Two Great Events

I had the good fortune to be invited to participate in two great events on Wednesday. The first was a retreat at Jackson's Mill that was an opportunity for women who are affiliated with West Virginia University Extension Service to participate in a program offered by WVU's National Center of Excellence in Women's Health. The retreat is better known as WOW - Women on Wellness. These two great organizations, Extension Service and NCEWH know that 85% of all health care decisions are made by women in the home and that changing the health and wellness of the State of West Virginia will begin with women. Most, though not all of the women attending the event were in the 60+ age range. I played a small part by teaching a brief balance training workshop. Good balance and fall prevention are crucial elements to keeping older West Virginians active and living independently. The first skill I taught was how to get up out of a chair. I have written about my passion for sharing this strategy before and have a video of the method posted on YouTube for anyone who is interested . Participants in the retreat had a number of workshops to choose from, so not all women attended every workshop. I was pleased to see that when we got together for lunch after the break out sessions, 3 of the participants from my workshop were already at work teaching women who had not attended how to get up from a chair safely and effectively. One woman told me she intends to take the information to her council meeting later this week. That's the power of West Virginia's women in action!

I have to mention how much fun it was to work and play with these women. The spirit at the retreat was infectious and I hated to leave to get on to my second commitment. Kudos to the Extension Service and the National Center of Excellence on Women's Health for their efforts to improve, not just the lives of women, but the lives of all West Virginians.

The second event I participated in was the Get Moving Night at Ridgedale Elementary School. Tama Waugaman, a friend who teaches buggies and babes fitness classes for young mothers and runs Total Transformations LLC, helped organize this event and asked if I would like to come and give people the opportunity to try Nordic Walking. The event ran from 4-7 PM and included many indoor and outdoor activities including a climbing wall, biking, soccer, yoga, Red Cross CPR demo, and dental hygiene interactive displays. Since the event happened during dinner time there was food available and the organizers decided that if the kids walked twice around the track they would get a stamp on their hand that allowed them to collect on a free dish of ice cream. Not a bad start on bringing home the message that activity and food are tied together. The climbing wall was incredibly popular with the kids, as was the booth where they could throw a ball to dunk the principal and coach in a big water tank! Many of the kids walked the track as well and there was much interest from the kids in trying out the Nordic Walking poles. As kids often do they were making up all kinds of games on their own using everything in the environment. There wasn't a lot of sitting around - at least not by the kids. I did notice that the parents were not as actively involved in the physical pursuits as their children were. It was in contrast to my morning at Jackson's Mill where all the women were trying Zumba, yoga, balance training, etc. Maybe people were tired after working all day, or maybe we loose some of our spirit of adventure during those years when we are busy with work and child rearing. If that is the case, I'm glad to know that we can get that spirit back in the second half of our lives. If you are a parent, I encourage you to play actively with your kids. Try new activities with them and don't be afraid to look silly while you are learning. Laughter and humility are good for the soul.

Thanks again to the people who put together these two great events. I was honored by the opportunity to participate in both and heartened to see people out, active, and enjoying life.

Balance

My new class is being taught at the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute and is targeting balance training for people in the second half of life. (For those of you new to the blog, I assume we will all live to 100 if that helps you to figure out who is in the second half!) This class is a new venture for me so I am learning even as I teach. What I am learning from this class is not all about physical skill. Certified trainers always do some form of assessment before working with clients. For this class I used a Medical and Health Behavior Questionnaire, a Balance Efficacy Scale, and 11 basic tests of balance and strength to gather information that would help me plan the class to best meet the needs of the people who attend. What most impressed me about the information I gathered was the confidence and positivity of my class members. Although a number of the class members are facing health challenges as they age, they rate their quality of life as good and remain confident in their abilities to meet the challenges that are before them. They don't let the changes in their physical condition overwhelm them. They remain active in the community and a number of them volunteer their time to charitable causes. They engage in intellectual pursuits. As a result, they are interesting and stimulating people to be around. We have lots of fun in the class and we laugh every day. The members of my class are models for how to stay strong in the second half of life, physically, emotionally, intellectually, and socially. That is a balance that I hope to achieve in my own life. There is magic in the teaching/learning equation. When you learn something you have the opportunity to go out and teach it, and when you teach something you almost always learn something more from the experience.