Dancing for Longevity

I am in my late forties, yet feel as strong, flexible, and youthful as ever. I tend to walk the talk regarding living healthfully, for the most part. Early in my life, I discovered various “fountains of youth,” the things I believe keep me young.

My favorite of these is dancing.

Dancing on Orlando’s Funk scene to Big Shirley in 1996 at Sapphire Supper Club

Now, dancing is my favorite thing in the world, so it boosts my well-being simply because of the joy of doing what I love most, of course.

But there are real benefits available to anyone. When dancing, we move our bodies, swing our joints, flex our limbs, a lot, and perhaps in many directions. So we get the heart rate up, the breathing deepens, the blood circulation is moving more, the lymphatic system gets flushed by muscle movement, so immunity is boosted, our mood lifts from exercise as well as enjoyment, and we get to express ourselves creatively, which I believe is an important part of both mental and physical health.

There’s probably many more benefits, but let’s stop talking about it and just dance!

Massage in the Time of the Pandemic

Nope.  My intuition says no.  Don’t do it.  We cannot social distance during a massage.  I know; you miss it.  Me, too!  Believe me.

I miss doing that thing I love, that I am really good at, that fulfills me and makes a difference in people’s lives.

The good news is I also am a yoga teacher, and I am very good at teaching and find it fulfilling.  I am expanding my yoga offerings via the internet.  I’m still working out the details about how I will teach and on what platform and how people can donate or pay for class, etc.

In the meantime, let me encourage you to check out a few things:

On Instagram, I recently started an account @yoga.with.bridget where I periodically teach a meditation and I post insights and peaceful or inspiring pictures.  I will most likely use it to teach some full length classes in the future as well.

The other thing to look for is on YouTube, the Tallahassee Senior Center offers a recorded video of my  chair yoga class for senior citizens.  You can look it up as Seated Yoga With Bridget (Entry Level Class).  It’s great, gentle exercise for the less mobile among us.  I’ve taught similar curriculum to office workers, too.  It’s about 40 minutes of exercises you can do in or with a chair.

Another option for you can be private lessons via zoom.   You could learn chair yoga, Kundalini yoga, meditation, breathing, and more.  Call me at 850-284-7136 if you’d like to explore that option.