SHADES OF GREY

Music, Music, Music

Maryborough is a great city for music. Have you missed out on learning to play an instrument? If your answer is "Yes", read on. U3A have a beginners keyboard group which meets in the Senior Citizens Centre on Mondays at 11am. For further information phone Madge 41223307. You will need your own instrument. No charge for lessons.

If you desire to take up the guitar, Martyn specializes in teaching late starters at the Neighbourhood Centre, 33 Ellena Street most afternoons. You will need your own instrument. Cost $12 per lesson. Phone Martyn 41296105 or 412 482 594.

If wind instruments are your choice, Lex can fit you into a class and may be able to supply an instrument. This experienced musician takes lessons from 10am to 1pm at the Neighbourhood Centre and delights in sharing his talents. Group lessons cost $6.50 for half an hour. Phone Chita or Lex 4121 2141 at the Neighbourhood Centre.

Advance Health Directive

This is a formal way of recording instructions for your future health care. It comes into effect only if you are unable to make your own decisions. You can choose this option if you want to have, or to avoid being given, a particular medical treatment.

Statutory Health Attorney

If you have not appointed an attorney for health matters or made an Advanced Health Directive, your spouse/defacto, relative or unpaid carer can act as your Statutory Health Attorney to make health-care decisions for you when you are no longer able to make them for yourself. Usually the first person who is available and culturally appropriate according to the order of priority set out in legislation will be asked to provide the health consent for you.

Issues you may need to make advance decisions or arrangements about

• How will you ensure that your wishes are carried out if your health becomes poor?
• What would your Will cover?
• What living arrangements will best suit your needs?
• How will you arrange for your finances to be managed if you are unable to manage them yourself?
• Who will you approach to be your attorney if you should need help in the future?

Further information on these topics is available at www.justice.ald.gov.au/guardian or by calling the Office of the Adult Guardian on 3234 0870 or 1300 653 187.

Healthy Ageing

HEALTHY AGEING from Time Oct. 17, 2005. Living Better Longer by Dr. Andrew Weil. The complete article is valuable reading but space is available for only a small section. I have chosen "Exercise". Anyone who wishes to borrow the magazine may do so. See Barbara.

It is probably possible to lead an inactive life and still experience healthy aging, but it isn't likely. Almost all the healthy seniors I know were physically active throughout life, and many of them still are. They walk, dance, play golf, swim, lift weights, do yoga and Tai Chi.

Of course, it is possible to get too much physical activity, not just because overactivity raises the possibility of damaging joints, muscles and bones, but also because of the possible adverse effects on body composition, the nervous system and reproductive and immune function. Knees are especially vulnerable, and surgical methods for repairing them are less than ideal. Repeated concussive injuries, as in football and soccer, may be association with cognitive impairment in later life. That said, far more people in our culture err on the side of getting too little physical activity than too much.

Walking, it you do it vigorously enough, is the overall best exercise for regular aerobic activity. It requires no equipment, everyone knows how to do it and it carries the lowest risk of injury. The human body is designed to walk. You can walk in parks or shopping malls or in your neighbourhood. To get maximum benefit from walking, aim for 45 minutes a day, an average of five days a week.

Strength training is another important component of physical activity. Its purpose is to build and maintain bone and muscle mass, both of which diminish with age. In general, you will want to do strength training two or three days a week, allowing recovery days between sessions. You should be able to develop a routine, whether with machines, free weights or tubing, that you can complete in half an hour.

Finally, flexibility and balance training are increasingly important as the body ages. Aches and pains are high on the list of complaints in old age. Many of them are avoidable, the result of chronic muscle tension and stiffness of joints; simple flexibility training can prevent these by toning muscles and keeping joints lubricated. Some of this you do whenever you stretch. If you watch dogs and cats, you'll get an idea of how natural it is. The general principle is simple: whenever the body has been in one position for a while, it is good to briefly stretch it in an opposite position.

The best-known formal system of stretching is yoga, now immensely popular in the West. Many different styles of yoga exist, some very vigorous and demanding, some quite gentle. I couldn't be more pleased to see yoga becoming so mainstream; I think it will increase the numbers of healthier and happier people. But I do not recommend the strenuous forms for everyone. Older people will do best with gentle forms of hatha yoga.

Stay Active, Stay Independent
Stay on Your Feet

Good Eating

A healthy balanced eating plan will help you Stay on Your Feet

Make sure you have enough calcuim for healthy bones - but talk to your doctor if you feel you need a supplement.

And always make sure you drink plenty of water every day, especially during activity.

Prayer For Those Who Live Alone

When I was in far away Glastonbury recently I found this prayer and thought of all the Live-Aloners I know in Maryborough. After reading it, I realised that the need for reassurance is universal. I hope the prayer gives you as much pleasure as it gave me. Barbara.

I live alone dear Lord,
Stay by my side.
In all my daily needs
Be Thou my guide.
Grant me good health,
For that indeed, I pray,
To carry on my work
From day to day.
Keep pure my mind,
My thoughts, my every deed,
Let me be kind, unselfish
In my neighbour's need,
Spare me from fire, from flood
Malicious tongues,
From theives, from fear,
From evil ones.
If sickness or an accident befall,
Then humbly, Lord, I pray,
Hear Thou my call,
And when I'm feeling low,
Or in despair,
Lift up my heart
And help me in my prayer.
I live alone dear Lord
Yet have no fear,
Because I feel Your Presence
Ever near.

Jokes - Wedding Bloopers

Bride..... "to love and to cherish, in sickness and in health, till debt do us part."

Wedding Notice ..... Mr. and Mrs. John Hill announced the coming marriage of their daughter Helen. No mate has yet been chosen for the wedding.

Social report: ..... The bride was wearing a gorgeous old lace gown that fell to the floor as she walked down the aisle.

The Maryborough & District Committee on the Ageing Inc.