Sticky Picky Icky

Drat!! This aging thing gets a little sticky sometimes. As many of you know I work with alot of "older adults"...(as opposed to young adults and regular adults...whom I also see in my line of work) but these folks have a set of issues that are somewhat specific to their age group, and that would be the over 70 crowd. It seems,that they are closer to the end of life, and that might not be true...we know not when our last moment on Turtle Island will to be.

Having said all that, I am aware that depression is huge, as are a variety of physical mishaps and maladies. It appears that the later brings on the previous, and the more depressed one is, the less likely they are to move around or "exercise", or want to eat, or even drink water...and that is an engine to a powerful downward spiral.
There is also a bad habit that crops up which I like to call "The Wall of Resistance". This means that what happens is that any new idea...such as even listening to music... and moving ones hips to that music (I'm talking big band music here, that lends itself to such an activity) is shot down before there is even the slightest chance for that idea to come to fruition.(Even without the suggestion of movement, I've noticed, it can be disregarded as worth anything...) I can understand that if a body feels like crap(or worse) it is hard to get inspired. I also know that if a brain can jump that track you might be surprised what a gain in strength might do to lift the spirits and help with the simplest of activities.

I have a client and friend who is now 95 and loves exercise (and competition.) She says that the reason she wants to stay strong is so that she can do stuff like open jars and turn over in bed. Very pratical indeed!! Another client who is 90, often is horridly depressed when I arrive at her house and because we have a good time giggling and talking as we do the exercising,(and then a little massaging) feels better after just one hour of time together.

People who are not strong often sit in a heap and shuffle along dragging their flesh from one place to another, and grumble about it along the way. Arghhhh#%^*&+

I just had a thought, and that is: perhaps with some of the clients that are so resistance to moving around we could start with isotonic movement, which means to just tighten the muscle(s), hold for a count of 5 and then move on to the next part. I might try this suggestion, of course with no expectation of results and not taking it personally if it is shot down, (and that is not necessarily easy)but perhaps we could encourage some circualtion and blood flow to those muscles that get tightened and released and that would be a start. As a matter of fact, I do this kind of thing before we do out meditation in yoga class and it does enhance the relaxation of the body....I'll let you know if I have any results that are positive...or not.