“I have to tell you, I’m very skeptical of this slow motion workout stuff.”
Those were the first words I heard from one of my long time clients, Elaine Mayland. Elaine retired to New England at age 80. Her incredible wit and humor will be greatly missed in the studio.
Shortly before leaving, Elaine related a very powerful story to me about what this “slow motion stuff” had done for her in her life. For many years Elaine was second in command of a body work and movement technique called the Rosen Method, and was second only to Marian Rosen, the founder. So Elaine traveled, lectured and taught worldwide right up to her retirement.
Earlier this year during her return from a trip to the Netherlands, she had to pass through the Hamburg Airport. As I understand it, the Hamburg Airport is enormous, with distances between terminals sometimes being miles. During her visit to the airport, Elaine said she was routed from terminal to terminal to terminal, taking up more than three hours and causing her to walk many miles. She told me it was at least five. Finally things got sorted out and Elaine caught another flight home.
So, what’s the big deal? Five miles in an airport doesn’t sound like that big of a deal, and for many it’s not, but if you have advanced, severe osteoarthritis in both knees, it can be frightening. When Elaine first came to Alive! some years ago, she said we were her last hope to keep from having surgery on both knees, a prospect that was absolutely a last resort for her. She occasionally had to use a walker, and when she traveled she had to hire a companion to help her get up stairs with luggage and to be there in case she fell. Now, the amazing part of this story is that one year before the Hamburg incident Elaine had to travel through the same airport, and at that time she had to be wheeled through the airport in a wheelchair, much to her embarrassment. Her great realization this year was that she had not only walked miles and miles through the airport, but that she had not even thought of hiring a companion to travel with her. She felt so confident in her abilities that it didn’t even dawn on her to hire anyone to assist her while traveling.
To me, this is the definition of independence. This is freedom. It’s the ability to live life at a higher level. Elaine has not only stopped a part of her biological clock, but reversed it, if only a little bit. And this little bit was enough to make a very big difference in the quality of her life!
With a little hard work, and I mean a “little,” we can all improve our quality of life and thereby the quality of those we interact with.
I hear it over and over from the people I work with that it’s the “little things” that change for them from doing SafeStrength® training. They walk a little further, they take a little less medicine, they get up off the floor a little easier, they put their own luggage in the overhead storage, and they hold their children and grandchildren (and Great Grand Children – Congratulations Marjorie!) more and longer.
Subtly, life just gets better.
I want to thank you all for reading this little story, and for those of you who work so hard in the studio, BRAVO! You have our deepest respect and gratitude –you’ve survived, Alive!
Author: James P. Bell
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