Friends,
Ballet Dance last Friday – Fun and beneficial
Last Friday, Melissa Anderson from Danceworks led us in a ballet lesson. We got to know Melissa and her fun personality much better as well as gain a lot of respect for her dancing knowledge and abilities. She taught much of it as we were sitting, and then moved us to standing for those who could stand. If you couldn’t stand you were able to do the moves sitting. Melissa made it very friendly and adaptive.
Personally, I was challenged with the balance aspect of it and can certainly see how beneficial this type of dance can be for all of us living with MS who have some memory and balance challenges. Melissa was an excellent teacher and had lots of variations for all abilities.
If you missed it last week, hopefully you’ll get an opportunity to try it again in the near future. Melissa sure made it fun, doable, and memorable for all that participated. Thank you, Melissa, Dr Ng, Jessica and Dr Kate Kern for making this possible!
Rebounding opportunities
I love it when I see so many people getting comfortable on the rebounders.
We have a group of people putting them to the test at 6:00 in the morning every morning.
We are seeing incredible progress in every person that’s doing this. As we gain more experience, we will be sharing the progress with you and providing more opportunities. In the meantime, please continue getting comfortable on them.
Volunteer Appreciation / Christmas party
Our annual volunteer appreciation / Christmas party will be next Wednesday, December 18th. There is a sign-up sheet at the gym for food. I hope to see you there!
The gym is now open one evening per week.
If our morning hours don’t work for your schedule, then you’re in luck! Dr Kate Kern will be hosting evening gym hours from 4-7pm each Monday starting on 12/9/24. Exercise on your own or participate in a group cardio or strength class. Caregivers/partners and volunteers are welcome and encouraged to join. Please reach out to Dr Kate directly with any questions or comments at kborn123@gmail.com
Ed and Adam’s Podcast
After two weeks of no podcasts, Adam and Ed were able to make one this week. Adam and Ed made a podcast about Thanksgiving and what they’re thankful for. It sounds like they had some really good food for Thanksgiving 😊
Here’s a link:
https://creators.spotify.com/pod/show/ava-g4/episodes/Thanksgiving-e2rus4h
Thanks Adam, Ed and Ava for doing these podcasts together!
Member Spotlight – Pam Tyler and Joan Ruffino
Pam and Joan have been making amazing progress in the past few weeks. There have been a few of us coming to the gym at 6:00am every weekday morning and bouncing on the trampolines. Pam and Joan have both been consistent every day…yes at 6:00am. They are making progress with energy levels, balance, strength, mental clarity, and endurance along with other benefits. Be sure to ask Pam and Joan about their experience when you see them. We will be providing more opportunities for rebounding soon. We would love to see more people making progress like Joan and Pam are.
Cardio and Balance Programs
These classes are aimed to get everyone exercising together. I like that word “together” 😊. We’ll need help from volunteers before and after the cardio class on Wednesdays and Fridays to get members on and off equipment. All are welcome and encouraged to join.
Wednesdays
8:30am – 9:00am: Cardio exercise
Location: in the big room using aerobic equipment in front of big TV
Pick your favorite piece of equipment to use, bring a water bottle, and arrive a few minutes early to get the equipment set up to your height.
10-10:30am: Cardio exercise
Location: in the big room using aerobic equipment in front of big TV
Pick your favorite piece of equipment to use, bring a water bottle, and arrive a few minutes early to get the equipment set up to your height.
10:30 – 11:00am Tai Chi led by Ricky
Fridays:
9:30 – 10:00am: High intensity interval training (HIIT) body weight circuit class. Great for those who aren’t attending Friday morning bike rides and want to get their heart pumping! Geared to intermediate to advanced ability level. Class may be indoors or outdoors depending on weather. Find Dr Kate at the start of the class time.
10:00 – 10:30 am: Seated balance class
10:30 – 11am: Standing balance class
Pick the class / classes you feel most able and comfortable participating in. We will have chairs set up to sit on and/or use for balance support.
Email Dr Kate at kborn1234@gmail.com with any questions.
Friday Morning Bike Ride
We are done for the season. Let’s work hard over the winter so we can pick right back up where we left off. Let’s enjoy our winter together and think Spring!
Educational Sessions
This Friday, December 13th 8:00am – 11:00 am – piggy backing off his visit to Froedtert, Brian Kolonick will introduce and demo a new assistive technology called the Cionic Neural Sleeve. This is a wearable functional electrical stimulation device that can be programmed to stimulate major muscles in the legs while performing everyday activities. Brian can demo the device for up to 5 people.
https://cionic.com/neuralsleeve
This Friday, December 13th 11:00am – 12:00 pm – Jamie Wolfe, nurse practitioner and MS certified nurse at ProHealth, will share with us about resources available to those living with MS from a clinical perspective.
Friday, December 20th 11:00am – 12:00 pm- Kate will demo the steps it takes to get up from the ground, whether it be from a fall or on purpose!
Friday, January 10th 11:00am – 12:00 pm- Volunteer meeting. Kate will facilitate a meeting to hear from volunteers about successes, struggles, or anything in between. We will also discuss tips and tricks with helping members.
Future topics could include: emotional health, nutrition, yoga, tai chi, wellness topics, safe use of gym equipment for your body, best exercise for you and more. What topics would you like to see? Please let Dr Kate, Joan, Traci, Ricky or Dan know.
Let’s get together!
We’ll be getting together from 8:00am – noon on Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings at the gym. Plus Monday evenings from 4:00pm – 7:00pm. I hope you’ll join us!
Wisconsin Metal Parts – Westmound Building
MS-Just Keep Moving, Inc.
W228N791 Westmound Drive
Waukesha, WI 53186
Prayer Group We’ll be having our prayer group Wednesday from 11:00am – noon.
I just love the way we share, pray and laugh together while we witness prayers being answered weekly. It’s truly amazing!
Thanks goes to God and to everyone that joins us. Let’s get together to share, listen, talk, give thanks, and pray however God leads us.
MS-Just Keep Caring – Our Caregivers support group will be the first and third Friday of each month from 10:00 – 10:30am. The next one will be Friday, December 20th 2024. If you’re a caregiver of someone you love with MS, please join us and share your experience of caring for your loved one. This has been very helpful for many. Thanks to all who participate!
Our Facebook page is private. That means you’ll need to join if you want access to all our fun and progress. We’re now at 569 members. That’s awesome! https://www.facebook.com/groups/2639832389489709
Our Facebook page is active and fun. Lots of people are doing more and sharing their journey on Facebook. Feel free to join, post and share your experiences and comments.
There were some awesome pictures, videos and comments shared again this past week. Thank you to all who are sharing!
Thai Massage with Ricky Heldt
Ricky will be here on Wednesdays doing Thai Massage.
There is a sign-up board to be used to accommodate your needs for your exercise plan. Some people with spasticity need to be massaged / stretched out before they can exercise. Some people need a massage after a hard workout to loosen up their tight muscles or relieve pain.
We have limited spots for massages, please be considerate of people that need the massage the most in order to do the exercises they need to do or recover from the exercises they just did.
You can pick the time slot that works for you.
Reiki with Linda and Mary Linda and Mary will be here on Fridays doing Reiki. Many people say their Reiki work is “magical”. We’re thankful for Linda and Mary for sharing their gifts and talents with us. Feel free to let them know you’d like to do Reiki with them. They also have a sign-up sheet.
Inspirational Humor with Adam Wollert
We’ll be having our inspirational humor zoom call with Adam again next Tuesday. Adam is a gift to all of us. Thanks to all who joined us today!
Please join us if you can.
Tuesdays @ 1:30PM
Here’s the link to join us…I hope you do!
Join Zoom Meeting with this link
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/9431389152?pwd=bWlYbFNaazVnM1M1cWxWMitlODdXUT09
Meeting ID: 943 138 9152
Passcode: 3qP2hu
Phone: 1-312-626-6799
Let’s reach out
I encourage you to share a smile and encouragement with someone. Perhaps you could call someone that you have not talked with for a while just to say hi and see how they are doing. We all could use a little extra love and encouragement.
MS is tough. Let’s have faith, remain calm, be flexible, help each other and learn as much as we can about the challenges of each day as we make good choices and take action.
Let’s keep moving, smiling and loving 😊 It helps!
In God We Trust…we are in good hands.
Dan
Our Website: http://msjustkeepmoving.org/
P.S. Last week I said our sandhill cranes flew south. I could have been wrong about that. Cal and I went on a walk in Delafield and saw about 30 sandhill cranes. Perhaps they just flew to Delafield.
They might hang out there for a while. If you’d like to see them, take a walk along the little river in Delafield.
Do sandhill cranes pray together? It sure looks like it 😊
We even saw a Great Blue Heron
And a couple ducks
And a red bellied woodpecker
We saw some colored water that was partially frozen running between some rocks. I guess we never know what we’ll see when we’re out there.
When we were on our hike Monday evening, we saw a cute little opossum.
We went to watch the Christmas Parade in Waukesha Sunday evening. I saw some ducks and got distracted. I didn’t have my camera…only a cell phone.
The sun was setting and lighting the ducks up nicely.
Sometimes we get a nice reflection
For those who can’t get out and enjoy nature due your challenges with MS…my heart is with you. You are with me every time I’m out there. I enjoy being out there and I also enjoy sharing with you. I know how hard it is not to be able to get out and enjoy nature. Let’s enjoy nature and God’s beauty together this way.
