I have a good friend named Katie who is a stretch therapist. She explains her job as helping her clients with exercises and treatments that improve flexibility, range of motion, and mobility.
Katie confides that most of her clients come to her once they have seen a physical therapist and have been given a list of exercises, and then go home and don’t do them. That’s when they call Katie for help.
Katie recently offered a workshop for people aged 55 and older. She invited me to attend and to be her practice ‘dummy’. I told her I could do that for sure!
She began her workshop by asking us. “How’s your balance? Did you know our balance is a reflection of our overall health?”
She then laid me out on her portable table and began using my body parts to demonstrate the way she treats concerns we might have as we age. Things such as stiffness, soreness, post hip/knee replacement exercises.
The Research Is Unsettling
Which, by the way, did you know that according to the National Institutes for Health, between 2000 and 2019, the estimated annual volume of hip replacements increased by 177% and that of knees increased by 156% on average, with an expected increase in the future.
And, according to the same research, 35% of us older folks are going to experience a significant fall. And traumatic falls rise as we age; up to 45% once we are over 70.
“So, as you can see,” Katie went on to explain, “our balance is a key indicator or our current and future well-being, especially as we age.”
Katie said that a research study found that people who couldn’t stand on one foot for 10 seconds were nearly twice as likely to die in the next 10 years. Holy cow, I had no idea!
I thought this was going to be an inspiring presentation!
So, my friends, have you given much thought to the danger of us getting out of bed each morning?
Katie’s mission for the workshop, she explained, was not to frighten us, but to help us become more aware of the importance balance plays in our lives.
Can We Improve Our Balance?
As her demonstration continued, Katie included a number of helpful tips and techniques for improving our balance – things like strength training, and posture stretches. “We can all improve our balance, our strength and our mobility,” she encouraged us. She went on to have us stand on one leg, using a chair as needed for our balance. Yeah, we didn’t all do well with that. But as she reminded us, we have to start where we are at.
Simple Exercise to Start with
And in case you are interested… here’s a short video to help you get started with some balance exercises:
Katie reminded us that our falls and injuries don’t necessarily come from doing crazy things, but rather simple things, like tripping on a loose rug, or our pet, or slipping in the bathtub.
Getting Out of the Bathtub
“Is it just me,” I wondered, “or has anyone else in here worried that someday they might slip in the bathtub; and someone in your house is going to have to try and figure out how to drag your sagging, flabby, injured naked body out on the bathmat?”
Katie explained the basics on the correct way to get out of the tub. Who knew we would one day need a strategy for existing our bathtub? But just in case, here’s another helpful video that shows you how.
Walking in a Straight Line
Then Katie mentioned something that I couldn’t get out of my mind. She said,
As we get older, we tend to spend more time walking in a straight line.
Hmmm, I walk in a straight line? I hadn’t noticed that. Have you?
Ever since our workshop ended I have been paying more attention to how most of us seniors walk. Yep, it’s in a straight line. It’s really noticeable when you see older people walking with young children. The children walk backwards, do cartwheels, spin around, skip, hop scotch, and twirl around on their toes. They often stop and climb on whatever looks like an adventure and of course if there is a mud puddle… yes, they jump right in it. And though they sometimes fall and skin their knees, then after a quick kiss from mom; they are off again to climb, jump and run.
How different that is for some of us oldies! We worry that if we fall, we won’t just need a kiss, but more like an ambulance. So, we just walk in a straight line.
I asked myself, so when did it happen…? When did I make the transition from doing my cartwheels to walking in a straight line?
Playing It Safe
The more I pondered this thought the more I realized what a great analogy this is for our lives as we age. We less often veer off our straight path, we are more cautious…. we are reticent to try new things or even to do things that we once were great at. I used to be pretty good at twirling on my toes.
On a recent podcast, Angela Duckworth, author of Grit, was interviewed about her research. She talked about a term she called ‘fixed mindset’. She said this is when we don’t believe we can change or grow, and we are fearful of failure or a setback, so we avoid risks, become stagnant and then we live our lives contracting rather than expanding.
So then, I guess my walking through life in a straight line puts me in the category of having a fixed mindset?
But honestly it doesn’t seem like a bad thing to want to play it safe, does it?
But wait! I don’t want to live a life trapped inside my comfort zone… you know, that safe place that just keeps contracting!
Is This How We Want to Live?
I came across these words of Janet Bray Attwood from her book The Passion Test. Here’s what she says about the idea of playing it safe.
“Have you ever noticed people who play it safe aren’t as enthusiastic, energetic, full of passion, on fire, and excited about their lives as your friends who dance around on the edge and totally go for their dreams?”
Staying on our familiar sidewalk walking in that straight line can feel safe; but is that the way we want to live out our precious lives? I don’t know about you, but I still want to go for my dreams…
Which brings us back to where we first started this conversation.
How’s Your Balance?
That’s what I think we are up against, my friends… finding balance…
I suppose we should learn common sense strategies, such as standing on one foot, doing strength training, working on our posture, having bathtub existing strategies and calling someone like my friend Katie if we need extra support. And we also want to live our lives on fire; full of energy, and passions. And yes, maybe even twirling around the edges.
After all; our balance is a reflection of our overall health, especially as we age.
Let’s Have a Conversation:
Where are you on the balance scale? How do you manage to keep your balance? Do you do specific exercises?
