February 25, 2025 • 34 mins
Experience the enlightening journey of Connie Assiff, a passionate caregiver and Tai Chi instructor, who shares her inspiring story about navigating the challenges of caregiving while advocating for holistic health for seniors. From her unexpected start as a caregiver at 25, Connie has dedicated her life to empowering families with the tools and resources needed to ensure aging with dignity.
In this episode, we delve into the multifaceted lessons she learned over her nearly three-decade-long journey. Connie discusses the current understanding of aging, the importance of health literacy, and the transformative power of Tai Chi for older adults. She emphasizes that exercise is not just about physical well-being but also about emotional resilience, and how incorporating movement into daily life can foster independence and joy in older age.
Listeners will also gain practical insights on how caregivers can seek support systems to alleviate feelings of isolation and overwhelm. Connie's advocacy work fuels a passionate dialog about the necessity of self-care and how it enables caregivers to continue their vital work without sacrificing their own health.
This episode is a must-listen for anyone involved in caregiving, whether professionally or personally. Discover the refreshing perspective that “self-care is not selfish” as she provides valuable advice and strategies for integrating movement into daily routines. Whether you're a caregiver, a family member, or simply someone interested in aging well, Connie's insights hold wisdom for all. Tune in and be inspired to take action for healthier aging! Don’t forget to subscribe, share, and leave a review!
• Overview of Connie's caregiving experiences
• The positive effects of Integrating Tai Chi
• Key lessons learned through caregiving
• Importance of self-care for caregivers
• Tips for younger caregivers feeling overwhelmed
• The role of movement in enhancing quality of life
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Senior Care Academy, a helpfully
podcast.
I'm your host, caleb, and todaywe're joined by an incredible
advocate for aging well,caregiving and holistic health,
connie Asif.
Connie became a caregiver at 25and has spent decades
empowering families withresources for aging with dignity
, and now she's in her secondact as a certified Tai Chi
instructor, helping seniorsbuild strength, confidence and
(00:21):
mobility.
Today we're going to talk toher about her caregiving journey
, her advocacy work and thepower of Tai Chi in senior
health.
Connie, thank you so much forjumping on.
I'm excited to have aconversation with you.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Thank you, I'm excited to be here.
Speaker 1 (00:37):
Awesome.
So the first question is canyou take us back to originally,
when you became a caregiver at25?
What was that experience likefor you?
Speaker 2 (00:47):
Well, it was, I would say, somewhat of an accident.
I was raised by my grandmother.
She was the only mom I had andit was supposed to be.
I'm having some issues with myhealth.
I need to have a minor surgeryand I'm going to come and stay
with you for, you know, just toget better, and then I'll go
(01:07):
back home.
And she never went back homeand so she stayed with me and
what I determined and what I sawover time is that she was
really declining.
She was in her, you know, memoryskills, like she would forget
things, but she would also havehallucinations, which I thought
(01:30):
could be side effect ofmedications.
But the key really was untilshe started to tell my father
that also was staying with us, Iwas taking care of him as well.
She said I think Connie istrying to kill me, wow.
(01:50):
And my father said no, conniewould never do that.
And that's she was not likekidding, it was real.
And so from that I said we needto go to the doctor and we need
to see what's going on.
And I knew about Alzheimer's,but I just knew that President
(02:12):
Reagan had Alzheimer's At 25years old in 1995, that was all
that I really knew besides thatpeople forget things that I
really knew, besides that peopleforget things, but I didn't
know they would havehallucinations or they would
have paranoid thoughts and ideas, and so I would say I felt like
(02:35):
I was in the twilight zone.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
Yeah, I feel like you're probably.
I mean 30 years, three decadesago now, like it's.
I'm sure you weren't the onlyone.
It definitely did not have muchresearch, nearly as much
research on memory care and theimpacts that it has on people
and how to handle it, and so I'msure you weren't alone in that.
Speaker 2 (02:57):
You could have Googled things and you wouldn't
have found the wealth ofknowledge that we have today
with AI wealth of knowledge thatwe have today with AI.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
Yeah, it's true.
So yeah, over nearly threedecades now of caregiving being
some aspects.
I want to talk more about TaiChi and how that's come into it.
But what are some of thebiggest lessons that you've
learned?
And it sounds like a lot of thelessons you had to almost be
self-taught because thereweren't a lot of resources.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
Yes there.
So definitely it's a trial anderror, but I would say that with
any disease, it could be cancer, it could be some type of
chronic disease.
My dad had diabetes and if youdon't know what the right sugar
number is, what's normal, what'snot, that's not something.
(03:42):
That even high blood pressure.
I don't have a medicalbackground.
I was a business major and I'ma master of business and that's
far away from knowing what's agood blood pressure.
Speaker 1 (03:56):
What's a good number?
How do you affect bloodpressure?
How do you yeah?
Speaker 2 (03:59):
Right, what's normal normal?
And so I had to really getself-taught in health literacy,
which I think even at 25, nothaving a medical background
started making me think aboutolder adults, made me think how
(04:24):
do they get their information?
It would be the same way unlessthey had a nursing, a doctor,
some type of medical background.
How would they know thatinformation?
So it was a matter of fastforwarding as much as you can
Like.
Speaker 1 (04:34):
I need the cliff note version, yeah give me the cliff
note version of what's going onwith my body right now.
Speaker 2 (04:40):
Exactly, yeah.
When it's your loved ones it'seven more complicated because
caregiving you can imagine ifI'm 25, these are parents and
usually they tell me what to doand they still want to tell me
what to do.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
It's like trying to and you know that you need to
tell them what to do, that youhave valuable insight, but it
still does feel weird to be like, well, I shouldn't be telling
mom what she should do with herbody, but like so it is a weird
kind of dichotomy.
Speaker 2 (05:15):
So how do you keep respectful, respectfully to them
, especially in my culture?
You did not question yourparents, you did not.
My grandmother was born in 23and 1923.
And so you say the 1900s.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
you know that's a difficulty there to try to
balance Exactly, yeah, how didyou so, as you experienced that
with your own family?
How did you start to, like yousaid, balance respect with?
This is important informationto help you get better, and what
barriers did you have toovercome to get there?
Speaker 2 (05:56):
Well, the first thing that we needed to do was get a
diagnosis.
So we got a diagnosis.
It took a little bit, but thedoctor actually she was a young
doctor, and so I really think wedon't give generations the
credit.
I think that they're due Notthen and not now.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
Yeah, I was very impressed.
Speaker 2 (06:15):
I think the doctor was in her early 30s.
Speaker 1 (06:18):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
So she was able to give me.
She was just a primary carephysician, not a geriatrician,
which is what I would say Iwould go to at this point.
If you can have a good primarycare physician, what we would
say.
And she gave me a letter tohelp give my family to say this
is the stage that you know thatthat she's in, um my, that my
(06:42):
grandmother was in because shehad seven children.
I was only one of 25grandchildren, but just managing
that.
And then the barriers are, andthat's with all families and all
backgrounds.
How do you explain that slowlyyour mother is going to forget
(07:05):
your name, memories about you,memories that you created over a
lifetime, yeah, and she willeventually forget.
Possibly everyone is differentbut she's going to forget how to
bathe, how to feed herself.
How to you know?
Slowly, it's what we say islike a big stick board, stick
notes on a board and randomlythese stick notes come off and
(07:28):
there's no rhyme or reason, butthey usually revert back to
their younger memories, whenthey were children.
They remember things from along time ago, but they don't
remember what they had forbreakfast.
So to me, learning that peopleare in denial is like a safety
mechanism that I had no ideaexisted.
Speaker 1 (07:51):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
Even today, yeah, we deny it because we don't want to
accept it.
And so then there comes a wholefamily dynamic of why aren't
they, you know, helping?
Why aren't you know?
I'm out here by myself, I'm dogpeddling in the water trying to
stay above, and no one ishelping.
Speaker 1 (08:11):
Yeah, Connie, what would you say or what advice
would you give to youngercaregivers that are feeling
themselves family caregiversthat are feeling overwhelmed by
their responsibilities right now?
Speaker 2 (08:21):
So what I would say at this point?
Hopefully you know what.
You had some time to plan,maybe, but if you didn't, we
need to have a support system,we need to have a support group.
If I didn't have those supportgroup around me that I could
join online, that I could go inperson, then I realized that I
wasn't the only one and we stillhave that feeling, even all
(08:44):
these decades later, that Iwasn't the only one and we still
have that feeling, even allthese decades later, that I'm
all alone.
It's very isolating.
A lot of jobs have somethingcalled like an employee
assistance program, the EAP.
They have some like therapysessions that are free to help
you get through this, these lifejourneys, caregiving.
But get all of these supportsystems in place because people
(09:09):
are very well-meaning, butsometimes they'll say, connie,
it's going to be all right,you're just exaggerating, it's
not really that bad.
You really need to talk tosomebody that totally gets you
and understands what you'regoing through.
Speaker 1 (09:23):
I love that.
I think it's the most.
You touched on a really goodpoint where it's one of the most
validating things to be likeyes, that is really hard.
Other people like you are goingthrough a very similar thing
and they got through it.
And like this is how you canget through it.
And here's the support groups.
And it is in any aspect of life, caregiving being a huge one.
(09:44):
That takes a toll mentally,physically and emotionally that
being able to talk to somebodyand then being like it's normal,
and you're right that this isvery difficult.
What inspired you to so?
That was where you started,right when you were 25.
What inspired you to go beyondpersonal caregiving and start
(10:05):
helping others connect withother like resources and
programs.
Speaker 2 (10:09):
Well, I had, coincidentally, or maybe not,
because I think that the life,my, the universe was already
destined my, my path was set, Ijust didn't know it.
I joined the health departmentand that's when I started to
learn that there were people outin the community just like me,
and when I was at health fairsthey had no idea.
(10:32):
They were deer in theheadlights when they got the
diagnosis, just like I was, andI thought I always said, if it
was my little sad story, it's nobig deal.
Was my little sad story?
It's no big deal?
But the statistics say, evenright now, that one in eight
Americans over the age of 65will develop Alzheimer's or some
(10:52):
fatal form of dementia.
And at 85, if both you and Iwere 85, one of us would have it
and one of us wouldn't and sowe need to see what is the
research, what are the studiesand where do we get that
information?
Statistics even say thatcaregivers will die most
(11:12):
oftentimes before the personthey're caring for.
Speaker 1 (11:16):
Like a husband and wife kind of thing.
Like they're spending all oftheir effort to take care of
each other.
Speaker 2 (11:21):
And what we have to teach caregivers is you can't
yes, it's a labor of love, butwe cannot go down with the ship.
Self-care is not selfish withthe ship.
Self-care is not selfish, it'sa necessity.
So we could be better, a betterhusband, a better wife, a
better daughter, a better worker, whatever it is that we're
doing in life, and so I meanit's very multifaceted yeah.
Speaker 1 (11:47):
I love that insight.
It's very I don't know thatI've heard that before.
Like I said, like self-care iscaring for the other person.
There's this quote that Ireally like and it says uh,
rather than you take care of meor I'll take care of you If you
take care of me, it's I'll takecare of me to take care of you
or I'll take care of me for youIf you take care of you for me.
So, like, taking care ofyourself is one of the best ways
(12:10):
that you can take care of otherpeople.
So I really very good insight.
I appreciate that, connie.
What so in your work helpingconnect caregivers and families
to the resources, what if youcan share an example of a time
when you were able to help afamily or an individual get
access to, like, thoselife-changing resources that
(12:31):
gave them a brighter outcomethan what you had to self-teach
and figure out yourself?
Speaker 2 (12:37):
So there were several instances.
One that really sticks out inmy head, I would say, is there
was a caregiver.
It was a sister.
She was taking care of herdisabled brother and he wasn't
able to get around.
He wasn't mobile.
She could get him in thevehicle, but to get care of any
kind, it would be more helpful,or telehealth, that would be
(12:59):
great if they could do that.
But in this instance he needed,like a COVID vaccine, and it was
during the height of COVID andI happened to be at the health
department, and so I was able toarrange someone to come out to
the vehicle to give him hisvaccine and to make sure that,
you know, he was safe.
She was safe, she didn't haveto leave him alone.
(13:20):
And then, of course, from therehe had to go into a nursing
home, a facility heard throughmy experience that I was an
advocate, a long-term careombudsman, that protect the
rights of residents in thenursing homes, and so I was able
to help her stay connected withher brother during a time when
(13:41):
a lot of those facilities wereon lockdown mainly because we
didn't know about COVID and thespread and all of that.
And I think the thing she saidto me I mean, I'm a Christian
person, but she said somethingto me that I never forgot and
she said, connie, if it wasn'tfor you being there, her brother
(14:03):
had passed away after you knowyears.
But she kept in contact with mebecause it meant that much.
She said I was just a light,like a lamp onto her feet and I
just thought, wow, I mean me.
I didn't think that I had donesomething extraordinary, but
when you help someone and youwere able to help them care for
(14:28):
their loved ones and still takecare of themselves, I guess you
know what that is a gift and Iwas glad to do it.
I mean, I got more out of thatthan I thought, than what she
did, but you know, yeah, I lovethat One super unrecognized
resources on Bud's bins is likepeople kind of advocating.
Speaker 1 (14:50):
But I think you touched on something that has
definitely been a throughput foreverybody that has been in the
senior care space, specificallydirect care, helping other
people.
They always say I get more outof it than I'm giving it feels
like because of how fulfillingit is.
So that's, I think, the verybest.
People in the space have thatmentality every single day and
(15:12):
they're like surprised, likewhat I had that impact on you.
It's like, yes, so you're doinggreat.
Speaker 2 (15:17):
And I think that's how we find our calling.
I would have never thought thatI would have be an Alzheimer's
advocate or an advocate forelder care.
I remember, I think I had donea health brain.
I remember I had one F in mywhole entire school career and
it was on different parts of thebrain.
(15:39):
I made an F in health and Ijust thought in the future
there's no way that.
I thought I would be talkingabout brain health and
Alzheimer's, but you know what?
So that's why I say our pathsare set, but you know what?
So that's why I say our pathsare set.
And if we're really good at itand we really can help others,
then maybe that's really yourcalling.
(15:59):
And I'm really blessed becauseI thought, even though it was a
lot of suffering, I thought Ifound my path or actually it
found me and I was good at itand I thought and then I don't
sleep at night thinking about ohI need to help this person or I
(16:21):
need to do this, and I thought,okay, yep, it's, it's my
calling.
Speaker 1 (16:23):
That's awesome, connie.
I think that I agree.
Like a lot of paths or lifecallings get, we get led to them
almost unintentionallysometimes.
You've definitely you'veentered kind of this new chapter
of life, a little bit of anearly retirement.
So what does right now, agingwell mean to you, now that
you've spent three decades andyou're not old by any stretch,
(16:43):
like 0%?
But how does it, now thatyou're experiencing the very
beginning phases of that part oflife, what does that mean to
you?
Speaker 2 (16:54):
Well.
Aging well for me means to beactive and be able to enjoy
quality of life.
That's something that when Iwould go into the nursing homes
I visited people there for over10 years and I would see.
Even in the nursing homes Iwould say the people that get
the best care are the ones thatcan move.
So my whole thought is we needto be able to move.
(17:18):
Yeah, Just something simple.
Because as we age, we needthose.
We need strong legs.
We need to, and it's going tobe different for every person.
It could be I want to spendtime with my grandchildren, or I
want to do something thatdoesn't require me to earn a
living, Like if I fail at it,it's no big deal.
Speaker 1 (17:38):
Yeah, we'll survive.
It's just something that I'mexcited about.
Speaker 2 (17:42):
So that next phase of our life should be exciting.
But if we're not in the besthealth ourselves and I know that
in our we were talking aboutyou know how our diet in America
sometimes we don't eat the best.
We actually eat some very greatfood, yeah.
But, it's not always great forour body.
Speaker 1 (18:01):
Yeah, tastes super good.
Speaker 2 (18:05):
But so in that sense, we need to say what can I do to
increase my, my quality of life?
Most people want to age inplace I do as well, and I want
to be able to travel and walkaround, and I have gone to
different places, and itrequires walking, going to
(18:26):
museums and things that wereally enjoy, and so if we could
just get this mentality ofmovement you know, I don't know
what is that, disney I like tomove it, move it.
We need to get that mantra inour head that we like to move it
, regardless if we have diabetesor some type of chronic
(18:49):
condition, everyone can do somekind of movement.
Everyone can do what they canto age well, not only for their
physical health but for theiremotional.
The biggest thing that we diefrom older adults in this
country, which I was so shocked,is falling.
Once we fall, then that'sphysical, but then it affects
(19:11):
our mental health andstatistically, when I hear that
most people they don't recoveras well when they fall, they
keep falling and then you knowit's.
But on the same note, we havemore centenarians that are
living now than we ever have andwe're living longer.
(19:32):
So that means whatever healthyaging means to each person that
could be managing your diabetesthat could be managing that high
blood pressure, so that wecould prevent or lower our risk
of Alzheimer's or high bloodpressure or these things that
are debilitating.
Because all of us are veryindependent, very strong minded,
(19:55):
I would say, as Americans, andwe don't want to lose our
independence.
We don't want someone to haveto bathe us or clean us or
anything.
We want to do it ourselves andI think we should.
We should age with dignity, butwe need to do our part in order
for that to happen.
Speaker 1 (20:16):
Yeah, I, I agree.
I have a maybe an interestingquestion, connie, because
growing I mean at any phase oflife when people haven't, we see
, fitness and moving your body alot of the time is going to the
gym.
And if people feel awkwardmoving their body or getting fit
at 30 years old because oh well, everybody else is at, you know
(20:39):
, you go to the gym and you'rewith the 1% of the people that
work out every day and so ofcourse you feel like out of
place and I think, as we getolder, um, people, definitely we
stopped caring as much aboutwhat other people think, but
there is still this like littlevoice in the back of your head
that's a little bitself-conscious of like I've
never moved before.
And I think at the retirementage I think that it is common to
(21:02):
switch and be like, ok, I needto really fix my health, but
they hadn't, they've never hadany sort of fitness thing, of
fitness thing.
So how can older adultsintegrate movement like into
their daily routine, even ifthey've never done it before
because they had a?
Speaker 2 (21:20):
busy career or they were busy being a parent for the
last 40 years, you know.
So what I would say to that iswe all, especially in different
generations, maybe more thanothers, I would say older
generations typically we havethe television, so a lot of us
sit and watch TV.
Maybe younger generations?
They're watching a differentmonitor.
It's just smaller on theirhands, but similarly they're
(21:45):
sedentary.
You don't see people joggingwhile they're watching TV not
normally and you don't see thembeing active when they're
scrolling.
So what I would say is TV is alittle easier than scrolling on
a phone, because you could getsome weights while you're
sitting down and try to evenjust do some little something.
Speaker 1 (22:08):
Yeah, just move your body in a new way.
Speaker 2 (22:09):
Exactly, you have to do baby steps, and some of that
maybe could be listening to themusic that was from your
generation and maybe just Comeback.
Speaker 1 (22:21):
Yeah, let the vibes come back, just some chair
dancing.
Speaker 2 (22:27):
Think about the power of our minds with the music and
even the smells and differentthings.
I would encourage people not tosit at home.
If they can, go to thecommunity centers, go to the
libraries, get out and join somegroups that are interesting If
it's photography, whatever it isbecause that social aspect
(22:53):
we're social beings.
That's why social media is sopopular.
We need to be connected, notjust younger generations, but
all generations.
We need that interaction thatthat will always be, from the
probably till we die.
We need someone to talk, tolaugh and engage our five senses
(23:15):
, and so I would say start slowbut get out of the house if you
can, and if you can't, there areso many things online that you
could join little classes orlittle movements.
There's a lot of exercise youcould do seated.
Speaker 1 (23:35):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (23:36):
And then eventually it's like pumping Exactly.
And it doesn't matter if youhave a walk or if you have a
cane.
If you keep that movement going, even if it's steps, everything
counts.
But if you're having fun, itwould be a lot better than
saying, oh, this is like one.
Speaker 1 (23:56):
I mean if you put on that music of your time.
I love the idea.
Yeah, like go back to throwback the music that you danced
to in high school and college.
Speaker 2 (24:04):
Exactly.
Speaker 1 (24:05):
Yeah, so you've mentioned trying new things and
you've been an advocate of beinga lifelong learner Not totally
brand new to you, but you pickedup Tai Chi recently.
How did you discover Tai Chiand what drew it to you?
What drew you to it, I guess?
Speaker 2 (24:22):
So in 2017, I became a Tai Chi for health instructor
and that was way out of mycomfort zone.
I probably had the myth, likeother people, to say that's not
my culture.
I don't know anything aboutthat.
I know it's slow movement.
(24:43):
I kind of knew it was aboutmartial arts but I really didn't
know this Tai Chi for health.
It really caught my attentionbecause it was specific to
medical conditions.
And so the founder is out ofAustralia, dr Paul Lamb.
(25:03):
He created this out of manyforms of Tai Chi but with a lot
of health leaders, and one ofthe things he created was a Tai
Chi for fall prevention.
And I thought, wow so, andseated Tai Chi and it's fun, you
(25:26):
don't need any special exercise, any special equipment to do it
.
And I thought and the otherthing I really loved about it
was it factored in people'sunique considerations that meant
that someone had a stroke andthey couldn't move on one side
of their body.
Then you focus and breathe andyou lift up One arm and you, in
(25:51):
your mind, you think aboutlifting both arms, even though
you're not lifting both arms andthe power of the mind, the
brain doesn't know thedifference, and your body is
experiencing like if you weremoving and studies behind
research, studies behind it,research.
(26:18):
And so that means, even if youwere seated and you're doing
exercises, there's even beenstudies that if you're sitting
in the room where people aredoing Tai Chi, just that like
moving meditation, that we callit, that peacefulness, that
calmness, that all of that is,you know, aligning your posture,
I mean all these things buildthat confidence.
(26:40):
And when I the first time that Iwas in a room with all ages,
people that were older than me,some people that were younger, I
thought, wow, I found my people.
I never thought, I've nevertake ballet class.
I'm not a dancer per se and ourWestern mentality is no pain,
no gain, rush, rush, rush, go,go, go.
(27:01):
And Tai Chi is very slow andsmooth and you have to focus.
And I always tell people it'slike tuning into a radio station
back in the day when we had toturn the dial, if you could hear
that that fuzz, that, all that,that.
So.
But when you're clear on thatone station, it's coming in very
(27:24):
clear.
And so when you're doing taichi, you have to focus on what
you're doing and really you, youget into that, into Zen.
It's almost like a marathonrunner, that's running, and they
get that, you know that right,they get that groove in it and
it's.
It's just such a yes, it's sucha powerful exercise and I just
(27:48):
thought if it can help olderadults start to move, then I'm
over it.
Speaker 1 (27:54):
Yeah, yeah, it sounds like there's so many benefits,
but if you could name three,could you explain three ways
that Tai Chi is able to helppeople dealing with like
arthritis?
You mentioned fall preventionand then even maybe, memory care
.
Speaker 2 (28:09):
So because they're repetitive motions, I've had
people in class that didn'tspeak English and didn't speak
Spanish.
I also speak Spanish, but justshowing them the movement they
were able to move and so easilymemory care there is.
(28:30):
I didn't tell you, but there'sTai Chi for memory.
Speaker 1 (28:34):
And so I'm an instructor for that as well.
Speaker 2 (28:37):
But the movements in our humanity.
You know we can look, even whenother things leave us, even
speech, and we can still followthat and get benefits from that.
So not only building confidenceand building the strength and
flexibility and what we callsonging our joints, you know,
(29:01):
being able to stretch them fromwithin, teaching someone how to
breathe and align that spine, itjust gives all the organs you
know makes you feel better justthe energy of it.
And so I tell people, try it.
I mean, I think, and that wouldbe with anything, if someone
(29:21):
tried it and said, well, I likeit, but it's not for me, or I
could do this exercise.
Then do that one exercise thataligns that spine, that helps
you feel better, that helps yougain more flexibility and
strength in your legs.
I read an article not too longago that the strength in your
legs, the stronger your legs are, the longer that you'll live,
(29:44):
and I started thinking aboutthat.
That is interesting.
And as we age we often they saywe don't grow taller, we start
to shrink.
But what if you could practiceTai Chi that aligned the spine
and you did stretching exercisesthat actually helped with the
(30:05):
posture, that you're notshrinking, that you feel more
confident.
On your feet, there's beendifferent studies and they can't
explain it.
On your feet, there's been, youknow, different studies and
they can't explain it.
And so I'm thinking isn't itwonderful that we could do
something that's natural and notanother pill to take?
I really don't like takingmedications myself and I think a
(30:26):
lot of medications have a lotof side effects and I always say
how many medications are toomany as we age?
Is it five?
And I always say how manymedications are too many as we
age?
Is it 5, 10, 15?
I mean, you go to some people'shomes, grandparents' homes, and
you see the whole counter fullof pills and it's like that
(30:47):
cannot be.
Speaker 1 (30:47):
You know the best for our bodies.
I think that you are the bestperson that could have stumbled
upon Tai Chi Connie, for olderadults and being an advocate for
it.
It was interesting and valuableto learn about and I think it's
something that I'm going tostart recommending to people
that I work with that aregetting older to try, like I
said, slow movements, all of thebenefits that come along with
(31:09):
it.
I love it with it.
I love it Well these generation.
Speaker 2 (31:11):
If you think about it , the things we're talking about
, even though we're talkingabout older adults, this is for
every age how much anxiety thatyounger generations and older
generations are dealing withsince COVID, post COVID, and we
don't know what is going tohappen with all types of events
(31:36):
I don't like, don't talk about.
A lot, even in our country, isa lot of the violence and gun
(31:59):
violence, and so then I also doTai Chi for kids.
And so there is like the bigbuzzword I've heard a lot is
self-regulation.
Well, self-regulation islearning how to calm ourselves
and I thought what better waythan Tai Chi?
A lot of people find it hard tomeditate.
(32:22):
I'm not a very good meditator,my mind will start wandering.
But if I'm moving and I'mmoving slowly and continuously
with the Tai Chi principles ofyou know, thinking about what
I'm doing, and that I'm movingslowly and continuously with the
Tai Chi principles of you know,thinking about what I'm doing,
and that I'm slowly, likeunderwater, I find myself just
(32:42):
exercising, but relaxed.
It's like there's benefit toslowing down.
I think I heard a TED talkrecently about slowing down and
the benefits of that.
And I thought yeah, not in ourWestern mentality.
Speaker 1 (32:59):
Yeah, it's something we need more of and I think a
lot of people can have that samesolace in Tai Chi.
That also brings exercise, andjust finding that for your
individual self is incredible.
And this I have to wrap it upit's crazy how fast the 30
minutes went.
I've really enjoyed learningabout just everything you've
(33:20):
done and the impact of moving onall facets of getting older.
I know you're on LinkedIn, butif people wanted to reach out to
you, what should they do?
Speaker 2 (33:31):
They could go to the Tai Chi for Health website,
tchiorg, and so I'm there.
I'm also part of the UnitedStates Tai Chi community, which
is ustccorg.
Speaker 1 (33:45):
Awesome.
I think people should reach outand get more.
I might take a Tai Chi classmyself Tai.
Speaker 2 (33:52):
Chi is really good.
But you know the the bottomline is try something to get
movement in your day, and ifit's fun, it could be line
dancing, it could be whatevermakes you really happy from
within, and because if we arehappy from within, we're going
to share that happiness with theworld, and that's what the
(34:13):
world needs more of 100% agree,connie, everybody.
Speaker 1 (34:17):
Connie Asif, I appreciate you jumping on and
spending some time with myselfand all of our listeners.
Speaker 2 (34:23):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (34:24):
Yeah, thanks, Connie.
Welcome to Senior Care Academy, a helpfully
podcast.
I'm your host, caleb, and todaywe're joined by an incredible
advocate for aging well,caregiving and holistic health,
connie Asif.
Connie became a caregiver at 25and has spent decades
empowering families withresources for aging with dignity
, and now she's in her secondact as a certified Tai Chi
instructor, helping seniorsbuild strength, confidence and
(00:21):
mobility.
Today we're going to talk toher about her caregiving journey
, her advocacy work and thepower of Tai Chi in senior
health.
Connie, thank you so much forjumping on.
I'm excited to have aconversation with you.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Thank you, I'm excited to be here.
Speaker 1 (00:37):
Awesome.
So the first question is canyou take us back to originally,
when you became a caregiver at25?
What was that experience likefor you?
Speaker 2 (00:47):
Well, it was, I would say, somewhat of an accident.
I was raised by my grandmother.
She was the only mom I had andit was supposed to be.
I'm having some issues with myhealth.
I need to have a minor surgeryand I'm going to come and stay
with you for, you know, just toget better, and then I'll go
(01:07):
back home.
And she never went back homeand so she stayed with me and
what I determined and what I sawover time is that she was
really declining.
She was in her, you know, memoryskills, like she would forget
things, but she would also havehallucinations, which I thought
(01:30):
could be side effect ofmedications.
But the key really was untilshe started to tell my father
that also was staying with us, Iwas taking care of him as well.
She said I think Connie istrying to kill me, wow.
(01:50):
And my father said no, conniewould never do that.
And that's she was not likekidding, it was real.
And so from that I said we needto go to the doctor and we need
to see what's going on.
And I knew about Alzheimer's,but I just knew that President
(02:12):
Reagan had Alzheimer's At 25years old in 1995, that was all
that I really knew besides thatpeople forget things that I
really knew, besides that peopleforget things, but I didn't
know they would havehallucinations or they would
have paranoid thoughts and ideas, and so I would say I felt like
(02:35):
I was in the twilight zone.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
Yeah, I feel like you're probably.
I mean 30 years, three decadesago now, like it's.
I'm sure you weren't the onlyone.
It definitely did not have muchresearch, nearly as much
research on memory care and theimpacts that it has on people
and how to handle it, and so I'msure you weren't alone in that.
Speaker 2 (02:57):
You could have Googled things and you wouldn't
have found the wealth ofknowledge that we have today
with AI wealth of knowledge thatwe have today with AI.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
Yeah, it's true.
So yeah, over nearly threedecades now of caregiving being
some aspects.
I want to talk more about TaiChi and how that's come into it.
But what are some of thebiggest lessons that you've
learned?
And it sounds like a lot of thelessons you had to almost be
self-taught because thereweren't a lot of resources.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
Yes there.
So definitely it's a trial anderror, but I would say that with
any disease, it could be cancer, it could be some type of
chronic disease.
My dad had diabetes and if youdon't know what the right sugar
number is, what's normal, what'snot, that's not something.
(03:42):
That even high blood pressure.
I don't have a medicalbackground.
I was a business major and I'ma master of business and that's
far away from knowing what's agood blood pressure.
Speaker 1 (03:56):
What's a good number?
How do you affect bloodpressure?
How do you yeah?
Speaker 2 (03:59):
Right, what's normal normal?
And so I had to really getself-taught in health literacy,
which I think even at 25, nothaving a medical background
started making me think aboutolder adults, made me think how
(04:24):
do they get their information?
It would be the same way unlessthey had a nursing, a doctor,
some type of medical background.
How would they know thatinformation?
So it was a matter of fastforwarding as much as you can
Like.
Speaker 1 (04:34):
I need the cliff note version, yeah give me the cliff
note version of what's going onwith my body right now.
Speaker 2 (04:40):
Exactly, yeah.
When it's your loved ones it'seven more complicated because
caregiving you can imagine ifI'm 25, these are parents and
usually they tell me what to doand they still want to tell me
what to do.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
It's like trying to and you know that you need to
tell them what to do, that youhave valuable insight, but it
still does feel weird to be like, well, I shouldn't be telling
mom what she should do with herbody, but like so it is a weird
kind of dichotomy.
Speaker 2 (05:15):
So how do you keep respectful, respectfully to them
, especially in my culture?
You did not question yourparents, you did not.
My grandmother was born in 23and 1923.
And so you say the 1900s.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
you know that's a difficulty there to try to
balance Exactly, yeah, how didyou so, as you experienced that
with your own family?
How did you start to, like yousaid, balance respect with?
This is important informationto help you get better, and what
barriers did you have toovercome to get there?
Speaker 2 (05:56):
Well, the first thing that we needed to do was get a
diagnosis.
So we got a diagnosis.
It took a little bit, but thedoctor actually she was a young
doctor, and so I really think wedon't give generations the
credit.
I think that they're due Notthen and not now.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
Yeah, I was very impressed.
Speaker 2 (06:15):
I think the doctor was in her early 30s.
Speaker 1 (06:18):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
So she was able to give me.
She was just a primary carephysician, not a geriatrician,
which is what I would say Iwould go to at this point.
If you can have a good primarycare physician, what we would
say.
And she gave me a letter tohelp give my family to say this
is the stage that you know thatthat she's in, um my, that my
(06:42):
grandmother was in because shehad seven children.
I was only one of 25grandchildren, but just managing
that.
And then the barriers are, andthat's with all families and all
backgrounds.
How do you explain that slowlyyour mother is going to forget
(07:05):
your name, memories about you,memories that you created over a
lifetime, yeah, and she willeventually forget.
Possibly everyone is differentbut she's going to forget how to
bathe, how to feed herself.
How to you know?
Slowly, it's what we say islike a big stick board, stick
notes on a board and randomlythese stick notes come off and
(07:28):
there's no rhyme or reason, butthey usually revert back to
their younger memories, whenthey were children.
They remember things from along time ago, but they don't
remember what they had forbreakfast.
So to me, learning that peopleare in denial is like a safety
mechanism that I had no ideaexisted.
Speaker 1 (07:51):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
Even today, yeah, we deny it because we don't want to
accept it.
And so then there comes a wholefamily dynamic of why aren't
they, you know, helping?
Why aren't you know?
I'm out here by myself, I'm dogpeddling in the water trying to
stay above, and no one ishelping.
Speaker 1 (08:11):
Yeah, Connie, what would you say or what advice
would you give to youngercaregivers that are feeling
themselves family caregiversthat are feeling overwhelmed by
their responsibilities right now?
Speaker 2 (08:21):
So what I would say at this point?
Hopefully you know what.
You had some time to plan,maybe, but if you didn't, we
need to have a support system,we need to have a support group.
If I didn't have those supportgroup around me that I could
join online, that I could go inperson, then I realized that I
wasn't the only one and we stillhave that feeling, even all
(08:44):
these decades later, that Iwasn't the only one and we still
have that feeling, even allthese decades later, that I'm
all alone.
It's very isolating.
A lot of jobs have somethingcalled like an employee
assistance program, the EAP.
They have some like therapysessions that are free to help
you get through this, these lifejourneys, caregiving.
But get all of these supportsystems in place because people
(09:09):
are very well-meaning, butsometimes they'll say, connie,
it's going to be all right,you're just exaggerating, it's
not really that bad.
You really need to talk tosomebody that totally gets you
and understands what you'regoing through.
Speaker 1 (09:23):
I love that.
I think it's the most.
You touched on a really goodpoint where it's one of the most
validating things to be likeyes, that is really hard.
Other people like you are goingthrough a very similar thing
and they got through it.
And like this is how you canget through it.
And here's the support groups.
And it is in any aspect of life, caregiving being a huge one.
(09:44):
That takes a toll mentally,physically and emotionally that
being able to talk to somebodyand then being like it's normal,
and you're right that this isvery difficult.
What inspired you to so?
That was where you started,right when you were 25.
What inspired you to go beyondpersonal caregiving and start
(10:05):
helping others connect withother like resources and
programs.
Speaker 2 (10:09):
Well, I had, coincidentally, or maybe not,
because I think that the life,my, the universe was already
destined my, my path was set, Ijust didn't know it.
I joined the health departmentand that's when I started to
learn that there were people outin the community just like me,
and when I was at health fairsthey had no idea.
(10:32):
They were deer in theheadlights when they got the
diagnosis, just like I was, andI thought I always said, if it
was my little sad story, it's nobig deal.
Was my little sad story?
It's no big deal?
But the statistics say, evenright now, that one in eight
Americans over the age of 65will develop Alzheimer's or some
(10:52):
fatal form of dementia.
And at 85, if both you and Iwere 85, one of us would have it
and one of us wouldn't and sowe need to see what is the
research, what are the studiesand where do we get that
information?
Statistics even say thatcaregivers will die most
(11:12):
oftentimes before the personthey're caring for.
Speaker 1 (11:16):
Like a husband and wife kind of thing.
Like they're spending all oftheir effort to take care of
each other.
Speaker 2 (11:21):
And what we have to teach caregivers is you can't
yes, it's a labor of love, butwe cannot go down with the ship.
Self-care is not selfish withthe ship.
Self-care is not selfish, it'sa necessity.
So we could be better, a betterhusband, a better wife, a
better daughter, a better worker, whatever it is that we're
doing in life, and so I meanit's very multifaceted yeah.
Speaker 1 (11:47):
I love that insight.
It's very I don't know thatI've heard that before.
Like I said, like self-care iscaring for the other person.
There's this quote that Ireally like and it says uh,
rather than you take care of meor I'll take care of you If you
take care of me, it's I'll takecare of me to take care of you
or I'll take care of me for youIf you take care of you for me.
So, like, taking care ofyourself is one of the best ways
(12:10):
that you can take care of otherpeople.
So I really very good insight.
I appreciate that, connie.
What so in your work helpingconnect caregivers and families
to the resources, what if youcan share an example of a time
when you were able to help afamily or an individual get
access to, like, thoselife-changing resources that
(12:31):
gave them a brighter outcomethan what you had to self-teach
and figure out yourself?
Speaker 2 (12:37):
So there were several instances.
One that really sticks out inmy head, I would say, is there
was a caregiver.
It was a sister.
She was taking care of herdisabled brother and he wasn't
able to get around.
He wasn't mobile.
She could get him in thevehicle, but to get care of any
kind, it would be more helpful,or telehealth, that would be
(12:59):
great if they could do that.
But in this instance he needed,like a COVID vaccine, and it was
during the height of COVID andI happened to be at the health
department, and so I was able toarrange someone to come out to
the vehicle to give him hisvaccine and to make sure that,
you know, he was safe.
She was safe, she didn't haveto leave him alone.
(13:20):
And then, of course, from therehe had to go into a nursing
home, a facility heard throughmy experience that I was an
advocate, a long-term careombudsman, that protect the
rights of residents in thenursing homes, and so I was able
to help her stay connected withher brother during a time when
(13:41):
a lot of those facilities wereon lockdown mainly because we
didn't know about COVID and thespread and all of that.
And I think the thing she saidto me I mean, I'm a Christian
person, but she said somethingto me that I never forgot and
she said, connie, if it wasn'tfor you being there, her brother
(14:03):
had passed away after you knowyears.
But she kept in contact with mebecause it meant that much.
She said I was just a light,like a lamp onto her feet and I
just thought, wow, I mean me.
I didn't think that I had donesomething extraordinary, but
when you help someone and youwere able to help them care for
(14:28):
their loved ones and still takecare of themselves, I guess you
know what that is a gift and Iwas glad to do it.
I mean, I got more out of thatthan I thought, than what she
did, but you know, yeah, I lovethat One super unrecognized
resources on Bud's bins is likepeople kind of advocating.
Speaker 1 (14:50):
But I think you touched on something that has
definitely been a throughput foreverybody that has been in the
senior care space, specificallydirect care, helping other
people.
They always say I get more outof it than I'm giving it feels
like because of how fulfillingit is.
So that's, I think, the verybest.
People in the space have thatmentality every single day and
(15:12):
they're like surprised, likewhat I had that impact on you.
It's like, yes, so you're doinggreat.
Speaker 2 (15:17):
And I think that's how we find our calling.
I would have never thought thatI would have be an Alzheimer's
advocate or an advocate forelder care.
I remember, I think I had donea health brain.
I remember I had one F in mywhole entire school career and
it was on different parts of thebrain.
(15:39):
I made an F in health and Ijust thought in the future
there's no way that.
I thought I would be talkingabout brain health and
Alzheimer's, but you know what?
So that's why I say our pathsare set, but you know what?
So that's why I say our pathsare set.
And if we're really good at itand we really can help others,
then maybe that's really yourcalling.
(15:59):
And I'm really blessed becauseI thought, even though it was a
lot of suffering, I thought Ifound my path or actually it
found me and I was good at itand I thought and then I don't
sleep at night thinking about ohI need to help this person or I
(16:21):
need to do this, and I thought,okay, yep, it's, it's my
calling.
Speaker 1 (16:23):
That's awesome, connie.
I think that I agree.
Like a lot of paths or lifecallings get, we get led to them
almost unintentionallysometimes.
You've definitely you'veentered kind of this new chapter
of life, a little bit of anearly retirement.
So what does right now, agingwell mean to you, now that
you've spent three decades andyou're not old by any stretch,
(16:43):
like 0%?
But how does it, now thatyou're experiencing the very
beginning phases of that part oflife, what does that mean to
you?
Speaker 2 (16:54):
Well.
Aging well for me means to beactive and be able to enjoy
quality of life.
That's something that when Iwould go into the nursing homes
I visited people there for over10 years and I would see.
Even in the nursing homes Iwould say the people that get
the best care are the ones thatcan move.
So my whole thought is we needto be able to move.
(17:18):
Yeah, Just something simple.
Because as we age, we needthose.
We need strong legs.
We need to, and it's going tobe different for every person.
It could be I want to spendtime with my grandchildren, or I
want to do something thatdoesn't require me to earn a
living, Like if I fail at it,it's no big deal.
Speaker 1 (17:38):
Yeah, we'll survive.
It's just something that I'mexcited about.
Speaker 2 (17:42):
So that next phase of our life should be exciting.
But if we're not in the besthealth ourselves and I know that
in our we were talking aboutyou know how our diet in America
sometimes we don't eat the best.
We actually eat some very greatfood, yeah.
But, it's not always great forour body.
Speaker 1 (18:01):
Yeah, tastes super good.
Speaker 2 (18:05):
But so in that sense, we need to say what can I do to
increase my, my quality of life?
Most people want to age inplace I do as well, and I want
to be able to travel and walkaround, and I have gone to
different places, and itrequires walking, going to
(18:26):
museums and things that wereally enjoy, and so if we could
just get this mentality ofmovement you know, I don't know
what is that, disney I like tomove it, move it.
We need to get that mantra inour head that we like to move it
, regardless if we have diabetesor some type of chronic
(18:49):
condition, everyone can do somekind of movement.
Everyone can do what they canto age well, not only for their
physical health but for theiremotional.
The biggest thing that we diefrom older adults in this
country, which I was so shocked,is falling.
Once we fall, then that'sphysical, but then it affects
(19:11):
our mental health andstatistically, when I hear that
most people they don't recoveras well when they fall, they
keep falling and then you knowit's.
But on the same note, we havemore centenarians that are
living now than we ever have andwe're living longer.
(19:32):
So that means whatever healthyaging means to each person that
could be managing your diabetesthat could be managing that high
blood pressure, so that wecould prevent or lower our risk
of Alzheimer's or high bloodpressure or these things that
are debilitating.
Because all of us are veryindependent, very strong minded,
(19:55):
I would say, as Americans, andwe don't want to lose our
independence.
We don't want someone to haveto bathe us or clean us or
anything.
We want to do it ourselves andI think we should.
We should age with dignity, butwe need to do our part in order
for that to happen.
Speaker 1 (20:16):
Yeah, I, I agree.
I have a maybe an interestingquestion, connie, because
growing I mean at any phase oflife when people haven't, we see
, fitness and moving your body alot of the time is going to the
gym.
And if people feel awkwardmoving their body or getting fit
at 30 years old because oh well, everybody else is at, you know
(20:39):
, you go to the gym and you'rewith the 1% of the people that
work out every day and so ofcourse you feel like out of
place and I think, as we getolder, um, people, definitely we
stopped caring as much aboutwhat other people think, but
there is still this like littlevoice in the back of your head
that's a little bitself-conscious of like I've
never moved before.
And I think at the retirementage I think that it is common to
(21:02):
switch and be like, ok, I needto really fix my health, but
they hadn't, they've never hadany sort of fitness thing, of
fitness thing.
So how can older adultsintegrate movement like into
their daily routine, even ifthey've never done it before
because they had a?
Speaker 2 (21:20):
busy career or they were busy being a parent for the
last 40 years, you know.
So what I would say to that iswe all, especially in different
generations, maybe more thanothers, I would say older
generations typically we havethe television, so a lot of us
sit and watch TV.
Maybe younger generations?
They're watching a differentmonitor.
It's just smaller on theirhands, but similarly they're
(21:45):
sedentary.
You don't see people joggingwhile they're watching TV not
normally and you don't see thembeing active when they're
scrolling.
So what I would say is TV is alittle easier than scrolling on
a phone, because you could getsome weights while you're
sitting down and try to evenjust do some little something.
Speaker 1 (22:08):
Yeah, just move your body in a new way.
Speaker 2 (22:09):
Exactly, you have to do baby steps, and some of that
maybe could be listening to themusic that was from your
generation and maybe just Comeback.
Speaker 1 (22:21):
Yeah, let the vibes come back, just some chair
dancing.
Speaker 2 (22:27):
Think about the power of our minds with the music and
even the smells and differentthings.
I would encourage people not tosit at home.
If they can, go to thecommunity centers, go to the
libraries, get out and join somegroups that are interesting If
it's photography, whatever it isbecause that social aspect
(22:53):
we're social beings.
That's why social media is sopopular.
We need to be connected, notjust younger generations, but
all generations.
We need that interaction thatthat will always be, from the
probably till we die.
We need someone to talk, tolaugh and engage our five senses
(23:15):
, and so I would say start slowbut get out of the house if you
can, and if you can't, there areso many things online that you
could join little classes orlittle movements.
There's a lot of exercise youcould do seated.
Speaker 1 (23:35):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (23:36):
And then eventually it's like pumping Exactly.
And it doesn't matter if youhave a walk or if you have a
cane.
If you keep that movement going, even if it's steps, everything
counts.
But if you're having fun, itwould be a lot better than
saying, oh, this is like one.
Speaker 1 (23:56):
I mean if you put on that music of your time.
I love the idea.
Yeah, like go back to throwback the music that you danced
to in high school and college.
Speaker 2 (24:04):
Exactly.
Speaker 1 (24:05):
Yeah, so you've mentioned trying new things and
you've been an advocate of beinga lifelong learner Not totally
brand new to you, but you pickedup Tai Chi recently.
How did you discover Tai Chiand what drew it to you?
What drew you to it, I guess?
Speaker 2 (24:22):
So in 2017, I became a Tai Chi for health instructor
and that was way out of mycomfort zone.
I probably had the myth, likeother people, to say that's not
my culture.
I don't know anything aboutthat.
I know it's slow movement.
(24:43):
I kind of knew it was aboutmartial arts but I really didn't
know this Tai Chi for health.
It really caught my attentionbecause it was specific to
medical conditions.
And so the founder is out ofAustralia, dr Paul Lamb.
(25:03):
He created this out of manyforms of Tai Chi but with a lot
of health leaders, and one ofthe things he created was a Tai
Chi for fall prevention.
And I thought, wow so, andseated Tai Chi and it's fun, you
(25:26):
don't need any special exercise, any special equipment to do it
.
And I thought and the otherthing I really loved about it
was it factored in people'sunique considerations that meant
that someone had a stroke andthey couldn't move on one side
of their body.
Then you focus and breathe andyou lift up One arm and you, in
(25:51):
your mind, you think aboutlifting both arms, even though
you're not lifting both arms andthe power of the mind, the
brain doesn't know thedifference, and your body is
experiencing like if you weremoving and studies behind
research, studies behind it,research.
(26:18):
And so that means, even if youwere seated and you're doing
exercises, there's even beenstudies that if you're sitting
in the room where people aredoing Tai Chi, just that like
moving meditation, that we callit, that peacefulness, that
calmness, that all of that is,you know, aligning your posture,
I mean all these things buildthat confidence.
(26:40):
And when I the first time that Iwas in a room with all ages,
people that were older than me,some people that were younger, I
thought, wow, I found my people.
I never thought, I've nevertake ballet class.
I'm not a dancer per se and ourWestern mentality is no pain,
no gain, rush, rush, rush, go,go, go.
(27:01):
And Tai Chi is very slow andsmooth and you have to focus.
And I always tell people it'slike tuning into a radio station
back in the day when we had toturn the dial, if you could hear
that that fuzz, that, all that,that.
So.
But when you're clear on thatone station, it's coming in very
(27:24):
clear.
And so when you're doing taichi, you have to focus on what
you're doing and really you, youget into that, into Zen.
It's almost like a marathonrunner, that's running, and they
get that, you know that right,they get that groove in it and
it's.
It's just such a yes, it's sucha powerful exercise and I just
(27:48):
thought if it can help olderadults start to move, then I'm
over it.
Speaker 1 (27:54):
Yeah, yeah, it sounds like there's so many benefits,
but if you could name three,could you explain three ways
that Tai Chi is able to helppeople dealing with like
arthritis?
You mentioned fall preventionand then even maybe, memory care
.
Speaker 2 (28:09):
So because they're repetitive motions, I've had
people in class that didn'tspeak English and didn't speak
Spanish.
I also speak Spanish, but justshowing them the movement they
were able to move and so easilymemory care there is.
(28:30):
I didn't tell you, but there'sTai Chi for memory.
Speaker 1 (28:34):
And so I'm an instructor for that as well.
Speaker 2 (28:37):
But the movements in our humanity.
You know we can look, even whenother things leave us, even
speech, and we can still followthat and get benefits from that.
So not only building confidenceand building the strength and
flexibility and what we callsonging our joints, you know,
(29:01):
being able to stretch them fromwithin, teaching someone how to
breathe and align that spine, itjust gives all the organs you
know makes you feel better justthe energy of it.
And so I tell people, try it.
I mean, I think, and that wouldbe with anything, if someone
(29:21):
tried it and said, well, I likeit, but it's not for me, or I
could do this exercise.
Then do that one exercise thataligns that spine, that helps
you feel better, that helps yougain more flexibility and
strength in your legs.
I read an article not too longago that the strength in your
legs, the stronger your legs are, the longer that you'll live,
(29:44):
and I started thinking aboutthat.
That is interesting.
And as we age we often they saywe don't grow taller, we start
to shrink.
But what if you could practiceTai Chi that aligned the spine
and you did stretching exercisesthat actually helped with the
(30:05):
posture, that you're notshrinking, that you feel more
confident.
On your feet, there's beendifferent studies and they can't
explain it.
On your feet, there's been, youknow, different studies and
they can't explain it.
And so I'm thinking isn't itwonderful that we could do
something that's natural and notanother pill to take?
I really don't like takingmedications myself and I think a
(30:26):
lot of medications have a lotof side effects and I always say
how many medications are toomany as we age?
Is it five?
And I always say how manymedications are too many as we
age?
Is it 5, 10, 15?
I mean, you go to some people'shomes, grandparents' homes, and
you see the whole counter fullof pills and it's like that
(30:47):
cannot be.
Speaker 1 (30:47):
You know the best for our bodies.
I think that you are the bestperson that could have stumbled
upon Tai Chi Connie, for olderadults and being an advocate for
it.
It was interesting and valuableto learn about and I think it's
something that I'm going tostart recommending to people
that I work with that aregetting older to try, like I
said, slow movements, all of thebenefits that come along with
(31:09):
it.
I love it with it.
I love it Well these generation.
Speaker 2 (31:11):
If you think about it , the things we're talking about
, even though we're talkingabout older adults, this is for
every age how much anxiety thatyounger generations and older
generations are dealing withsince COVID, post COVID, and we
don't know what is going tohappen with all types of events
(31:36):
I don't like, don't talk about.
A lot, even in our country, isa lot of the violence and gun
(31:59):
violence, and so then I also doTai Chi for kids.
And so there is like the bigbuzzword I've heard a lot is
self-regulation.
Well, self-regulation islearning how to calm ourselves
and I thought what better waythan Tai Chi?
A lot of people find it hard tomeditate.
(32:22):
I'm not a very good meditator,my mind will start wandering.
But if I'm moving and I'mmoving slowly and continuously
with the Tai Chi principles ofyou know, thinking about what
I'm doing, and that I'm movingslowly and continuously with the
Tai Chi principles of you know,thinking about what I'm doing,
and that I'm slowly, likeunderwater, I find myself just
(32:42):
exercising, but relaxed.
It's like there's benefit toslowing down.
I think I heard a TED talkrecently about slowing down and
the benefits of that.
And I thought yeah, not in ourWestern mentality.
Speaker 1 (32:59):
Yeah, it's something we need more of and I think a
lot of people can have that samesolace in Tai Chi.
That also brings exercise, andjust finding that for your
individual self is incredible.
And this I have to wrap it upit's crazy how fast the 30
minutes went.
I've really enjoyed learningabout just everything you've
(33:20):
done and the impact of moving onall facets of getting older.
I know you're on LinkedIn, butif people wanted to reach out to
you, what should they do?
Speaker 2 (33:31):
They could go to the Tai Chi for Health website,
tchiorg, and so I'm there.
I'm also part of the UnitedStates Tai Chi community, which
is ustccorg.
Speaker 1 (33:45):
Awesome.
I think people should reach outand get more.
I might take a Tai Chi classmyself Tai.
Speaker 2 (33:52):
Chi is really good.
But you know the the bottomline is try something to get
movement in your day, and ifit's fun, it could be line
dancing, it could be whatevermakes you really happy from
within, and because if we arehappy from within, we're going
to share that happiness with theworld, and that's what the
(34:13):
world needs more of 100% agree,connie, everybody.
Speaker 1 (34:17):
Connie Asif, I appreciate you jumping on and
spending some time with myselfand all of our listeners.
Speaker 2 (34:23):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (34:24):
Yeah, thanks, Connie.
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