How About Dancing to Stay Young?

September 30, 2020 by Dani Leave a Comment

How About Dancing to Stay Young?

How about dancing to stay young? Could this be? One of the common secrets of Centenarians is that they took extraordinary measures to stay Physically and Mentally Healthy. Dancing addresses both. And it is so much fun.

The Most Pervasive Loss with Age

“It is a curious and disturbing fact that what is probably the most pervasive loss with age is the one people can do the most to control.” ~Lynn Peters Adler, J.D., Centenarians, The Bonus Years. Much of the loss of mobility as one ages is the result of disuse because of a lack of exercise. Centenarians like George Gillespie travels about 100 miles a week on his stationary bike. He and his wife are active. They enjoy life and realize it goes fast.

A Wonderful Book

http://a.co/3PiWSmk for Lynn Adler’s book.

In my search for more information on these honorable ones who have reached the age of 100, I came across this book by Lynn Adler, Centenarians: The Bonus Years (one of my favorite Centenarian books).

On Physical Mobility

We are physically fit when we have the heart and lung (aerobic) capacity to pump oxygen to the muscles, sufficient muscle strength to accomplish reasonable tasks, and flexibility in the joints to permit movement. When it comes to maintaining physical mobility, the simple axiom “use it or lose it” says it all.” ~Adler

Milton Feher

Former professional dancer Milton Feher was forced to retire from the Broadway stage in 1941 due to arthritis in his knees. “I then developed a way to cure myself after I gave up on doctors,” he explains, “and I’ve been teaching people of all ages ever since. The concept is to relax into a straight line and to keep the body centered. The problem people have, and the reason so many older people fall, is that people are moving their weight off their feet. The key is to always feel that your body is resting on your feet and not let it get away from you. It sounds simple, but it takes concentration and practice.”

Claire Willi, Star Pupil

Claire at 100 was a star pupil at Milton Feher Dance Studio. She says she felt old at seventy. Exercise or walking for pleasure had never been her routine.e. She realized she was beginning to stoop and shuffle. Upon overhearing a conversation about dancing, she began attending classes three times a week. At 100, she attributes her training with Milton to keeping her healthy, beautiful, and graceful.

Exercise Keeps You Younger

Milton’s star pupil, Claire Willi, 100, credits his work with her over the last thirty years to getting her to the century mark. “There are two things that older people fear most,” she confides, “falling apart and falling down.” “Exercising regularly, learning how to use one’s body correctly, in balance, and using relaxation techniques improve flexibility and coordination and help with both. Exercise keeps you younger, no matter what your chronological age,” Claire says with certainty, and from experience.

It bothered Claire tremendously that at seventy she felt like an

old woman and beyond hope.

Healthy, Beautiful and Graceful at 100

She made her way to the Milton Feher School of Dance and Relaxation on West Fifty-eighth Stree. Claire has been a regular student ever since. She attributes Milton’s training to what now keeps her healthy, beautiful, and graceful at age 100. She wears a leotard and leggings and her body is trim and shapely. Claire and Milton, an octogenarian, have been featured in numerous magazines over this last decade as a true success story, including Prevention Magazine (January 1992) in an article entitled “Dance Away Arthritis Pain!)” This information was from Adler’s book: Centenarians, The Bonus Years published in 1995.

Mobility

“Claire has succeeded in staving off the loss of mobility that so often accompanies advanced age. She keeps up with people half her age in the one-hour dance class, and afterward, as has been her practice for these thirty years, she takes a long walk in Central Park,” Milton tells. Claire advises, “It’s never too late to begin.” ~ from Centenarians: The Bonus Years

My Note

I would love to find out more about Milton Feher and Claire Willi. My searches revealed a relaxation record by Milton on Amazon, but little about Claire. There is a most beautiful photo of her in the Centenarians: The Bonus Years’ book. She is 100 in leotards at the Milton Feher Dance Studio. She looks maybe 50.

Abe Goldberg

Abe Goldberg has used ballroom dancing as his mode of exercise for more than thirty years. “I danced my way through my eighties, nineties, on my 100th birthday and every year since then.”

John and I Started Dancing

Before our 50th Anniversary, John and I decided to celebrate by having a dinner dance. We hired Ben De La Vega to choreograph and teach us a waltz. Ben was so good that we continued these private lessons after the anniversary performance was over. That was over six years ago. The picture you see to the side is John and me on a trip with friends dancing in a beautiful ballroom in Indianapolis at the Roof Top Ballroom 2017. It is fun to dance and really fun to share this experience with friends. the next one is last year’s Dance Weekend at Mackinaw Island, Grand Hotel.

The Formal Final Dance 2019

Have You Thought About Dancing?

I’d love to know your thoughts on this. Have you checked into any group lessons in your area? Ben at PJ’s Dancetique is our favorite and we think the best teacher in the DFW Metroplex.

Learn more about How to Stay Young for a very long time in the course Living Long and Strong that is just beginning.

OV Live Long and Strong

Dancing

August 17, 2018 by Dani Leave a Comment

Southern Rhapsody Summer Dance

This past week John and I were blessed to attend the Southern Rhapsody Dance Convention in downtown Indianapolis at the Rooftop Ballroom. This was our second time to attend and it was even more fun than the first year we went. The ballroom is a 8500 square feet beautiful wooden floor made in 1927. Some of the biggest bands in history have played in this ballroom. We had 14 dancing friends from Dallas go, which made it extremely fun.

Dancing is about the most rewarding of all exercises to me. It not only exercises our muscles and endurance, but also our mental abilities in learning and executing patterns. Our prayer is that we can keep on dancing for many more years. “As our days are, so shall our strength be.” ~ Deut 33:25

John and I started dancing about 6 years ago. We had always enjoyed dancing in college, but never had a lesson. I would so encourage you to find out about opportunities for dancing and lessons in your area. Here in the DFW area there are a number of Senior Centers for those over 50. They provide a ballroom floor and great bands for a tiny cost to go to. We have a number of other NON senior dance places in this area that have bands and are a great place to dance. We take lessons from Ben DelaVega and go to his studio (P.J.’s Dancetique) to dance each week. Another major benefit of dancing is all the new friends that soon come across your path. We didn’t know a one of the many dancing friends we dance with now. Some have become close friends and prayer partners.

Dancing with God

This poem was given to each of us the first night of the Dance Convention. It is a beautiful correlation of trusting and following the Lord’s leading.

“When I meditated on the word Guidance, I kept seeing “dance ” at the end of the word.

I remember reading that doing God’s will is a lot like dancing.

When two people try to lead, nothing feels right.

The movement doesn’t flow with the music, and everything is quite uncomfortable and jerky.

When one person realizes that, and lets the other lead, both begin to flow with the music.

One gives gentle cues, perhaps with a nudge to the back or by pressing lightly in one direction or another.

It’s as if two become one body , moving beautifully. The dance takes surrender, willingness, and attentiveness for one person and gently guidance and skill from the other.

My eyes drew back to the word Guidance. When I saw “G”, I thought of God, followed by “u” and “i”.

“God”, “u” and “i” dance.

As I lowered by head, I became willing to trust that I would get guidance about my life. Once again, I became willing to let God lead.

My prayer for you today is that God’s blessings and mercies be upon you on this day and everyday.

May you abide in God as God abides in you.

Dance together with God, trusting God to lead and to guide you through each season of your life. …………………………..

And I Hope You Dance!!!” ~ Southern Rhapsody Dance”

How About Dancing?

June 20, 2017 by Dani 1 Comment

How About Dancing to Stay Young?

One of the common secrets of Centenarians is that they took extraordinary measures to stay Physically and Mentally Healthy. Dancing addresses both. And it is so much fun.

Abe Goldberg

Abe Goldberg has used ballroom dancing as his mode of exercise for more than thirty years. “I danced my way through my eighties, nineties, on my 100th birthday and every year since then.”

Claire Willi, Star Pupil

Claire at 100 was a star pupil at Milton Feher Dance Studio. She says she felt old at seventy. She had never exercised or walked for pleasure. She realized she was beginning to stoop and shuffle. She overheard a conversation about dancing and began attending classes three times a week. At 100, she attributes her training with Milton to keeping her healthy, beautiful and graceful.

http://a.co/3PiWSmk for Lynn Adler’s book.

In my search for more information on Claire, I came across this excerpt from Lynn Adler’s Centenarians: The Bonus Years (one of my favorite Centenarian books). The italics and bold words are my markings:

On Physical Mobility

…” We are physically fit when we have the heart and lung (aerobic) capacity to pump oxygen to the muscles, sufficient muscle strength to accomplish reasonable tasks, and flexibility in the joints to permit movement. When it comes to maintaining physical mobility, the simple axiom “use it or lose it” says it all.

… In New York City, former professional dancer Milton Feher has also developed a combination of exercise, relaxation, and dance that he has been teaching for almost fifty years. Milton was forced to retire from the Broadway stage in 1941 due to arthritis in his knees. “It happened all of a sudden,” he tells. Milton’s very successful career, performing in such popular shows as Song of Norway and I’d Rather be Right by George M. Cohan, was cut short in its prime by the affliction that limits so many older people. “I then developed a way to cure myself after I gave up on doctors,” he explains, “and I’ve been teaching people of all ages ever since. The concept is to relax into a straight line and to keep the body centered. The problem people have, and the reason so many older people fall, is that people are moving their weight off their feet. The key is to always feel that your body is resting on your feet and not let it get away from you. It sounds simple, but it takes concentration and practice.”

Milton’s star pupil, Claire Willi, 100, credits his work with her over the last thirty years to getting her to the century mark. “There are two things that older people fear most,” she confides, “falling apart and falling down. Exercising regularly, learning how to use one’s body correctly, in balance, and using relaxation techniques improve flexibility and coordination and help with both. Exercise keeps you younger, no matter what your chronological age,” Claire says with certainty, and from experience.

At age seventy, Claire, who emigrated from Switzerland almost fifty years earlier, felt old. She never exercised, tired easily, and never walked for pleasure because her feet hurt when she did. She was starting to stoop and shuffle her feet when she moved and used a small pillow under her dress to hide her swayed back. A beautiful woman, Claire minded the changes that age was bringing. She had led an exciting life, happily married to one of the largest champagne dealers in New York and was a celebrated hostess. Her career, she says, was helping her husband by entertaining and running their personal life, managing their schedules and their three homes in Florida, Pennsylvania, and New York. It bothered her tremendously that at seventy she felt like an old woman and beyond hope.

Quite coincidentally, while in a health food restaurant in her neighborhood near Carnegie Hall, she overheard a waitress tell another customer about the marvelous dance lessons she was taking, which not only invigorated her and improved her posture but also relaxed her. “My ears perked up at this,” Claire recalls.

She made her way to the Milton Feher School of Dance and Relaxation on West Fifty-eighth Street, located in an apartment building she could see from her building. There, above the din of city traffic, she began attending classes three times a week plus some individual lessons. Claire has been a regular student ever since. She attributes Milton’s training to what now keeps her healthy, beautiful, and graceful at age 100. She wears a leotard and leggings and her body is trim and shapely. Claire and Milton, an octogenarian, have been featured in numerous magazines over this last decade as a true success story, including Prevention Magazine (January, 1992) in an article entitled “Dance Away Arthritis Pain!”

John and I Started Dancing

Several years ago…..I think a couple of years before our 50th Anniversary, John and I ventured into some group dance lessons. It was a really fun avenue of exercise to us. It was also mentally challenging. A few months before our anniversary, we decided to have a dinner dance. We hired Ben De La Vega to choreograph and teach us a waltz. Ben was so good that we continued these private lessons after the anniversary performance was over. The picture you see above is John and I on a trip with friends dancing in a beautiful ballroom in Indianapolis at the Roof Top Ballroom. It is fun to dance and really fun to share this experience with friends.

Have You Thought About Dancing?

I’d love to know your thoughts on this. Have you checked into any group lessons in your area? Ben at PJ’s Dancetique is the best teacher in the DFW Metroplex, we think.

Learn more about How to Stay Young for a very long time with my Ebook and Workbook: The Pathway to Living Long and Strong. It’s one thing to know what to do. This Ebook and Workbook will take you in baby steps into the doing part or your knowing.

Our 53rd Anniversary

June 13, 2017 by Dani 2 Comments

Our 53rd Anniversary

How thankful I am that I found this guy when I transferred to Midwestern University in my Junior Year of college. After graduation, I taught school a year and then had to say goodbye to John, as he was sent to Korea with the Army. In a very round about encounter I heard of another wife whose husband had been sent to a similar place in Korea. She was going to Korea as a tourist. I decided if
she could go, why couldn’t I go too. We landed in Seoul. John met me at the airport, but only had an overnight pass. Charlotte’s husband had a couple of days. Robert helped us the next day to find a place to live at a beautiful old Korean home that the owner had turned into a Guest House for those few wives who came unauthorized like us.

Living at the Guest House in Korea

It was quite an experience sitting on the floor for all of our meals, taking our shoes off at the door when we entered, and having no heat or hot water during the week. (I suppose the owner was saving on utility bills.) The only way I could communicate with John was to walk down the street to a bar and use their telephone. But it was crazy. NO ONE spoke English. On the phone I had to learn to ask for one town to connect me to another and then to another and then to John’s camp. Even then the connection was so bad we could barely understand each other.

As I look back, I realize God gave me supernatural courage to go to this remote place. I ventured out and found a job in downtown Seoul working for an American. Wives weren’t allowed to live on the base . Having no transportation, I had to ride a bus. They didn’t speak English either. I did learn how to say “stop” when I was at my destination. Buses were crowded, streets were dirty and crowded: very,very dirty in fact. The company was in a hotel on a higher floor. I quickly learned to brace myself at the elevators as the Koreans seemed to have missed learning any manners. I could be standing at the door waiting for the elevator and when it came, a rush of rude people would just knock me aside and get on. My boss later assigned his driver to take me home. This was such a blessing.

The office was filled with only Koreans and one American boss. I made friends with Miss Kim and went with her each day to lunch (if I didn’t bring my own.) The Guest House cook could really cook. We could have a “take to work lunch” made any day we requested it. I did enjoy the days of getting out of the office with Miss Kim. The enjoyment of the food was another story.

The Bus Ride to Camp Hovey to See John

There was a bus that went from Seoul to Camp Hovey, where John was stationed as a second lieutenant. I bravely tried the trip one weekend as I wanted to see John and he rarely got any pass to come to Seoul. The distance from Seoul to Camp Hovey wasn’t all that far, but the bus took forever it seems. Driving of bus drivers was very bad, dodging pedestrians and cars and other buses, and going from one lane to another in a snap. Americans in Korea were very very rare, especially females. I was referred to as “round eyes” and pointed at wherever I went.

Arriving at the Camp was another very new experience. Hundreds of guys. No gals except the Red Cross few who lived around the mountain at the next camp. No private bathrooms of course. John would have to stand guard and yell “woman in the barracks”. As I think back on this, I can’t help but wonder how in the world I had courage to go across the world to Korea. The thought of a year without John was worse than the fear of going to a place I’d never been. flying on an airplane for the first time, and knowing John only had a one day pass when I got there.

General Johnson Needs a Secretary

While on a weekend visit, John heard that the Commanding General of his division was looking for a secretary. We decided I might as well apply. An interview was set up with General Johnson. He was a gruff, stern fellow. He basically just interviewed John and then told me I had the job. “But”, I said, “this job requires a Civil Service ranking and I don’t have one.” He told me not to worry, but just to go back to Seoul and go to the Civil Service Office and tell them I was now working for the General. Well, it worked and here I was the General’s Secretary without even taking a typing or shorthand test. (It’s a good thing as my skills were lacking.)

So now I was going to be working right around the mountain from John’s camp. Of course I had to live in the Red Cross (Doughnut Dollies) barracks. John could not drive in Korea, being an officer and having such reckless drivers on the roads. For him to come and visit me, he had to have a driver bring him over. I can remember the driver picking him up early the next morning if he had a change to ever spend the night. He would have to sneak out the window.

Back to my job. How did it go? Hmmm….not so very well until I met “Goosey” and a few other PC3s I believe they are called. Goosey did my typing and pretended I had done it. Shorthand was another story. I was scared silly when called into the General’s office to take notes. I just did the best I could. Goosey and the others helped me as much as they could in exchange for my orders from the mess hall for them. Certainly the mess hall chefs thought I had an amazing appetite when I ordered 3 sets of pancakes or waffles each morning and several hamburgers each lunch time.

My Dream of Being a Cheerleader

One of my dreams of being a Cheerleader was realized when football season began. I joined the Doughnut Dollies Cheering Squad. This was so very much fun. It seemed the entire United States Army came to these games. I even got to ride on a float through town.

: Dani Cheerleader 7th Division

: 7th Division Book

: John Becoming 1st Lt. and pinned by General Boyea

We did get to take a short trip to Hong Kong and Tokyo on leave while I was there. Oh it was fascinating. I loved the beauty of Tokyo. At the airport on the way back, I was told I could not return to Seoul as my Visa had expired. Oh my goodness, this was not good. We asked them to call the General and he got me approved and right on the airplane in no time.

We went through a cold, cold winter in Korea. It was so cold, I had frostbite on my face after walking up the hill to chapel one evening. I survived:)

This was our second year of marriage. It was good to return to the U.S. Many many years and experiences have been shared by John and I, and I thank the Lord for each year and each memory.

The past seven or eight years have been years almost as much fun as college days for John and I. We learned Ballroom Dancing and look forward each week to dates out dancing and being with treasured friends we have met on the dance floor and dance classes. You may have seen the post a few days ago that I sent about Getting Happier as We Get Older. It is absolutely true for us. We have the joy and excitement of nine grandchildren, a wonderful church and many precious friends..

We thank God for good health. We don’t take this for granted to be healthy and fit enough to go to Crossfit and to Dance as much as we do. Each day we declare Divine Health over ourselves. We know words have great power. Words bring things into existence.

I’d love to have your ideas on marriage and getting older. Just press reply and drop me a few words. Feel welcome to join us in declaring your health too. I created a free download a few years back and have just updated it for you. It contains the ten or so declarations we declare each day concerning our good health.

Here’s the form below of the free download. Don’t miss it.

Dancing

August 24, 2016 by Dani Leave a Comment

When John and I went to the Dance Convention in Indie this past week, we were given (in our registration packet) a paper called “Dancing with God”. Let me share it with you.

Dancing with God

“When I meditated on the word Guidance, I kept seeing “dance” at the end of the word. I remember reading that doing God’s will is a lot like dancing.

When two people try to lead, nothing feels right. The movement doesn’t flow with the music and everything is quite uncomfortable and jerky. When one person realizes that, and lets the other lead, both bodies begin to flow with the music.

One gives gently cues, perhaps with a nudge to the back or by pressing lightly in one direction or another. It’s as if two become one body, moving beautifully.

The dance takes surrender, willingness, and attentiveness from one person and gently guidance and skill from the other.

My eyes drew back to the word Guidance
When I sas “G”: I though of God, followed by “u” and “i”.
“God, “u” and “i” “dance.” (God, you and I dance.)

As I lowered my head, I became willing to trust that I would get guidance about my life.

Once again, I became willing to let God lead.

My prayer for you today is that God’s blessings and mercies be upon you on this day and everyday. May you abide in God as God abides in you. Dance together with God, trusting God to lead and to guide you through each season of your life.

And I hope You Dance!!!

Here are a few more photos from our ever so memorable 3 days at the Indiana Roof Ballroom in Indie. We discovered what a good form of exercise Ballroom Dancing is a few years back. It not only keeps us fit (along with CrossFit and Paleo eating); but it improves our balance and flexibility. It also protects and strengthens our memory, as we constantly use our brain to learn new patterns and techniques. A side benefit, but a huge benefit, has been the new friends we have made. All of the friends in the photo below also went to Indie to the Convention. This was our first time to go.

How About Dancing to Stay Young?

How About Dancing to Stay Young?

The Most Pervasive Loss with Age

A Wonderful Book

On Physical Mobility

Milton Feher