“Don’t Stop Me Now” was the title of the recent address to the Club by Jonathan Langer, Chiropractor, and it turned out to be sage advice for our Members. The most rewarding aspects of Jonathan’s twenty two year old career have been dealing with newly born babies (because it benefits the entire family unit) and with older patients (because it enables them to maintain their mobility). The natural tendency as we get older is to slow down both physically and mentally, but Jonathan’s advice is not to slow down and to try to do more. The more that one does, the more one can do, so the basic message is simple: keep moving!
We have a natural tendency to ‘de-condition’ ourselves, and this opens the door to increased pain and suffering, so it is very important to literally take active steps to keep going both physically and mentally. Jonathan cited examples of how we should conduct ourselves physically and to be wary of changing our centre of gravity unduly. This is particularly important in some sporting activities such as golf, as it is very easy to place our weight on our toes instead of on our heels where it should be. We should also try to be symmetrical in our movements at all times, and if one happens to be constrained by, say, a sore ankle, then one should adjust the size of the step that we take with the other leg to make it match the ailing side. Jonathan encouraged us all to engage in simple repetitive movements every day whilst we are at home, and to sit up straight and face forward when doing passive things like watching TV.
Jonathan ended by fielding a number of questions from the floor, and this most informative session was delivered with confidence and humour.