The Mindset-Movement Connection: A Practical Guide to Aging Well | Ep. 271 - The Aging Well Podcast

Episode Transcript
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(00:03):
Welcome to the Aging Well podcast, where we explore the
science stories and strategies that help us live longer,
healthier, and more purposeful lives.
I'm your host, Doctor Jeff Armstrong.
In this episode, I'm joined by ahealthcare veteran and a
lifelong movement educator with over 50 years of physical
therapy experience, Vicki Gold. Vicki is a former director of a

(00:23):
physical therapy assistant program in New York City who
brings deep expertise in yoga, Tai chi, Pilates, and the
Alexander Enfeldenkreis techniques, and is a graduate of
Landmark Worldwide, an organization for personal growth
and transformation. She has channeled this wealth of
knowledge into her book Aging Safely, Wisely and Well, a

(00:46):
movement and mindset guide for older adults.
With a holistic focus on body awareness, stress reduction, and
intentional living, she offers afresh, empowering approach to
later life. This episode explores how older
adults can improve ease of movement, reduce stress, and
adopt practices that support both safety and vitality.

(01:07):
Her message is practical, powerful, and personal.
It's one that helps us all age well.
Vicki, welcome to the Aging Wellpodcast.
You have had a long and distinguished career in physical
therapy. What inspired you to focus your
later work on aging, movement and mindset?

(01:27):
I got older, that could be part of it.
I turned I turned 80 in September last year and even
before I I accepted myself or identified myself as an older
adult, I was enjoying working with older adults.

(01:50):
My whole career, which lasted over 50 years, I worked the
whole range of of ages from frominfants right up to the
terminally ill. So I covered the waterfront and
I guess in the later years of mycareer, I just became more

(02:12):
focused on older adults. I'm not into, I was never into
sports therapy. I was not one of those people
who was into all the machines and equipment that therapists
might use. I was very much a therapeutic
exercise oriented person. So and you're quite going back

(02:32):
to your question, it was how didI become interested in working
with older adults or the gettinginto the field in general?
Yeah, I mean, kind of what inspired you what, what got you
interested in that area? And maybe it goes back all the
way to when you decided to be a physical therapist, What, what
prompted that? I mean, you didn't work with
sports. So I know I have a lot of
students that are working, wanting to work with athletes.

(02:54):
They're athletes and they're going into PT to work with
athletes. But that's only a small part of
the PT career. Yes.
So my background is that when I was six years, about 6 years
old, going out to 7, my brother was born.
And my brother was profoundly mentally retarded,

(03:16):
developmentally disabled. He lived till age 69 and was
just an awesome personality. But that probably was the first
thing that sensitized me to being with someone who is other
than your average individual. And then when I was 10, a
girlfriend who really became very close over the years.

(03:39):
She was one of the last victims of polio.
The vaccine had just come out and she hadn't gotten it yet.
So she was, she had been in a, in an iron lung.
She was confined to a wheelchairand using a respirator or for
much of her life. And I think she finally passed
around age 40. And then finally, when I was 15,

(04:01):
I was at a summer camp and my camp was visited by a camp of
handicapped children, you know, physically handicapped, you
know, they were in wheelchairs, They were on crutches.
And I was totally at ease with them because I had been living
with people who were physically challenged, shall we say.
And one of the counselors from this camp, in fact, Camp

(04:22):
Corolla, I think you can still look it up online.
I don't think they function anymore.
But one of the counselors said, Vicki, you're so good with, you
know, the other campers. Have you considered being a
physical therapist? I seem to think I was having
this vision of being a social worker, although I really had no
idea what a social worker was. I thought I'd be planning

(04:44):
parties. I don't know what I thought, but
when they described physical therapy, I said that's it.
And so at age 15, I never lookedback.
So that's the story. So you got an early start.
A lot of my students are, you know, with exercise science,
they're all like, I think I might want to go PT.
I'm not sure. And they're struggling with it
right up until it's time to put the applications in for grad

(05:07):
school. So you decided pretty darn early
so. And it was, it was quite
honestly, Jeff, it was a lot easier for me to enter the
field. First of all, I did have a clear
vision of becoming a physical therapist, but also the you mean
they would sweep you off the streets?
They were desperate for physicaltherapists.

(05:27):
Nowadays, especially now that the training has gone to a
doctorate level, they are much more selective and quite
honestly, don't tell anybody. But quite honestly, if I went
back into the field today, it would probably be as a physical
therapist assistant, which didn't exist when I started, But

(05:48):
I believe the physical therapistassistants have more time for
the hands on work with patients than a lot of the doctoral
therapists. And the other thing I want to
say about becoming a physical therapist because I was on
several faculties and part of the job was to interview
prospective students. And I was at Cal State and

(06:10):
Fresno when this happened. And I remember the director of
the program would ask prospective students, so if you
don't get into this physical therapy program, what will you
do? And if they said, well, then
I'll look into becoming a doctor, becoming a nurse,
becoming an occupational therapist.

(06:31):
They, they went down the list ofdesirables if they said I'll
just keep applying to physical therapy school because that's
all I want. You know, they were the ones who
were likely going to be accepted.
So it's not, especially nowadayswith all the work involved with
becoming a physical therapist, you, you have to want it because

(06:53):
it's going to be a lot of work. I'll have to share that with my
students, a little tidbit of knowledge for them in terms of
their applications. Yeah, and you feel free to give
them my number. I'll be glad to speak with them.
Sounds good. So all of this has led to your
book, which is titled Aging Safely, Wisely and Well.
Can you unpack what each of these words mean to you and in

(07:17):
the context of older adults? So the safely because part of
the work I've done involves teaching people how to prevent
falls. You know, what are the skills
that you need, what are the awarenesses that you need to
prevent a fall. So that is probably where the

(07:38):
safety came from is and of course, rain.
Dr. Titic, SARS component on preventing falls also does more
to educate people. So that's where the aging safely
came in, the wisely came from. Not so not just my years as a
physical therapist, but as a woman who's now 80, who's had

(08:01):
her share of therapy insight, you know, personal growth and
transformation training. So the book is not strictly
about what to do physically, butalso I say some of the tips,
tricks and strategies as well asskills, which is comes with the
wisdom of aging. I'm hoping this makes sense.

(08:23):
So that's the wise and the well is just, I think, almost related
to how we feel about ourselves and our situations, especially
in our our later years of life. So, you know, aging well is not
just how, how physically fit youare, how comfortable you are,

(08:47):
how, how adjusted you are to life.
Is that making sense? I have an Aging Well podcast.
Yes, it makes sense to me. Yeah.
So, you know, we often and really emphasize the kind of
Wellness aspect of aging well and how, you know, aging well
starts pretty much at conception, if not sooner.
And we, you know, we talked about what my friend Jay and

(09:10):
he's going to be all happy that I once again give him credit for
labeling our Wellness model as spies, which is a spiritual,
physical, intellectual, emotional and social.
I've always called it well centered fitness, and that's
what's kind of evolved into our perspective of aging while here
on the podcast. We're really looking at all of
those components dovetailing together to, you know, allow us

(09:33):
to age with vitality, longevity,health span and all those types
of things that we talked about. And so, yeah, we're on the same
page when it comes to aging. Well, you've just attached a few
extra words that would lengthen my podcast title if I stole it
from you, but. I promise I won't.
And by the way there, I'm sorry,Jim, what was that?
I said I promise I won't, you know, steal your, your title for

(09:54):
a podcast. No, please.
So, you know, at this stage of my life, quite honestly, it's
not about just making money and protecting my intellectual
property. I think the biggest gift and
interest that I have is the morepeople that share this, the more
people that yeah, that share it,the happier I will be.

(10:18):
You know, just like you want to get your work out to as many
people as possible. If you're enjoying the Aging
Well podcast, be sure to like, subscribe or follow on your
favorite platform so you will never miss an episode.
And if you find our conversations helpful, please
share the podcast with a friend because aging is something we're
all doing and we're better at doing it together.

(10:39):
And support our guests in this podcast financially by visiting
the affiliate links in the episode description below and
use the links or codes provided for discounts on products we
have vetted and feel comfortablerecommending to our valued
viewers and listeners. Thank you.
And now back to the podcast. I just want to mention that
there is a subtitle to to my book.
It says it's a movement and mindset guide for older adults.

(11:03):
And I have to thank my, my publisher, Stacy Aronson for
insisting or recommending that Iuse the word mindset because I'm
thinking mindfulness. But she said no, Vicki, mindset
is really it's a little bit different.
It may include mindfulness. And Jeff, you, you use the word
centering. So I want to mention that part

(11:27):
of what I like to offer people is simple ways, simple things to
think about or do that will makeaging well easier.
So I don't know if you noticed in the in the book that I have
these two ABC systems. I don't know if you saw that.
Yes, I did. And that was going to be my next
question. How?
That's the central theme. So why don't you take the moment

(11:49):
to explain to our listeners and our viewers, what do you mean by
the ABC Mind Body system? So a little background 1st and
that background is that, yes, I am traditionally medically
trained, you know, so I've got the anatomy, the Physiology, the
bio mechanics. But then I've also got
background in yoga, Tai chi, Pilates, Alexander and

(12:12):
Feldenkreis techniques. I'm not sure you know how
familiar everybody is with those.
And at one point, at some point,I said I need to find a way to
take all this knowledge and all these skills that I've been
gathering and make them available to the lay public,
people who aren't, who don't necessarily have the same

(12:33):
background. I need an ABC system.
So the ABC's became alignment because of the importance of
posture in how our bodies function, right?
And how we look. We look better when our posture
is better. So there's your alignment.
The bee is breathing. And here I focus on what I call

(12:56):
conscious breathing and slow prolonged exhalations because
it's the slow, prolonged exhalations that create
relaxation that help reduce stress for people with chronic
obstructive pulmonary disease. The slow, prolonged exhalation
helps get rid of some of that stale air, or what we call

(13:18):
residual air that sits in the corners of the lungs so that
when a person breathes in again,there's more lung tissue to
absorb oxygen and then the C is centering.
What does that mean? Well, I actually give it 3
meanings, but for our purposes, let's just say it's mind and
body working together. And I ask the question, how

(13:41):
often does anyone of us have a fall, have an injury, make a
mistake because our mind is one place and our body is doing
something else. So by taking the time to do your
ABC's, align conscious breathingcenter, you can function more
safely, more efficiently. And there are actually, so the

(14:03):
ABC system, two other componentsthat are in the book 1 is the
use of slow motion, because again, that can improve how
safely we move, how efficiently it can help with balance.
It can actually help with strengthening.
If you, if you go from standing up to sitting down in a chair

(14:24):
and you do it in slow motion, you're going to be strengthening
those sit and stand muscles, which are so critical for
healthy aging, right? I think there's research that
shows our ability to sit and stand independently is directly
related or at least partially related to our ability to sit

(14:45):
and stand independently. And the last, the last component
of the ABC system is something Icall the basic moves, which is
really reinforcing, correct bending, lifting, carrying and
things like that. So that's the ABC system.
And, and just the last thing to say about it is in the book and

(15:06):
when I do full workshops, I structure the training from the
point of view of what is it like, what is alignment, blah,
blah, blah, breathing, what is it?
Why is it important? How do you achieve it?
So we go into some skill training and then the centering.
There's not that much you can doexcept take the times with just

(15:29):
get get focused before you beginan activity.
So what are some of the most common movement patterns or
habits that tend to limit older adults, and how can we begin to
shift them? The first thing that comes to
mind, Jeff, is people plopping into their chairs, right?
You know, you take a look at older people.
I mean, there are some younger people that may do it also.

(15:51):
But watch how a person or older person sits down.
You know the tendency, if they have not practiced moving
consciously, if they have not learned how to sit in a
biomechanically safe, efficient way, they're going to plop.

(16:13):
So that's one of the first things in their walking pattern.
What tends to happen to a lot ofolder people, whether or not
they've had a fall is they tend to slow their, take shorter
steps, slow their walking down and you almost get a shuffle.
And as much as people may think that by slowing down and taking

(16:35):
these smaller steps that they'regoing to prevent to fall, they
are actually not doing themselves a favor.
I don't know how else to say it.So that's, you know, that's
something for people to become aware of and start working on.
And I have to say I, I spend it in an inordinate, inordinate.
I don't know if I said I'm getting that out right.

(16:57):
And inordinate amount of time drawing people's attention to
their feet and the role that their feet have in balance and
walking. You know, they tend to cram
their feet in a shoe and not really pay attention and nurture
the well-being the the the fitness and the condition of
their feet because of how important the feet are for good

(17:21):
balance. I'm on a roll there.
I'm sorry. It's probably even a bigger
concern for women who try and cram their feet into small shoes
and high heels and all that fun stuff.
Right, exactly. I, it was a mixed blessing
having a father, my father who was involved with a shoe
fitting, believe it or not. So I was one of those kids that

(17:42):
was not allowed into, you know, dressy looking shoes.
I had very practical shoes. So today my feet are in good
shape. But oh boy, did I.
I was so unhappy in those younger years.
Yeah, and you talk about flopping into chairs, too.
As you were talking about that, I started thinking about, Yeah,
our older generation. I mean, I'm 62.

(18:04):
We grew up with beanbag chairs, and we flopped into the hose.
So we never really learned how to sit in proper chairs.
That's so funny. I actually sewed one.
I learned how to make one. I had one for years.
Yeah, they look out for the days.
Yeah, way back when. We're dating ourselves here, but
I don't younger listeners are like, what's a beanbag chair?

(18:26):
So actually there is, there is something advertised nowadays, I
forget what he calls it, it's like a cloud share or something,
but it's essentially A beanbag chair.
So yeah. Everything comes back around.
Yeah, there's I, I doubt that there are many people your age,
certainly not my age that could even safely get down, much less

(18:46):
get up from one of those things.And that's another, that's
another whole challenge for, forolder people.
And that is the fact that they like to sit in their, their
recliners. And that's just poison for both
posture and and for function. I love my recliner but I work on

(19:08):
posture and everything else and maybe I can justify sitting in
my recliner. Well, you know what my, my
feeling is, if you learn, if youlearn the principles of good
postural alignment and you know that you want your curve of your
back, the arch of your back supported, you know you want
your arm supported as much as possible, then maybe you can do

(19:32):
things to your recliner like have a support behind your back.
You can still be in the recliner, but your back is
supported, your arms can be supported, you can raise your
legs, and you know, so you can possibly have your cake and eat
it too. Yeah, that's important.
That's what aging well is, beingable to eat your cake and have
it too. So.
Yeah. And so you have a background in

(19:55):
so many different modalities. You mentioned yoga, Tai chi,
Pilates, Feldon, Christ, I pronounce that.
Correctly Alexander technique, yes, so.
How do you recommend, How do yourecommend people begin if
they're kind of new to some of these intentional movement
practices? You get my book.

(20:16):
It's only there I'm serious because you know, as as I
evolved and and you know my approach, just like as you
continue on, you're going to keep having new evolution, new
revelations, you know, and it's going to add to, you know, what
you offer in in your programs. So overtime, you know, I went

(20:42):
from just teaching people a linebreathe center to realizing that
even before they Start learning their ABC's that they develop
and they understand what mindfulness is, that mindfulness
is turning into becoming conscious of how you feel.
You know what you are doing, youstart becoming aware and

(21:06):
conscious and then you decide, well, you know what?
I notice I'm not breathing as well.
I'm noticing, I'm hunching over.I'm developing mindfulness.
I know there's conversation about mindfulness in eating for
people who are who may be dealing with weight issues.
But any change is going to have to begin with you becoming

(21:30):
mindful and then deciding that you want to change and then
starting to learn the different skills that will help you
transform. And that reminds me, Jeff, the
tagline for my company, you know, my company is Thera Dash
Fitness Inc. The tagline is transforming the

(21:51):
ways you move through life. And what that is suggesting is
that, you know, I'm not recommending exercises you three
of these five times a week or the five of these three times a
week. As you become conscious of how
you're moving, how you're holding yourself, as you're
moving, as you become conscious of your breathing you that

(22:13):
happens throughout your day. So as you, as you go throughout
your day, you start transformingthe ways you move through life.
Please feel free to steal that. OK, we will.
And so you know you've been talking about mindfulness and
you differentiated between that and mindset a little bit
earlier. Can you talk about the

(22:34):
importance of mindset and how domovement and mindset support
each other in our efforts to agewell?
Thank you. Thank you.
That's, that's a great question.And it leads to what became my
second ABC's because once I had the first ones, which dealt more
with physical function, I said, well, what would be a good ABC
system for how we function mentally?

(22:56):
And that became attitudes, beliefs and commitment.
And looking at our attitudes, looking at our beliefs,
recognizing that some are reallyvery positive and, and
supportive of us doing things that nurture our well-being,
that nurture our relationships that help us have a positive

(23:17):
attitude towards life. So I think I just knocked myself
off track, but also becoming aware I'm back, also becoming
aware that there are attitudes, negative attitudes.
I can't do that, I don't want todo that, blah, blah, blah, blah.
You know, judgmental types of things that are not conducive to

(23:40):
healthy aging and well-being. There are beliefs, especially
for women. There have been a lot of beliefs
for older people, a lot of beliefs about what they can or
should you know, do. So by drawing your attention to
what your attitudes and beliefs are, you now can choose.

(24:01):
Well, this is a good one. I like this one.
This is really supportive. It's empowering.
I'm going to keep that. I'm noticing I have this other
one. It's like that little, the
positive and the negative littlevoices.
I'm going to, you know, invite the -1 to go away.
So this is, we're talking mindsets.
These are kind of mindsets. And then the C of this ABC

(24:24):
system became commitment. Great.
Now that you've done this exploration and and you know
you've you've had some revelations, what are you
committed to doing? Yeah, you may be committed to
nothing. That became the sea of my ABC,
of the ABC's of what was it 8 ofpersonal growth and
transformation. That's what I called them.

(24:45):
So I don't know if does that answer the question a little
bit. Yeah, it does.
It seems like, you know, mindfulness and mindset are
connected in that mindfulness iskind of directing and
redirecting us to that mindset and helping us to kind of
reevaluate what is our mindset. And this is where I think
journaling really comes into play every day.
It's like, what am I going to work on spiritually, physically,
intellectually, emotionally and socially that is going to enable

(25:08):
me to be as I always say, you know, be bet my best today would
be better tomorrow. That we're constantly in that
kind of growth mindset. And you know, we tend to think
that we stop growing once we hita certain age.
But you know, we're still growing until we're planted in
the ground, assuming we're planted in the ground.
I guess some people are on shelves and mantels now anymore
with more cremation but. Jeff, you just reminded me my

(25:32):
late father-in-law needed rehab and you know I.

(26:06):
I look at myself, I mean, I'm not quite an old dog, but I'm,
you know, 80 years old is now considered, it's considered old,
but I'm learning every day the opportunity to speak with you
to, to, to learn more about podcasting and all the things
involved with it. It's and and I want to throw
another word in there, and that's the word purpose, because

(26:29):
if there's anything that keeps us young and keeps us moving
forward, it's really, I believe it's identifying what our
purpose is in life, even if it'sjust to be be able to stay alive
long enough to see a grandchild get married.
Well, you know, it doesn't have to be a big thing like writing a
book. It can be the smallest thing,

(26:50):
but it needs to be a purpose. I like to capitalize purpose to
kind of emphasize that it is that more forward thinking,
global kind of growth mindset kind of thing.
It's not just, you know, I did that on purpose, doing it for a
purpose. And you're right, I mean, old
dogs can learn new tricks. I think the hard part for some
of us old dogs is that we have to unlearn the old tricks

(27:13):
sometimes. Yeah, yeah.
So I don't know how much time wehave, but I'm, I'm thinking of a
physical therapy setting. And one gentleman in particular,

(27:39):
I needed him to slow his walkingdown.
And he said, but I've always walked this way.
You know, I've got, I've never changed now, you know, that's
the line. I've always been fast.
This, this actually brings up something a little bit
different, but funny. And that is it is different that
is having him say the words slowmotion.

(28:05):
And I really drew it out, never learned it in school.
I just kind of made it up on thespot and believe it or not, the
gentleman's walking slowed down.The other thing I use a lot and
talk about in the book is the use of self talk and the in the
self talk that we do and I had used the words can't and should

(28:30):
before Those are actually forbidden words.
I described them as forbidden words.
Don't ever tell me what I can't do.
Don't ever tell me what I shoulddo.
You can make a suggestion. You might want to consider doing
this. And I I actually have a story
about the power of our self talk.
Would you like to hear it? Yes, absolutely.

(28:51):
OK, so this is a very senior lady who was wheeled into the
physical therapy department. It happened to be at Cedar Sinai
in Los Angeles. But she's crying, she's
hysterical. She's scared to death about
being asked to stand up and talkabout trying every strategy

(29:13):
because his physical therapist is personal trainers.
You know, you have strategies tomotivate people.
You can be very kind, understanding, supportive,
gentle, or you can be the opposite extreme.
You're going to stand up. You're going to do this, and
you're going to do it now. And none of my strategies was
working with this poor lady. She's hysterical, crying.

(29:34):
I can't. I can't.
And I said to her, you win. I give up.
I am not going to try to stand you anymore.
But I need you to say the words.I'll try.
And then I promise I'm going to let you go.
I can't. I can't.
I can't. I can't.
I promise you I will let you go.I need to hear the words.
I'll try. And then you hear this little

(29:55):
whispering voice. I'll try.
I said great. I'm going to keep my promise.
And I got ready to unlock her wheelchair so I could let her
out of the parallel bars. And I said, well, would you like
to try? And I get this little nod.
I go to help her up. She stands up, walks the length
of the parallel bars, turns around, walks back to her chair

(30:17):
and sits down. And and every time, I mean you
can't really see it well here, but every time I tell this
story, and this was back in the late 1970s, my hair on my arms
and I just goose pimple because nothing could be more dramatic
about the power our words, our self talk has on ourselves and

(30:39):
the story. That's a great story.
Almost feel like, OK, we end thepodcast on that note, but we
don't we won't do that. So you've kind of alluded to
some of them regarding movement and changing some of our
unhealthy patterns. But what are some of the simple
physical and mental practices that can help us older adults

(31:00):
reduce stress and tension in ourdaily lives?
So it really probably the simplest thing is to become
conscious of your breathing and use your breathing as a tool.
It's probably the key to reducing stress.
I believe there are research studies showing the impact

(31:21):
conscious breathing on all kindsof benefits.
So want to mention that, but breathing is probably probably

(31:46):
the key and slowing down, slowing down another one, the
serenity prayer that becomes that becomes really significant
for for when you are undergoing stress.
First of all, identifying what is the thing that's stressing
you, You know, write it down in your journal.

(32:08):
If you need to make a write, write it down.
Identify the stressor, a matter of communicating with somebody,

(32:42):
delegating, making a phone call,doing something.
What's the action I could do that might help deal with the
stressor? And then the last part is the
wisdom to know the difference because I think a lot of stress
comes when, you know, our minds kind of spin, you know, the
brain goes in vicious cycle thinking about things that we

(33:05):
really have no control over. But if you do have control, what
action steps you know, would be beneficial or can't do anything
about it? And there are more tips in my
hand out. I don't know that we want to go
through every every one of them right now.
We'll leave them that link to tolook it up.
And they got to get the book too.
So, you know, we don't want to take everything away from buying

(33:27):
the book. So, but I will ask, you know, if
you could choose this guy, ask if you can choose just one or
two movement principles that every older adult should learn,
what should they be? It's funny, it comes down to
become aware of your posture because the better your posture
or alignment is, the better balanced you're going to be.
So that's that came through and what your friend had said, Jeff,

(33:51):
strength and posture will help to balance, but definitely
watching your posture because ifyou're bent over, especially if
you're bent over because of fear, you're actually inviting a
fall. So the more you can get yourself
erect, get your body parts linedup, the better your balance
would be. Also being willing to and of

(34:13):
course you're conscious breathing because if you are
stressed, you're going, chances are you're going to be holding
your breath or breathing somewhat shallowly.
So you get your posture, you align, get your breathing so you
can then get centered on what you're about to do and then
start the activity. But in slow motion.
Don't let anything or anybody rush you.

(34:36):
That's really critical. Slowing down so that you can
function with control and with ease.
So it's more than one thing, Jeff.
It's it's all. It's all in the ABC's.
So when you talk about slowing down, I, I tend to be a fast
Walker. I mean, I, I probably still
probably on average walk about a, you know, 4 to 5 minute mile

(34:58):
pace when I am moving anywhere. I'm just like not necessarily in
a hurry to get anywhere. It's just I'm a brisk Walker.
You don't necessarily mean slow down your pace unnecessarily.
You're meaning like slow down sothat your mind and your your
body are able to connect and know what you're doing.
Is that more where I'm kind of hearing?
Yeah, yes, I'd say that's a goodpoint.

(35:22):
And yet if see you, I'm assumingyou have a full ability to walk
normally. You pick your feet up, you do a
nice heel toe strike, But the older person who may be
shuffling or let's say somebody with Parkinson's or somebody
who's had a stroke, they may nothave the strength and
flexibility and agility that youhave.

(35:44):
And yet they may still want to keep that old fast walking
pattern that they've had. I've got a fast walking pattern,
but I'm also, you know, very agile.
You know, I can still take long strides.
Heel toe strike. If you're walking is somehow
compromised for whatever reason,that might be a reason to slow
down. Start learning how to take

(36:06):
longer strides because chances are, you know, you're taking
shorter steps. So working on taking longer
strides, doing a heel toe gait is, is, is important.
So it's hard to say, you know, slow down.
Yeah. I wouldn't suggest that you slow
down. Don't suggest that I slow down
because it would drive me crazy because I'm, you know, we are

(36:28):
fast walkers. Yeah.
But if we were compromised and still trying to walk fast, it
may not be as safe. So that's where the wisdom piece
comes in, in your title. Yeah, there you go.
There's so much more because if you're walking is compromised,
not being ashamed to use assistive devices.

(36:50):
You know, my mom, may she rest in peace.
When she started needing a cane or a Walker because her her
balance was starting to be compromised.
At first she didn't want to. Well, you know, that's for old
people. But I said mom, first of all,
you're going to look a lot olderif you're hunched over or if
you're falling down South. If you're going to need the

(37:11):
Walker or the cane, at least carry it with panache.
And hopefully everybody knows the word panache.
So, you know, after a while, momwould be using her cane or her
Walker. Her posture would be great.
Her chest would be lifted, you know, and she'd be striding
along. She looked a lot better when she
was walking with the cane or theWalker than she would have been

(37:34):
where she not using it and hunched over and afraid of
falling. So that can be that motivator to
get people to do the things to improve their posture and their
gait and so on. Is that OK?
You don't want to use a Walker? Well, let's do the things that
we need to do to strengthen ourselves, get her posture right
so that we can actually walk well.
Bingo I. Had a client the years ago, but

(37:54):
this was before I did my PhD. So it's probably in late 80s
that was 84. And I was doing some personal
training at the Jewish CommunityCenter in Pittsburgh.
And this guy Henry comes in, He just turned 84, had never lifted
weights in his life. And he had seen, you're probably
familiar with the tough study from back then that looked at

(38:16):
weight training in senior homes and how they were able to reduce
the, the necessity for assisted devices in this population.
And so he had read the article and he was like, I want to stop
using a cane. And so he gifted himself with a
personal trainer, never having lifted before.
And, and God bless this guy. He shows up, he's got Bermuda

(38:37):
shorts on, a polo shirt, dark socks and loafers, big thick
glasses, walking with his cane, and he had a really, really slow
shuffle. You know, you and I are old
enough to remember Tim Conway and his bit.
Where he used to be a rough. Shuffling walk.
That's kind of how this guy was walking.
And and you know, me being younger and having a brisk walk,
I was always like several steps ahead of him and I didn't

(38:59):
realize I had to slow down a little bit.
But, you know, in just a few months that I worked with him,
we actually got him to where he was kind of just carrying that
cane, walking in better posture and really not needing the cane,
but the cane was there if he needed it.
And so I think, you know, it's, it's important for older adults
to realize that they don't have to be dependent on those things,
but they have to realize their limitations.

(39:20):
So. I'm, I'm laughing because there
was an opposite situation in a way.
There was a patient I had who was very severely handicapped
with arthritis. She was overweight, she was very
senior. She was in a lot of pain all the
time. And this woman really needed to

(39:41):
be walking at least with a cane to give her some support and
balance. She would not.
She refused. She refused.
And of course, every treatment session, you know, she's
getting, it was a limit to what we could do.
So she's having more and more pain and finally one day she
breaks down and she agrees to take the cane.
She comes in for her next therapy session.

(40:03):
And she's glowing with her cane.What happened the day she took
the cane? She had gone shopping and she's
at the she's on the checkout line and somebody tried to
snatch her purse. She beat him.
She, she, she would not let go of that cane.
So you know, depending on where you live, you may want your
cane, but carry it with panache.Yeah, carry with panache and you

(40:26):
know, again, wisdom, it's all wisdom.
You carry your cane for safety. Both, you know, is prevention of
falls, but prevention of theft. And you decorate there's.
Advantages to carrying canes. Have you ever seen women who
actually adorn their canes? You know, they put bling on it,
ribbons and balloons and stuff. So.
Well, that's going to get even more so with the the younger

(40:49):
generation as they age because they're all about their bling.
You know, they put it all over their phone cases and all that
kind of stuff. So of course when they have to
have a cane, it's going to have to be all bedazzled, so.
The unfortunate thing about the today's younger generation is
their their health maintenance, but that's a whole other
conversation. Right.

(41:10):
And that's where, you know, we're, what we're trying to do
with the aging well podcast is get the younger individuals to
recognize that they have to makesome changes if they're gonna
age well. I mean, it's I think you get old
enough, you suddenly you recognize, well, yeah, I should
be doing this, I should have done this.
And then they start making the change.
But the goal is if we can get people to not need to worry
about these things as they get older, then we've we've

(41:33):
accomplished something here. And you know, my, my specialty,
my background isn't nutrition per SE.
Although between what I do know and a couple of the people who
contributed, collaborated with the book, there's a big
discussion about nutrition. And it can be so simple to eat

(41:56):
healthfully. And that's to just be aware of
Whole Foods and water, you know,and Whole Foods being the least
processed and, and your water orthe least processed drinks.
And that's all I'll say about nutrition.
That's all you really need to say.
It's really not a big complicated topic.
You know, when it really comes down to it, it's just the, you

(42:17):
know, eat what grows locally, what grows naturally.
And if you can't read the chemicals on the label, then
it's probably not something thatyou should be consuming.
And if it's clear and free of any additives, then it's
probably pretty good, which is water, you know?
And yeah, you can deviate from that a little bit, but that's
where the wisdom comes into play.

(42:38):
So I'm actually looking over over my notes, trying to see if
there was something. Oh, you had talked in the
interview that I listened to that you had done with Jennifer
Kern. You were talking about a
refining movement and you kind of brought it up again, but the
runner that had poor technique and you talked about therapeutic

(43:01):
exercise and functional training.
You don't remember, but that's OK.
I do it because that's OK. Just the whole idea of every,
every function, everything we dohas has an ideal way of, of
moving, whether it's running or if it's just sitting or standing
from your chair. So learning and again, being

(43:24):
conscious, working with the trainer, working with a
therapist is really highly recommended for people who
really want to function well fora long, for a long life.
So that's the benefit of of using someone like Joe or me,
even though I'm not practicing anymore to to learn how to

(43:46):
protect your body and how to useit efficiently.
I think if I remember that conversation, I was probably
talking about, you know, just how how hard it is for me
driving around the neighborhood and just seeing people out
running for their exercise. And yes, you just want to pull
over and you know, correct, that's what they're doing.
Because there's so many times there's people that are running
that, you know, if you just really turn that into a walk,

(44:08):
you would get a far more beneficial, you know, you'd
probably walk a little faster than you're running and you
would get a little bit better benefit in terms of the impact
on your joints and just the amount of cardiovascular benefit
you're going to get from it. But so many people, they're just
not aware that they are doing itwrong and that they need more of
the guidance from somebody who is a little bit more

(44:30):
professional, a little bit more,you know, trained in the bio
mechanics of movement and, you know, just the Physiology of
movement. And so, yeah, so and I get
irritated with the the use of functional training is kind of a
a special area of exercise. It's like it's all functional
training. You know, our whole goal is to
improve our function, our performance.

(44:52):
And so, yeah, there's going to be exercises that are more on
that therapeutic, the preventative care kind of thing.
And then there's those movementsthat are going to propel us in
our ability to move better. But it's all functional.
And so I think I was probably what I might have talked about
in that podcast as well. I know.
So. Jennifer and I went off on so

(45:13):
many different tangents for bad conversations.
I think of what may be mean by what might be made meant by
functional training is I'm thinking of golfers, for
example, where there were specific moves that are part of
a sport or when you and I, shallwe say, teach people how to sit

(45:35):
and stand correctly. So having that's, those are
functions that you can then add weights to let's say the golf
swing, you can have a person repeat their sitting and
standing movement multiple times.
So I see that as functional training, where you're taking a

(45:57):
specific activity, reaching for something in an overhead
cupboard, and strengthening thatmove.
Either way, you still need to manage your posture, your
breathing. And right.
And to me that's, you know, it'sall functional.
It's all getting us to be able to function better.
Yes. So what are some myths or myth
misconceptions about aging that you encounter the most and and

(46:21):
what truths do you wish more people understood?
I'm thinking of what you and I actually discussed early on in
the conversation, and that is that you can't grow and you
can't change. And so I think that's one of the
biggest myths or that you shouldor should not do certain things

(46:42):
as an older person. And if you look on Instagram,
I'm I'm not on, I don't look at TikTok.
But on Instagram, when you see people in their 90s, even I
think there's a woman who's over100 who, what is she?
She parish she'd parachute jumps.
And, you know, just be aware if you've got a mindset that is

(47:05):
saying you can't or you shouldn't do something.
And one of the blessings of turning 80.
And I couldn't predict that thiswould happen.
But there is the greatest sense of freedom that I ever
experienced in terms of doing what I feel like, you know,
what's an expression of an expression of my interests, you

(47:28):
know, my passions. And so that myth of you can't or
you shouldn't because you're older or because you're a woman,
lose it, lose that myth and justgo for it.
There's oh, there, you know, this could get so deep into
psychology because people have been told or they have these
ideas about, you know, what theycan or shouldn't do or other

(47:51):
people don't do that or blah, blah, blah.
We are each unique people, each one of us with something to
contribute and something that nobody else has.
There's not going to be anybody else who's going to be a Jeff
Armstrong. There's nobody else who's a
Vicky Gold. And just to really nurture that,
that which is you, you know, andlet that be fully expressed.

(48:14):
And if somebody taught tries to thwart it, say, excuse me, that
doesn't work for me. Something like that.
You don't need to be nasty, but but you do need.
To stand for yourself and his grew up and he's an old Oklahoma

(48:52):
farm boy and he always told us his his father always say can't
never done nothing. And you know, so I've taken that
with me for probably 30 years now and I actually had a guest
on that mentioned that I think it was her father or grandfather
used to say that. And I'm like your last name is
not sure. You know, you're not Scherter,
are you? And you know, it's just kind of

(49:14):
coincidentally that apparently there are more than one people
that have raised their kids and grandkids saying can't never
done nothing. And I think it's a great
attitude. My kids will fight it, though.
Don't tell, don't try and find. Well, no, there's there's,
there's definitely things you can't do, so many things you
shouldn't do, and there's maybe things that you ultimately won't

(49:34):
able. Yeah, I am serious about losing,
totally losing those two words and finding alternatives.
If you feel somebody shouldn't be doing something, offer them
an alternative or I like the expression.
Have you considered trying this?You know, which also keeps you
from making somebody wrong and setting limits and encourages

(49:56):
them to think again. It's funny, that's the name of a
book I read recently, by the way.
Wow. Think Again by Adam Grant,
Highly recommended. Has not so much to do with aging
well, but just how we look at things and how we take a point

(50:17):
of view. Like I, I was very much into
something called natural hygieneback in the late 70s, early 80s,
which is strictly raw fruits, raw vegetables and nuts were my
only source of protein. And I was adamant about it.
I was, I was a preacher. I was a judge, you know, And

(50:40):
what was it? He talks about four different
ways of approaching your point of view.
Again, one could be a preacher like you.
Really. You really should do that.
Or the judge, you don't do that.Well, you're absolutely wrong.
What was he? Oh, the other one was a
politician. Well, if you don't like it, you
know, they try to appeal to whoever they're dealing with.
And his recommendation is learn to be the scientist.

(51:03):
Oh, you're recommending that? Well, I've tended to think
differently, but I'll take it into consideration.
But so you, you approach things from the scientist point of
view, which may apply to how we think about aging and what we
can or should do Think again, you know, So it's a, it was a

(51:24):
wonderful, wonderful book. Well, hopefully we're taking
that science approach on this podcast.
But it's funny when you mention,you know, natural hygiene in the
70s, I immediately went to unshaven armpits and no
deodorant. As far as I know, I mean, that's
not where I took it. I was going to mention something

(51:45):
else. Oh, this business, this whole
idea of not shooting on somebody.
I don't know if you ever heard of David Roth.
Roth. Yes.
So he's a folk singer, right? So I was at a conference and
listened and wound up buying hisCD's.
And all his songs have a moral to them.

(52:07):
And one of the songs he sings, which is really clever, is don't
should on me. That's SHOULD don't should on me
and I won't should on you. And it's really clever because I
think I was shoulded on, you know, with the best of
intentions. You know, our parents try to
lead us in good directions. But I think I got shudded on.

(52:33):
And David Roth has not be confused with David Lee Roth.
He's a very different singer. OK, Yeah, you're.
Not familiar with David Lee Roth?
Maybe we're just a little too old for for, huh?
Wait a minute, what was? Because my husband is much
better at knowing singers I know.
Like a song comes on, I can singalong, but I don't often.

(52:54):
So you might be a just a maybe adecade ahead of Van Halen from
the 70s and 80s. So obviously not a huge Hard
Rock fan. That's that's OK.
Not, not at all. Quite.
I mean, I like a lot of music, but heavy metal and Hard Rock
kind of hurt my ears. I was a child of the 40s, you

(53:15):
know. Yeah, we didn't.
We didn't have ATV when I grew up, well, at least until I was
about 9, we didn't have ATV. So, you know, we listened to the
big bands. I could ballroom dance.
You don't see a lot of people doing that now.
That's true. Yeah, I miss it dancing on my
daddy's shoes. I never did that.
I don't know if it was well, who, all right, who was the

(53:38):
singer who actually had the song?
If I could dance with my father again.
I'm not sure. Not Van.
I know I'm thinking of a countrysong, but it's a different song.
But no, no. And of course it's van der van
der Ross. Oh my God, if I yelled for my
husband, he'd know. But it's a beautiful.

(53:59):
Song Vandross. Yes, it could be.
If it's not Luther, it's someone.
Yeah, I'm not sure if it was Luther, might have been, but the
whole song is about how when he was a boy, his father would put
him on his shoes and would dancewith him.
And that song came on one day when I was driving.

(54:19):
I had a long drive home from a job I had, and it was pouring
rain. My father had passed.
That song came on, and here I amdriving in the pouring rain, and
I'm sobbing because that was such a meaningful part of my
childhood, dancing with my dad, Dad, mom winning dance contest.

(54:40):
It's another story. Has nothing to do with the book.
Yeah, All right. Well, Speaking of the book, what
do you hope the readers and our listeners will take away from
aging safely, wisely, and well? I want them to know that I wrote
it. I tried to write it from the
point of view of speaking directly to an older adult and

(55:03):
to make it easy for them to stepinto becoming more aware of
mindfulness and how to do it, why to do it, What are the
benefits, you know, and how do you, how do you, again, how do
you do it? So looking at each component of
my ABC system alignment, let's look at it.

(55:25):
What exactly is it? Why?
Why is it important? Well, you look better, your body
functions better, and another story coming to mind and the and
then the breathing. So the book tries to very simply
introduce you to things, introduce the reader to things

(55:45):
that can enhance their everyday lives.
And it doesn't involve exercise per SE.
I make that point very clearly. It's like, I hate exercise.
I love movement, but I don't like exercise per SE.
And do we have time for me to tell another story?
Sure. OK, All right.
I don't know. So we do.

(56:06):
This is about when I when I OK, so when I talk about alignment,
I tell the story about another patient that I had who was
waiting in the waiting room of aprivate practice where I was
working. I changed jobs a lot.
I liked change. And she was slouched in the
waiting room chair. And I asked her, he was a very

(56:26):
senior lady. I asked her what her problem
was. And she says she tries to raise
her arm and she can't, she can'tget it up and she's in pain.
I said look you're, you're earlyfor your appointment, let me sit
you back in your chair. I set her back in the waiting
room chair. I got a towel roll, rolled it up
so I could give her a little support behind the small of her
back. I rested her arms on the armrest

(56:49):
of the chair and I placed a pillow on her lap so her arms
were really well supported. And then I said just do some
relaxation breathing and I'll come back to get you in about 15
minutes. Came back to get her and I said
tell me again what your problem was.
And the arm shoots straight up in the air.
So if just like that that hair standing on end, you know the

(57:13):
the goose pimples when I tell the story of the I can't lady.
Same thing happened when I tell this story, because if anything
brings home the importance, the value of watching your postural
alignment, that story does it. People with neck pain, all
right, who like you're there. A lot of us, a lot of people are

(57:36):
prone to forward head just because of how we work, because
of tension. So you get this kind of posture,
you try to turn your head when your head is forward, it's not
going to go all the way. You get that postural alignment.
And I do lengthen open shouldersdown and back.
It's I use, I use a lot of imagery in the book, by the way,
to try to help create better postural alignment.

(57:59):
But you get this better posturalalignment.
You go to turn your head. Now it goes further.
Mine won't go as far. I had a diving accident when I
was 18. That's another story on the
simple change in your posture, in your posture.
And that's what the book does. It just kind of tells you what I
think is an important element toyour fitness and well-being,

(58:22):
tell you why it's important, andthen give you some tools for
achieving the better posture, the improved cotton breathing
that you can now use as a tool. The centering.
There's a strategy in my centering section that helps you
be able to to function more independently.

(58:43):
You want to hear it? Sure.
You're still gonna have to read the book.
OK, so the strategy is, I call it start, act, stop.
You got an activity to do. And so often people are trying
to multitask. They're trying to do multi
things at a time or the brains one place, the body's somewhere
else. With this.
You got one activity, Jeff, you and I are having a conversation

(59:05):
and this time I'm not doing anything else.
I'm not thinking of anything else.
It's just us. So we started the conversation.
We're acting, we're having the conversation.
At some point, the conversation ends.
Start the next activity, whetherit's a simple thing like washing
a dish or writing a book or whatever else you have to do,

(59:29):
you start, you declare, you start the activity.
You do as much activity as you're going to do and at some
point you declare end of that activity, stop on to the next
one. So my day is a sequence of
start, act, stop activities. Need to take a drink?
Excuse me? That's OK.
So before we start, you know, towrap up this activity, I have

(59:52):
one more, a couple more questions for you.
But what are you doing personally to age?
Well, it's a question we ask of all our guests.
So ABC's are part of me. You know, like I said, it's
transforming the ways you move through life in the beginning.
You know, just like learning to sit up straight in the
beginning, you kind of need prompts.

(01:00:18):
To let go, I eat

(01:00:57):
well, thank God I do not have any do not have any of the
habits or compulsions that unfortunately, you know, can be
trouble for some people. So I eat healthfully Whole
Foods. My probably my worst vice is I
do like my coffee in the morningand walking.

(01:01:18):
I where I am lacking is in aerobics, quite honestly.
But otherwise, I do, I stretch, I do some toning work, but it's.
I don't know if that answered the question and and I'm driven
by. It sounds like you've answered
it. I think that's probably the
biggest things that we can do toage well is have that purpose.
Yeah, you know, and do the little things like watching your

(01:01:42):
posture. So if you sit, if you sit in a
recliner, do a little something so your back is supported.
Become conscious when you're, when you're sitting or standing
from, from anything, whether it's from your recliner, you'll
have to come forward in the recliner and lean forward to
stand up, getting up and down from the John.
My mom wanted a when she went and she chose to go to assisted

(01:02:04):
living and they see the toilet seat was low and she wanted me
to get her a raised toilet seat.I said, because we don't want
those leg muscles, you know, getting weak.
She had a, she had a, a handrailto hold on to and she totally
understood that. So as use your everyday
activities, maybe repeat them a few times.

(01:02:26):
So you're adding some strengthening to them.
I don't know what else to say. It's, you know, walking when
you're walking, do that lengthening that good posture.
Become conscious of whether you're taking little steps.
See if you can make your stride a little bit longer because
chances are if you are older that you're stride length has

(01:02:46):
started to shorten. If you can do it safely,
increase your stride length. Become conscious of using your
heel to your toe. Make sure your shoes.

(01:03:09):
Are comfortable and. If you just want to kind of
mention it and we'll put it in the description notes.

(01:03:31):
The simplest way to both see thebook here, an audio intro,
because I do an audio intro and order the book either from
Amazon or Barnes and Noble is gostraight to my website, which is
Thera THERA Dash Fitness. So it's like therapist and
fitness, thera-fitness.com and that'll give you the whole

(01:03:54):
website and there's a page therethat says the book and you can
go in there. So from that point, as I said,
you can hear the audio intro or just order it.
You can also e-mail me from thatwebsite and I highly recommend
that you do e-mail me from the website so then I can send you

(01:04:15):
the free two page tips on stressreduction.
I was going to bring that back up.
So you got that in there too. So yes, All right, well, this
has been a really, really great conversation.
It's always enjoyable to have guests on here that kind of have
experienced another way around the aging process and are
teaching people the lifestyle changes we need to do to age

(01:04:38):
well. And you've included a few extra
things in that aging well. But I thank you for your time
today. Is there anything we missed?
I don't think so. We went we went above and beyond
where I thought we would go and I really we usually do.
Yeah, that's that's great. And I will say, if you or any of

(01:05:00):
the listeners, any suggestions for who else might be interested
in hearing from me or learning about the book, please reach out
to Jeff to me. Jeff, if if you're any of your
students want to hear from me, you can tell I'm not shy about
talking. Yes, I'll share this with my

(01:05:21):
students as well because it's wehave quite a few that are going
into physical therapy. So, so and on that note, I'm
just going to tell you again, I will thank you for listening.
Hope you benefited from today's podcast and until next time,
keep aging well.

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The Mindset-Movement Connection: A Practical Guide to Aging Well | Ep. 271

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}The Mindset-Movement Connection: A Practical Guide to Aging Well | Ep. 271