Blog #4

 This past week was my first time doing a separate activity from performances and talking with patients. Jamie and I helped Ms. Brandy Turner lead a Tai Ji morning class with the patients. We went through basic movements that helped the patients stretch out and keep up movement. It was really fun engaging with the patients and I really enjoyed our conversation during the Tai Ji lesson. It was very heartwarming seeing all of the patients interact with one another and help each other during the different movements of our class. Although Jamie and I do not know too much about Tai Ji, we learned a lot about guiding these kinds of movement classes. Brandy guided us through leading the Tai Ji classes by explaining a couple of the adjustments we have to make in order to make the experience easier for the patients. One thing that we did was mirror our movements so that way it would be easier for the patients to learn the Tai Ji moves. For example, we would say to lift the right hand, but we would lift our left hand so that we could mirror the patients. It was a really fun experience learning Tai Ji with the patients. Afterward, we were able to talk to a couple of the patients who really enjoyed the experience. We learned that one of the people who participated used to be a professional ballet teacher. She showed us that she could still touch the floor, something that Jamie and I can not do! It was so much fun talking with her, and she explained her daily routine to us in order to keep up her flexibility and ballet skills. We are now scheduled to have another Tai Ji lesson this coming Thursday! I’m so excited to continue learning more from the Avenue at Lyndhurst community!

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