Jason Alan Griffin :: The Blog

Today we added two new National Forests to River’s growing list of places visited. 
We passed through and enjoyed the Idaho Panhandle National Forest and the Coeur d’Alene National Forest. 

We also passed by Elmer’s Fountain. It caught my eye from behind some trees off to the right of the highway. I thought it was a waterfall with something in it until we got a little closer.  It was through some trees, and I was driving, so I didn't get a great look at it. And then I saw a hand painted sign that said "Elmer's Fountain" so I remembered the name and looked it up when I got to the motel room . I don't know why it caught my eye or why I care about it, but I thought it was neat. The trip from Spokane to Missoula was not leisurely. I would have loved to stop and really absorb the new forests, and to investigate the fountain or to pull over and take a picture of Coeur d’Alene Lake. But as it was, we really only had time to stop at a rest area in Montana for a quick bat...

I literally spent all day Friday in the kitchen. Except for a few breaks, to shower, to take River on two walks and one pee break and to eat lunch and dinner, I was busy cooking about ten meals to put in my cooler for the road trip. I used all recipes from my new book and the yummy meals are entirely comprised of friendly foods. I will not be following The Plan while I’m on the road, but , as always, I will make every effort to eat as healthfully as I can. I learned a lot about my eating habits from the experience of readying The Plan, and one of the things that I learned was to rely on seeds and nuts for my daily protein. So I stocked my cooler with plenty of those, too. In my cooler, I’ll have carrot/beet salad, homemade hummus, baked butter nut squash, herb and lemon roasted chicken breast, sweet and spicy chicken thighs, mango/cucumber salsa, about five cups of brown rice, cheesy sauteed shiitake and broccoli, and thai vegetable soup. 

That should last me for at least four days, s...

Today’s test is for swiss chard. Not my favorite veggie, but one that I tend to include in my diet for its array of healthful benefits. I've heard it described as the world's second healthiest vegetable . (Second only to spinach) Now, it is possible that it could be an unfriendly food for my body chemistry, so it deserves a test. One thing I did learn was that swiss chard, especially if eaten raw, is highly goitrogenic. So, as long as it passes this test, I will still be including it in my diet, although it won’t be to the degree it has been in the recent past. And I will be cooking it. 

For lunch today, I had a big bunch of it, chopped and sauteed with shredded carrots and beets for a bit of sweetness and then seasoned with cayenne, black pepper and lemon. I crumbled in some goat cheese and then topped it with a handful of sunflower seeds. Along with that I had a bowl of my spicy vegetable and chick pea soup with a handful of chia seeds mixed in. 

 About an hour afte...

I’m so glad I decided to take this test again. I weighed in 0.6 pounds less than yesterday’s weigh in, so that’s an indication that I don’t have an inflammatory response to my Capitol Hill bars.  I did have a slight, phantom twinge in my back last night before going to bed and this morning when I woke up, but it wasn’t a full-blown ‘pain’ like I experienced that last time I tested these bars, and that plagues me occasionally. I’m actually going to chalk that up to a bit of hypnotic suggestion. I was so hyper-aware of feeling all of the bones and muscles in my back, that I could have created or heightened an insignificant sensation. Since the sensation only lasted for a few moments last night and again for a few moments this morning, I am going to consider it a fluke and move Capitol Hill Bars over to the friendly column.

 I had always attributed the back discomfort to my tendency to push myself to my edge when I exercise. I’m relieved to learn that there isn’t a relationship bet...

Even after my quinoa breakfast yesterday morning, I showed a weight loss on the scale this morning, so I get to move quinoa over to the friendly foods column. I’m also free to test another new food today. I wasn’t exactly prepared for this. In the past, I haven’t had this much luck with the foods I’m testing and have had to interject rest days to wait for the inflammation to subside. But now, with four passes in a row, I’m out of foods to test. 

That’s not to say I have no more plans to test foods, it's just that I don’t have any available in the house right now. But I’ll hit the store a bit later and find something I can test today.  In the meantime, I’m enjoying my flax seed granola for breakfast and vegetable soup and salad for lunch. ************ Ok, I’ve returned from the store and have decided that tonight will be the night I finally test pork chops. 

I’ll reveal the results in the morning. Tuesday *******zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz****** Wednesday Wow, first of all I...

We're Rockin' the 'Burque. On Wednesday, June 26th, River and JAG are headed to Albuquerque to teach Rockin at Studio Sway. This will be our first foray onto the famed Route 66. It is the first of a series of guest male Nia teachers for the summer of 2013 that Studio Sway is calling "Boys of Summer: The Men of Nia Summer Series". Join Erin Damour, Black Belt as she welcomes colleague and fellow Black Belt, Jason Alan Griffin for the first in a series of "Men of Nia" classes. This summer the "boys" are our Nia brothers!   ROCKIN is a Nia routine created by Jason Alan Griffin. It was originally inspired by Helen Terry doing a routine to the Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon, and by Bill Stewart setting a classic Nia routine to Rock n Roll music. JAG said, "Both of those experiences took me to places I hadn’t yet gone in my Nia practice. I came back from that weekend newly inspired and I immediately went to work on what event...

An Experiential Playshop for Nia students and teachers with Jason Alan Griffin July 27 from 12 Noon to 3:00 PM @Century Ballroom, East Hall in Capitol Hill 915 E Pine St.; Seattle, WA A painter learns to apply paint. A musician learns how to play an instrument. A race car driver learns how to drive a car. To excel at an art form, one must first know the craft and science of the form. The same is true of FreeDance. One of the things that separates Nia from so many other forms of fitness is the degree of personal freedom. While there is a lot of structure to a Nia class, people often leave class remembering the freedom part the most and many people will describe Nia as a very ‘free form’ type of exercise. This is because it is the self guided aspect of the work, the free dancing, that really has the deepest effect on us.  FreeDance is a rich and exciting opportunity to express ourselves by moving our bodies. The unstructured nature and palpable energy o...