Posts Tagged ‘Yoga workout’
Posted by terrepruitt on July 12, 2011
Nia is a cardio dance workout. We turn on music and we dance. We have Nia routines that we do to certain music or we can put the patterns to different music. We are not limited to these two choices this is just an example. We dance to music, we have fun, we don’t even realize we are exercising. To me, it is “like” Zumba in that way. But Nia is a practice. Nia has different levels and each level has principles. If you choose to experience the different levels you can, but even if not the principles of Nia can be applied to the workout and to life. To me, Nia is like Yoga because of the fact that some of the “stuff” you do in a workout can be applied to life. Since the ideas and principles of Nia can be applied to life they are not necessarily “new”, most of it is not made up by the creators of Nia. Some of it you might recognize and have heard elsewhere. It is the way it is applied and put together. I have stated this before . . . that things are not new, so you aren’t imaging that. I do like to repeat it because a lot of people have not heard of Nia so they might think it is something new and “way out there”, but it is not, it is based on science and things you know. Some of the things I am learning are things that I have to continue to “practice”. 🙂
Here are a few of the things, in no particular order:
–It is ok not to be perfect. That is not really the way we state it when we talk about it, but I have started many posts with what we really say and maybe one day I will post one, but I am not ready to deal with the spam and odd comments I might receive from our actually verbiage of this same idea. But basically we don’t have to do things perfectly. Which is really great because there really is no such thing.
—The Four Engery Allies are always something I am having to practice. (Speak with impeccability / Don’t assume anything / Don’t take anything personally / Always do your best)
–Even silence is music. We actually practice listening for the silences in our music. A lot can happen in a silence, it could be a birthing place for something spectacular. Or it could just be a place of rest and calm. Either way it is sometimes something to look forward to.
–Natural Time is a gift. Moving and living in ones own natural time and not having to do everything by the clock that society runs on, is not always possible. There are some things you just have to do, so when there is an opportunity to move and live in natural time I take advantage of it and I consider it a treasured gift.
–Live in the moment. I am always doing one thing and thinking another. We live in a society of multi-tasking. It is celebrated and even rewarded, but it is not joyful nor rewarding. Sometimes I forget why I walked into a room because I started walking there to do something and then after the first two steps my brain has already jumped to the next task. So I arrive in the room thinking, “What am I doing here? I know what I want to do when I am done with why I came in here, but I don’t know why I am here.” So this is something I am always having to practice.
All of these things are things we learn in our Nia workout. We don’t have to dance perfect, we have our energy allies when we dance, silence can be part of our movement, we move in our own natural time, and we move in the moment and dance to the music. All of these things work in and off the dance floor. So Nia teaches me a lot and it continues to teach me.
Posted in Nia | Tagged: cardio dance, cardio dance workout, dance exercise, Dance Workout, Energy Allies, exercise workout, joyful exercise, Natural Time, Nia, Nia Dance, Nia Movement, Nia Music, Nia Practice, Nia principles, Nia routines, Nia workout, Principles of Nia, Yoga, Yoga Practice, Yoga workout, Zumba, Zumba exercise, Zumba music, Zumba routines | 2 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on April 13, 2010
In Nia we refer to FAMSS. We practice FAMSS. We can use it for all types of things. It stands for:
Flexibility
Agility
Mobility
Strength
Stability
And by “use” it I mean, it is often incorporated into each kata of a routine. Or a kata might concentrate on just flexibility, the next one agility, the next one mobility, and so on. Or we could use FAMSS as a focus OR an intention of a Nia class. Either all of them (Flexibility AND Agility AND Mobility AND Strength AND Stability) or just one (Flexibility OR Agility OR Mobility OR Strength OR Stability).
But whatever we do with it or them, they are highly regarded as abilities needed to ensure one’s (high) quality of life. So in Nia we honor them all. In a Nia class we weave them into the workout. In this post I am just referring to FAMSS in the physical. They can certainly be applied to more than just our physical bodies, but that can be another post just by itself.
For now, I am just talking about our physical bodies needing to be flexible, agile, mobile, strong, and stable. Just to move around in daily life these five things are very important. In Nia we can bend down in a forward fold as in the familiar pose one might do in a yoga class, allowing our flexibility to be enhanced. The music might encourage us to run, stop, run, stop, run, stop or move us to play the drums calling upon our bodies to display agility in legs, in arms, in our bodies as a whole. We can move our bodies as if they are grass in a field or seaweed in the ocean, moving each part, each section, each muscle, and all major joints to help ensure their mobility. We could crouch in a bow stance moving up and down exercising the strength in our legs. Then we can we stretch, reaching to the sky as we look up, this can be stability practice, either on flat foot, on the ball of our feet, or in releve. This could be one song in which all of this FAMSS is going on or it could be spread out over the entire routine.
Just tonight in my San Carlos class a woman told me that after her first class last week her hip felt better. She said that after her hip felt better on that first night it encouraged her to do a few of the moves at home that we had done in class. So she started working on her FAMSS in the first class, she was encouraged that movement was working to increase her FAMSS so she moved more. With movement she felt more comfort and less pain. FAMSS is necessary for a high quality of life. Her ever day movements were better not because she did it once, but because she kept doing it. Nia honors Flexibility and Agility and Mobility and Strength and Stability, so in Nia we practice it.
I hope one day you will attend one of my classes (I have two in San Jose and one in San Carlos*) to see how we can improve your FAMSS.
*Please see my website for my CURRENT class schedule. Thank you!
Posted in Nia | Tagged: agility, Carlos AyaRosas, exercise class, FAMSS, five sensations, flexibility, FMASS, kata, Mobility, Nia, Nia class, Nia exercise, Nia focus, Nia intent, Nia Practice, Nia routine, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia's Five Sensations, San Carlos Nia, San Jose Nia, San Jose Nia class, San Jose Workout, San Jose Workout class, San Jose Yoga, stability, strength, workout class, Workout San Jose, Yoga class, Yoga Practice, Yoga workout | 4 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 »
Posted by terrepruitt on August 13, 2009
The moment I read this I wanted to post it on my blog. But then I didn’t want to post someone else’s stuff on my blog. But then I thought if I gave full credit it would be ok and I knew that one of these days (whether it was today or not) I would be compelled to post someone’s something. So all day I have been debating with myself. And after teaching my class today at the Los Gatos Swim and Raquet Club I decided to post it.
To me, it is very “Nia“. We don’t dance for others, we dance for ourselves. And when we dance it is a workout and it is very much exercise, yet healing and spiritual, like Yoga.
The author had other reasons for writing it. I’ve read some of her other poems posted on her blog. She has been through a lot. She expresses it well. I hope you enjoy it:
We Have Come To Be Danced by Jewel Mathieson
We have come to be danced
Not the pretty dance
Not the pretty pretty, pick me, pick me dance
But the claw our way back into the belly
Of the sacred, sensual animal dance
The unhinged, unplugged, cat is out of its box dance
The holding the precious moment in the palms
Of our hands and feet dance.
We have come to be danced
Not the jiffy booby, shake your booty for him dance
But the wring the sadness from our skin dance
The blow the chip off our shoulder dance.
The slap the apology from our posture dance.
We have come to be danced
Not the monkey see, monkey do dance
One two dance like you
One two three, dance like me dance
but the grave robber, tomb stalker
Tearing scabs and scars open dance
The rub the rhythm raw against our soul dance.
We have come to be danced
Not the nice, invisible, self-conscious shuffle
But the matted hair flying, voodoo mama
Shaman shakin’ ancient bones dance
The strip us from our casings, return our wings
Sharpen our claws and tongues dance
The shed dead cells and slip into
The luminous skin of love dance.
We have come to be danced
Not the hold our breath and wallow in the shallow end of the floor dance
But the meeting of the trinity, the body breath and beat dance
The shout hallelujah from the top of our thighs dance
The mother may I?
Yes you may take 10 giant leaps dance
The olly olly oxen free free free dance
The everyone can come to our heaven dance.
We have come to be danced
Where the kingdom’s collide
In the cathedral of flesh
To burn back into the light
To unravel, to play, to fly, to pray
To root in skin sanctuary
We have come to be danced
We have come.
Thank you Jewel Mathieson for this might have been about your anger and your pain and your healing, to me it is also about joy and healing, and being one own’s self and being ok with that. Thank you for sharing, Ms. Mathieson.
I also need to thank Danielle Eastman for posting this on Facebook and bringing it to my attention. Thanks Danielle, I learn so much from you.
Posted in Nia | Tagged: Danielle Eastman, Facebook, Healing exercise, Healing Nia, Healing workout, Healing Yoga, heaven dance, Jewel Mathieson, Los Gatos Exercise, Los Gatos Nia, Los Gatos Swim and Raquet Club, Los Gatos Workout, Los Gatos Yoga, Poem, San Jose exercise, San Jose Nia, San Jose Workout, San Jose Yoga, sanctuary, We Have Come To Be Danced, Yoga, Yoga workout | 8 Comments »
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