At the age of 74, Janice Lennard is well beyond the age when most adults have resigned themselves to a life of inactivity.
However, Lennard is hoping to convince others that getting old does not have to mean a loss of balance, flexibility, grace, or strength. Despite having recently had a hip replacement, Lennard still teaches ballet barre, yoga, and Pilates six days a week – she has been doing this for the last thirteen years.
So, what has kept her going, and why does she believe that every adult – young or old – needs to become acquainted with the simple joy and benefits of movement? All is revealed below:
It all started when she was just six or seven. She would dance around the house in New Orleans, and her mom would put records on for her. When she was 8 or 9, her mother enrolled her in a dance school, where she did tap, ballet, and acrobatics.
After she graduated from high school, she moved to Los Angeles and ended up at the Lichine Ballet Academy in Beverley Hills. During her time here, she was taught by professional dancers such as Alexander Godunov and Cyd Charise.
When did she start teaching these different classes?
13 or 14 years ago, she moved to Palm Springs and was taking so many ballet and yoga classes that she decided that she might as well take up teaching. Therefore, she got her certifications and started teaching. After a while, she eventually started teaching Pilates too.
What are the benefits she found in these exercises?
She states that the reason you see a lot of elderly people walking around with canes, or not being able to walk at all, is because they don’t do any sort of exercise. The exercises that she does helps to stretch the muscles and to loosen the hips and everything else. In other words, her exercises will make you looser, helping with your movement.
When she decided to teach, she didn’t want it to be hard-core stuff that was difficult for some people to do. Therefore, she focused on teaching yoga flow, which is all about keeping the body moving for the entire lesson. She starts the class off with standing poses, then moves down to the floor. The whole hour, they’re moving.
However, one thing she doesn’t do is touch people or guide them using her hands. She doesn’t do this as she knows that people can get hurt in this way as you’re never too sure about what injuries or limitations people have. Therefore, she focuses on showing her students how to do the poses, but encourages them to let their own bodies guide them.
Did her training routines help her bounce back from hip surgery?
Her doctor made her promise that she wouldn’t do anything for two weeks after her total hip replacement surgery. After two weeks passed, she went back to her classes and never had any issues with her hip. She puts this down to the fact that she had so much flexibility before her surgery.
For those who have arthritis, or other conditions that make some of these practices a challenge, what can she say about knowing your own limitations? Or not pushing yourself too far?
She says it’s all about not wanting to force the body to do something that it’s not comfortable with. But, the best thing that you can do is to keep moving – don’t sit down all day long every day. Get up and do some simple stretches, even if it’s just for 30 minutes. Your body will thank you for it. Just a little bit of time makes a huge difference.
Source: prevention
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