Aging Safely, Wisely, and Well: A Movement and Mindset Guide for Older Adults

It’s no secret that we are all aging. The question is: What can you do to age as functionally and independently as possible?

If you’re like many people, you dread becoming feeble, having a disabling fall, or needing the care of your children or others as you grow older. Perhaps you’ve already reached this point and wonder if there’s anything you can do about it. The answer is YES!

Even if you’ve stayed fit and active most or all of your life, worry has likely crept in at one time or another about how your body will function in your later years. No one wants to imagine having limited mobility, or having to give up work or hobbies you love, or not being able to have fun with your grandchildren. But these fears do NOT have to be your reality.

As a physical therapist for fifty years and the founder of Thera-Fitness®, author C. Vicki Gold, PT, MA—now eighty years young and living an active life—is an expert in helping people optimize their physical, and even mental, abilities with her ABC Mind-Body System. In Aging Safely, Wisely, and Well, she has culled her most valuable moves, body mechanics, and mindset tips—as well as contributions from other professionals on topics like maintaining balance and preventing falls, preventing osteoporosis, making nutrition a priority, and more—to help seniors transform the ways they move through life.

And if you don’t like exercise? You’ll be glad to know that this is NOT an exercise book! If you have any concerns about your levels of strength and fitness—even if you currently have physical limitations—this book will not only provide you with simple ways to start immediately improving them, but you won’t need to become a bodybuilder, go to a gym five days a week, or add strenuous exercise you hate into your daily routine to accomplish it. Instead, you will have actionable steps you can take to be functionally fit for the rest of your life. You read that right!

If you’re ready to take charge of your health and wellness, and to experience a positive impact on your mindset and mobility, Vicki will teach you small changes, using gentle movements and techniques to foster greater functioning, flexibility—and, perhaps most important—confidence.

Part One of Aging Safely, Wisely, and Well focuses on:

• Setting yourself up for success using the powerful roles of neuroplasticity, mindfulness, and visualization in your transformative practices
• Incorporating Vicki’s ABC Mind-Body System of Alignment, Breathing, and Centering as your foundation for all moves and activities
• Learning to move in S-l-o-w – M-o-t-i-o-n for mental and physical benefits
• Mastering The Basic Moves and the principles of body mechanics so that your activities are always performed safely
• Embracing the ABC(S) of Attitude, Beliefs, Commitment, and Self-Talk to foster positive personal growth
• Making the elements of Basic Physical Fitness the building blocks for your transformative routine

Then, in Part Two, Vicki provides bonus chapters, with contributions from experts in their fields, that address specific areas of concern:

• Maintaining the gift of balance and avoiding falls
• Keeping your feet healthy and happy
• Preventing and treating osteoporosis
• Successfully aging in place
• Making nutrition a priority in aging safely, wisely, and well

Whether you’re a senior in your 60s, 70s, 80s, or even 90s—or you’re a younger adult who wants to engage in preventive activities—Aging Safely, Wisely, and Well: A Movement and Mindset Guide for Older Adults is your go-to blueprint for simple physical and mental activities that will empower you to be the strong and vital individual you desire to be!

C. Vicki Gold, PT, MA, considers herself lucky to have been born in Phoenix, Arizona, where she learned to love the great outdoors. The birth of her profoundly developmentally delayed brother, Lonnie, brought Vicki's family back to their roots in New York, and the later loss of a dear childhood friend to polio primed her for an eventual career as a physical therapist. Her passion and dedication to her chosen field led her to specialize in neurophysiologic approaches to therapeutic exercise (PNF and NDT, specifically) as well as in geriatric rehabilitation and fitness.Vicki's background included her perpetual quest for challenging and enriching experiences, among them: director of the Physical Therapist Assistant Program at LaGuardia Community College in NYC; director of the physical therapy department at AACD in Sao Paulo, Brazil; marketing manager at Invacare; and faculty positions in several physical therapy programs in New York and California.In addition to her traditional medical background, Vicki has had extensive experiences related to mind-body fitness and well-being: yoga, Pilates, tai chi, Alexander and Feldenkrais Techniques, Landmark Worldwide, and work with cognitive behavioral therapists among them. Combined with her eighty years of life experience, Vicki hopes the material in this book will give the reader the inspiration, education, and empowerment to live their lives "safely, wisely, and well."Reach out to Vicki with questions or comments at vicki@thera-fitness.com