Art of Movement for Older Adults
Led by Ms. Eileen Jones, who has been teaching this beloved class for over 51 years, the Art of Movement helps older adults improve flexibility, posture, balance, and coordination while fostering relaxation and enjoyment through mindful movement. Offered to the Tower League congregation and the wider community, these classes encourage harmony of body, mind, and spirit through gentle, expressive motion.
Schedule:
- On site: Mondays & Thursdays 10:00 – 11:00 AM | MLK 411
- Online: Thursdays 1:30 – 2:00 PM
This class has been a Riverside tradition for more than 50 years and continues to nurture strength, grace, and community connection.
ART OF MOVEMENT CLASSES FOR OLDER ADULTS
A message from Ms. Eileen Jones, class instructor
The Art of Movement classes are designed to increase flexibility and health for older adults. Focused exercise results in better posture, reduces back and joint pain, and expands the capacity to relax. A mobile, free body, which gives one a sense of harmony and enjoyment, is important throughout our lifetime.
The best results from these activities come from understanding some of the basic concepts of this program. Awareness incorporates what we are doing, what parts are moving, and their relationship to the whole of the body, the where in space and the feeling of what we do. Thinking. Feeling. Doing.
In teaching the Art of Movement with Older Adults, I see how the sense of enjoyment and of new possibilities increase as we become more confident about moving and are able to feel secure and self-reliant as balance and coordination improves.
As we age many body processes are slowing down. Physically, we are more vulnerable, balance can become problematic, and old injuries and arthritis create pain and stiffness. At the same time, the psychic journey becomes increasingly inward and our sensitivity to the transitoriness of life is heightened. It is a time that our spiritual values are deeply questioned. Our need for a sense of worth, relatedness, and belonging is strong.
The benefits of the class result in learning how movement is both functional and expressive and our natural way of communicating. The pleasure and fun of meeting others and in the groups’ exploring common and individual goals develops a more positive attitude toward our shared aging processes. We can experience new ways of moving with greater ease and grace.
In the mid 60s, the then coordinator of the Tower League, Mary French, invited Betty Meredith-Jones to offer the Art of Movement classes as part of the Older Adults Program of The Riverside Church. Betty was an innovative teacher, incorporating the Rudolf Laban Art of Movement discipline with her training as Physical Therapist, Dancer and Educator. As her student for many years in these classes, when she retired in 1973, I was asked to continue her work.
The Monday and Thursday classes are organized around the varieties of abilities of the participants and incorporate appropriate activities. Thursdays start with chair exercises, Mondays with a fuller range. Both classes work with the Art of Movement for the capacities of the participants and are available for people to move between the two classes with the recommendation of Eileen.