“We love the Mind, Body & Soul Wellness class! We believe that exercising every day improves our health and helps extend our lives.”

The Lions Gate Mind, Body & Soul class

Dave Correa, Senior Fitness Program Specialist at Lions Gate, developed the Mind, Body & Soul class to address every dimension of wellness. “I started teaching the Mind, Body & Soul class three years ago,” said Dave. “Overall good health is all about balance — balance between your mind, body, and soul. Balance in making time for yourself and time for your friends. Balance in the foods you eat and the rest you get each night. I designed the class to accommodate all fitness levels. I want everyone to feel welcome and be able to get something out of it. We start each class by sitting in chairs, doing stretches to warm up our muscles. We have some great conversations during our stretching time. It really brings a sense of camaraderie to the class. Then we all stand up and do some barre work. The barre is not just for ballet! It helps people with balance as we go through a rotation of strength-training exercises. We work the upper body with push-ups, build muscle in our quads with squats, keep the hip joint nice and flexible with leg abductors (leg lifts), and keep our ankles and calves strong with heel raises. After a few rotations of that, everyone is a little out of breath, so we end the class with some deep breathing exercises. If people are feeling up to it, we’ll even do a little guided meditation. Every day we’ll do something different in class. Sometimes there will be dancing, other days there will be games, and sometimes we focus on self-care. You never know what you’re going to get, but it will always bring balance to your life. In today’s class we had the group conversation and meditation for the ‘mind’, we had all the stretches and barre strength-training for the ‘body’, and I always play some really great R&B music throughout the class for the ‘soul’. It’s a complete workout in 30 minutes. I teach the class 4 times per week, and I have some ‘regulars’ who are genuinely committed to improving their health. Their hard work is really paying off!”

“I never went to the gym before I moved to Lions Gate,” said resident Lois Goldberg. “Now, at age 87, I make it a point to come to this class as often as I can. The Mind, Body & Soul class definitely helps keep me moving with less pain.”

“The reason I come to class every day is because I want to live to see as many of my great grandchildren as I can,” said resident Len Feldman. “I really believe that exercising every day improves my health and helps extend my life.”

“I agree,” said resident Nina Zimmer. “I’ve only lived at Lions Gate for a year, but I’ve come to class four times a week since I moved in. I love it!”

“I don’t know if I’m building muscle,” laughed resident Jeanette Axelrod, “but I’m definitely maintaining the muscle I have, and at age 92, that’s quite something.”

“Every little bit of exercise helps,” added in resident Millard Braunstein. “I’m 96 and still going strong. And with Dave’s class, I have the real muscles to show how strong I am!”

The Lions Gate Mind, Body & Soul class is taught in Commons Hall four times a week, Monday through Thursday at 10:30am. Our residents enjoy great music and get healthy!