{"id":6881,"date":"2022-03-11T07:25:32","date_gmt":"2022-03-11T12:25:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.silvercentury.org\/?p=6881"},"modified":"2022-03-11T07:25:32","modified_gmt":"2022-03-11T12:25:32","slug":"we-can-teach-this-old-dog-new-tricks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/78.142.243.82\/~silvercentury\/2022\/03\/we-can-teach-this-old-dog-new-tricks\/","title":{"rendered":"We Can Teach This Old Dog New Tricks"},"content":{"rendered":"

Over the past several months, I\u2019ve had some tight, lower-back pain that has limited my mobility. Even after consulting my doctor and stretching, I just couldn\u2019t shake it, so I decided to try something new for me. I\u2019ve started to get a massage every few weeks. My friend Rick is a massage therapist. Before this, I\u2019ve gotten maybe one or two massages in my whole life. After six weeks, I\u2019ve noticed improvements in my back pain and tightness.<\/span><\/p>\n

Last week, as I began a massage lying facedown, Rick rubbed from behind my right knee down the back of my right calf. About halfway, he hit a spot that made me flinch. My knee-jerk reaction (no pun intended) was to tighten up, clench my fists, hold my breath and grit my teeth.<\/span><\/p>\n

Lying on the massage table, anticipating my next flinch, I had a thought: Why not try to breathe through it rather than tense up? The next time Rick rubbed down the back of my calf, I didn\u2019t hold my breath, I didn\u2019t make a fist and I didn\u2019t clench my teeth. I did the opposite. I opened my hands, relaxed my jaw and pushed my breath right out through my lips. I still tightened up just a bit as Rick\u2019s hands passed over that spot, but I didn\u2019t cling to my tightening.<\/span><\/p>\n

As I lay there, thinking about breathing through things, I realized a parallel between my massage and aging in my last third. In my life, there will always be spots that make me want to clench and grip tight and cling. There is, and will be, loss and grief as well as joy. Rather than knee jerk out of habit, I can open my hands and breathe through the tight spots, the difficulties, and try to experience them in a different way.<\/span><\/p>\n

Conscious aging affords us the opportunity to live with intention, not just as a knee-jerk reaction. We have the choice of how to respond.<\/span><\/p>\n

Then, as I lay on the table, another parallel between my massage and my aging popped into my head. (What a productive hour!) It\u2019s not just how we breathe through our experiences, it\u2019s also what experiences we are open to. Life can get better as we age, even with inevitable losses and hardships. If we expect our lives to go downhill as we age, we will be beholden to routine and boredom. Let\u2019s age with the courage necessary to consider new things all the way through to the end. Our aging selves can learn new attitudes, and we can teach this old dog new tricks.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Over the past several months, I\u2019ve had some tight, lower-back pain that has limited my mobility. Even after consulting my doctor and stretching, I just couldn\u2019t shake it, so I decided to try something new for me. I\u2019ve started to…<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more We Can Teach This Old Dog New Tricks<\/span> ›<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n

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