My educational and professional paths have been a tapestry of pursuing interests and intuitions that have blessed me with the gift of loving every career/job that I’ve ever had.

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Starting out as a New York State licensed massage therapist in 1978, I became interested in exercise to alleviate the back problems that so many of my massage clients had. I enrolled in a human movement/kinesiology course at the local community college in 1986. 

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I fell in love with being in school and set myself a long-range plan to complete an Associate, Bachelor, and Master’s degree. After seven years, mission accomplished with a Master of Science in Exercise Science/Cardiac Rehabilitation from East Stroudsburg University, Pennsylvania in 1993.

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Fast forward 10 plus years working in the field of Cardiac Rehabilitation. I became interested in preventive care and community health – working with populations (large groups of people), rather than the more individualized care of Cardiac Rehab.

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Hence, I relocated to manage the Community Wellness Program at Alice Hyde Medical Center, where I had the opportunity to work with people across the lifespan.

During this time, I went back to school, one online course at a time, completing the State University of New York/Albany School of Public Health Master of Public Health (Distance Learning Program) in 2015.

 

I became interested in working with older adults, with a specific focus on better balance – and fall prevention. Falling is not an inevitable part of aging – most falls are preventable! I taught the Tufts University Growing Stronger class for several years, and then embarked on my Tai Chi journey, beginning with the Tai Chi for Arthritis for Fall Prevention certification in 2015, and more recently the Taiji Fit certification in 2020.

 

Tai Chi has enriched my life on so many levels – especially physically and mentally. When I first learned – and started playing (yes, that’s what it’s called!) and teaching Tai Chi – my focus was on the physical movements. The slow, gentle moves are so peaceful, and based on nature – stand rooted like a tree, bend gently like tall grasses in the breeze, flow like water… I developed a deeper awareness of how I move, how I breathe.

 

Then over time, I realized the mental impact of Tai Chi – for example, better focus and concentration, feeling an inner calm more often, the mind-set of “go with the flow” – a different way of looking at my life experiences.

 

Please be sure to check out the section, About Tai Chi! No matter what reason brought you to Tai Chi, you can derive so many of the health benefits it confers (with practice). Thank you for joining me on this journey. Enjoy!

 

(In addition to the various professional ventures I described above, I have been teaching an undergraduate online course at Champlain College, the Biology of Nutrition and Fitness, since 2015.)