She joined our Chair Chi exercise session circle after it started and said, ‘I’ll just watch’, sat down, crossed her feet, folded her arms and just stared at me.
All I said was, ‘you are welcome to join in’ and continued on teaching the other aged care residents.
I cracked a joke, which I sometimes do, and she cracked a smile with the other residents. After she smiled she started to make a small effort to participate which was encouraging.
As we continued with our exercises I cracked another joke and she smiled again. And she started to become more involved in the session.
Apart for those two very brief moments where she smiled her expression remained the same but that didn’t matter. I had got two smiles from her and she eventually got involved in the Chair Chi session.
And afterwards, I thought, ‘Yes!’
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