Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/432137
14 LIVE IT UP! FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2014 SANTA CRUZ SENTINEL Engaging Mind, Body and Each Other The goal is to get up from the floor using no more than one hand. This indicates you have the muscle strength and flexibility to go about your daily activities with independence – getting in and out of a car, down and up from the commode, the bed, the bath – and beyond. The older you get, the more important are strength and flexibility for health and well- being, yet often, the more compromised they become. Which likely is why the senior exercise classes, held at the Louden Nelson Community Center in Santa Cruz, are in demand. "We promote well-being by engaging the mind and body," says Kim Fryer, who runs the senior recreation programs for the City of Santa Cruz. "We get people together and moving as best they can with whatever they're dealing with. Because mental well-being goes hand in hand with physical health, socializing is just as important as moving." The program includes a basic senior exercise class on stretching and range of motion, plus yoga, tai chi, qigong - a form of martial arts that focuses on stretching and breathing - and a slower- paced version of tai kwon do. The center also teaches line-dancing. And ping-pong is a popular past time. Louden Nelson Community Center at the corner of Center and Laurel Streets, Santa Cruz 831.420.6180 M-F 9-3, Sat 10-3 (computer center only) closed Sunday by Lisa Crawford Watson