A seated Tai Chi practice can have both physical and emotional health benefits.
Interview with Ralph Somack, PhD — Tai Chi Instructor
Tai Chi instructor, Ralph Somack, has taught tai chi to seniors, people with dementia, stroke survivors, people using wheelchairs and this week begins to teach a seated tai class to people who are blind or visually impaired. Somack, an octogenarian, continues to take on new challenges of modifying tai practices such as qigong, bagua, and Xing Yi for those who want to alleviate stress. In addition, Somack has seen his students benefit from increased self-esteem, ambidexterity, an Increased awareness of themselves as well as others, and a sense of where they are in time and space. To register for Somack’s online classes sponsored by BORP, visit this webpage for the Tuesday 10 am Pacific Seated Tai Chi class or here for the new Tai Chi class for Blind and Visually Impaired Participants on Wednesdaya at 10:30 am Pacific. You can watch videos of Somack’s classes. Here is an earlier Glass Half Full podcast episode about qigong and a short video about qigong.
An episode to catch everyone up on what’s been going on in the life of someone in their early 60s with a progressive health condition. Waning energy prohibits many of us from reaching all of the goals we’d like to achieve. It takes time to acclimate to a new normal and reassess which goals are most important and how best to achieve them dealing with new limitations. Foremost for someone with myotonic dystrophy, like myself, is getting enough sleep so I have energy to maintain a regular movement practice even with shifting mobility.
The annual May Movement Challenge I’ve produced for the last three years will change. To stay current, join the Movement Challenge Facebook group. If you live near the north coast of California, or plan to visit, check out a new local program – Leslie’s Accessible Walks.
I don’t know who coined the term movement is medicine, but it resonates for me. My early experiences with exercise were not joyful; grade school physical education was bad medicine. But once I started dancing with friends in high school – before carding and ID checks were mandatory – I experienced movement in a positive way. Shortly after college I started a yoga practice which was medicine for my body and mind.
In this podcast episode I tell my story of what led up to the 2021 launch of the May Movement Challenge — a month of free online movement classes that are meant to be accessible and adaptive for anyone and everyone.
You’ll also hear from Natalie Graniela – one of the several movement instructors participating in the annual May Movement Challenge. Natalie talks about her gyrokinesis movement practice and working with seniors as well as people with different bodies and abilities.
If you don’t know my story, the short version is that I discovered, I have a rare genetic condition called myotonic dystrophy when I was 36 years old. Discovered because my family – on my mother’s side – didn’t realize that the reason several of the 9 offspring of Albert and Victoria Tarallo died from sudden heart failure in their 50s was due to a condition originally called Steinert’s disease – after some German scientist who identified the genetics – and at some point was inaccurately re-named myotonic dystrophy because of the what most of us consider to be one of the minor symptoms of a multi-systemic disorder. The more major symptoms are debilitating weakness and fatigue which eventually progresses to respiratory problems, heart electrical problems, GI problems, and the use of mobility devices.
Right now, there is no treatment for the overall condition but there’s the use of a plethora of drugs to treat some of the symptoms. I’ve chosen to limit my pharmaceutical intake and have for much of the last 25 years relied on lifestyle choices – things that are within my control – to mitigate my symptoms. Those lifestyle choices include my diet, my exercise, and my attitude.
Just for the record, I use a nebulizer daily with albuterol to help my respiratory system. But that’s it for western modalities of medicine.
My early experiences with EXERCISE, were not joyful. Physical education in elementary school was torture. I grew up in South Florida where I never quite acclimated to the subtropical climate. The PE Teacher – Mr. Stockweather – may have been a Marine although he did drive a mustard-colored VW van so maybe he had a little hippy dippy in him. Everything seemed very competitive, and I was often one of the last kids chosen to be on a team. I was chubby until 4th grade when I went on a self-imposed diet of cottage cheese and yogurt and gave up my love for Chips Ahoy.
We had Mr. Stockweather from 1st to 6th grade. There were lots of running around a track field, box ball, volleyball, climbing ropes, high jump, long jump, and other modified Olympics events but I don’t think the potato sack racing originated in ancient Greece. The only PE class I enjoyed was the square dancing…and even Mr. Stockweather seemed to enjoy it with his straw hat making the calls…dotsey doe and swing that girl around…
PE classes didn’t improve in middle school with the horrific gym clothes requirement of a white polyester one-piece jumper and having to undress in a crowded locker room. I grew hip to the trick of saying I was having a bad period that lasted for days just to avoid the misery of being out in the hot sun playing softball. None of it was joyful.
Coming out as gay in high school was hard but the silver lining was getting into discos in the 70s and dancing with friends. Oh my God…it was fun. No one cared how you danced, and it was so good to move to fun music and feel joy. I continued a steady diet of dancing with friends in college and shortly after I graduated, I was introduced to yoga.
I was maybe 23 years old and took a yoga class at night at a local school. I wasn’t immediately captured but over the years I kept returning to different yoga classes and eventually yoga workshops and conferences. Maybe 15 or so years ago I was in a longitudinal research study at the U of Rochester Neurology department and the Physical Therapist was impressed that my range of movement was remaining steady during my visits over the four years. it was due to my yoga practice. I started telling…anyone who would listen…that yoga was my main treatment modality. Up until COVID, yoga and walking were my main forms of movement. I tried other types of movement too. I worked with a Pilates trainer for a few years, and I remember a tai chi class I tried for a few months but found the arm movement and balance a bit too challenging to derive much enjoyment.
Gradually my yoga practice had changed. It was challenging to go from a standing pose to reclining on the mat. One teacher made a practice of bringing a chair into the studio for me to use. I wasn’t necessarily embarrassed, but I was starting to realize that even gentle yoga classes were no longer appropriate for me.
In 2017 I attended my first Accessible Yoga conference and then another one the following year. And then in early 2019, much to my surprise, I took the Accessible Yoga Teacher Training and was delighted to learn all types of modifications for most of the yoga poses I had been able to do earlier in my life. several of the class participants also had some type of health condition that precluded them from regular yoga classes.
At the time COVID hit I was attending 2 or 3 in-person movement classes each week. I loved these for the physical and emotional benefits as well as for the sense of community they provided for me. Not having access to them was devastating to me because I knew my physical and emotional homeostasis depended on these movement practices.
I can’t recall which came first but the organization BORP – Bay Area Outreach for Recreational Programs – jumped to the internet with classes like Rumba with Tinaor Strength Training with Raye Kahn. Through other class participants I was introduced to Dance for all bodies and the Wheelchair Dancers Organization – all three organizations providing accessible and adaptive online movement classes taught by differently-abled instructors. It was incredible and made COVID bearable.
One of my annual traditions had been attending the Abilities Expo in Northern California – which is a national event showcasing vendors and resources of interest to the disability community. I saw that they were going virtual, so I pitched the idea of a presentation about my exercise journey. You can view that presentation. The Expo organizers told me the recorded presentation was well-received and viewed by many. From that experience was the genesis for the May Movement Challenge in 2021.
What is the May Movement Challenge, you ask? It’s a month of free online movement classes that are meant to be accessible and adaptive for anyone and everyone. Many of the instructors are familiar with teaching students with varying levels of abilities while some are new to our community.
I have a few goals with this project – (1) introduce fun movement practices to people who might not otherwise know about adaptive exercise programs; (2) help instructors who are teaching online find a new audience; and (3) expose movement instructors to ways of providing modifications to their movement instructions so that others may benefit as well.
I’ve been impressed with what organizations like BORP, WDO, and Dance for all bodies has done. I know there are other organizations like them but are they online, are they marketing to the larger community outside of their city, region, or country? With Zoom you can adjust the language in the scrolling captions and this feature has really improved through COVID. Although instructors will speak English – since it’s the only language I speak – their words can be simultaneously translated on the screen for any user. That is cool!
I forgot to mention…I intentionally use the word MOVEMENT rather than exercise. Maybe it’s semantics…but…I had a negative experience with exercise in my youth. Movement encompasses more than exercise. Working in your garden, using the vacuum in your home, folding the laundry…these are all types of movement…and they’re all good for you.
Early on in COVID I was introduced to a movement practice called Gyrokinesis. In an email from the Alameda Senior Center there was an announcement for a free gyrokinesis class. I registered, loved the class, and was surprised to find out the instructor, Natalie Graniela, lives in New York City. Who knew how long COVID would last and how the whole idea of online movement classes would continue? I’m grateful that the major scourge has dissipated but thrilled that online movement classes are here to stay. And I continue taking weekly gyrokinesis classes with Natalie.
Natalie participated in the first two May Movement Challenges and I recently met her in person for the second time. Natalie was a professional dancer with the Erich Hawkins Dance Company and is a trainer in gyrokinesis and gyrotonics. She also has years of experience teaching balance, postural therapy, and exercise workshops for the Arthritis Foundation, NYC dept for the Aging, and a variety of senior centers. Here is our conversation:
LISTEN TO THE PODCAST
Are you ready to participate in this year’s May Movement Challenge? You can register as a participant, or fill out a form to be an instructor, at the website.
As a participant you’re registering to attend Saturday sessions. When the weekly class schedule is ready, you’ll receive it through email. Both the Saturday sessions and weekly classes are free; just register with your name and email address.
Movement classes will cover a wide range employing all types of exercise – flexibility, balance, strength, and endurance, or cardiovascular. Each class is 45-minutes long.
Saturday sessions are one hour and include an interactive presentation by a movement instructor on a specific topic, sharing of someone’s personal journey with movement and how it’s helped them physically or emotionally or both. And there will be a random drawing for a prize. In the past prizes have included tickets to online comedy shows, gift certificate with a movement trainer, and a food package from Daily Harvest. You must be present to win.
I hope you’ll spread the word about the May Movement Challenge, join our Facebook group, and move with us through the month of May.
Over the past month there’s been some chatting — with a Professional Patient and a few virtual friends sharing how they cope with the holidays.
I noticed a Facebook posting from a high school classmate identifying himself as a professional patient so naturally I was intrigued. In this video I ask David Weiss all about his 11 years of experience as a professional patient which includes giving feedback to first- and second-year medical school students, participating in tests doctors must take before the Florida state boards, and teaching doctors how to give a male examination using his own penis and prostate.
If you missed the December podcast, you’re welcome to listen or watch it on YouTube; the participants did dress quite festively. Joining me are Andrea Klein with collagen 6 congenital muscular dystrophy, Janice Laurence with Charcot Marie Tooth neuromuscular disease, and Roma Leffmann who advocates for people with acquired disabilities as a stroke survivor. Together we discuss everything from dysphagia, incontinence , single life, ableism, and gifting.
Liz Ann Kurdrna, Pilates instructor, feels like her emotional recovery from a rock climbing injury is ongoing yet “knowing that I have to show up for someone else…by teaching…it helps. It helps you uncover the stronger part of yourself.”
In this podcast episode, Liz Ann talks about her lifelong love of rock climbing as well as her participation in other outdoor activities such as swimming, snow skiing, and cycling. In Montana, where she’s lived for the past 20+ years, she teaches online and in-person Pilates. Liz Ann has competed in local Triathlon events with the Challenged Athletes Foundation.
In this video Liz Ann demonstrates a few Pilates Breathwork exercises.
To learn more about Liz Ann’s online classes, check her website. You can register for her Seated Pilates class sponsored by BORP.
Maybe you were part of last year’s inaugural May Movement Challenge? Here’s a video showing the highlights from a month-long array of free, accessible online movement classes.
This year we have several of the same movement instructors as well as new instructors — all offering their time and talents to help you get excited about a movement practice. Check out this webpage for class schedules and registration information.
New this year are Nature Sundays. In the Movement ChallengeFacebook Group you’ll be introduced to movement practice out in nature, such as Forest Therapy. If you’re on Facebook, just join the group for further details.
Falls don’t always happen when you’re standing. Although balance and fall prevention classes help increase your odds of preventing a near fall, some falls are just unusual accidents. Like sitting in a chair where the seat gives way and your derriere hits the ground. That’s one unusual fall.
Fortunately, movement and flexibility classes improve your chances of diminishing the impact of the fall.
For more information on Balance and Fall Prevention, listen to this podcast episode with UCSF Physical Therapy Professor, Erica Pitsch.
The Mat Pilates class offered by BORP is described as: Designed by and for people with spinal cord injuries but open and beneficial to all, the Adaptive Pilates Mat Class is a unique class essential for those that sit in a chair all day and are able to get up and down off of the floor or have access to a raised mat. Liz Ann will lead the class through the basic principles of Pilates, helping you to get stronger, more flexible and even to have improved coordination. Pilates also uses specific sequential breathing methods combined with intense concentration on a specific body part to create an effective exercise routine.
To find out about other adaptive/accessible online movement classes, join the Facebook group: Movement Challenge.
Christina Leffmann, or Roma as she prefers to be called, is passionate about indoor and outdoor rock climbing as well as the Acquired Disability Peer Support Group she started. In June Roma traveled to Salt Lake City to participate in Paraclimbing National Championships (you can see Roma climbing at 12:30 in the video).
In her early 20s Roma experienced a series of strokes and identifies as having an acquired disability which is different than being born with a disability or aging into a disability. Currently she works for the Center for Independent Living and has an active life with a daily stretch routine, swimming, and weekly cycling. And rock climbing, of course.
It’s the May Movement Challenge! This podcast episode explains all you need to know about the #MayMovementChallenge2021 featuring Stanford University’s Research Physical Therapist, Tina Duong.
Tina’s worked with both children and adults with spinal cord injury, stroke rehab, and neuromuscular disease. She talks about stretching, diaphragmatic breathing, and how to take care of yourself when starting a movement practice. Learn about the FITT Principle (Frequency, Intensity, Type, and Time) as it applies to movement and exercise.
Once you’ve listened to this episode, don’t waste any time in registering for any of the five information sessions on Saturdays during the month of May. Take a look at the Events Calendar for May with over 75 classes — all free, online, and most with accessible accommodations.
Each Saturday in May will feature instructors leading a stretch, discussing a different aspect of movement as well as motivating us to select attainable movement goals.
If Emma Goldman were alive and experimenting with the virtual life, she may have said something like this. Why not dance through the pandemic? It’s good physical exercise, ignites oxytocin, and can bond you with a community.
Yagmur Halezeroglu and Tess Hanson from Dance for All Bodies (above) and Ania Flatau from Wheelchair Dancers Organization
Several accessible dance organizations have brought their talents online and thus expanded their reach nationally and internationally. One organization, Dance for All Bodies, co-founded by two recent UC-Berkeley grads — Yagmur Halezeroglu and Tess Hanson — feature a variety of professional dance instructors teaching accessible dance in a variety of styles from salsa to urban jazz and even chair tap.
Another group, Wheelchair Dancers Organization, pairs wheelers with walkers, and offers online classes in Island Fusion, Hip Hop, Latin Jazz, and Bollywood. One of their wheeler instructors, Ania Flatau, also offers dance classes on YouTube Live through her Facebook group, Cat Daddy’s n Krew Virtual Fitness with Ania.
Loose Transcription
Hello…in this podcast episode I’m sharing more of my pandemic experience with you. A couple of months ago I interviewed two people affiliated with BORP – Bay Area Outreach for Recreational Programs. BORP is an amazing organization that has really stepped it up during this bleak 2020 by providing online classes.
But BORP is not the only group helping us cope physically and emotionally. Today you’ll learn about two other nonprofit organizations — Dance for all Bodies and the Wheelchair Dancers Organization.
My first guests are Yagmur Halezeroglu and Tess Hanson. They are the co-founders and directors of Dance for All Bodies which you’ll hear them speak about as the acronym – D FAB.
I found out about this online dance program through dance friends I met at Rumba with Tina which I attend on Saturday mornings. D FAB is relatively new and features a variety of professional dance instructors teaching accessible dance in a variety of styles – salsa, Flamenco, Brazilian, Hip Hop, Contemporary Ballet, Urban Jazz, Diaspora, and Chair Tap.
It’s fun, it’s educational, and it’s a good work out.
I asked Yagmur and Tess how they met.
Tess
“…we went to UC Berkeley” – applied for same job – Cal Performances. Ushers, assistant managers. Met fall semester. Yagmur had a lime green backpack. Realized we both loved dance.
Yagmur
DfAB started a one-time dance class I organized at hospital. Amputee community. Amputee support groups. There is a gap the way we view dance. Taking action and making change support what you believe in. Tess and I put this idea together. Big Ideas competition. How can we scale this class? Worked with AXIS dance company in Oakland. I ask about her work with the blind. Tess talks about the beginning. One of her brothers is autistic; James is a part of my life.
Now that both Yagmur and Tess have graduated, I was curious to know how they envision the future of D FAB.
Yagmur
We’ll just take It wherever it goes. Tess naively thought we’d need a year to get it sorted out. So many ups and downs. It feels like a good, worthy work in progress. They met at BORP at Ed Roberts. Once the pandemic hit, our lives just changed. Let’s try online…how did you find dance instructors? Judith Smith helped find instructors. Stephanie, Janpi – through word of mouth. Dancers with disabilities. We want to connect these dancers with experience choreographing.
Yagmur
Looking for partners and sponsorships. Challenges we’re facing. Initial award. Crowdfunding campaign in late March. We don’t have a source of revenue beyond donations. We want to compensate the team. Bring our classes to new audiences. Spread beyond our little bubble. Partner with a hospital. adaptive dance in schools.
I asked Yagmur and Tess how they feel about the past year and all of their accomplishments.
Tess
Tess talks about how people feel after the class; we get lovely messages that provide the fire to keep going. Can I do this? I’m really proud of the partnership with Wheels of the world – an accessible travel organization. We had a lot of classes in rapid succession.
As you can tell these young women are quite inspiring. I had just assumed they were both dance majors but they weren’t. Yagmur studied cognitive science and hopes to pursue medical school and Tess studied environmental health and policy and is currently doing field work for a water conservation group.
You can learn more about their organization by checking the links on the Glass Half Full website.
My next guest is Ania Flatau. I met Ania earlier this year because she was one of the instructors in an Island Fusion dance class I took offered through the Wheelchair Dancers Organization – or WDO. WDO was founded in 2008 in San Diego, California by Beverly Weurding – a woman who has Limb Girdle Muscular Dystrophy. Ania’s been attending WDO classes for the last four years.
I first asked Ania about the organization.
Ania
The classes are for disabilities…we call them rollers and walkers as partners. All the classes are for all abilities, all levels. Teachers who roll, teachers who walk.
Ania
Tell me about your love of dance; what were you drawn to? My parents are from Poland. When I was in high school. I was an athlete. I thought I was a bad ass. I felt so uncomfortable; he was pulling my arm. At the end I was so uncomfortable that I wanted to figure out how to do it right. One summer I took a trip to Poland and my parents found a dance camp for wheelchair ballroom. These dancers…dancing for six hours/day; they were training for the world championship. They kicked my butt. I remember feeling challenged…that’s where my love for wheelchair ballroom started. I started to feel more and more comfortable with my body. I felt a oneness that I had never felt before. I was…a senior in high school. I got into those fields because of the wheelchair dance.
Ania
Ever since that dance camp I’ve been doing something dance related. It makes me feel like I am centered in a world. Being a person with a disability…disconnected from your body. I feel present and centered.
Ania
I teach a dance fitness program world of dance u jam. We partnered with world of dance – a massive network. The songs are urban, like hip hop. When covid hit I…how am I going to get my fitness on? I was toying with the idea of teaching virtually. I created a Facebook group. the name is cat daddy’s and krew virtual fitness with Ania. A hip hop dance move called a cat daddy looks like you’re rolling a wheelchair. I was trying to find a creative way to honor the culture where hip hop came from and have an ode to the dance…cat daddies are wheelchair users and krew is everyone else.
So there you go…I learned something about hip hop. You can find out more about Ania’s Cat Daddy and Krew on Facebook; I’ve got a link to her group in the podcast notes and her YouTube Live classes are free. Ania told me she likes the accessibility features like the captioning that are available on YouTube. If you have any questions about modifications for the dance moves, she’s more than welcome to meet with you – virtually – to suggest options.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this episode but more important, I hope you check out the dance classes available at Dance for All Bodies, Wheelchair Dancer’s Organization, and Ania’s World of Dance U Jam.
