agedcare residents

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.

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!

Chair Chi: ‘This is Rubbish’

Mildly Extreme Yang Chair Chi