable for you to bring your palms together then keep them apart, but facing each other. No matter if you are looking up or your palms are touching your shoulders are down. There is space between your shoulders and your ears. You have the idea of your shoulder blades sliding down into your back pockets. Allow the energy to flow down your arms, through your shoulders, through your back and your spine. Let it travel through your legs. Enjoy this nice stretch. Let it warm your entire body.
Staying here in this pose is a great warm up. If you would like more of a stretch and warm up for the back allow yourself to bend backwards. With this pose as a warm up the backbend is not deep. Your shoulders remain back and down even though you move your head tilts back while your gaze is up. Remain in this pose for a few breaths. Then move into Mountain and repeat several times.
Now, I am aware that many people have back issues either with their actually back bone, or their spinal cord, or the nerves, so these poses are to be done with the utmost caution. Keep in mind your OWN back situation and do only what is good for your own body. It could be that your body gets the stretch it needs by just standing in Mountain Pose with your arms raised and your gaze looking slightly up . . . that is fine. If that is a stretch for your back, then stay there and enjoy it. Yoga is not about competing. It is about doing what your body can do. Then as you do what your body can do there is a possibility that it will be able to do more. But there is no rush. Yoga is a practice. Enjoy the journey. This is a wonderful pose to stretch and warm up the body. And, of course it can also be done at the end of the session in the cool down when getting ready for Savasana.
Do you practice this gentle backbend?
Some Benefits Of Doing Back Bends
Posted in Yoga/PiYo/Pilates | Tagged: backbends, City of San Jose, Extended Mountain Pose, long spine, Mountain pose, Mountain Pose with Arms Overhead, Mountain Pose with Upward Stretch, Nia class, Nia songs, San Jose City exercise Classes, San Jose City gentle yoga, Upward Salute, yoga classes, yoga poses | Leave a Comment »
Posted by terrepruitt on November 9, 2013
In addition to teaching Nia classes for the city of San Jose, I was asked to teach a Gentle Yoga Class. I have taught three sessions and we have one more before the year is over. This last session before the holiday break is a short one, it is only four weeks. In the classes there is a large variety of fitness levels. Regardless of one’s level of fitness I believe it is very important for the emphasis to be on balance and flexibility. They also like to practice inner reflection which I believe enables a connection to the body. The connection is to allow for great stability and ease of movement. In order to meet the varieties of levels we do a cross between flowing through poses and holding them. I might have also mentioned before that we include getting up and down as part of our practice. With this next session we are going to do a progression of backbend poses. I have not yet decided on the progression of balance poses but I have the backbends progression planned. Since we only have four classes and there are five backbends I would like to progress through we will be doing two in the first class. As with my Nia classes, my yoga students are continually encouraged to do things in their own bodies way. Since yoga is a practice they can work into the poses. For the series of backbends they will be encouraged to stay at the level that is acceptable for their own body.
The first backbend we will do will be the standing backbend. Then, in the same class, we will progress to the Locust. The Locust has many modifications some of which can be done with just legs lift or the head and shoulders lifted.
Then in our next class we will move onto the Sphinx. I’ll probably include the Locust in the routine before moving on to the Sphinx, but the Sphinx will be the next in the progression. Then the next meeting we will move onto the Cobra. Excellent for strength, stability, and flexibility. The last class before the long holiday break will be the Upward Dog. Even though the idea will be for the students to progress through the backbends the modifications will be presented so each individual can progress only if they are ready.
Some students participate in yoga more than once a week so they are more likely to be able to participate in the progress whereas others will do so to a lesser extent – and modifications meet that need. This is a great way to work on flexibility. Everybody is moving in their own natural time through their yoga practice so I am excited to present this progression of backbends. I will include other flexibility poses and balances poses as in all the classes. I have been putting the emphasis on one or the other during a class which can still tie into the backbend progressions.
Of course, this is my plan prior to meeting with the class. It could be that after our first meeting I have to adjust my plan and that will be fine. I do like to see where the class is at and go from there, but it seems like our group has been pretty consistent. But I can easily adjust my plan for any new body.
I am very grateful and inspired by the students that come to class every week. It is very exciting to me to see their progress. Stay tuned for more on the poses that I have yet to post about.
Do you participate in a yoga class? How is it structured? Is it an on-going class or is it a series of classes?
Posted in Yoga/PiYo/Pilates | Tagged: backbends, balances poses, City of San Jose, cobra, flexibility poses, gentle yoga, holiday break, locust, Nia balance, Nia class, Nia participants, San Jose City Nia classes, San Jose City Yoga Classes, Sphinx, yoga balance, yoga classes, yoga flow, yoga poses | 2 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on September 5, 2013
When I typed in the word practice this is what came up in Google:
prac·tice /ˈpraktəs/
noun
1. the actual application or use of an idea, belief, or method as opposed to theories about such application or use.
2. repeated exercise in or performance of an activity or skill so as to acquire or maintain proficiency in it.
verb
1. perform (an activity) or exercise (a skill) repeatedly or regularly in order to improve or maintain one’s proficiency.
2. carry out or perform (a particular activity, method, or custom) habitually or regularly.
Nia is a practice. Yoga is a practice. Playing a musical instrument takes practice. One does not just step into a Nia class and do it exactly right the first time. One does not move into a yoga pose and get it exactly right the first time. One does not start to play a song and do it exactly right the first time. It all takes practice. With Nia the emphasis is on the body’s way. I have said it before, but I will say it again, there is a right way to do the moves, the body’s way, the way the body was designed to move. But every body is different. Some bodies do not move the way they were designed. Some bodies never will, but some just need time. Yoga is a little different in that the positions are a bit more exact, but still, if your body does not move or bend that way do not force it. It could be that your body needs to work toward that pose, it needs to practice or it could be that the actual structure of your body will not allow for the exact post to be attained. Either way it is a practice.
Nia is more forgiving. Since it is a dance there is a lot of room for freedom. With yoga people expect there to be one way to do the pose but again, not exactly true. The individual’s body needs to be taken into account. Some bodies will just not bend or fold certain ways. They might be able to bend more or fold more than the first time a yoga asana is attempted, but it might never look exactly like that magazine picture. Most pictures of people in yoga positions are just like that of high fashion and/or make up models. They are the exception not the norm. They are showing an example of what the pose in its absolute perfection is supposed to look like. They should be required to disclose how many years that person has been doing yoga or how long they were actually in that pose. JUST like people are telling young girls to give up the idea of looking like the women in magazines, some people need to go a little easier on themselves when it comes to yoga poses.
The idea is not “to look like the picture” but to be better and more comfortable at doing the pose as time goes on. In the picture the person might have their elbows on the ground and when you start you can barely touch the floor. Well, the proper way to learn (at least one way . . . another is props, but for this example we are using progression) is to practice until you can touch the floor. Practice with good form. Then practice until you can stay touching the floor – with good form. Then practice until you can stay longer each time at touching the floor – with good form. Don’t injure yourself trying to put your elbows on the ground and all the while not achieve good form.
I do not believe that practice makes perfect. Practice just makes time get used up. But good practice, practice with good form, practice that allows you to get better than you were is good. “Perform (an activity) or exercise (a skill) repeatedly or regularly in order to improve or maintain one’s proficiency.” Yeah that. Being patient with oneself and allowing one to practice and make it good practice will get one further on a the path of proficiency than just trying to get to that pose without working into it. While we all know this, I was reminded that many of us need to be reminded of this.
Nia is a practice. Yoga is a practice. Playing a musical instrument takes practice.
How are you are practicing? Do you like the process of learning or do you like to just jump right in and do it right and all the way the first time?
Posted in Exercise and Working Out, Nia | Tagged: body's way, dance practice, Google, Nia, Nia class, Nia exercise, Nia Practice, practice makes perfect, practice methods, yoga asanas, yoga poses, Yoga Practice | 2 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on August 27, 2013
There are a lot of things I like about yoga, one thing that I really like is that many of the asanas or poses are executed with a lengthening of the spine. In many poses the idea is to reach with the top of your head, or the crown of your head, in the opposite direction of your tailbone. Often the cue is to reach with the crown of your head to the sky while reaching with your tailbone into the earth. I feel as if the reaching and stretching in the opposite directions really help the body be taller.
While standing, sitting, bending the motion or action is to reach. Reach in opposite directions. Create space in between each vertebra. While consciously stretching the backbone, you are pulling your shoulders back and down. Create a long neck by reaching. Push the shoulders away from the ears. The ribs lift upwards, and off and away from the hips.
One motion or thought to help straighten and lengthen is to extend your sternum skyward. This somewhat juts the chest out and the shoulder automatically go back and down. With this as an image there might be some adjusting that needs to take place, but it can help move you in the right direction. With the lengthening of the spine comes the separating of the ribs. Allowing space in between each rib can sometimes help increase lung capacity. If your lungs have more room to move in they might expand further. This all lending to bigger, deeper breaths.
In the Gentle Yoga class I am currently teaching I am continually reminding the students to lengthen their spine. I, myself, have a habit of scrunching. I think I have mentioned this before. I both scrunch my shoulders up to my ears and round my back. I liken my posture to that of a spoon. So it is very easy for me to fall into that even while I am leading a class because I begin to shift my concentration. So the reminder is for all of us. A reminder is nice because then you can check to make certain you are doing all the things involved in lengthening the spine. Although sometimes I feel a bit repetitive, I think it is worth it. In addition to myself I usually see at least one participant make an adjustment.
In Nia while we might not always be lengthening and reaching with our spine throughout an entire routine there is often at least a moment. If not in one of the dances itself in the cool down or the floorplay. I often include imaging space in between each vertebra as we sit or bend over in a stretch. The Nia routing might not include yoga poses by the idea of it is included. Part of the yoga inclusion “is the conscious alignment of bones and joints”* While lengthening the spine we are lining up the bones and the joints. Our posture is intact.
I really enjoy the growing taller sensation that yoga can offer through a variety of asanas where we are reaching and lengthening. To me it makes for a taller me.
Do you sense you are taller after doing yoga? Do you sense your spine is more straight after yoga? Do you do a pose that really has you feeling you are taller after?
*The Nia Technique, page 276. A yoga focus.
Posted in Nia, Yoga/PiYo/Pilates | Tagged: asanas, crown of the head, gentle yoga, lengthening of the spine, Nia, Nia class, Nia Dance, Nia floorplay, Nia routine, Nia Teacher, Yoga, yoga poses, yoga posture | 14 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on February 23, 2013
Just as there are specific moves in Nia (Nia’s 52 Moves), there are different asanas or poses in yoga. There is an asana (pose) in yoga that is standing still, but it is called Mountain Pose. In Sanskrit, what I think of as the language of yoga, it is Tadasana. While this pose is a still pose and the body is standing erect, it is an active pose. The body is not just upright and relaxed, there are muscles engaged and energy moving. It is more than likely that there is no straining involved and one might look relaxed and even feel relaxed yet there is more than just standing there happening. Mountain Pose is an active pose often used as a transitional pose. Yet can stand on its own, no pun intended.
In Tadasana toes touch and feet are parallel. Of course, as with many things, there are many variations, and people have their own way of doing them. In this post in the pose our toes touch, feet are parallel forming a stable base. For some the heels might need to be fanned out a bit or feet may need to be separate. The goal is to have a stable base so adjust the feet as necessary in order to ensure stability. One way to assist with stability is to relax your feet allowing the toes to spread. Imagine your feet becoming wide and open. The feet do not grip the earth, they spread out. Weight is evenly distributed. Take time to sense all points of the feet.
The ankle joints remain open. The shins and calves are rooted into the floor. The knees are not locked, yet they sense stability because the quadriceps are reaching up lifting the knee caps. The thighs are turned ever-so-slightly in. The buttocks are lifted yet there is no arching in the lower back. The belly (abdominals) are engaged. The spine is long.
With the crown of your head reach for the sky, lengthening the entire back. Keep the chin parallel to the earth and your head in alignment with your chest, hips, knees, and feet. Shoulders are gently pulled back with shoulder blades down, the chest does not stick out, yet the sternum is presented up allowing the collar bones to open wide. Arms are along the side of the body, not hanging, not touching the body, not rigid, but active. Hands are active with fingers gently fanned open.
Energy is moving up allowing for the lengthening of the entire body, yet there is a sense of being rooted and stable. As I mentioned this pose is often used as a transition. You might see it performed in between standing poses. It is perfect to reset the body in order to correctly move into another position. It can also be used as a resting pose. Even though it is an active pose, it still can be a rest for the body.
As you can tell, if you got up to try it, this is not a passive pose. There is a lot of muscle engagement, so maybe you can see why this pose could be practiced on it’s own and not just used as a transition. It is not just standing still, it is a strong, stable pose, like a mountain.
So if you didn’t already do it, are you ready? Get up and try it!
Posted in Yoga/PiYo/Pilates | Tagged: active pose, asanas, Mountain pose, Nia, Nia's 52 Moves, poses, sanskrit, standing still, Tadasana, Yoga and Pilates, yoga poses, Yoga/PiYo/Pilates | Leave a Comment »
Posted by terrepruitt on March 17, 2012
When I was younger I remember many people saying that “once you go to a chiropractor you always have to go”. Maybe you have heard that. I still hear people say that. Back when I was young I don’t think a lot of thought was given to that statement. I know I didn’t think about it much, I just had heard it so often I believed it was true. At one point in my life back then I considered myself to “have a bad back”. Being in so much pain once I found myself at a chiropractor. This was all a very long time ago so I don’t remember all the details. I guess they did SOMETHING to make me feel better because I left and must have felt ok. But before I left he prescribed something outrageous like I would need to visit him three or four times a week in order to take care of it. Again, fuzzy on the details, but I know I never went back to that guy. I do remember having medical insurance at the time that would pay for a portion of my visits if I visited a doctor on their list. So, I found one, I believe he was on the verge of retiring and was not interested in seeing people more than he really felt was necessary and he did not think I needed to be seen more than once a week. But I do remember that by the time my next appointment came around I was ready. I think my issue was, and still is, stress or tension. I don’t have a “bad back”. I hold my stress in my upper back. Well, after I had seen a chiropractor I came to believe the saying “once you go to a chiropractor you always have to go” is true. It is because that once you go and you get relief then you always want to feel that good so you “have to go”. But now I also know that there are a lot of things we can do ourselves to either bring relief or make sure we don’t get in a state where we need it in the first place.
One of the things I was doing back then was holding the phone in the crook of my neck and shoulder when talking on the phone. I worked in the mortgage business and like many businesses when you get a phone call you don’t stop working, you keep working because you are having to look at information while talking. After I had been to the doctor I decided I was not going to hold the phone like that any longer and every place I worked after that I got a headset. Ever since then I’ve had had headsets for my home phone, too. That ONE thing alone brought HUGE changes in my back. I never hold the phone in the crook of my neck and shoulder.
But occasionally I still allow the tension to rest in my back. I have been fortunate enough to have someone help me with my back when she is available, but she is not always available and so I try to work on it myself. As I said, I believe a lot of it is making sure we don’t allow our bodies to get into a state where it needs work, but that is not always possible, but there are still things we can do. If you have read a few of my posts you know I have a tendency to scrunch my shoulders up towards my ears. That is a major thing that causes my back to hurt, so I really work on keeping my shoulders down. Also, I work at sitting up straight, which is not easy for me because I like to sit on a leg folded under me.
Aside from plain ol’ not doing things that cause issues I have been doing some things that tend to help my back by keeping the muscles loose and the vertebrae lengthened and relaxed. Often the floorplay in Nia helps with keeping my back loose, but the Nia routine that I have been doing the past few weeks does not have that type of floorplay in it so I am doing other things. My old friend the Downward Facing Dog is a great help for opening the back and releasing the spine. Doing the Downward Facing Dog at least a dozen times as part of a sequence is a great help in keeping my back loose.
Also the Pyramid Pose/Intense Stretch Pose (Parsvottanasana), which I mentioned in my Muscles Used In Nia During Yoga-like Sequence post. When stretching the crown of the head out and over it really does a great job of creating space in the spine. Since my discomfort seems to manifest in my upper back, moves or poses that have me hanging over do a fantastic job of opening my cervical and thoracic spine.
Another “hanging” pose that I feel does a nice job of relaxing my joints and muscles is the simple fold. Just folding over and letting the body hang. Either the ragdoll or the forward fold. Doing both types of hangs, with a relaxed back and a straight back, works to create the sensation that I want – space, space, space, and more space in my spine. The space in my spine helps to relax the muscles that hold the tension.
As I was doing some side bends today, I actually heard my back crack. On each side I heard it crack. While I am not a fan of hearing my body snap, crackle, and pop, I take my back making that noise as the vertebrae getting back into place. When I can move my bones back into place and not have someone else do it, that makes me happy. It is what I have come to think of as self-healing. One of the side bends I have been doing consist of bending to the side while holding my arms over my head with my hands clasps. The other is holding my wrist as I bend.
So I am excited that I am working on my back myself. I have to say that I have not had back pain, tension, or even discomfort in the last two weeks. Yay. I know that I am not the only one that holds stress and tension in the back. So I was hoping sharing some of the things I have been doing to give me relief might help you too.
Do you have issues with your back? Do you hold stress in your back? What do you do to bring yourself and your back relief from your discomfort?
Posted in Nia | Tagged: back pain, back pain relief, back stress, back tension, bad back, chiropractor, Downward-Facing Dog, hanging poses, Nia, Nia floorplay, Nia routines, pyramid pose/intense stretch, yoga poses, yoga sequences | 11 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on March 15, 2012
While Nia is not yoga nor is it a yoga class we do borrow from Yoga. We borrow some of the ideas and sometimes some of the poses. In one of the Nia routines we do the Warrior II (Virabhadrasana II). We do it both static where we just rest into it and we move in it, we bend our bent leg more and sink into it and come up. Then we do the Extended Side Angle Pose (Utthita Parsvakonasana), then a version of the lunge, which depending upon your body could be a variation of the Low Lunge (Anjaneyasana), or the High Lunge (Utthita Ashva Sanchalanasana), or the Warrior I (Virabhadrasana I) – all without the backbend. Then we straighten our leg into the Pyramid Pose/Intense Stretch Pose (Parsvottanasana). With these poses we are using a lot of muscles. The muscles can be challenged in strength, stability, and/or flexibility. It all depends are your body at that moment.
When we do the Warrior II pose in this Nia routine the arms are extended out to the sides, opposite from each other, the hips, torso, chest, and shoulders are facing the mirror/front, while one of the legs is bent at a 90 degree angle and the foot is in line with the arm. The other leg is straight and the foot is slightly turned with the toes pointed toward the body and the heel pointed away. Of course participants have the option of having the foot at a right angle, but for this dance it is led with a slight angle. Even with that slight variation it is working the glutes (all of them), the thigh muscles: inner, outer, hamstrings, and the quadriceps, and your calf muscles. And for some, like me, who have a habit of scrunching the shoulders, it works the rhomboids while holding up the arms and keeping the shoulder blades down and pulled back. This is true for many yoga poses, that is why it is so great for encouraging straight posture.
Then for our Extended Side Angle Pose the arm, on the same side as the bent leg, is lowered, forearm to the thigh, the opposite arm is raised towards the sky and extended to a position that puts the arm next to the ear. There are options to stay in this modified Extended Side Angle or to move to another modification by removing the forearm from the thigh and placing that hand on the earth next to the inside arch of the foot. With this pose the primary work is in the bent leg. It is another pose that works the hamstrings and thigh muscles. Through the back of the straight leg and all along that side of the body there is a wonderful stretch, which is greater and more wonderful the better the body is as keeping the shoulder blades down and the back straight (not leaning forward).
We then move into a lunge with many options. As with all movements in Nia the responsibility falls on the participant to decide what it is their body is able to do and needs to do at that moment. We start off by placing the hands on the ground and straightening the foot on the leg that was straight in the Extended Side Angle Pose to be parallel with the foot on the bent leg. Then gently bring the back leg down resting the knee on the ground. As I said, many options so many places to go from here. One can stay here in Low Lunge (Anjaneyasana), or do a moving lunge by moving up and down, or go to High Lunge (Utthita Ashva Sanchalanasana), or come into an extended Warrior Pose I (Virabhadrasana I) with the arms up but with a parallel back foot and a straight back. Here the body receives the benefit of a lunge no matter which one the body does. If doing the extended Warrior Pose I like pose, the glutes and thigh of the bent leg are getting a great deal of work, while the straight leg’s foot parallel to the other foot results in a slight change in the muscles being worked and stretched than with the angled foot position of a traditional Warrior I. The inner thigh gets less work while the work and stretch shifts almost entirely to the back of the leg, the hamstrings and calf. The arms extended up in the extended Warrior Pose I allows for work in the spinal extensors, deltoids, lats, and traps . . . . basically a lot of muscles in the back, including the ones that keep your shoulders down. With the crown of the head reaching towards the sky abs get a stretch too.
Moving from whichever lunge was done to the pyramid where the bent leg is straightened and the crown of the head is reaching over the leg while back is straight and chest is on or close to the straight leg. Of course, variations are offered and participants do what is right for their body to remain in the sensation of Joy. With this pose the sensation experienced is a great stretch. The leg to which the head/chest is close to get the largest stretch in the back. If the body is active with the leg and working to keep the knee cap up then the quadriceps will be engaged. The spine gets a nice stretch because the crown of the head is being reach over and down. The back leg might also feel a stretch in the hamstrings if the body is like many people’s and has tight hamstrings.
This is a small yoga-like sequence that we do as part of the cool down cycle of one of the Nia routines. Again, since Nia is not a Yoga class there are many options and variations that are offered that might not be part of a yoga class teaching strictly yoga. With all classes whether it be Nia, Yoga, Zumba, Jazzercise, whatever, the goal should be to give your body what it needs at that time. Bodies are constantly changing so the needs do too. The idea is not to force the body into a pose, but to allow the muscles and bones to sink into the pose, finding strength and flexibility along with openness in the joints and that constant sensation of Joy. This is a little review of movements that are Yoga or are very similar to Yoga, to explain some of the muscles we use in Nia.
Can you see how Nia can improve strength, stability, and flexibility?
Posted in Muscles, Nia | Tagged: back muscles, butt muscles, Extended Side Agnle Pose, Jazzercise, lunge, Nia, Nia class, Nia Moves, Nia routines, Pyramid, thigh muscles, Warrior I, Warrior II, Yoga, Yoga class, yoga poses, yoga sequence, Zumba | 2 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on November 28, 2009
As you might now be aware Nia includes elements from three disciplines from three different arts. From the martial arts, we borrow from Tae Kwon Do. Not just “moves” from Tae Kwon Do but also some of the other elements of it. With its kicks, punches, blocks, and stances it helps allow Nia to be a great leg workout and provide a stable base for some of our other moves. Tae Kwon Do can also contribute to one’s confidence by providing exercises that allow one to become strong and stable. These are the things Nia gains from Tae Kwon Do.
Nia calls Tae Kwon Do the Dance of Precision.* So when delivering a punch, block, kick, etc. with the energy of Tae Kwon Do, it is done with precision and intent. However, Nia likes to play so at times even though we might not be executing a punch or a kick, but we might choose to energize our movement with “Tae Kwon Do” like energy, and be forceful and aggressive even adding sound to our movement.
Adding the energy of one form to the moves of another is one of the things that make Nia fun and keeps is challenging. It takes different muscles to skip with force and authority than to skip like a child without a care in the world. That is an example of how Nia incorporates different moves with different energies.
In Nia we don’t “DO” Tae Kwon Do, things have been gleaned from it and brought into Nia and mixed in with aspects of Tai Chi, Aikido, Jazz Dance, Modern Dance, Duncan Dance, Yoga, the Alexander Technique and the teachings from Feldenkrais, and the combination from each form is Nia. A lot of Nia routines include moves and concepts from each discipline, but not always. In an effort to keep each workout fresh, fun, and joyful teachers often mix things up.
If you are near San Jose, come to one of my Nia classes. If not, I hope that you will find a Nia class near you and give Nia try.
*Both the Nia Technique Book and The Nia Technique – White Belt Manual state this. Both books are by Debbie Rosas and Carlos Rosas. **V3 of The Nia Technique – White Belt Manual
Posted in Movement Forms of Nia, Nia | Tagged: Aikido, Carlos Rosas, Dance of Precision, Debbie Rosas, disciplines, Duncan Dance, exercise class, exercise classes, Feldenkrais, Jazz Dance, joyful, leg workout, martial arts, Martial Arts Disciplines, mind, modern dance, movement, movement class, Nia, Nia Classes, Nia Movement, Nia Practice, Nia San Jose, Nia Teacher, Nia Technique, Nia White Belt, Nia workout, Nia Yoga, San Jose Nia, San Jose Yoga, sounding, T'ai chi San Jose, Tae kwon do, Tae kwon do San Jose, Tai Chi, the Alexander Technique, White Belt, White Belt Manual, workout class, Yoga, yoga classes, Yoga Exercise, Yoga Nia, yoga poses, yoga pracitce, Yoga San Jose, Yoga workout | 4 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on October 3, 2009
A Nia workout includes elements from three disciplines from three different arts.
From the healing arts, we use moves and ideals from Yoga. As with all the movement forms incorporated into Nia, Nia does not claim to be practicing Yoga. It is understood that years of studying and practice can be involved in the practice of Yoga, and Nia respects that, that is why I say that we “use move and ideals”. Nia recognizes the benefits that can result from Yoga and with that does its best to utilize some of its amazing power. Nia calls Yoga “The Conscious Dance of Alignment”.* It helps with the proper alignment of the bones. It also assists in increasing flexibility for all fitness levels.
We use the aspects of Yoga to help find balance in the body. In Nia we can also call upon the focus that is evident in Yoga.
The White Belt Manual 3/2001 V3 states:
Witness the value this form provides to increasing and restoring the natural flow of energy throughout the entire body. Recognize the specific principles that help to clear and calm the mind, bring balance to the nervous system, improve breath and posturing, and strengthen specific body parts. Acknowledge the way Yoga unifies the body, mind, spirit, and emotional being, and how the internal, core body becomes soft and supple to provide real “energy” strength from the inside out.
So we might do some exercises of twists, bends, and poses in our workout, it is to help increase strength, flexibility, alignment and our conscious connection.
The breathing in Nia reminds me more of Pilates than to Yoga. We inhale through the nose and exhale through the mouth, often times sounding. I have not participated in a Yoga class that does chanting or is vocal so that is why I am reminded more of Pilates than Yoga.
Many of Nia’s teachers are also Yoga instructors or they attend Yoga classes. I sometimes attend a Yoga class in San Jose. The two forms of movement are a great compliment to each other.
***V3 of The Nia Technique – White Belt Manual by Debbie Rosas and Carlos Rosas
Posted in Movement Forms of Nia, Nia | Tagged: Carlos Rosas, Debbie Rosas, exercise class, movement class, Nia, Nia Classes, Nia Movement, Nia Practice, Nia San Jose, Nia Teacher, Nia Technique, Nia White Belt, Nia workout, Nia Yoga, Pilates, Pilates breathing, Pilates class, Pilates San Jose, San Jose Nia, San Jose Yoga, sounding, White Belt, White Belt Manual, workout class, Yoga, Yoga chanting, yoga classes, Yoga Exercies, Yoga exercises, yoga instructor, Yoga Nia, yoga poses, yoga pracitce, Yoga San Jose, yoga stretches, yoga teacher, Yoga workout | 2 Comments »
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