Terre Pruitt's Blog

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

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Posts Tagged ‘yoga students’

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2015 Goodie Jar – Almost Time

Posted by terrepruitt on December 22, 2015

It is almost time to read the contents of the Goodie Jar.  Oh yes, the Goodie Jar.  We are still doing it.  We actually have three containers going on.  One was the original one that is the Princess House Pitcher.  That one looked pretty festive (and it was full) so I put it in the China cabinet hoping it could be passed off as a Christmas decoration.  Then the other one is a container that sits on the peninsula and has to be put away to make room for the Christmas decorations that are all over the peninsula.  So I have a note in the present Goodie Jar dish that reminds me to go into the closet to get the planter that we were using to put good things in.  So it is almost time.  I really like this tradition.  I think this is the third year that we have done it.  I am not sure, but I think we will do it again next year.

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia in the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Gentle Yoga, Group Ex classes, YMCA, Zumba, PiYo, Nia Technique, SJ City FitI have not read any of the notes in the containers, but I am pretty confident that there will be a few about our cats.  They are such good girls and the certainly make me smile when I think about them.  So I am sure both of us have documented that!  There are always moments that I write down about my students making me smile.  The latest one is my socks.  LOOK!  Aren’t they cool.  They have cats on them AND they can be worn with my flip flops.  I was explaining to my students one day that since I have to rush over to class I didn’t want to put on my socks and shoes and my feet were really cold.  Ya see, in the morning on the way to my first class I wear socks and shoes.  But there is not a lot of time for me to get to my Tuesday morning yoga class after Nia so sometimes I just put on my flip flops after class and my feet get cold.  So one of them picked up on that. Super sweet.  The socks are super cute.  They have cats!!!  She is a cat lover herself!

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia in the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Gentle Yoga, Group Ex classes, YMCA, Zumba, PiYo, Nia Technique, SJ City FitLately we have gotten some rain.  And by lately I mean this week.  Rain — for me — always goes in the Good Things Jar because it is really a good thing.

There is just always something that is a good thing that makes me smile.  So many of my friends, family, and students are noted in that jar.

If you have not done a good things jar, I would like to strongly suggested it.  It is such a great way to remember the good things in life.  And it is really fun because you get to get TWO, maybe even THREE, smiles out of them.  One is when the thing occurs, two is when you write it down, and three is when you read it.  And sometimes it is really funny when you read it because it might take you a minute to remember what you were talking about.  Then, if your family and friends (or whomever you are reading them with) are into it, you get to tell them the story.  Often times things that make you smile make for a good story.

Ooooo!  I am getting really excited thinking about it.  Can’t wait!!!

So are you still doing a good jar?  Might you do one next year?

Posted in Good Things in the Goodie Jar, Misc | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

A New Goodie Jar

Posted by terrepruitt on May 19, 2015

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, PiYoSo, so, so many things to go into my Goodie Jar.  I think the last mention of it was in March.  MARCH!  Here it is, MAY!  Well, I have been busy filling that jar.  So much so that I had to move it to a different container.  And I think since it is only May this one won’t last long.  Perhaps when this container gets full I will put the papers in the original container, the pitcher and we will just put things in the new container.  It is AWESOME to have to have more than one container to contain the good things!  Wahooo.  This time it is really exciting because my husband has been putting stuff in.  He put things in the pitcher the previous years, but this time he is putting stuff in more often . . . . hence the need for a different container.

My hubby is using some of the ticket stubs and things of that nature as his documentation of the good things.  But he doesn’t just put the item in the jar he writes on it to state why the ticket/used gift card/parking pass/whatever made him smile.  He is doing a great job.  It will be super fun this December 31, 2015 because it will be more stuff from him and not so weighted towards me and my smiles.

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, PiYoI have had a lot of “student” stuff to put in the Good Thing Jar.  Good things keep coming to them via movement .  Today one woman told me that she is sleeping about two hours longer since starting Nia.  Exercise is often praised for the help it brings to people regarding sleeping.  Some times the help is in the form of better sleep and sometimes it is in the form of more sleep.  I love that she recognized that her sleep benefited from Nia.

I have also had yoga people say this or that has improved.  And, yes, again it is the exercise, the yoga that is helping.  That is what is so awesome.  Hearing people reaping the benefits of movement is definitely Goodie Jar Material.

Recently I was lucky enough to be able to spend some time with my three girlfriends AND my hubby.  That was a special treat.  Our friend that moved away came down for a visit and spent the day with us.  Spending time with my friends is ALWAYS a good thing . . . . so it goes in the jar.  Ya know, anything that makes me smile.

After that, one weekend we dog-sat my husband’s “co-workers” for the weekend.  That was a treat.  That type of thing is a Goodie Jar item.

Oh . . . .just writing about the Good Things in the Goodie Jar is making me smile.  I can’t wait to read it all . . . . but then, I can because that will mean the year is gone.  I will stick to thinking about the smiles in the container.

Well, this is a share and a reminder.  You can start a Goodie Jar anytime.  If you are doing one, have you added to it lately?

 

Posted in Good Things in the Goodie Jar | Tagged: , , , , , | 2 Comments »

A Breathe Of Fresh Caffeine?

Posted by terrepruitt on June 24, 2014

Wow, you might not believe I have more “stuff” going on.  More on that later.  I am sure I will write a post or two.  You know I always share, it just takes some time sometime.  So, instead – highlights of my day:  a student who has been away from my Nia classes for a bit came to class today.  That was wonderful, unexpected and very timely.  Another student in one of my yoga classes came to class with his own mat.  That put a huge smile on my face.  I took that as a sign that he is “into” it.  Later when I told him I was so happy to see him have his own mat, he said, “Yeah, I got to stick with it!!!!”  Thrilling!  Yes, gotta keep looking at the bright spots.  While perusing my cache of “topics to post about”, I came across one I found interesting.  Could be something you are aware of, perhaps I had heard of it too, but forgot.  I think the studies were done in 2009.  Did you know caffeine could, possibly, help people with asthma breathe better?

There is an article about a small study showing caffeine worked as a bronchodilator.  “A bronchodilator is a substance that dilates the bronchi and bronchioles, decreasing resistance in the respiratory airway and increasing airflow to the lungs.” per Wiki

The small study of 75 people with mild to moderate asthma was done.  Six trails showed 55 people had improved lung function for up to fours hours after consuming caffeine.

A study at the Indiana University show that caffeine an hour before exercise can significantly reduce exercise induced asthma.  I cannot find a link to the Indiana University study, but there are numerous articles about it that surface when a search is done.  One article on ScienceDaily said that it was LARGE amounts of caffeine that were used in this study.  The article stated “9 milligrams of caffeine per kilogram of body weight”.  Ok check my figuring on this using the information from the Mayo Clinic regarding a regular brewed cup of coffee, which is 8 oz brewed coffee has 95-200 mg of caffeine.  That is a big difference, but that is ok, it will still work in my “figuring”.  Let’s use the top, 200 mg of caffeine in a cup of coffee.  Well, lets say average man is 80 kilograms (176.37 pounds), that would be 720 mgs of caffeine.  That is roughly 4.5 cups of strong coffee.  Is that right?  The article also said that smaller amounts – 3 mg – 6 mg per kilogram of body weight “also reduced the wheezing, coughing and other symptoms of” exercise induced asthma.

Interesting.  I know many people who use caffeine to help fuel their workouts.  I know many people who use caffeine to help fuel their day.  So, while I am by NO MEANS saying to use caffeine instead of any physician prescribed medication for asthma . . . I just think it is interesting.  Since it could be that many people with asthma are drinking coffee anyway. I just like when I come across tidbits of information.

What do you think?

Posted in Misc | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments »

Challenging Easy Pose

Posted by terrepruitt on February 25, 2014

I love my students. They are a great source to me; they teach me and they make me laugh. Recently one of my students happen to mention a policy that was told to her – a facility stated she could try the class for 10 minutes without charge, but would have to sign up for the class to stay longer. The comments from those that she was sharing this with was that 10 minutes was not really long enough to get a sense of the class and if they would like it. She said, “I know, if I would have only stayed 10 minutes I would have missed the nap time at the end!” That was the best. She, of course, was kidding . . . sort of. She was talking about Shavasana. A very important part, yet for many, one of the most difficult times in yoga.

She was kidding in the sense that we all know it is not nap time, but not having been familiar with yoga she would have missed seeing that part of the class if she had only been allowed to stay for 10 minutes. Shavasana is a pose of total relaxation. It is where you allow your body to rest and relax from the workout it just participated in. In some classes this is a necessary time for recuperation of the body, but in others it might not be so much about the body. In a Gentle Yoga class it could be more about the mind. In Nia we have BMES – Body, Mind, Emotion, and Spirit. We could say that shavasana is a time for those four things. So after a nice gentle class it could be more a time more for the mind, emotion, and spirit to relax. While the inner dialog should be kept to a minimum while practicing the asanas it is even more important to do so during shavasana. This is the time when the body absorbs all the goodness from the poses it just performed.

I had once thought that you DID shavasana IN the corpse pose, but the name comes from the Sanskrit words Shava meaning “corpse” or dead body and Asana meaning “posture”.*

One of the reasons shavasana is so difficult is because there is not supposed to be any inner dialog going on (as I just mentioned). This is not the time where you begin making your shopping list for your trip to the store after class, or where you decide what you are going to say to your boss/friend/spouse. This is a time of quiet, a time of reflection, a time where you do a “body check”. Check in with each body part or area of your body to see if it needs any attention, see if it needs to be relaxed and focus on allowing it to relax. Sometimes because of this relaxation one might fall asleep. When I first started every time I did shavasana I fell asleep. Now I don’t, I am better at being mindfully relaxed. It is a practice though. This might not be something that comes easy to you, it might be a challenge, but it is something worth practicing.

I’ve heard different ideas on how to hold shavasana in a class. Some say that a guided meditation is the way it should be done. Some say that total silence is the only right way. Some say some music or nature sounds should accompany this pose. In my classes I usually softly lead the participants into a relaxed state. Then I allow them quiet time with this pose — I do have sounds playing during class and I don’t turn that off, but sometimes I turn it down. Then after the time allowed I talk them back to awakening their bodies and moving again.

If this pose and time is not something that you include in your yoga practice, I encourage you to give it a go. Try it. If you fall asleep that is ok. But keep doing it and when you are able to achieve that relaxed state while staying awake you will see how powerful this simple pose is.

Do you practice shavasana? Have you ever fallen asleep during shavasana? How long do you stay in this pose?

*Wiki and Jaisiyaram

Posted in Yoga/PiYo/Pilates | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

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