00;00;11;17 - 00;00;12;27 Unknown Hi, I'm Gail. 00;00;12;27 - 00;00;35;10 Unknown And hi, I'm Katherine. Welcome to women over 70 Agent Reimagined, our award winning weekly podcast. Now in its sixth year, visit women over 70.com to learn all about our offerings and ways to become involved. Consider visiting or joining H in Reimagined Circle and as a member, enjoy free participation in our online monthly programs. 00;00;35;10 - 00;01;00;06 Unknown We want to thank our sponsors. Intensive. You know, as skin agents, it becomes more fragile and bruises easily. Especially in the back of your hands or forearms. I'm loving skin tensor Bruce Cream, developed by Harvard trained dermatologist specifically for mature skin. It gently moisturizes and helps process date faster. Find it at skin intensive.com for 25% off. 00;01;00;07 - 00;01;06;04 Unknown Use the code capital W capital 070. That stands for women over 70. 00;01;06;04 - 00;01;09;26 Unknown today we're really excited to introduce you to Jackie. 00;01;09;26 - 00;01;11;26 Unknown Narrator. Who is 80. 00;01;11;26 - 00;01;50;27 Unknown Movement is the thread that captures her life. Jackie's journey has woven together diverse roles. Professional recruiter, dancer. Dance teacher. Life coach. Feng shui consultant, workshop presenter and organizer, each reflecting her deep belief in the transformative power of movement. Today, Jackie is dedicated to Hannah's somatic education, a gentle, neuroscience based approach that retrains the brain to release chronic muscle tension, relieve pain, and improve posture and mobility. 00;01;50;29 - 00;02;23;16 Unknown She's passionate about busting the myths of aging, the teaching that we can restore. The notion that growing older must mean physical decline, and demonstrates through her teaching that we can restore comfort, flexibility and vitality at any age through somatic, JLP helps people uncover and free habitual patterns in their bodies, empowering them to move with greater ease and feel more alive. 00;02;23;19 - 00;02;56;10 Unknown Jackie's passion is simple yet profound, helping others rediscover the joy of movement, gain more vitality, and truly feel at home in their bodies. Learn more at Jackie's website. Harmonious pathways.com and we thank Karen Ross. Episode 293 for introducing us to Jackie. So welcome Jackie. We're so help having you here. Thank you so much for that introduction. And thank you so much for the privilege of being here. 00;02;56;10 - 00;03;27;25 Unknown And to share my story. I, I feel very blessed and honored. I know you've had much, many more prominent people than me. To on your podcast, but I, yeah, but I, I I'm, I'm excited to share with you my journey and highlights of it that might inspire others. That's that's the whole idea. And I know you have plenty, because there's so much more to your story than what I've said here. 00;03;27;27 - 00;03;55;24 Unknown So tell us how movement became such an important part of your life. Yeah. Movement. And also I guess I have to say as I was reflecting on this planning for today, curiosity is another important, part of, you know, my interest in lifelong learning. So yes. Movement and moving the body. My body has been, important. 00;03;55;26 - 00;04;22;03 Unknown But but it's all about movement and energy. But that sense, that change is always happening in our lives. And and how can we adapt and flow with that change as well. So movement started way back after I graduated from high school. And, I decided to join the YMCA. So first came swimming. I didn't know how to swim, so I learned to swim. 00;04;22;05 - 00;04;51;11 Unknown Then I, became I joined water ballet and, and other, types of swimming and then exercise classes and then yoga or boy yoga came along, and that was kind of exotic. And so I started and I did I did yoga for decades and decades until recently. Once I started the Hana Somatics. But, the meditation was also important to me. 00;04;51;13 - 00;04;54;15 Unknown And, and then, lo and behold, 00;04;54;15 - 00;05;02;07 Unknown belly dancing was offered at the YMCA. And a friend said, why don't we take this class? Well, we did. 00;05;02;07 - 00;05;11;02 Unknown I continued, she dropped out. But, so that's another part of my journey. But it's like, movement just continued to, 00;05;11;02 - 00;05;20;03 Unknown expand and and and evolve over the ages until maybe 20 years ago when I started dancing. 00;05;20;05 - 00;05;24;29 Unknown Argentine tango. So that was a whole other realm, because 00;05;24;29 - 00;05;28;09 Unknown well, I was in a dance group for, many years. 00;05;28;09 - 00;05;43;09 Unknown and there it was. Ensemble dancing. But dancing. Heart to heart with another partner was a whole different experience. And one to allow yourself to surrender. 00;05;43;09 - 00;05;46;25 Unknown to, what you were guided into. 00;05;46;26 - 00;06;21;17 Unknown So that was that was quite a, another learning. So along the way, lots of spiritual studies, with yoga, I was inspired to study Hinduism and Buddhism and some of these ancient teachings that came along, or that I was exposed to and, from this, psychology and philosophy. I was always curious about all the ologies, including anthropology. 00;06;21;19 - 00;06;33;24 Unknown So, so any opportunity and while I never finished college, those were the kinds of courses that I was, you know, diving into and studying. 00;06;33;24 - 00;06;47;08 Unknown So one day I was working in this office job, and, this woman said, you know, why don't you travel? Let's see. That's the problem with me. Somebody suggest something new to me. 00;06;47;10 - 00;07;17;13 Unknown And I'm thinking, oh, travel. So that's when I started to embark on a whole journey of traveling. I think for about 15 years, I was, I would I would pick a country and I would study everything about it. The cultures, sometimes the language Spanish or Portuguese, and, and, and the political system. And then I ultimately learned how to make my own journey. 00;07;17;13 - 00;07;40;12 Unknown In other words, most of the times I would travel on my own and, even book my own places to go. And those were the days where you didn't have all this online business to do that, but I, I did that, and so I, I went to places like Spain, Portugal, Italy, Egypt. That was a big one. 00;07;40;15 - 00;08;06;17 Unknown Three weeks that really transformed my life. And and then, Mexico many times. So I climbed pyramids and ancient ruins and, and, and then Peru and Bolivia. I just you know, Argentina was just a constant. Oh, what else can I learn? What else can I experience? 00;08;06;17 - 00;08;18;00 Unknown So travel was, very enlightening and very, spiritually and personal growth for me. 00;08;18;02 - 00;08;27;08 Unknown And, but along the way and a lot of these things are sort of coming at the same time, and so I was 00;08;27;08 - 00;08;44;25 Unknown training in this belly dancing. Belly dancing. Okay. We know what that looks like on the stage or at a party seeing belly dancers. So I was introduced to a woman who was training to be a movement therapist at Columbia College in Chicago. 00;08;44;27 - 00;09;21;06 Unknown And so she, decided to create a dance company and use that as part of her training, you know, to present and so we then I was privileged to be a part of that. And it wasn't just dancing, traditional belly dancing with you're all exposed and everything. We did a lot of folk dancing, and then she was so creative that we were doing interpretive movements of ancient Egyptian wall paintings and the kinds of dancers that they had at that time. 00;09;21;08 - 00;09;50;14 Unknown And so we created a whole series of of these movements, and, and dances and in fact, I was able to a couple of years ago, take a many of the VCRs, you know, and put them online. So now, not only for those of us that were in the the troupe, but also for our director, Barbara Cargill, who now unfortunately is is having dementia. 00;09;50;16 - 00;10;21;15 Unknown But she's been able, with her husband to be able to see all these all the work that she's done and, and, you know, the, just the, the lives that have been changed through her movement and her, her creative tivity. So, so we formed a not for profit tax exempt called the nearest Heritage Dance Theater. And, so that's what it is under, on YouTube, if anybody is interested, Near East Heritage Dance Theater 00;10;21;15 - 00;10;23;11 Unknown Near Eastern Theater. 00;10;23;14 - 00;10;52;21 Unknown Yes. Okay. So, so I was teaching at a community college, belly dancing early in the day, you know, whatever is new or up and coming, somehow I gravitate to it. And so that was one of the things. But, but I was in that company for over 20 years, and, and then, and then I also along the way became a professional recruiter. 00;10;52;23 - 00;11;26;18 Unknown And so and then I thought to myself, well, how does how does recruiting have to do it's movement? But it is the movement of people's lives and careers and helping them find new ways. Or a new potentiality in their career to expand. So, so then, of course, along came funk sway. Okay. And some people might wonder, well, what's that got to do with movement? 00;11;26;18 - 00;11;52;26 Unknown Well, it really does have a lot to do with movement. It's the movement of energy. And so, it's the energy in your environment. So I got interested in because my friend Karen Ross hired a feng shui consultant, and I thought, oh, I'm going to do that too, because I was sort of in my career, not really satisfied. 00;11;52;26 - 00;12;20;06 Unknown And I wanted to make some shifts and changes and, and so anyway, she came in, did this consultation and then I suddenly became hot. And so I started studying and I went to the East coast and various areas to study with Chinese masters and people that were. And this was popular and I would say the mid 1990s and after. 00;12;20;08 - 00;12;52;07 Unknown So, so lo and behold, I just found myself not only doing consultations to individuals and businesses, but also teaching a three different community college people how to do their own feng shui. And I was doing presentations at libraries, many libraries in the area, and I had a slide show and it was, so I was having a lot of fun, you know, sharing and helping people to, find this in their own environment. 00;12;52;07 - 00;13;31;24 Unknown And, and really, while this, you might say, as an external experience, it's really an internal experience because it helps, you when you have the right environment, when it is harmonious, that it is supporting, you emotionally and psychologically as well as spiritually. So that's where harmonious pathways came along between that and my life coaching. So life coaching was something I thought, oh, you know, I, I want to, I want to work with people individually. 00;13;31;26 - 00;14;03;01 Unknown I mean, in a sense, I was doing a little coaching with the professional recruiting and I still continue to do that, but I, I wanted to go deeper and I think that's true of many of the things that I've done. As I, I'm always wanting to dive in deeper. I want to know more. I'm one experienced more and and of course, I'm also as b being a teacher in many of these different areas. 00;14;03;01 - 00;14;50;18 Unknown I want to teach others. I want to help others. And, along the way, and I don't think I've talked to this about this before. There was the environmental movement, 1990, and I became part of that. So I started a business called Ecology and Economics. It was a little ahead of my time, and I, started a I had workshops, I was bringing presenters and helping people to really find more peace and harmony with their, their own environment, and also to help people, feel the importance of our environment that we we need to care for it. 00;14;50;20 - 00;14;56;19 Unknown And I also was producing a newsletter called Ecology and Economics. 00;14;56;19 - 00;15;29;20 Unknown what's the economics part? Yes, that's a good question because if you start becoming more ecological, it becomes more economically advantage. So that's the thing that the businesses and today it is true those that are streaming line their businesses to make them, you know, it cuts and increases efficiency so that there's less waste. 00;15;29;20 - 00;15;39;04 Unknown And that's happening all over the world right now. As many, many opportunities for that. The people our companies are taking advantage of 00;15;39;04 - 00;15;40;24 Unknown so fast forward 00;15;40;24 - 00;15;46;18 Unknown and tell us a little bit about what Hanna's semantics is. 00;15;46;18 - 00;16;00;07 Unknown Hanna, semantics. So first of all, I just want to slip in there. I rest yoga nidra, which is a meditation guided meditation that I teach, each week. 00;16;00;09 - 00;16;33;03 Unknown By donation online. And, it's another, body centered movement, a body centered kind of modality. And, so I, I discovered it and it's guided deep relaxation and mindfulness meditation that really helps to release negative emotions and thoughts and calms the nervous system. And it helps to create more ease. And while we so I started this organization called Veterans Restorative Projects. 00;16;33;03 - 00;17;06;05 Unknown So I was going in with two other women and we were teaching in the VA system. This is practice. And we did that up until the pandemic. And then we could not go in anymore. But I continue online. But, before this and through much of my adult life, I have been in pain. Even when I was dancing, performing, you know, I had this these glitches, these this was these things that would go out of alignment. 00;17;06;05 - 00;17;48;20 Unknown And I was going in to the chiropractor consistently. And then it was one day, a number of years ago, my chiropractor said to me, I want you to stop thinking that you are out of alignment and that instead you're muscles are tense. And I'd like you to consider reading this book Somatics. Okay, something new. So I dove in, read the books, and then I started started training in it because I thought I want it for myself, but I'm thinking, I think I could help other people. 00;17;48;22 - 00;18;20;13 Unknown So and it was so much in alignment. Was I rest yoga nidra? That I said, whoa, you know, this is this is a good marriage between the two. So it's a, somatics is a term that was coined by Thomas Hannah back in 1976. And it's the study of the body experienced from within. And, and he focused this on the integration of mind and body. 00;18;20;16 - 00;18;53;14 Unknown And, so I'm a somatic educator is essentially is emphasizing retraining our body and brain through volunteering. What he coined appendicular and Pan is something that all animals do. Cats and dogs, you know, when you see them kind of, you know, squeezing here or there, especially cats or big on that, know they move their backs up, you know, and so forth. 00;18;53;16 - 00;19;26;23 Unknown So this is this is an involuntary kind of movement for them because it's natural for some reason, humans, for the most part, have forgotten that, except maybe when we yawn. So it is like a big yawn. And what it does, it contracts into certain, muscles. And then in the, in the is your contracting. And then as you release, you're lengthening those muscles that you contract it. 00;19;26;25 - 00;19;53;11 Unknown Because essentially what happens is any movement we do with our hands, our neck and so forth, our head, you know, it's it's we're contracting and that's what muscles are meant to do. But what happens is when we're hunched over all day looking at the computer or with looking at our devices, you know, our posture gets kind of weird, right? 00;19;53;14 - 00;20;31;28 Unknown And then we're kind of stuck this way. We with our body forgets our brain forgets how to be fully into our our harmonious state of of of alignment. And so, so these volunteer and so we're using these pen as voluntary movements so that we can all find a release so that when we go to sleep at night, we're not holding that tension into our sleep and never releasing completely. 00;20;32;00 - 00;21;07;12 Unknown And I'd like to actually just have you that our guide you in someone right now. So turn your head slightly to the right and then shrug your left shoulder towards the back of your head. And this hold at just shrug, shrugging. Understand comfort and just tilt your head slightly up towards the ceiling and you might notice. This might feel a little bit like when you were holding your phone in the crook of your neck, and then very slowly begin to release your shoulder. 00;21;07;14 - 00;21;22;10 Unknown Slowly feel the lengthening of the muscle. That's your trapezius muscle, and into your neck. And then slowly lengthening out. 00;21;22;13 - 00;21;59;16 Unknown So that's an example of the kinds of movements we do. But we can do that all over our body. Wherever there is pain and stuckness and tightness. And we can adapt these movements to whatever any particular person's needs are. And so the beauty of this work for me is it's empower, bring people to take charge of their own physical bodies. 00;21;59;18 - 00;22;37;18 Unknown And in doing so, they also can feel color more present because it is about being heightened, late, aware as you're doing, as you don't have music in the background, you stay in a quiet space. And it's very much like meditation in that respect. But it's very, you know, this sense of as, as Thomas has said, you know, it's it's that, that inter that proprioception, that inner sense feeling from the inside out. 00;22;37;20 - 00;23;04;15 Unknown And, you know, there are many others somatic movements. Yoga is one which emphasizes more and stretching where this one is doing a little bit of the opposite. And in terms of that. So it's it's very unique, but it's also very empowering. And that's what I truly love about it because I can teach people on zoom, I can teach people in person. 00;23;04;17 - 00;23;50;12 Unknown And, no matter how far away they may be, you know, and, and, and so, so it's, it relieves pain, it restores posture, and it, it unlocks lasting mobility and vitality. And that's a real key for me because I really feel that, that my miss Art not my miss my. Hey, my, you know, my motto is to bust the myths of aging, to help people realize that we don't have to allow ourselves to decline to the very end. 00;23;50;12 - 00;24;00;08 Unknown We can actually continue to stay mobile body, mind, and spirit all the way to the very end. 00;24;00;08 - 00;24;38;29 Unknown Very, very fascinating. Interesting. I'm definitely going to look at your website and, but you you say you don't have to allow your body to decline. And so, you know, you're, you're in your 80 and, and I'm 83 and so and Catherine's getting there and, you know, so, so how what's the mindset that you can use. 00;24;39;01 - 00;24;59;02 Unknown Can you help teach people that and to not let their bodies dictate and decline or. Yeah, or the diagnosis that okay. You know, you have arthritis. Therefore you're just going to continue to decline in that way. 00;24;59;02 - 00;25;20;05 Unknown you know, a lot of pain and tension and tightness has to do with, just allowing it to continue rather than addressing it as it arises, instead of waiting until it's too late. 00;25;20;07 - 00;25;43;04 Unknown So, it's it's really I, I would say having what is your purpose in life? How do you really want to feel? How if you were at a, let's say you were 70 years old and, and a lot of times were not looking towards the end our we were wait, no, no, that's not going to happen to me. 00;25;43;04 - 00;26;27;27 Unknown It's way up there. It's way up there. But it, it, you know, there is going to be a certain amount of decline. There's no question about that. But how can we remain optimistic and positive about staying open and curious? I think having that childlike my mentality, I like to say when I would work with my veterans, I'd say, okay, now take off your adult cap and put on your child cap and just be open and curious and, and, and, and look at the possibilities and potentiality. 00;26;27;29 - 00;26;56;15 Unknown And because I have worked with people that are much older than me as well and, and yet they know the benefits, they feel more vibrant and and free after they're doing the movements. And it's, it's about really knowing what your what your, what your purpose is. You know, how you want to feel and be in your body. 00;26;56;18 - 00;27;22;06 Unknown Yes. Very good. That's very good. So we always like to ask all of our guests in the few minutes we have left. And that is how do you think about your own aging? I think I know the answer that how do you. Yeah, well, I don't feel like I'm 80. I don't know what 80 feels like. And I don't think that's true. 00;27;22;06 - 00;27;51;09 Unknown I think that's true of anyone. Do you feel like your your age? Maybe you do, but, I guess I, I'm still in some ways 20, you know, and I remember, a famous neuro neuroscientist at Harvard, she said that, this is a few years ago, and she said 60 is the new 80. I mean, 80 is the new 60. 00;27;51;09 - 00;28;22;20 Unknown I'm sorry, the other way around. So I think I think we don't have to own an age. We really don't. And I, I just want to continue to be vibrant and alive. And the more I can do this first of all for myself, but also to be able to share others and, and guess what I am learning as I teach others. 00;28;22;22 - 00;28;48;20 Unknown It's always been the case. It's like sometimes I think, oh yeah, that's my issue too. What am I doing? What am I doing to address that? And so like recently in a, in a, a class I taught in person at the community college and, and later to the people said, oh, this work is really helping my side joint. 00;28;48;23 - 00;29;28;09 Unknown And I thought, oh, I'm so happy. And I'm thinking that the issue that I have had all these many, many years and and yet I'm still addressing it. Why? Because I think I overstretched it early on. And so but I have to accept that it may never be perfect. And that's okay as long as I have tools that I can use to help stay vibrant and alive and curious and continue to grow and learn and be in community with others that do the same. 00;29;28;09 - 00;29;31;11 Unknown just you just said so beautifully the mission of women over 70 00;29;31;11 - 00;29;38;24 Unknown glad we're in alignment here. We are very much. And listeners, because of your loyalty, our numbers continue to grow. 00;29;38;27 - 00;30;03;08 Unknown Still, we'd like to see more of you at our monthly online programs, Join Aging, Reimagine, circle, and participate for no charge. Make your voice heard as together we change the conversation about women aging. And we want to, If you like this podcast, we recommend another. And that's with host Wendy Green. Boomer banter. Real talk about aging well. 00;30;03;11 - 00;30;20;06 Unknown So she takes you on a journey to explore how to live vibrantly and healthfully with strong relationships and purpose as we age. So Wendy covers topics around financial literacy, mental and physical health, relationships, and purpose. And thanks for listening.