Ageless Grace Lesson Five: Outline B-R-E-A-T-H-E Out Loud! (#16) Disk 3 Front Row Orchestra (#4) Disk 1 Team Fit (#19) Disk 3 Express Yourself! (#12) Disk 2 Body Math (#8) Disk 2 B-R-E-A-T-H-E OUT LOUD! Lungs, chest, belly, abdominals, and voice ü Breathe long and slow; staccato; smoothly ü Pumping abdominal muscles as you sound or breathe ü Softly, loudly, making sounds of all kinds ü Singing silly songs ü Using gibberish or childlike words and phrases Breathe normally and naturally. Place one hand on belly and one on chest or solar plexus; breathe in slowly and sense the belly and lungs filling up with air like a balloon. Breathe out slowly, deeply, and sense the body deflating like a balloon losing air. 1. Take 3 deep breaths in through the NOSE and out through the NOSE 2. Take 3 deep breaths in through the NOSE and out through the LIPS 3. Take 3 deep breaths in through the LIPS and out through the LIPS 4. Take 3 deep breaths in through the LIPS and out through the NOSE 5. While focusing on your abdominal muscles and exaggerating your voice, sing the song Happy Birthday. 6. Making sounds first focus on loudly saying the following 3 times, then repeat 3 times each softly: ü Yes ü No ü Oooh ü Ahhh
FRONT ROW ORCHESTRA ü Arms, hands and fingers ü Core of the body (rib cage, abdominals) ü Feet and ankles ü Head and neck ü Pretending to play various musical instruments ü Side-to-side, con brio (with vigor!) ü Up and down, high and low ü Rotating and turning ü Using feet and legs to tap and keep time Complete these exercises with some kind of upbeat music approximately 5 minutes long. Play a variety of musical instruments while tapping your feet or heels. Play on both right and left sides, up and down, side to side, etc. Become the conductor of the orchestra and just play some imaginary instruments! 1. Begin by playing the piano (remember to tap your toes) back and forth in front of you with your fingers. 2. Play the chords on a piano as if you re banging those keys from high notes to low 3. Play the trumpet, raise it up high into the air and play to the right and to the left 4. Play the flute on the right side of your body for a little while, then the left side 5. Play the slide trombone, right then left. 6. Shake some maracas 7. Play the standup bass/cello, on the left side and the right side 8. Play the violin, short fast strokes and long slow strokes, both sides of the body 9. Play the saxophone, jazz-style, to your left and right sides, up and down. 10. Play the guitar, strumming with right hand, then switch to your left (maybe even do a little finger-picking if you feel like it) 11. Play the drums, all different styles (bongos, steel, etc.) 12. Play any other instruments you can think of or repeat some of those above if you still have music playing in the background.
TEAM FIT ü Upper body, fingers, arms, hands, shoulders and back ü Core and abdominals ü Lower body, legs and feet ü Eyes, head and neck ü Pretending to play various sports with vigor ü Using the full body ü Remembering how it felt to make these athletic moves in the past ü Visualizing the way you have seen athletes on television do the move Play some upbeat music approximately 5 minutes in length. In this activity, you ll be pretending to play a variety of sports. Remember to alternate between right and left sides for each sport. 1. Baseball Swing a bat with good follow through 10 times on your right side and 10 times on your left side Pitch the ball with good follow through 10 times on your right arm and 10 times on your left arm 2. Basketball Dribble the basketball in front of you with your left hand then when you reach the opposite side switch to your right hand and repeat. Do this 5 times each hand. Then get fancy with your dribbling, do figure 8 s between and under the legs (lift your legs to dribble through them) Shoot the ball 10 times, come up out of the chair as far as you can to do this 3. Tennis Lob and serve 10 times with both arms Do 10 forehands and 10 backhand with the same arm, then switch arms and do 10 forehands and 10 backhands 4. Soccer Kick the soccer ball in all different directions, high, low, to the side, and even across the body if you can Use your knees to hit the imaginary ball Use your head to hit the imaginary ball Pretend like the ball is high in the air and you need to stop it with your chest as in some soccer games Get creative with this one and do as much as you can for 20-40 seconds
5. Volleyball Do 5 underhand serves with each hand While coming out of your chair use both hands to hit above your head 5 times Spike the ball with each hand 5 times each 6. Golf Swing the imaginary club 5 times each side 7. Football Toss the ball 5 times with each arm Kick 5 field goals with each leg 8. Bowling Roll a strike every time by rolling the imaginary ball on each side of your chair with each arm 5 times (have one foot forward and one foot back as you re seated in your chair) 9. Other sports ideas if you have time: Archery (switch side) Toss Frisbee Rock climbing Weight lifting Swimming Horseback riding Bicycling Tug of war EXPRESS YOURSELF!
ü Fingers, hands, arms and shoulders ü Back of the body and front of the chest ü Facial muscles ü Acting as if you are a traffic cop, beauty queen, artist, conductor, boxer, etc. ü With drama/emotion; with power/force; with grace/elegance ü Fast/slowly; in polarity Play some music approximately 5 minutes in length. The purpose of this exercise is to really be imaginative and fun. Express yourself with your arms in a variety of ways. If you have other ideas on how to express yourself other than the ones listed, do those too! 1. Be a mom or a teacher: Snap your fingers to get the attention of your children/students, use one hand at a time or snap both together Point with alternating index fingers all around the room at your children Do various chores like polish/dust furniture (high and low), vacuum, drive a car, wash dishes, etc. Shake the hands off after washing the dishes or your hands (like when there are no paper towels). Shake them all around above your head and even down to the floor. 2. Act like you re in a parade: Wave like you re a beauty queen Wave like you see someone you know, use both hands. Open and close your hands like you re throwing candy Open and close your hands like you re throwing confetti above your head and at others 3. Pretend to direct traffic like a cop (use fingers, wrists and whole arms and remember traffic comes from all different sides): Start traffic Stop traffic by pushing your hand forward or to other sides Get cars on one side to come continue moving Wave forward, etc. 4. Act like you re flying: Be an airplane Be a butterfly Be a sparrow Be an eagle Fly fast and frantic as well as slow and long flaps 5. Pretend you re playing a concert:
Play drums Play up and down the keyboard Play guitar Tap your toes in time as you play each instrument 6. Act like you re a boxer: Punching holes all around in the air Practice moving side-to-side and up-and-down in the chair for dodging your opponent Try a few pull ups with your arms Punch around a little bit more Lift imaginary weights 7. Act like a teenager: Shrugging the shoulders (and lift the arms in a I don t know gesture) do this slow and then fast Cross your arms and pull them out in the same gesture Say I don t know and/or wasn t me! 8. Other things to do: Cross your fingers and make a wish Use your forearms to erase things in the air in different motions Weave and wave your hands all around in the air Twist and turn your hands in a variety of directions Draw circles with your elbows Pull your elbows together and then out Pretend like you re a chicken Paint the wall with a paintbrush Clap your hands behind your back Bounce your hands off the wall from side-to-side like you re in a large box BODY MATH ü Hands and feet (which move shoulders and hip joints)
ü Abdominals (as legs criss-cross or lift off the floor) and core muscles ü Arms and legs ü Head ü Tap arms, hands, feet, counting numbers aloud adding up to 8 (4X on right, 4X on left, 2X on each side, 5X and clap 3X, etc.) ü Fast, alternating side-to-side ü Hands up, up, down, down or in, out ü Criss-cross or scissor movements 1. Play some upbeat music approximately 5 minutes in length. Play around with numbers and sequences in a variety of movements. Tap your hands and feet, clap, criss-cross your legs/ankles and arms/wrists, lift hands into the air or push them down to the floor, touch elbows and knees together, alternate between tapping different parts of the body with your hands, etc. Count the numbers aloud along with the movements to stimulate the brain, both forward and backwards. Use quick and energetic movements. The object of this exercise tool is to challenge the brain, so the more you try various number sequences and mix things up, the better! But make sure your residents can keep up and follow along with you. 1. Begin by tapping your right hand and right foot together to the beat 2. Switch to the left hand and left foot together 3. Alternate between the right and left sides for about 10 seconds 4. Tap your right hand and right foot together for 8 counts, everyone should count out loud 5. Tap your left hand and left foot together for 8 counts, everyone should count out loud 6. Criss-cross your hands/arms and legs/ankles across the midline in toward the body and out; try short, close and quick movements for 20 counts 7. Diagonally kick out your lower right leg while pushing your right hand out at the same time then back in for 4 counts; repeat same thing on the left side for 4 counts. Repeat sequence 2 more times, counting out loud backwards from 4. 8. Bring knees and elbows together in front of the body in and out for 5 counts 9. Tap your right hand and right foot together for 3 counts then clap hands for 1 count as you transition to the left side for 3 counts. Clap 1 time as you transition back and forth. Everyone should count out loud (1, 2, 3 1 1, 2, 3 1 ). Repeat this sequence 5 more times.
10. Criss-cross your hands/arms and legs/ankles across the midline in toward the body and out; try wider, longer movements for 10 counts 11. While counting out loud to 4 alternating, tap the right hand to the right knee (1), left hand to the left knee (2), right hand to the floor (3), left hand to the floor (4). Repeat sequence 4 more times. 12. While counting out loud backwards from 4 alternating, push the right hand/arm into the air high above the head (1), push the left hand/arm into the air high above the head (2), push the right hand/arm down to the side of the body (3), push the left hand/arm down to the side of the body (4). Repeat sequence 6 more times. 13. Tap your right hand and right foot together for 5 counts then clap hands for 3 counts as you transition to the left side for 5 counts. Clap 3 times as you transition back and forth. Everyone should count out loud backwards for the tapping and forward for the clapping (5, 4, 3, 2, 1 1, 2, 3 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 1, 2, 3 ). Repeat this sequence 3 more times. 14. Tap your right hand with LEFT foot simultaneously for 7 counts, everyone should count out loud; repeat with left hand and RIGHT foot for 7 counts. Repeat sequence 5 more times. 15. Criss-cross your hands/arms and legs/ankles across the midline in toward the body and out; try short, close and quick movements for 15 counts 16. If you still have music/time left, repeat different sequences from this lesson plan or come up with some of your own on the spot!