Just Get Off the Couch Damn It!

Wow, if I that title came off a little harsh sorry about that.  But I believe I got my point across.  The reason for my unintended harshness is also the reason I haven't blogged in a while.

Jennie, my 88 year old mom fell mid September and it's been a roller coaster of ER visits, 911 calls hospitals stays, morphine hallucinations and all around concern and craziness. I love my mom very much and have been blessed to have her as my mom, but she is a poster child for how not to age.  I know a lot of it has to do with her generation as she was a child of the Great Depression and finding enough food to eat or coal to heat their homes was a priority in their lives.  She and my dad never went past the 8th grade but they worked hard and provided a wonderful safe life for my siblings and myself. 

As a child she went from selling apples on a street corner with her dad to having a home with my dad filled with warmth, love and lots of food.  She didn't ever want us to go through what she went though and we didn't. 

That generation was so busy taking care and making the lives of their loved ones better, they somehow lost sight of their own health and well being.  They didn't work on farms anymore or walk or bicycle everywhere as their ancestors did. 

My mom just came out of surgery for her back, her second in the past three weeks.  The surgeon said everything went fine, hopefully this one will help with the intense pain that she has been in for the last two months caused by arthritis, spinal stenosis, pinched nerves and crumbling vertebraes.  Please don't see this as picking on my mom, it's meant as a wake up call for the rest of us.  I don't want anyone to have to experience the pain and discomfort that she has been through.

I know that some aspects of aging are inevitable, but there are also a good portion of getting old that's not.  The first thing to do is just get off the couch, damn it.

The yoga classes that I have taught recently have included lots of twists and turns, a great way to keep our backs and spine healthy and that's one example of the health benefits of yoga.  Those who know me or have read my blog in the past know I am advocate any kind of physical exercise, just as long as you get off the couch damn it!

AARP (American Association of Retired Persons) shared statistics of how over the next few decades there will be less and less caregivers for every aging baby boomer.  Scary. Who is going to take care of us if we don't start to take care of ourselves?

Time to get off the couch, move, bend twist and most of all.....just breath.