Day 51 of 365 - Security and Freedom
This morning at my NIA class (dance fitness) the theme was Roots and Wings. The class was taught impeccably by a guest teacher from Michigan who is a frequent visitor to our local NIA community. (Thank you Teresa!)
When we are learning a new routine in this class, it is often taught to get comfortable with the base moves, what we are doing with our feet, before adding other movement. If you do that, you can always go back to the base moves if you get lost in the choreography. Once you are comfortable in the base, you have more freedom to expand or enhance your movements through your body, arms and hands.
The focus of today's class went beyond those basics though. All of the amazing songs that were included related to the concepts of security and freedom. Those two words mean different things to us at different points in our lives.
It often comes to mind at first to think of parents giving their children roots and wings in the way they raise them to be ready to go out into the world on their own, knowing that they always have the secure base of their family home to rely upon.
But, we get older, parents pass away and that is gone. We may be parents ourselves who have been that secure base for our own children.
And, today this also prompted me to think about what it means for those of us in our senior years to have those roots and wings, that sense of both security and freedom. Somehow it seems a bit more precarious at this stage of life.
We may or may not have enough financial security to live in some comfort in our senior years. We may or may not maintain a healthy state that permits us the freedom to enjoy living in the way we want to live, doing what we love to do.
So many people put off their plans until retirement, believing that they will have that security and freedom to pursue their long held dreams. It's wonderful if that actually happens. But, we just never know what life will bring, do we?
Part of the reason I wanted to give up our family home and move to an apartment was to give us the security of knowing we have a safe place to live that we are not responsible for maintaining. It has given us the security of knowing that our monthly expenses are fairly fixed. With less space to look after, it has also freed up energy for me to pursue other things.
My husband is not retired yet, but that will happen before too long, and we will re-evaluate our situation again.
As I mentioned before, in stating the purpose of my blog, my hope is that my search for health and vitality, and the practices that arise from that, will keep me healthy and active in my senior years. I want to be one of those energetic seniors who can fully enjoy life. And, I want to have both the security and freedom to be able to do it. May it be so!
When we are learning a new routine in this class, it is often taught to get comfortable with the base moves, what we are doing with our feet, before adding other movement. If you do that, you can always go back to the base moves if you get lost in the choreography. Once you are comfortable in the base, you have more freedom to expand or enhance your movements through your body, arms and hands.
The focus of today's class went beyond those basics though. All of the amazing songs that were included related to the concepts of security and freedom. Those two words mean different things to us at different points in our lives.
It often comes to mind at first to think of parents giving their children roots and wings in the way they raise them to be ready to go out into the world on their own, knowing that they always have the secure base of their family home to rely upon.
But, we get older, parents pass away and that is gone. We may be parents ourselves who have been that secure base for our own children.
And, today this also prompted me to think about what it means for those of us in our senior years to have those roots and wings, that sense of both security and freedom. Somehow it seems a bit more precarious at this stage of life.
We may or may not have enough financial security to live in some comfort in our senior years. We may or may not maintain a healthy state that permits us the freedom to enjoy living in the way we want to live, doing what we love to do.
So many people put off their plans until retirement, believing that they will have that security and freedom to pursue their long held dreams. It's wonderful if that actually happens. But, we just never know what life will bring, do we?
Part of the reason I wanted to give up our family home and move to an apartment was to give us the security of knowing we have a safe place to live that we are not responsible for maintaining. It has given us the security of knowing that our monthly expenses are fairly fixed. With less space to look after, it has also freed up energy for me to pursue other things.
My husband is not retired yet, but that will happen before too long, and we will re-evaluate our situation again.
As I mentioned before, in stating the purpose of my blog, my hope is that my search for health and vitality, and the practices that arise from that, will keep me healthy and active in my senior years. I want to be one of those energetic seniors who can fully enjoy life. And, I want to have both the security and freedom to be able to do it. May it be so!
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