Yoga and Movement Activity for Seniors

Welcome to the Living to 100 Club Podcast. Here's our host, Dr. Joseph Casciani. Good day to everyone. I'm Joe Casciani, your host for the Living to 100 Club Podcast. Our conversations are all about aging well and doing what it takes mentally and physically to live longer and healthier. Our guests share insights and recommendations about successful aging, stories of perseverance, and inspiration about our future. Today's program more than fits the bill. Today's podcast explores the importance of exercise, movement activity, and yoga for seniors. Our guest, Jan Jermias, is a certified yoga instructor, who works with older adults who experience physical limitations or problems with mobility. We discuss the importance of incorporating balance, breathing, and strength training exercise into our regular routines. What are the essential exercise programs to include in our daily practice as we face physical challenges such as arthritis, balance limitations, or muscle weakness? Stay tuned to hear Jan's insights on these questions and more. First, a little background. Jan has been teaching yoga for 18 years and has been working with seniors for over 10 years. She's taught at a number of yoga studios and over 55 communities with a focus on teaching older adults. She is a trained yoga teacher with a specialty training in restorative yoga, yoga for osteoporosis and bone strength, and yoga for scoliosis. She's also certified in a program called Ageless Grace. Ageless Grace is a brain and body program that works with neuroplasticity. Jan, welcome to our program.

Oh, thank you, Joe. So nice to be here.

Great. Glad to have you with us. Looking forward to our conversation. I always like to open by asking our guests to tell us briefly about the journey that took you to where you are today.

Well, my journey is like— it's like all stories. It could be very long, but I'd really like to cut to the chase. I really got into yoga myself for stress management. I really didn't do it. I wasn't— I was athletic, so I didn't really look at it as a form of— as much, I don't think, as physical activity as a way for me to try to control stress and anxiety. And it really, really helped me through that. And as I practiced over the years, and suffered from a number of injuries, both practicing and not, I realized that I wanted to create a practice for myself, my own personal practice, and share with my students a way to practice yoga as you aged. Because when I started, I was, you know, and through the years, so I've been practicing for over 20 years, I was 20 years younger. And after a while I thought to myself, this is not sustainable. Like, I can't do this, what I'm doing now, forever. But I could do something. And so what could I do that I could then carry forward with me that I could be able to do for the rest of my life? And so I kind of altered my teaching style. And also I was asked to teach a number of classes for older adults. And so all of a sudden I was like, okay, well, I've had to make this accessible to them. I have to make it doable. I have to make it so it's positive, achievable. Like, you know, no one gets frustrated. And so it kind of evolved into a program for myself that was going to be one that people could definitely do and be able to do till they were much older. Sure.

Yeah. Great.

Yeah.

So what's your current professional work look like? How do you spend your time now?

Well, I spend my time now with yoga, and then I do another part of my business with animals. And so I actually incorporate that quite a bit into my Right. Into my work. So I do a lot of work with animals and have for about the same amount of time as I've been teaching yoga. And so now I get to take animals with me a lot of times if I teach in facilities, which is always fun because I think it adds in another element.

Of course.

Now, you know, I teach at a— still teach at a number of assisted living places and go in and teach yoga and Ageless Grace. And then I also teach a number of Zoom classes that are available to people who, you know, get in touch with me and I can send them the link. The drawback of teaching on Zoom, which is the drawback of teaching almost any classes that is a movement class that is online, is I can't a lot of times see my students depending on how well set up electronically they are.

Where their cameras are.

Sometimes that's— I find that I think they find it limiting and I find it limiting. I mean, it's wonderful, but I'm not in the room with them saying to them, okay, well, adjust your foot or try to relax your shoulders or whatever. So, but otherwise it's great because I do, you know, it's a great way for people to move. So I teach a lot of chair yoga and then I do teach classes like Yoga for Strong Bones and Osteoporosis. And then I teach a number of what we call therapeutics classes, which are mainly classes for people with injuries or ailments that are undergoing, you know, who might have had surgery or who might have be in the process of some sort of ongoing treatment who definitely still want to move and practice but are not going to go take a regular yoga class.

So tell us about the Ageless Grace program. You say you incorporate that in some of your work.

Yeah, I did my Ageless Grace teaching training. I don't know when it was. I don't know. I want to say, well, it was well before COVID so it must be like 5, 6 years ago. And It was very different. It's, you know, it's all supposed to be done in a chair. So it's not like you're supposed to stand. It's the whole idea of learning how to navigate and move from a seated position when most of the time we're taught like, hi, if we're gonna kick our leg up in the air, we're taught how to do that. Like we know how to do that from a standing position and it requires different aspects of the brain and different physicality to actually be able to do those movements from a seated position. So it is still very cardio even though you think you're seated and you're not gonna get your heart rate up. You do get your heart rate up, but it also combines a lot of brain tools of working a lot of opposite sides of the body, having to count and move at the same time, how to spell backwards and move, and all these things where you're doing two things at once. And it works on spatial orientation and memory recall. It's done to music. So music is great because it's a great way to move. I think it does bring in, which you could probably speak to better than I can, the whole aspect of memory and especially different songs we associate with different times of our lives and different holidays and things like that. So it is really a unique way to move. And in a class, there's a series of what they call tools. And each tool or movement or brain activity is meant to stimulate different properties of movement and brain. And you might not do all elements in a class. Usually it's, let's say, 8 or 9 tools that you'll do in a class.

Wow.

And then you'll combine them and they're all— everything is done to music. So it's a lot of fun. No one can do it no matter the age, which is also another reason I love it because not like you ever get really good at it. You know what I mean? Kind of like there's certain things that you do when you're spelling backwards or counting backwards and I make mistakes all the time. And everybody laughs because, you know, there I am, quote unquote, supposed to be the teacher, you know.

Yeah, but you're asking your students to stretch. And like the neuroplasticity school is saying, that we can kind of recreate some of those neural pathways. And doing these unusual activities, spelling the word backwards and all of that, is really forcing us to step into new areas. In our brain that we haven't been before.

Yeah, haven't been before. Because no matter what we do, as far as things that people— and I'm not being critical, but people will say do puzzles and do all these things, but eventually I think your brain does get the pathway, kind of like it gets into a groove. And this kind of makes you create new grooves.

Yeah.

So they always think of it as play. Like when you're young, your brain is very malleable when you learn. If you think about the whole learning process and watch kids learn, like there's this whole element of experimentation and testing things out, you know, that kind of, which I think Ageless Grace ends up doing, you know, kind of challenges in a different way.

Yeah, that's good. So it's kind of a blend of yoga, certain poses and that approach, plus the extra stimulation for our brain. So it's combining both. And I can see that's really suited for a number of, people, as you call it, kind of a therapeutic effect with a number of populations. Sure.

Yeah, I think it's really— there's been a lot of work on it in regard to illnesses such as Parkinson's, seeing a lot of progress with people, you know, as there are, you know, a number of instructors out there who are doing like dancing for people with Parkinson's. But also, I think with people with some sort of cognitive issues or dementia, because I think that there is this whole element of music and even things like there's ones where you actually pretend to, like, let's say, play sports. So you're pretending to play, or my favorite, which is called Front Row Orchestra, where you actually pretend you're playing instruments. So you do memory recall, but everything you do with one side, you also then have to do with your non-dominant side. So all of a sudden, if you're playing, pretending to play the violin or something, you have to then pretend to play on the opposite side.

Oh, wow.

Which is really challenging when you're starting to try to, like, because you're not using your dominant side. And unless you're ambidextrous, which is super difficult.

But yeah, right.

Not used to brushing your teeth with both hands.

Yeah, switching to that. I mean, that's like writing a letter with your left hand. And if you're right-handed, then it kind of taxes the brain to do that.

Right, exactly.

Exactly. Yeah. So it sounds very progressive and really innovative. And I wonder if you could share a case or two where you've seen some effects, positive effects of this.

Yeah, I went and taught in assisted living place for, at this one facility for a while. And there was one woman, first of all, who came up to me who did have Parkinson's. And she was just like, you know, I think it was also that it tends to be very joyful and very happy. And so she was just like, so like, she was like, you know, just the appreciation of being able to do whatever she could do because there's no, you know, no criticism, there's no judgment. You know, it's like you do what you can do. And being able to move however way she— and there were definitely things she could do. So that also helps because it's not like you feel like, oh my gosh, this is hopeless because I can't do anything. And then Ashley said that she actually felt better afterwards, that there was just physically she felt different, like she could feel that her joints were better and she wasn't as much— they didn't feel as stiff or she didn't feel almost like sometimes what happens, at least with her case, It's like your muscles contract and tighten, and then you can't— like, you feel almost confined and limited because you can't move because you're so restricted, I guess is a good word, that she felt a lot less restricted.

Wow.

So that was beautiful. And then I've worked with people who told me they were much more clear in their thinking, that they really felt a difference in that., you know, in conversation or when they went to do a task afterwards that they felt like, you know, cognitively they were just more, much more focused.

Well, yeah. So if they're experiencing any cognitive slowdown or even a little bit of brain fog, I'm not sure what that term means, but I hear it all the time. People feel like they're out of the fog, right? Yeah. Right.

Interesting.

Yeah, sure, sure. So, you know, you've worked with seniors a lot and doing some very, um, very effective programs with them in terms of yoga and strength training and balance. What do you consider the essentials? I know we're all different, but what do you think are the essentials for the 65 and over age group? What do you think we should be at ease with?

I think that, you know, so I think something that works on balance is essential. I think that too many people end up having rapid decline after a fall. And I'm not saying— there's multiple reasons why people fall. But to me, working on balance so that maybe some of the likelihood is decreased, always a plus. So anything that's going to help you with your balance, and whether that's holding on to the side of a chair and trying to balance on one foot, to, you know, obviously working, you know, if you're depending on what kind of physical situation. I just wanted to say to our listeners, if you need someone present, make sure somebody's around. Like, I'm not an advocate of doing things, you know, live alone, you know, just being honorable of everybody and how their living situation. But I think that's really great. One of the things I do with my students all the time is I roll up a— like, I take like a really, I don't know, pretty substantial blanket and I roll it up And then they have to stand on it. And it's that uneven surface of trying to balance even for a second or keeping your finger or your hand lightly on a chair to kind of work the small muscles of the feet to try to actually adjust and compensate for uneven surfaces and for things like that. And when you do that, actually, it's very interesting because afterwards, when you get on the ground, it actually feels really hard. It's very interesting. It's like all of a sudden you're like, wow, the floor feels really, really solid. But that feeling of what it's like to be on uneven ground, which we could say metaphorically too.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

And then so I love balance work. I think it's really important to work on some sort of strength training, whether that be assisted, working on leg strength and back strength, just because It's very easy for us to kind of, me included, our posture collapses and we kind of round and that kind of throws off our balance too because we try to pitch ourselves forward. And then so I always kind of encourage that. I have a thing I'm passionate about and that is being able to help people with enough strength so that they can not rely on— and you want to have strong upper body, but I don't want any person to be so reliant on arm mobility that if they lose their ability to use— like, personal example is my mother has really bad shoulders. And so when it's really bothering her, she has a really hard time getting up because her lower, like, her leg strength is not that great, either back strength. So all of a sudden it's such a struggle to be able to get up from a seated position. Because she doesn't have an arm to use or a shoulder. And all of a sudden, it's kind of like, how does she have to contort herself to be able to maneuver herself to be able to stand up from a position? And so with my students, I do a lot of things where we actually have to— we don't use our arms for standing up, or we try not to use our arms. And can we increase leg and back strength enough so that if something does happen, you're not totally incapacitated or reliant on someone else. And I'm not being critical of that, but that would be, to me, if I was going to work on a goal for people, that would be a really good goal.

Sure. So being comfortable standing up without using our hands or arms to position ourselves. What about posture, though? I know what you're talking about when people start to kind of lean forward and their shoulders aren't held back. What do you recommend? I mean, just stand up straight. That's not that easy, right?

Yeah, it isn't that easy. I always tell people, so first of all, seated, like, if you can envision that— they always say a great example is if you envision that you're sitting, like, in the car and you kind of try to pin your shoulders back toward the car seat and you actually take your head back and imagine, like, a headrest behind your head, sort of like you're in a dentist's office. But I'd rather use a car because that's painful. Yeah, that's painful most of the time. So it's that kind of just realize how much we— and it's common behavior. One is like, I know that for myself when I drive, it's almost this feeling that if I pitch myself forward, that I'm going to get there faster. It's like this feeling. But then also you have all these things we do which are forward-moving activities. You cook, you clean, you're on your whatever. If you're electronic, you're on your computer or your laptop or your tablet phone. And so have to remember that we can sit back when we do those things. And I always say to people that even if you can just remember that and you're going to relapse and round, but then constantly say to yourself, oh, that's right, how am I sitting? I could do it all day.

Yeah. You can see that in the grocery store when people are pushing the shopping cart and leaning forward and almost relying on that rather than standing up straight and pushing it through. They're hunched over almost. And that's the opposite of what we want to do, right?

Yeah, that is the opposite. Part of the reason is, as we age, and for anybody who suffers from anything like— I want to say lower bone density. I won't go into, like, actual ailment diagnosis. That when the spine starts— when you start to round, it puts a lot of pressure on the internal part of the vertebra. That's actually where most of the fractures occur if you're going to have a fracture, because it's the pressure of one vertebra on another and the bones aren't very dense. And so that rounded position is forward compression on the vertebra. So trying to keep yourself as tall or as upright as possible is really helpful. And then anything I think that's going to— because we do so many things that are forward moving or forward where our arms are forward of us, what happens is the muscles on the inside of the chest by your upper chest kind of tighten and that pulls the shoulders forward.

Okay.

So anything that you can do to kind of open up the chest area, the upper chest area, to get your chest to open, which is going to make it easier to breathe too anyway. Another element. So if you can keep your chest open, then, oh, wow, then it's easier to breathe and I'm less rounded.

Sure. And once we get into that forward posture, it's hard to stand back up again. It's hard to take that pressure off the vertebrae. Right. Because it's going in the right direction, but it's hard because we're kind of stuck leaning forward.

Yeah, it is. It's very hard, I think, because it's almost like if you look at— it's almost like the muscles in the back start to get really elongated and the muscles in the front of the body shorten and get tighter.

More compression.

You're trying to open up something that's kind of, let's say, rigid and tight. And so it becomes even harder to get it. Over time, it just starts to get harder and harder to do it. And so even multiple times a day, a few seconds a day, it doesn't have to be a long period of time just to start to kind of say, get up every few hours and say, okay, let me just elongate my spine and let me back.

Because it's not going to get better, right? I mean, we can't wait for— gee, I'll wait till I am able to stand up straight again. That's not going to happen, right? I mean, it takes that kind of deliberate, determined attitude about it.

I think it does. I'll have students who'll say to me, every now and then, you're in my head and I'll hear you say, sit up straight or keep your shoulders back, kind of thing. And I said, okay, well, if I'm going to be in your head, I guess that's a good way. But I mean, I do think people that depending on their background and training, I think that sometimes there are certain individuals who really sort of have it so ingrained they don't have to worry about it. I think dancers are like that. You know, I have a friend who was a ballet dancer and they have, you know, amazing posture. You know, if you're— I think if you were into yoga or martial arts as a young person, maybe you still have those kind of tools ingrained in you. But I think for most, the average person, you know, throughout our lives, it's not something we actually, you know, concentrate on. Like, nobody talks to us about posture. I mean, my grandmother did, but other— I don't know, we'll still do.

We don't have those parents and grandparents around to stand up straight.

Right, exactly. Exactly.

Yeah. So you've got balance, you've got strength. What about muscle and muscle weakening with age? What do you think about that? Any approaches?

Yeah, I mean, I think that doing weight work is really great. I mean, if you can do lightweight, weights, that's awesome. If you have the financial ability, having even somebody who's a personal trainer, if that's in your realm, there are a few people that I know. There's a local woman here who really does a lot, who works with a lot of people on weight training when they're older. If that's not in your ability, I think that there are certain things you can do that are just for leg strength, pretending that you're going to stand up and just working, like even shifting the body weight into the legs a little bit more, like you're going to lift your seat off this chair, is actually really good for your muscle strength of your legs. So you don't even have to get up. It's just that action of feeling like, okay, I'm going to put weight in my feet and I'm going to press up from here. And if you do that a few times, if you have the ability and you can stand up and face the wall, is doing like putting your arms out and letting your shoulder height and letting yourself, like, let the arms bear your weight a bit. It's almost like doing a wall push-up. Yeah. And then you don't have to get on the floor, which is why most of my students originally started doing chair yoga. Some of them was because they didn't want to have to get down on the ground and have to worry about getting up. So this way they could do the whole thing from basically a seated or standing position. Position, and they didn't have to worry about getting on the ground. And because most of when I taught at studios and I taught chair yoga, a lot of my students were pretty mobile. My oldest student at the time was like 87, didn't want to get down on a yoga mat on the floor and then have to worry about standing back up from that position. He was a man and he had an amazing perseverance and dedication. I mean, he was amazing. Didn't start till he was like 80. So it wasn't like he had been practicing yoga his entire life. And so I was like, how cool is that to sit there and say, okay, I'm going to venture in and try something at 80.

Yeah, that's great. I'd like to hear more about that. But just let me clarify though, any other essentials that you think we need to kind of be mindful of? Balance, strength, muscle?

I think the other thing is we're talking about balance, strength. And I know why. I mean, as we age, there is this tendency for us not to want to have to get up and go to the bathroom, but hydrate. I mean, yeah, I think hydration is so key. And like I said, I understand why people don't want to do it, but it's really important. And so probably just the basics of what we might call good life skills is going to make you eat well, sleep, and hydration. As far as movement goes, part of the reason the whole idea of ageless grace was this idea of dancing in a chair is really what Denise Medved, the creator, was really trying to get to. And I think that there's some element in that way about making sure have fun with it, I guess, is a great way to say it. So if you need to put on music, put on your favorite song and do it that way.

Sure.

It might as well be fun when you do it.

Yeah. Good. So how is yoga, chair yoga, different from more traditional approaches?

Well, I always looked at— I have taught regular chair yoga. And which is basically you do everything from a seated position and you use the chair to assist you and support you. Well, I would say a lot of my students, we never really sat for an entire class. It was more like we would sit for periods and then we would use the chair for balance and for things that, you know, we just wanted to be able to— so it was much more that element. So I wasn't— I always tell people, it's not like you're sitting for an hour. First of all, doing chair yoga for an hour would be— that's kind of hard because they're very limited as to what you can do. Okay, sure. So that was always— but it's also the fact that there were things that my students could do, but just either their balance was off, they felt unsteady with legs wide apart and feet facing different directions and whatever. And if they had the ability to hold on to a chair, where they could get into those things and they felt secure enough to be able to strengthen muscles and bones and also to stabilize themselves. And I would see such great results in flexibility and strength. I mean, I would have students that told me that their pain was so much better, and that was why they came back. It was more so, I think, when you feel better afterwards, it's kind of like, My older student one day turned to me and said, oh my gosh, you know why you're so good about coming? And he said to me, well, that's because I feel better.

Yeah.

And that's what you want. And that's really what brings you back. I mean, for most people, because if you don't feel any different, it's a lot more challenging to, let's say, on those days when you really don't feel like coming, to force you to get yourself to come.

Yeah, that really helps when you feel the benefit, when you feel the progress. Yeah. What about you do different poses then in the chair? Okay.

Yeah, we'll do lunges, twists, warrior poses. We even do some core work, some stretching and lengthening muscles. You know, I think the hardest part of the body to actually stretch from a chair, and there are ways, but it's not as easy as other ways, is sort of like that reverse. So we round is that sort of backbend action where you're trying to arch the upper back and trying to open up is, you know, there are ways, but I think it's probably one of the most challenging things to incorporate into a chair practice.

Sure.

Yeah.

Yeah. But otherwise, okay.

Almost everything. A lot of stuff anyway.

Yeah. So adapting a lot of the traditional poses to this seated, I guess, more stable in the chair. And it's— Correct. To get on the floor. But what about breathing? Is that a component of the chair yoga?

Yes, absolutely. We always do some sort of breathing practice or breathing exercise. We always cultivate in deep breathing. I always usually do a few minutes of meditation either before or at the end. And we definitely do breathing because I think no matter your age, stress and anxiety are a huge element of our society, especially now. And I think that any tools you can gather to kind of cope with that. I always say that some of the tools, like for breathing and stuff, like you're at the doctor's office, which is usually when I do deep breathing because I don't like to go to the doctor. So I'll sit there and go, okay, just concentrate on your breath. But yeah, and I think it's wonderful to be able to because I think, like I said, we all have these stressful moments. And life these days is not very easy in a lot of ways. There's a lot going on all the time.

Yeah. And breathing, of course, standing or sitting or even lying in a bed, there's still exercises that we can do to kind of perform that healthy breathwork.

Yeah, that's right. And I always tell people, whenever you can do it, you get up in the morning before you get out of bed, take a few good, what I call conscious breaths. Like, you're really aware you're breathing. Like, okay, I'm inhaling. Okay, I'm exhaling. Moment of gratitude is always a really good thing. Sure. And then just to start off your day like that, because it's almost like a reset button. Because I don't know about everybody else, but once my day starts, sometimes I'm just push go and then I'm going. And then, you know, and so if I do it in the beginning, kind of creates a— it just creates a certain energy for the rest of the day.

Sure, sure. Yeah. What's that saying? If you own the first hour, you own the day.

Oh, I love that.

Yeah, yeah. So in terms of, as you talk about early morning awareness. And are there exercises or some kind of routine that you think is important? Not classes, not yoga, just to do on our own and just as a daily routine.

Yeah, I think anything where, like I said, you open up the chest, you check in with your breath. So just breathe in a few times, in and out. Especially these days with all the upper respiratory stuff going on around in the world, I would say breathing To me, I think of the lungs in that whole area. I mean, it is muscular in itself. Like, the rib is more flexible and your better ability to inhale and exhale. When you inhale, obviously get air. When you exhale, you get rid of junk, you get rid of trapped air, all that kind of stuff. So the more malleable or mobile the rib cage and the lungs are, I think the better able you are to prevent illness. So that's just my take on it. So I think that's really important. I think, I mean, if you can— and I didn't talk about this, but we are seated a lot. And depending on whether what your hips are like, you know, but any sort of seated hip openers, which are like taking, you know, if you have both feet on the floor, crossing one ankle on top of one ankle somewhere, crossing on the opposite leg. So that might mean, depending on your mobility, if you can lift your, you know, one foot on top of the thigh of the other foot. But that's kind of intense and that might be a little bit too much. But even to try to get the ankles to cross a little bit, to start to work the hips or to open up a leg from the side to the side to the center. So if you're sitting, is to take one leg out, bring it back to center, or make a big circle with your knee, lifting the leg a little bit so that you get to work your hip joint a little bit because we're all You know, for those of us, whether no matter the age anymore, we sit a lot more than we used to and we're online a lot. So, you know, it's just like that whole action. So I think chest opener, anything that's gonna help the hips and breathing, mm-hmm. I think would be a really good way to start.

Mm-hmm. Good, good recommendations. Yeah. So I, I know you work closely with pets, as you mentioned, and you even have a new podcast devoted to pet owners. Uh, tell us. Tell us about that. What's your—

Yeah, so I've been working with pets about as long as I've been working with older adults, or doing yoga, I should say. And I love working with animals. That absolute unconditional love, nothing like it. And so my podcast is called Pets, People, Life, and Longevity, and it's all about having an animal in your life, whether it's your own or not. But that whole idea of pets can teach us a lot. Pets are great at helping people to heal. And that's sort of across the board, whether that's kids with certain issues, certain scholastic issues or emotional issues or trauma, to older adults with— and healing. And then it's the practical stuff about pet caretaking and pet wellness and things like that. But I think it's the other place I love to live because I think they can teach us so much on how to live.

Yeah. So what type of guests do you have? I'm curious. Sounds like a fascinating program.

So I have had on— I had on a lawyer who talked about— who's a mediator for pets. She only deals with pet-related issues. And so she got on and talked about Things like, you know, do you have a plan for what's going to happen to your pet? Not in death, but like what happens if you're hospitalized and do you have a plan on who's going to take care of your pet? You know, do you have a pet trust or someone, have you allotted or even thought about the, you know, if something happens to you, who's going to get your pet and you owe a lot of money for their care? I mean, it's one thing to ask somebody to take care of them, but are they prepared financially to take care of them?

Sure.

Depending on the health issues, but then more practical stuff like, I have a holistic vet getting on and talking about information for first-time pet people, you know, getting a pet for the first time.

Sure.

And then I have the more human side of it. Like, I had a doctor on a few weeks ago, an MD, who was talking about the health benefits for people of having a pet, from lowering blood pressure and lowering cortisol to lower, you know, to emotional support.

Love that. Yeah, the pet therapy, the therapeutic effects of pets. Sure. Sure.

Yeah. So it's a little bit like that.

Yeah, that's great. You must have a big following. I can imagine you have a lot of people very interested, kind of a thriving audience. That's a great theme to—

Oh, thank you.

Yeah, great. Great. So any closing thoughts? We're about ready to wrap up. Jan, what would you like our listeners to take away from our conversation today?

Don't ever think you're too old. To begin. Like I said, I've had students who started in their 80s, well into their 80s. You know, my oldest student right now, I think, is 86.

Wow.

You know, and people who, you know, it's just so— you're never too old. Like, I think that that's really what I'd like people to think. And, you know, everybody has to begin somewhere, no matter their age. You know, it doesn't matter how old you are when you do something new or something that's unfamiliar. There's a learning curve and there's, you know, when you're— that's the way it's supposed to be, you know.

Yeah, that's so important. We're, we're never too old. And I always like to add, we, we don't want to compare ourselves to others.

Yes.

Only comparing ourselves to where we were yesterday or a month ago or a year ago. That's the comparison, because then we can see if we're going in the right direction.

Right. I have one lovely student who at one point was getting really frustrated and, you know, she came to me and said, you know, I really wanted— I thought I would be doing this by now kind of thing. And I said to her, well, think about where you were a year ago and then look at where you are now. And she looked at me and said like, oh, you know, like—

Exactly. Sure, sure. Where would you be without doing this for the past year?

Right, exactly. Exactly.

Great. Well, great information, Jan. It looks like we're out of time for today. But before we wrap up, I want to just remind our listeners to visit my website, livingto100.club, to sign up for our email list and to download a free copy of my 9 Tips to Make Living Longer Enjoyable. While on the website, be sure to peruse our library of blogs and podcasts. And finally, If you're interested, reach out to me to schedule a presentation for your group in person or online. I think there's real value in helping older adults feel inspired about their future. Jan, thanks so much for being a guest on our show today. For those who might want to contact you, how can they do that?

The best way is if you're on Facebook or LinkedIn. So that's really— social media is always a really great way to reach out to me.

Okay.

And, you know, I do respond to those messages, and so that's usually the best as far as I'm gonna get back the quickest.

Okay. All right. That's great. Yeah, that's great. Yeah. Well, thanks again for being on our program. It was thoroughly enjoyable. Yeah.

Oh, thank you so much for having me. It was, it was very fun.

Great, great. You're welcome. And thanks to everyone for listening to our episode. Hope to see you next time.

Hi, I'm Laurie LeBay, and I wanted to tell you about Alzheimer Speaks, which is another great podcast. You see, my own mother lived with dementia for 30 years, and I felt lost. Did you know every 3 seconds someone in the world is being diagnosed with dementia, odds are it's going to hit your families too. We want to help you connect to services, products, tools, research, and stories so you can be prepared. Please subscribe to Alzheimer Speaks on your favorite podcast platform.