It may sound surprising, but theres never a dull moment when Im teaching the seniors. This morning when I got to class at the assisted living facility, Zena promptly told me that she thought shed had another mini-stroke. Thankfully, I had the presence of mind to ask her if anyone else knew. She said no so I told her I was going to go get a staff person and let them know. The director came in and took her to the nurse. (Shes okay and has a doctors appointment later today.) After Zena left the room, much gossip ensued, generally regarding her stubbornness! Somehow at that point I managed to steer the class into some actual focus and breathing and we started our practice, which always includes heavy emphasis on the breath. I was giving my stock speech about how the belly gets bigger on the inhale and smaller on the exhale. Im always trying different ways to get them to connect with that and today I had them put their hands on their belly and give themselves a tummy rub. Then they kept their hands on the belly and I had them feel the hands moving with the inhale and exhale. Shirley, who is pretty sharp and a bit feisty, said, We can just pretend were holding footballs. I didnt get it for a second and then she said, Did you hear about that? I laughed and said, Oh, yeah! The NFL scandal! Okay...on the inhale, the belly is INFLATED so were playing fair and on the EXHALE, the belly is DEFLATED so were cheating! Between aging, medications and deep breathing, its pretty common for students to nod off during class. No big deal, as long as they dont fall over! No one did. But one student, Alicia, starting coughing pretty hard -- I felt it might have been in part because she was finally breathing so it was really a good sign -- but Marge, who was sitting behind Alicia, didnt like it. Marge is a little out of it anymore and she got a very unhappy look on her face and started looking up and down and all around. All the sudden she shouted, WHO is doing that COUGHING?? Fortunately, Alicia can barely hear so I just let it go. But Marge kept grumping about it and I realized that she was in arms reach and if she figured out it was Alicia, she might poke or whack her so I said, Marge, its okay. She turned to me furious and shouted, No, it isnt! All I could think to say was, Yes, it is. Its okay. And she said, No, it isnt! But she stopped. Somehow we made it through to our meditation and then relaxation (when they close their eyes at the end and listen to Long Time Sun) and afterward everyone was in a pretty good mood. Wahe guru!! Lol.
Posted on: Thu, 22 Jan 2015 19:54:04 +0000
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