Avenidas presents the 6th Annual
Housing Conference
MARCH 2013
LivingWell A monthly special section of
news & information for seniors
Saturday, March 23 8:30 am - 2:30 pm Choose from three focus areas: y Do you want to sell your home and move? y Have you decided to stay in your own home? y Are you still exploring your options? Register at avenidas.org or call (650) 289-5435.
Resources and programs for positive aging
Special thanks to Presenting Sponsors Nancy Goldcamp, Coldwell Banker and Oshman Family Jewish Community Center
Veronica Weber
Elaine Desser follows instructions in a water aerobics class at the Oshman Family Jewish Community Center.
Seniors: Finding ways to stay fit Tai Chi, dance, water aerobics appeal to lifelong or new exercisers by Chris Kenrick
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n her 92nd birthday last month, Lucille Brown participated in an exercise class, decked herself out in black slacks, a fitted top and elegant scarf and went off to play bridge with friends. “When I feel like I don’t want to exercise I begin to realize it’s exactly the time I should do it,” said Brown, who has lived for the past two years at Moldaw Family Residences, adjacent to the Oshman Family Jewish Community Center in Palo Alto. “Even if the air feels a little cold, it restores your energy.” Brown, who counts Tai Chi and Feldenkrais among her practices, is among legions of local residents 65 and older who maintain exercise routines on a daily, or near daily basis. At the Palo Alto Family YMCA on Ross Road, lobby traffic on a weekday morning is a mixture of young parents, toddlers and seniors, including more than a few who use walkers. The Y reports that 14 percent of its membership consists of “active older adults 65 and over.” They can be found in the Y’s regular classes
or in classes specifically targeted at seniors, as well as on the exercise equipment, in the gym or on the climbing wall, said Wellness Director Diana Turner. In a deep-water running class she takes at the YMCA, 74-year-old Sandra O’Neal reports that many participants have had joint replacements. O’Neal herself, who still works part-time as a nurse-practitioner, has had both knees replaced and says she is “celebrating” the second anniversary of her third hip replacement. Daily classes in Zumba or deep-water running — in which participants wear flotation belts to do various exercises in the water — keep her “fit and socialized,” O’Neal said. “It’s a great way to start the day,” she said Tuesday after emerging from the pool at 9 a.m. “One of the best parts is to meet a whole other gang of grandmothers. We have costume contests at holidays, we help each other out outside of the pool — and a big part of our exercise day is to meet for coffee after, pretty much every day.” In informal interviews with the Weekly many (continued on page 25)