Chair Chi – Page 4

Chair Chi Plus: 81-96 year olds

Last week I finished the Chair Chi Plus Pilot study at Craigcare Residential Aged Care centre here in Melbourne, Australia and here’s some interesting numbers from the program:

Residents Age Range: 81-96 years old
Pilot Study Duration: 6 weeks
Sessions: 30 minutes – 3 times a week
Total sessions: 16
Pulse taken: 3 times during each session – resting – mid way – end of session
Total participants: 6 high care residents
Attendance: 4 residents = 16/16, 1 resident = 10/16, 1 resident 9/16

These numbers plus other statistics and feedback will be part of the report I’m now putting together to determine if the following aims of the study were met:

increase in leg strength
improved balance
achieved cardiovascular workout
enhanced emotional and pyschological well being

If you are interested in the final report please contact me and I’ll email you a copy – there’s no charge for the report.

Bendigo Workshops: Chair Chi Training Level 1&2

By Chris Leave a Comment

If you are searching for an innovative, gentle exercise activity that engages, empowers and enthuses clients both in the aged care and disability sectors then our new Chair Chi Training Program may be what you are looking for.

The reason this program is innovative and very different from other Chair Chi and Tai Chi programs is because, as well as incorporating practical skills adapted from Tai Chi, it also draws on the principles and power of Appreciative Intelligence^®.

There are still places available for our Chair Chi Training workshops which are ideal for lifestyle staff, diversional therapists, physios, carers or anyone else who work in the aged care and disability sectors.

Options:
Level One Workshop – 13 April
Level Two workshop – 14 April (for those who have completed level 1)
Onsite – contact Chris for details

Chair Chi: ‘This is Rubbish’

By Chris Leave a Comment

As we started our Chair Chi session, she looked at me fiercely and muttered to the resident next to her ‘this is rubbish, I’m not doing it’.

I ignored her comment and continued on with the session using my peripheral vision to occasionally check on her demeanor.

For most of the session it didn’t change, she just glared at me and occassionaly fell asleep.

Then it happened.

In the last five minutes of the one hour session she woke up, looked at me and then started to move her arms in time with the movement I was demonstrating.

And to top it off she even smiled!

That was my favourite moment of the day and it made it all worthwhile. Earlier in the day I’d delivered two chair chi workshops at another aged care centre in the morning, had a short lunch and was tired.

Just goes to show you that chair chi ‘rubbish’ can turn into a treasure if you are patient and keep trying.

Footnote: The image here is a generic one and not that of the resident mentioned in this post.

Mildly Extreme Yang Chair Chi

By Chris Leave a Comment

In my previous post I mentioned an extreme form of interruption while running an aged care Chair Chi session recently.

Here are some mild extreme yang interruptions I’ve had since runnning Chair Chi sessions for low care and high care residents at aged care centres. Thankfully, the interruptions have been in the minority of the 350+ workshops I have delivered.

Opera music played over the PA system
A visitor with a large dog, walked through our circle of residents, unannounced, and not asking permission, sat down and just watched
A fire alarm sounding as we were practicing our calming abdominal breathing technique (an appropriate time to so)
People in the background conducting loud conversations during a session
Squeaky trolleys reverberating through corridors
A duck sound coming through a PA system as a prelude to an announcement
Staff preparing lunch while running a chair chi session in a dining room
Workmen drilling away in a corridor

It certainly has given me the opportunity to practice what I preach – stay focused and remain calm!

Extreme Yang Chair Chi

By Chris Leave a Comment

I run regular Chair Chi sessions for various aged care centres and the other day I had an ‘extreme chair chi’ experience.

The residents were seated in a circle as I walked into the room. I sat down and welcomed them to our Chair Chi session with the usual banter.

Then it started.

An industrial vacuum cleaner nearby roared to life and drowned out my voice, distracting the elderly residents, and making it very difficult to run an exercise and meditative session.

All I could do was pace myself as my voice couldn’t compete with that extreme noise. I tried to get the residents to focus on me as much as possible but after 45 minutes of noise (only a 10 minute silence inbetween) we decided to wrap up the scheduled 60 minute session. The co-ordinator came over and whispered in my year suggesting it was okay to finish early.

Some days one has to deal with extreme Yang interruptions or end up sucked into the void.