The majority of my group fitness clients are aged 65 to 92. I feel very privileged to be able to teach them, but mostly I feel very lucky and grateful to have been given the opportunity to learn from them.
Here is what these elders have taught me:
1. Family, friends and a good support system are really, really important.
2. Laugh. With others, and at yourself.
3. Don’t take your problems so seriously.
4. Connect with others. Be interested in others’ lives. Listen.
5. A little gesture (a kind word, a recipe, a joke…) goes a long way.
6. Take pleasure in small things.
7. Everyone is different and that’s okay. Accept and enjoy those differences.
8. Keep learning. Remain curious.
9. Don’t belittle your accomplishments – be proud of yourself.
10. Inner light shines through the eyes and comes through in a smile. That is true beauty.
11. Time flies and is a perplexing dilemma to us all.
12. Every older person represents wisdom and years of experience. They’ve been there and done that and have a lot to offer.
13. Pain is a fact of life. Do what you can to eliminate it or manage it, then get on with it.
14. If you’re patient and persevere, exercise can really improve your quality of life.
15. The knees, hips, shoulders and lower back are most likely to create problems later in life. Treat them well.
16. If you get hip, knee, shoulder or back surgery, demand, and follow, a post rehab exercise program.
17. Listen to your body. Not doing so can cause pain.
18. Vanity and shame don’t serve you.
19. By the time you’re 65 you’ve heard every health claim under the sun. Just eat healthy, home-cooked meals, don’t eat too much, reduce sodium, sugar and fat intake, move your body, and find people (or something) to love.
20. Take care of small health problems before they become big.
21. Right now you’re alive.
Your 21 lessons are right on! They should be published! Another one that I like is to find something to love or dwell on one precious thing every day.
Thanks for sharing.
Nancy
Comment by nancy gagne — March 20, 2010 @ 2:16 pm
Love your 21 lessons as forwarded to my husband by Nancy Gagne. As a fitness leader for 11 years and a senior myself, I find a richness in the participants of the 60+ classes at the Y that I don’t find elsewhere. Sometimes it is even hard to get the classes started because everyone is chatting so much. The competitive element which sometimes lurks in classes doesn’t exist in the seniors’ classes - everyone there is just happy to be able to participate and whatever is gained from the classes is like a bonus. There also seems to be a hunger for health information. As a retired physio, I have a habit of giving what I call my “sermons” to the class I teach at Abbotsford Community Centre - 30 seconds of info on fitness related topics delivered while the class is cooling down or stretching. The class really seems to like them and often continues discussing the topic after the class and it’s surprising what information gets shared. They are all mad gardeners, so the next info is going to be on shovelling posture. Guess I’ll be carrying a shovel to class. I would love to share your 21 lessons with this class. Would you give me permission to do so?
Thanks,
Sandy Bies
Comment by Sandy Bies — March 22, 2010 @ 3:31 pm