Agewell FAll 2017

Prevention
Is the New
Sexy
Gretchen Swanson
Confidence, skill and style have always
been sexy. Picture the sultry walk of Rita
Hayward or the piercing look of self-assured
Sean Connery. You don’t have to
be a movie star to feel great about yourself
and show it off to the world.
Last week at Menorah House, where
I teach Tai Chi, I encountered their
monthly speaker’s series entitled “Safe
Senior Sex.” Sex and living occur at
many ages. Being prepared—which was
the speaker’s pitch—was key. Including
easy to open condoms.
Now I’ve got your attention because
this month and this issue is about prevention.
Fall Prevention.
Which I hear is “not sexy,” but au contraire.
Once you do 50 hours of Tai Chi
you do walk differently; you hold your
head comfortably and have a certain
swing towards your destination. And if
you’ve taken any of the other classes
such as Stepping On or Matter of Balance
you are outfitted with all the info
and tactics you need. That means you
are prepared.
Not everyone prepares the same way.
In fact, many let serendipity and
a ‘what will be will be’ attitude rule
the day. And back to sex, there are
a whole lot of serendipitous offspring
out there.
Okay so you haven’t been thinking
about aging well or aging at all except
to ignore it. Here are some things to indicate
it’s time to reconsider.
• Difficulty doing something familiar, like
hiking down a mountain. You used to do
it without thinking. Maybe you even ran
down the trail. But now you find that your
upper body is going faster than your lower
body and you are not in control.
• Your friends and family are encouraging
you to take care of yourself. That’s
a bummer.
AgeWell Long Beach | Fall 2017 3