A8 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM
SATURDAY, MARCH 28, 2015
FROM PAGE A1
TAI JI QUAN:
continued from page A1
the class is to help elderly
people reduce their chanc-
es of falling, although that
outcome is not guaranteed.
“Will it keep you from
falling? No,” she said. “But
it will make you stron-
ger and hopefully prevent
breaks and other serious
injuries.”
Wolfe
said
serious
breaks and other injuries
caused by falls can often
lead to a variety of oth-
er serious health ailments
among elderly people. She
said, many times, a fall that
leads to a break could be
the beginning of a long and
hard battle with other health
problems.
During the classes, which
take place from 1:30 p.m.
to 2:30 p.m. Tuesdays and
Thursdays at the Hermiston
Senior Center, Wolfe runs
her group through eight Tai
Ji Quan forms, which fea-
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hand and arm movements
and steps that force the par-
ticipants to use certain mus-
cles that improve balance
when a person feels like he
or she is about to fall or help
prevent bones from break-
ing if a person does fall.
During her class Thurs-
day, Wolfe started members
with a breathing exercise
meant to relax their minds,
which was followed by slow
MAEGAN MURRAY PHOTO
Hermiston resident Mary Solomon completes a form with the rest of her classmates during the
Tai Ji Quan Movement for Better Balance class Thursday at the Hermiston Senior Center. The
class has helped Solomon further recover from a knee replacement she had last April.
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warm up and then the full
forms.
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also took her class through
some new exercises that had
her students up and moving
around as they completed
parts of the forms. The goal
with those exercises, she
said, was to strengthen other
parts of the body while also
contributing to endurance
levels.
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I’ve had them move around
the room, but it won’t be the
last time,” she said.
Many class members
said they appreciate having
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an activity aimed at their
age group that also provided
an opportunity to get out of
the house.
Hermiston resident Car-
ol Poulson said she decided
to sign up for the class after
reading about it in the news-
paper. She said the main
reason it appealed to her
was because it is something
that would give her a reason
to leave the house after her
husband passed away re-
cently.
“I think this is great,” she
said. “Anytime you can get
out and do something, it is
always a good thing.”
Hermiston resident Don-
na Okay agreed.
“It’s nice to be out with
people and having some-
thing to do,” she said.
Morris said she has used
the classes to help strength-
en her shoulder, which
needed surgery after she in-
jured it. With tai ji quan, her
shoulder feels much better,
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“It’s a great activity,” she
said.
Wolfe said the age ranges
of the people in her classes
runs from 64 to 84 years old.
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everyone in a low-intensity
setting.
“What I like about it is it
is a gentle exercise,” Solo-
mon said. “It’s not one that
wears you out, but you still
get a good workout.”
Wolfe said the session
encompasses 48 total class-
es through the year. The
class is currently in week
14, but it is still open to new
members.
“I can work with them
afterwards to help get them
caught up on the forms, or
they can just come and fol-
low the leader,” she said.
Wolfe said the Tai Ji Quan
Movement for Better Bal-
ance class is evidence-based
and was created by senior
scientist Fuzhong Li of the
Oregon Research Institute.
“It really works,” she
said.
For more information
about the class, people
can contact Wolfe at 541-
561-5443 or email her at
hwolfe@capeco-works.org.
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