HOUSING AND AGING: CONSIDERATIONS FOR HOME AND NEIGHBORHOOD
The home and neighborhood are central to quality of life for people of all ages, but there are specific ways they can affect the well-being of older adults.
YOUR BODY WANTS TO HEAL
Anne Steele – Certified Yoga Instructor
It started with a burning sensation in the back, and then a numbness in a foot. Random physical sensations that could have been explained away if they hadn’t come back worse over the next several days.
Sooner or later, all of us are reminded of our mortality and impermanence when we break a bone or get a disease along the way. These challenges stop us in our tracks and scare us and often reduce us to a schedule of appointments with specialists, weeks of impaired movement, or some other limit to our active lives. Knowing we are all going to die eventually, these moments are opportunities to see again the things that are important to us, the gifts in our lives, and the actual gift of being alive. We get an opportunity to regain balance in our lives.
After years of being on top of his game in work and life, my husband had one of these moments when his body stopped working. It started with his leg feeling tingly during a vacation, and then several days later the leg stopped working at
all. A quick trip home to the emergency room and several MRIs later, we discovered that he had myelitis, lesions of infection on his spine that reduced the activity in his spinal cord, affecting his leg. He was admitted to the hospital and proceeded to be treated. Several weeks of rehab followed while he learned to live with marginal use of one leg.
Then, his vision started getting worse and another MRI revealed lesions on his optic nerve, which goes to the spinal cord. A blood test revealed he had Neuro-myelitis-optica, an autoimmune syndrome affecting the whole spine. Fortunately we found an aggressive treatment regime and he was sent home 10 days later.
Research into the disease led us to believe that inflammation, which could have been caused by stress, an infection, genetics, or just random chance, was a big cause of this setback. We began reading all we could about inflammation and diet. We watched Terry Wahls’s TED talk and anything else we could find about how to heal through diet. We began an anti-inflammation diet that removed sugar, flour, red meat, and other inflammatory elements from our diet. We drank a morning cocktail of lemon and water and turmeric. We ended each day with a turmeric and almond milk toddy. Removing stress meant my husband worked just mornings. We exercised within his energy level several times a day.
We didn’t have time for regret about past ways of life. Each day gave us an opportunity to support the healing work of the body by exercising, resting, and eating well. Being grateful to be alive became our mantra, our wonder, our breath. The smallest things began to bring magic—the bird outside the window, the wind in the leaves, the light on the water, and just the wonder of the beautiful world we live in and the people we share it with. Family and friends supported us and loved us and shared our viewpoint.
During the process of healing, yoga and meditation became central to our body awareness and healing. The yoga asanas bring attention to various parts of the body and enable one to open pathways and clear blockages. The poses help you to ground, to balance, to find the parts of your core that stabilize you, and to know what part needs more attention. Most importantly, making a final shavasana part of your practice gives you time to feel all the fluids and systems of your body running smoothly and efficiently. The physical contentment and gratitude for the life source you feel in your body shapes the rest of your day. Meditation has so many benefits, not the least being the gift of taking time together in silence.
Learning that our body wants to heal became the true magic of our days and now, five years later, my husband is walking and biking, skiing and swimming, and able to travel to see loved ones and take vacations. His disease was a wake-up call to reshape our life. It was a gift. Our mindset of gratitude for being alive and for the incredibly complex, precise, magnificent workings of the human body helped us daily to make choices that affirmed the body’s drive to heal and grow. Even as we had to step back from so much, we realized that the stepping back itself was a gift to reframe our lives and live more meaningfully. Stepping forward each day, we marvel in the amazing capacity of the body to heal itself. Trust in this healing process allows us the grace to deal with whatever challenges lie ahead.
Your body tells you when something is wrong. By paying attention, you learn to take the steps you need to support your healing. What you learn in this process can change your lifestyle and mindset and bring you joy and contentment and appreciation for the amazing gift of being alive.
Anne Steele
Certified Yoga Instructor
Additional Reading
FITNESS AND AGING
When we think about fitness, the first thing that often pops into our heads is the idea of an elite athlete—a weightlifter, a marathon runner, an olympic gymnast. Although those people are incredibly fit, they are also at the veryfurthest end of the fitness spectrum.
EXERCISE AND AGING
We want to help people to stay fit
and active — at all ages across the
spectrum. We know there can be
many challenges to staying active as
we age, but the benefits are well
worth the effort.
YOUR BODY WANTS TO HEAL
It started with a burning sensation
in the back, and then a numbness in a foot. Random physical sensations that could have been explained away if they hadn’t come back worse over the next several days.
MANAGING YOUR DIGITAL ASSETS
Have you ever wondered how your
digital assets are managed when
you are unable to manage them
yourself? What happens to all your
online accounts when you die?
HOW TO RECOGNIZE & PREVENT ELDER ABUSE
Elder abuse is a problem that’s intensifying across the nation. Older adults often become vulnerable due to isolation, physical or mental disabilities, and dependence on others for assistance