Agewell 2021 Fall_Winter-FINAL

SPOTLIGHT ELANA
FELDMAN
her heal. Despite her efforts, she
continued to suffer from residual
pain and discomfort. Feldman
took this as a sign to throw herself
into her true calling-- helping
others. She began studying a variety
of healing tools and practices
such as yoga in an attempt to
help her own healing.
From teaching preschool to exploring
the world of behavioral
therapy, Elana Feldman has done
it all. In everything she does, giving
back to her community has
been her primary motivation.
Feldman has always felt a strong
moral responsibility to help others,
instilled in her by her relationship
with her mother and grandmothers.
As an old soul herself,
Feldman has always felt a connection
with elders in her community.
Reciprocating the love that she
received growing up is important
to her. She now spends her time
helping as many as she can with
her exercise class for AgeWell TV.
Elana Feldman
Feldman credits her connection
with the senior community to the
close-knit relationship she shares
with her mother and maternal
grandmother. Before her passing,
Feldman’s paternal grandmother
was also a big part of her life and
they would speak every day. She
cherishes the relationship she
has with her grandmothers, and
she believes those experiences
greatly influenced her to explore
teaching seniors.
After being involved in major
car accidents that left her with
a cervical neck sprain, Feldman
started physical therapy to help
“I have really bad range of motion
in my arm and shoulder. It
gave me the inspiration to give
back to people”, explained Feldman.
“I wanted to teach and
give back to people because
there was always the assumption
that because I was young,
I could handle it. It helped me
realize that there aren’t any
classes out there that cater to
people who may have the same
range of motion as I do.” Feldman
recognized that the trouble
she was having finding resources
for differently abled people
is something that many people
had been struggling with, so she
decided to change that.
Feldman started this journey
by teaching chair yoga classes
in person and received a warm
welcome. As she began to gain
popularity, accumulating close
to forty regulars, it became clear
how much of a demand there is
for this style of instruction. Dina
Berg, of The Heart of Ida, then
reached out to Feldman and encouraged
her to begin filming
classes from her home in order
16 | AgeWell Long Beach | Fall / Winter 2021