A busy week and a borrowed book

Most of my friends here are readers.  I loaned a book to one who doesn't read a lot, and he returned it in the box beside my door recently.  He'd had the book for weeks.  Actually, months, I think.  You want to know which book.  This one:

We'll Prescribe You a Cat ~ by Syou Ishida, translated by E. Madison Shimoda, 2024, literary fiction, 304 pages

I told you all about it HERE, so I won't repeat myself.  Click that link to read all about the book.  My non-reader neighbor left me a note, saying, "B — Thanks so much for sharing this sweet book!  It brought lots of sweet memories + smiles."  Then he drew a cat's face, with ears and whiskers.

Here's what I posted this week:

1. On Tuesday, I wrote about a neighbor who took me out to lunch for my birthday.  She wrapped up four big boxes of tissue as my gift because of my "post nasal drip."  When I told her that I have a runny nose because of my spring allergies, she doubled down and insisted that I have post nasal drip.  I use tissue to wipe my runny nose, but I do NOT cough it out of my mouth.  Sorry, if that's too much information, but her insistence made me blog about the difference between having a runny nose and having post-nasal drip, HERE.
2. On Wednesdays, I often write about words and phrases, so "glitch in the matrix" was the subject that day, HERE.
3. On Thursday, I attended the first of eight classes on fall prevention, and I smiled when the instructor mentioned "endurance, strength, balance, and flexibility."  That was the focus in the classes I led here several years ago, using free booklets from Go4Life.  That class was my focus on Thursday, HERE.
4. Friday's subject was a book on National Parks in North America, HERE.
5. On Saturday, I wrote about a children's picture book someone (probably visiting an elderly relative here at my facility for senior living) had left in our library, HERE.

Sunday Salon is hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz.

This morning, I attended the first of eight classes

A Matter of Balance: Managing Concerns About Falls is an evidence-based fall prevention program designed to reduce the fear of falling and increase activity levels among older adults. The program helps participants learn to view falls as controllable, set goals to increase activity, make changes to reduce fall risk at home, and exercise to improve strength and balance.  The illustration above shows the cover of our Participant Workbook.  Ours was revisted in 2022.

Our leader asked how many of us had already fallen and which of us were afraid of falling, so I'll ask you readers to respond to those questions, as well.  She also mentioned endurance, strength, balance, and flexibility.  I have focused on these four things for years, and we will focus on them in this class.

Walking and other ways of exercising

I've been walking up and down my hall every day, since it's been either too cold or too rainy to walk around the neighborhood.  Since I usually do it late in the evening, I'm the only one in my hallway.  So I've been adding a few things, like shrugging my shoulders up and down as I walk (which would look pretty strange if I were passing others along the way).  I have added moves like that one on the right, with my forearms up and pressing inward and back to the side as I walk along.  In other words, I'm trying to move various parts of my body while also getting in something like 5,000 steps a day, or more if possible.  I could go to the weekly 30-45 minute group that exercises together while sitting in chairs.  Or I could try to get in more of those moves in the drawings above.  Today, I found this drawing of exercising in a chair that I had used in a blog post back in 2020 and decided to put it here so I'd remember it.

Motivated to keep moving!

Our newly-formed Keep Moving Exercise Class meets on Mondays at 2:30 pm in the Community Room in Staenberg Commons.  The class can be done entirely in your chair, if you have mobility challenges.  We had our first session on Monday the 28th, replacing the former class after that teacher took another job.  There's no cost for seniors at the Crown Center or in the community, if you want to join us.  I ordered copies of the booklet above to share with participants, along with the poster you see below (and HERE).

I also learned online (HERE) that a 2019 study in JAMA Internal Medicine on older women found that as few as 4,400 steps daily was associated with longer life compared to those who were more sedentary.  Although more advantages were seen as step counts went up, they tend to level off around 7,500 steps — not 10,000 as we've heard.

Exercise books and a poster

Being physically active is one of the most important things you can do each day to maintain and improve your health and keep doing things you enjoy as you age.

National Institute of Health

Monday, I ordered the poster above and some exercise books to use in a class that my friend Shannon and I will lead every Monday afternoon.  The book we once used (on the left) is no longer available, but I have six copies for anyone who doesn't already have one.  When the new books arrive, I'll give everyone a copy of it, too.  Look at these also:  HERE is a total body chair workout.  Six ways to do pushups while standing is HERE.

Wednesday Workout

I've decided into get back to exercising more regularly, so I clicked on Silversneakers and chose this "20-Minute Strength Workout With Dumbbells."  Before the pandemic lockdown, I led a group of friends doing exercises on our own in the fitness center every Friday afternoon.  Why?  Because all the scheduled classes met in the mornings, and not all of us are early birds.  After nearly three years without exercising consistently, I wonder how much I'll be able to do now.  I plan to get back into it very S-L-O-W-L-Y.

I was smiling as I started digging through my equipment that we once used in our group.  I checked off who came each week, so I can see that we had 23 people taking part.  Some of us met in early March 2020, and then I have a big X through the rest of March and April.  Lockdown had arrived and exercising together was over.

I gave out copies of this 120-page book on Exercise & Physical Activity (2015), so everyone could study or practice at home.  I got it out to refresh my memory of the routines we used.  Melissa (our leader in the Wednesday classes) had given us copies of this book on January 4, 2017.  (Notice the date!  Amazing coincidence, isn't it?)

Trying to figure out my dream

Dreams are strange things, if you think of it.  They are so strange that some people devote a lifetime to studying them.  I'm thinking about dreams this morning because I woke up thinking of a word that I have probably never spoken in my life.  Yes, you heard that right.  Why would I ever have had an occasion to say "endorphin" unless it was in a school science class?  Yet, I woke up spelling it out to myself so I wouldn't forget the word:  E-N-D-O-R-P-H-I-N.  Okay, let's define that word.

Word of the Day

en·dor·phin /ˌenˈdôrfēn/ noun = any of a group of hormones secreted within the brain and nervous system and having a number of physiological functions.  They are peptides which activate the body's opiate receptors, causing an analgesic effect.

What?!?  My first degree was a double major:  (1) in Philosophy and Religion and (2) in English.  I did not major in science, though I took all the science classes I could because it does interest me:  biology, chemistry, physics.  Now I need to look up more definitions, just to know what I'm seeing in this definition.  But first let's look at the plural.

Word of the Day (plural)

"Endorphins are the body's natural painkillers.  Endorphins are released by the hypothalamus and pituitary gland in response to pain or stress, this group of peptide hormones both relieves pain and creates a general feeling of well-being."

Or this from Wikipedia:

"Endorphins are endogenous opioid neuropeptides and peptide hormones in humans and other animals.  They are produced and stored in the pituitary gland.  The classification of molecules as endorphins is based on their pharmacological activity, as opposed to a specific chemical formulation."

I can see now this could get pretty involved, trying to suss out the word and why it was in my dream at all.  Okay, first I'll define the phrase "suss out":

suss out = British, informal: to find or discover (something) by thinking.  Or to put it simply = figure out.  Example:  "They had to suss out whether he was telling the truth."

Yesterday, I took the first exercise class I have had in two years, not since the beginning of lockdown in 2020.  All our public spaces were closed on March 16, 2020.  At the time, I had just begun a class in Chair yoga.  We had done only one class of the six that were planned.  I taught myself how to Zoom so I could help our teacher figure out how to do a Zoom class.  Over these past two years of the pandemic, I have taken a couple of online exercise classes (though not from that teacher).  But still, I did not do nearly the amount of exercising I had been doing, when some of us also met on Friday afternoons to lead our own exercise class.

That's the long way to say, I'm out of shape.  When an elderly body spends a couple of years, mostly alone in her apartment, she gets very out of shape!  Therefore, after a half hour of pushing this ole body to do what the nimble instructor did during our "Music and Movement" class, I was achy.  I could really feel it last night.  I fell asleep aware of muscles complaining and woke up with the word "endorphins" and a desire to remember the word. I looked online for an illustration for "endorphins," and found this:

How weird is this?  The illustration is an exercise class!  The participants are younger than the elderly folks in my class yesterday, here in my senior retirement center.  We stand behind our chairs, putting a hand (or two) on the chair to keep from falling as we bend and twist.  I notice that the girl on the right needs a chair to keep from falling.

Can you read the five benefits mixed in among the people exercising?

• Betters self-esteem
• Regulates appetite
• Reduces anxiety and depression
• Enhances your immune system
• Decreases pain

And . . . we're right back to my back pain (yes, I chose "back" and "back" on purpose).  Now for some good news:  The article where I found this picture is all about endorphins!  Wow!  My brain was apparently remembering something I learned somewhere along the way and giving me instructions on how to brush up on both the word and its meaning, and thus get over the achiness of exercising yesterday.  Here's a quote from the article "What Are Endorphins?"

"Endorphins are responsible for that feeling you get after a great workout, after eating a piece of dark chocolate, or after having a good laugh with a friend.  They are the chemicals in your brain that help you cope with pain and feel good overall."

Enough for today.  My brain apparently remembers things from decades ago and has to grab my attention in a dream to help me work through yesterday's aches and pains from exercising.  Thank you, brain.  (Brain:  "You're welcome.")  Here's the article about brain regions where I found this illustration.  I love it that Reading and Language are all cozy there in the middle.  By the way, everything I've been reading this morning says exercise is important for our brains.  So I'm right back to where I started.

How motivated are you today?

I'm motivated to keep exercising.  How do you exercise?  Besides walking, how else are you staying fit?  One possibility is this challenge from SilverSneakers designated the Move Better, Feel Better Challenge.

I'm motivated to practice playing the piano . . . and to teach Debbie as much as she wants to know about it.  Maybe next time, I'll show her these B-notes:  B natural, B flat, B sharp, and B quiet.  Do you read music?  Do you "get" what this joke is about?

B minor, added at 8:30 pm.

Wednesday Workout

Does jumping to conclusions count as exercise?  What if I exercise restraint?  Someone said:  "If you feel the need to exercise, lie down until it goes away."

But seriously, I like SilverSneakers online because I don't have to go anywhere to exercise.  I can do it in my own apartment.

I use this 120-page book on Exercise and Physical Activity, which divides the activities into these categories (p. 13):

• Endurance — aerobic activities increase your breathing and heart rate.
• Strength — resistance training improves your muscle strength.
• Balance — these exercises help prevent falls (important for older adults).
• Flexibility — stretching can help your body stay flexible and limber.

Over the years, I've collected useful equipment to help me exercise.  I have a set of two hand-weight dumbbells (one pound each), workout bands (light, medium, heavy), stretchy resistance bands (medium), and a shoulder pulley (above) that I got to work on my range of motion after I broke my shoulder in December 2012.

Shoved under my desk is also an exercise mini-cycle like this, which can be used with feet or hands.  While healing after breaking that shoulder, I would put this mini-cycle on the desk or a table and use my hands to push the pedals around.  I have  not used it much lately, but — now that I have remembered it again — I think I'll pull it out today, along with my tennis balls and a stiff spongy thing to squeeze to strengthen my grip.

Exercising

"Take a step towards an important goal, however small."  That's the suggestion for May 4th on the Meaningful May calendar.  I signed up to exercise together in a Zoom class, and it starts today.  Would you call this "a step towards an important goal"?  My goal is to stay as healthy as possible, even in my 80s.

Exercise ~ using a resistance band

SilverSneakers has exercises we can do while using resistance bands.  Their Beginner's Guide has:

1. Lat Pulldown
2. Seated Row
3. Band Side Step
4. Clamshell
5. Side Leg Lift

You can also find some exercises on YouTube.  If this video quits working, you can find it on YouTube by clicking here.

If you don't have a resistance band, you could just do these squats instead.

Let the good times roll ~ with puns and TP

These have been puzzling times for lots of folks.

Click on the photo to enlarge the words.

What's that over yonder?  Where?

I want to be able to exercise "for the fun of fit."

Do these look like fun?  At least it uses a chair.

Exercising without a group to motivate me

Here’s a 10-minute cardio workout from SilverSneakers for beginners.  There are five videos:

• Cardio Move #1:  March in Place
• Cardio Move #2:  Alternating Reach
• Cardio Move #3:  Modified Seal Jack
• Cardio Move #4:  Skater Step
• Cardio Move #5:  Heel Kick

These easy moves are encouraging, like exercising WITH someone again, even if only this one instructor.  I miss being able to get together with friends to exercise in our fitness center.  I feel less motivated doing it alone in my apartment, but these videos help me to go ahead and DO it.

Two charts ~ plus word of the day

Social distancing chart

Have you used any of these "socially distanced" greetings?

• When I do the Air Hug (near the bottom middle of the chart), I first throw my arms out like she's doing.  Then I "wrap my arms around" a bunch of air, just as I'd do if I were hugging the person.
• The Thumbs Up (at the top) comes naturally to me, so I've done that one many times.

• Making Heart Fingers (bottom left) never occurred to me, but I like it and it's easy.
• I might use Namaste (on the left) if I ever run into the folks who used to exercise with me on Friday afternoons.  We always ended with Shannon leading us through a short breathing exercise and saying "Namaste" to each other.
• 
  I have used the ASL (American Sign Language) way of saying I Love You.  I taught my grandchildren and we'd wave goodbye that way.  Holding up the pinkie finger means "I," and thumb with pointer finger means "L."  Putting them together makes "I Love You" like on this stamp from 1993.

Feel good chart

While we've been trying to find a balance while living the year that wasn't, I've mostly stayed at home.  Some days seem to drag, and a long time passes until it's tomorrow.  Other days seem to disappear when I blink.  Yesterday, big chunks of time seemed to pass between each blink.  I don't know why.  A few weeks ago, a friend said something about what had happened "a couple of weeks ago.  I reminded her, "That was Monday."  Whether you managed to do all you hoped to do, or whether you only managed to shower, I hope you feel good about something today.

Word of the Day

...is actually three words that sound alike, but mean three different things.

1.  their = something they possess.  Example:  "She's their daughter."
2.  there = points to a place.  Example:  "The book is over there."
3.  they're = a contraction of "they are."  Example:  "They're not here yet."

Your turn to use words

Tell me about something you miss being able to do because of the virus, lockdowns, and restrictions.  John Pavlovitz asked what big things people had missed, like "a date, event, trip, or occasion they were looking forward to."  He called his blog post The Missing Year.  It does feel like that, doesn't it?

What I'm thinking about today

Thinking about Clawdia

Would you call it "sun bathing" if she's sitting in the sunny open window bathing herself?  That shiny streak downward from her shoulder is where she turned to lick herself clean.  Now she's licking her paw and swiping it across her face to clean herself.  Cats groom themselves meticulously.

Word of the Day #1

swipe / swahyp / verb, when used without an object = to make a sweeping stroke.  Example:  "Clawdia swipes her paw across her face to clean herself, the way we swipe our cards through the slot in the machine when we buy things."

Thinking about voting

When you want more information about a proposition on the upcoming ballot, it helps to be able to think it through with friends.  One friend sent me information she had received from a reliable source, and I then forwarded her email to three other friends, inviting feedback.  All of these friends think it's very important to be informed and to vote.

Thinking about exercising

Five Simple Moves for Strong, Toned Arms

Exercise #1: Arm Circles
Exercise #2: Wall Pushup
Exercise #3: Bent-Over Row
Exercise #4: Biceps Curl
Exercise #5: Shoulder Raise

This is one of the links from the SilverSneakers Newsletter that came today in my email.

Thinking about racism

I'm on Day 4 about "white silence" as I work my way through Me and White Supremacy by Layla F. Saad.

This video was sent to me by a friend today, serendipitously, since he doesn't know that I am contemplating white privilege this week.  I try not to be silent, but to share what I learn, like in this video, which can help us visualize — actually SEE — the advantages of having privilege, so I'm sharing it with you.  Take a look at Racing for a Hundred-Dollar Bill and notice who is out in front.  Also, notice the looks on the faces of those who are participating in this race.

Word of the Day #2

serendipitous / ser-uh n-dip-i-tuhs / adjective = come upon or found by accident; fortuitous.  Example:  "It was serendipitous that my friend sent me this video as I'm pondering white privilege."

I was surprised to learn how NEW this word is.  It was "first recorded in 1940–45 as serendipit(y) + -ous," using the earlier word serendipity to make the adjective:

"The word 'serendipity' was coined in 1754 by Horace Walpole.  He drew it from an English variation of the Persian fairy tale The Three Princes of Serendip, which was about three princes who always made discoveries that they were not looking for on their adventures."

Two exercise videos to share

I have been getting these exercises in email, but only today did I notice that "Share" up in the corner of this 3-minute Coordination Challenge from SilverSneakers.  I clicked on it, and was given the option to grab the necessary url and post it here.  Unfortunately, I don't know how to reduce the size to fit into my blog better.  You can, however, just click on this Coordination Challenge link and go there.

I also follow SilverSneakers on Facebook, where I did Skills and Drills with Jenny today.  This one is 30 minutes long, and it doesn't start until about half a minute into the video.

New questions

I've been thinking about the daily questions I found somewhere:

1. What am I grateful for today?
2. Who am I checking in on or connecting with today?
3. What expectations of "normal" am I letting go of today?
4. How am I getting outside today?
5. How am I moving my body today?

Trying to answer each of those every day didn't really work, so I came up with my own list to choose from.  I'll use these as a reminder of possibilities and share one or more in my blog posts when I feel like it.  (So there!  LOL.)

1.  Something I'm grateful for
2.  Find something humorous
3.  Something that surprised me
4.  How I'm exercising or moving my body
5.  Activities I'm enjoying
6.  Who I connected with
7.  What I did NOT do, like cancelled stuff
8.  Today's word
9.  Whatever else is on my mind

HUMOR

That "toilet paper" humor at the top was funnier a week ago, but today I laughed when this photo made me think:  "Must be a blended family."

GRATITUDE

I'm grateful to the Crown Center.  When we are stuck in our apartments day after day, it's a kindness in this crisis that they deliver meals to us.  The food isn't boring, either.  Yesterday, I really enjoyed the Chicken Shawarma with rice, vegetables, and soup.  With one recent meal delivery, they included two word search puzzles, two coloring pages, and some pencils for coloring.  I got sky blue and deep brown; Donna got pink, orange, light green, and dark green.

EXERCISE

I'll let you know when Donna Rae Jones goes live with her Gentle Chair Yoga.  In the meantime, we can visit SilverSneakers On-Demand for exercise videos.

ON MY MIND

"It's not about you; it's about everybody else."  Stay home, and stop the spread.  This chart is ancient, having been published three days ago, but it gives an idea of age groups of people hit by the coronavirus.

St. Louis County released this graphic to show the ages of our positive COVID-19 cases, updated March 23, 2020.  Since it's too tiny to read, here's what it shows in each age range:

• 0-9 is 1
• 10-19 is 2
• 20-29 is 18
• 30-39 is 12
• 40-49 is 11
• 50-59 is 27
• 60-69 is 15
• 70-79 is 2
• 80-89 is 2
• 90-99 is 0

As you can see, it is NOT just the elderly who are getting this virus.

Social distancing

The CDC defines social distancing as "remaining out of congregate settings, avoiding mass gatherings and maintaining distance (approxi-mately 6 feet) from others when possible."  It is less drastic than quarantine or isolation, which are used for people who are suspected to be carrying the virus.  (I found the GIF here.)  Keeping our distance from each other, even when neither of us has symptoms of the coronavirus, is the best way to prevent the spread of this pandemic.

I woke up this morning thinking about "the last man on earth," a book and a movie, if I'm remembering correctly.  I looked it up, and it's a 1982 book by Isaac Asimov and also the title of three movies over the decades (1924, 1964, and 2011).  That's kind of what I'm feeling this morning, as I sit isolated and alone in my apartment with only my cat as company.  And my computer?  Maybe that depressing feeling and anxiety was why my blood pressure was up a bit more than usual this morning.

Asking my five daily questions:

1. What am I grateful for today?

Snow!  Strangely, today's rain had turned to SNOW when I glanced up this morning.  And then the tiny white flakes became BIG snow flakes.  It's too wet to lay.  At least, I think so.  But who expects snow at the beginning of spring when the temps are above freezing all day?

2. Who am I checking in on or connecting with today?

Mary called to check on me this morning and to talk awhile.  Donna and I chatted through Facebook's private messages.  Sharon texted that she'd left something in the box beside my door.  It was a bag of pecans.  Thanks, Sharon!  I tried to call Tiny, who is now living with her daughter and son-in-law nearby.  We still have a lot of hours left in the day, so I may be in contact with several more before bedtime.  Evening update:  Shannon called to check on me, and when I went down to get yesterday's mail, I spoke to Dorothy in the lobby and Darlene on the desk.  I also met Donna in the hall, when Domino's delivered an order for us this evening.

3. What expectations of "normal" am I letting go of today?

Having all the foods available that I'm used to.  Joy says on her blog today that cabbage lasts longer than lettuce, so she shared her recipes with us (click her links).  Her whole post is intersting:  "Self love in the time of Coronavirus."

4. How am I getting outside today?

I'm not, because it's raining.  As of midnight tonight, St. Louis city and county will be under "stay-at-home" orders.  We'll still be able to go out for essentials like food and medicines, but I need to look at the details on the St. Louis County website.

5. How am I moving my body today?

I got out my mini-cycle so I can exercise inside a little better.  Donna used it while sitting in a chair after she had knee replacement surgery, and I used it with my hands on the pedals during therapy after I broke my shoulder, by putting it on a table.

Joy shared a couple of her exercises in her blog post (see #3 above).  Here's one I'll try later: "March in place while tapping the knee with the opposite hand — a cross lateral move that is supposed to help your brain function better."

I can always use the pages I printed out for our exercise group to do my own exercises at home, like these daily dozen for seniors.  And here are a few yoga positions I'm pretty sure I'd be good at.  Let's laugh a little.

Modified squats for seniors

Seniors should try this modified squat.  Hold onto chair for balance.

Question for the experts:

No, knees "crack" with each bend.  Those other sounds are you moaning.

Daily dozen for seniors

Click to enlarge the image

I exercise with a group of friends in our Fitness Center on the ground floor on Friday afternoons, so I've been looking for examples of things seniors can do.  Toe raises and heel raises and shoulder shrugs can be done while sitting as well as standing.  Each person decides what's doable for herself, and our mantra is "Don't do anything that hurts."