A Wellness Class - Exercise Sitting on a Chair

Start with a sitting position

For most people living in the city and working at a white collar job,  the lack of exercise is a common problem.

People who are below forty and those mature folks who maintain an active life style, they would not feel the physiological change slowly taking place in their bodies.

Neither did I; until one day it just hit me like a ton of bricks.

Stretch your body as tall as possible

I was on a two week volunteer work trip overseas a couple of years ago with a team from my church.

Stretch your body to right

We were there to do some volunteer work for the local church. Since our activities were limited to a couple of places, we did not do a lot of walking at all.

Stretch your body to the left as much as you can

Barely a week after we were there without much daily walking or exercises, I started experiencing some pain on my right leg.

Stretch with you hand lifted up & with your tongue sticking out

The pain gradually increased in intensity, by the time I got back to Canada, I was having problem getting in and out of a vehicle and performing simple tasks.

Stretch and rotate each hand as if you're holding a ball

I went to my family doctor who referred me to a physiotherapy program and it worked!  After that episode, I know that exercise is not an option for me anymore. 


When I was younger. I was very active in my day job looking after the entire school. I got plenty of exercises each day just by climbing stairs, visiting the classrooms and taking care of students.

Stretch you leg and opposite arm at the same time

After a ten hour work day, I went home and looked after my family, shopping, cooking, planting and weeding our garden and running around doing all sort of things. I did not feel any pain at all.

Change leg, lean forward and stretch back

However, things changed after my early retirement. Our North American car culture combined with a greatly reduced physical activity life style post retirement contribute to my daily lack of exercises.





As a result, I started gaining weight and experiencing pain in my body.











When I was at the 105 Gibson Centre Opening Ceremony last Saturday, I had the opportunity to see what kinds of programs they would offer, one of which called Community Classroom.


 Along with many others, I attended a workshop on Preventing Falls at Home and later took part in a Wellness Class that taught people how to do stretching exercises while sitting on a chair.

 That is my kind of exercises!!!

Don't forget to stretch your neck

With our North American sedentary life style, this office chair exercises requiring no special equipment  will come in handy.

Hopefully these pictures will help to remind me and others to know what to do when they need a few minutes of stretching while working hard at the office or at home.  Enjoy!

R.T.
Opening day
105 Gibson Centre, Markham
Ontario