Chair Chi: ‘This is Rubbish’

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.