Stan Cohen – Intuitive Movement

Everybody has these days.  You wake up, feel a bit out of sorts, and no matter how bright the sun shines,  you feel like hell.  The worst part is, you just woke up in a bad mood.  Seems like you didn’t have a choice about this being a good day or a bad day.

You think COFFEE,  that is what I need.  So you make a cup, gulp it down and now you are wide awake and really able to focus on the fact that you are still in a bad mood.  And,  you just don’t care about anything.   Read the rest of this entry »

Over the last few months I have seen day after day links to blogs and articles about an amazing discovery; exercising the brain increases cognitive functions. Are we supposed to be surprised at this?  

Back in grade school I was taught that the brain not a muscle,  but was always told that like one, you should use it or lose it.

As a student of Tai Chi and developer of a movement program for seniors this revelation is not news. For thousands of years, older Chinese adults have been practicing forms, doing daily routines of 30, 40, 100 and higher numbers of movements strung together in patterns and sequences. There are many studies that show the health benefits of Tai Chi practice.

Does this sound like a brain function exercise to you? Working the brain in this type of patterned exercise causes the brain to create neural pathways stimulating brain health.  Search the web for Tai Chi and neural pathways and see all the articles referenced.

Search for exercise and brain fitness in general and you will find that keeping the mind active, whether reading,  learning languages, using opposite hands for simple everyday chores all work to maintain a healthy mind.

So if Tai Chi is good for the brain, just imagine how well it works for the rest of the body. Keeping yourself flexible, with increased balance and movement capabilities. Having a healthier heart, increased lung capacity and yes a healthier brain, all from a single source of exercise just makes sense.

Is there an activity or hobby you partake in that keeps your mind sharp?

Every night when you go to sleep  you know how you felt during the day.  There is a frame of reference from how you felt in the morning, as you went through the day and how the day moved along.

You should assume that the next day should be similar, and potentially better.  As we age, do the odds for potentially better then the day before increase, or decrease or stay the same?   If you have been following my blog,  you should be able to guess that I would gamble on most older adults voting for increased odds of feeling worse. Read the rest of this entry »

Today I got the answer once again from a class I gave at Bentley Assisted Living in Branchville, NJ.  As I went through the 1/2 hr long flexibility routine I heard comments like,  ”I could feel that” and “that was a good one”. One women asked why I was not affiliated with the local hospital as she felt the program is the best she has ever been involved with.  

We did some new eye-hand coordination and balance exercises that went over very well.  I could see the group smiling as they had fun testing their own skills, laughing and really enjoying exercise.  After class a few of the women mentioned that my class is the only class they take.  They can do the work,  see the results and look forward to me coming each time. Read the rest of this entry »

Soon I will be 55.  I never considered this an older age until my father passed away at age 56. To be quite honest, that scared the crap out of me as I was 23 at the time.  I thought to myself, I know I am healthy now, but how will I be when I am “old like dad was”?

Here I am, just a little more than a year away from that “scary” age and still in fairly good shape and no longer looking at 56 as old.  I know, I am a fitness teacher to older adults so I better be fit, right?   Well,  I sit too much, go to way more meetings then a normal person, and don’t get enough of my own exercise.  However I do the senior center thing at least three times a week, work in the yard and do practice as much as I have time for. Read the rest of this entry »