My Grandmother
My gramps has always been a massive part of my life. She took me out on the weekends for ice cream or to the zoo where we’d watch our fave animal : the elephant. Her way of life of volunteering and giving to others has led me to view her as one of my biggest role models. But latterly, my grandmother has not been the same.
In the past 3 years her body has become extremely puny. She had a bad fall about and a half gone, and since that time the straightforward task of ascending the stairs to her apartment has scared her. Her bone density has decreased drastically and she has difficulty balancing. The active woman I knew had turned into a twitchy and unsocial person, and it totally broke my heart. She let her chums in her bridge club replace her, she no longer read in the park, she no longer volunteered. I watched her suffer from depression, like the life was being sucked out of her. I knew that this was not my grandmama.
After doing some research, I learned about Whole Body Vibration Training. I went with my granny to her first session and was extremely impressed with how well it went. Her tutor had her do a sequence of exercises while kneeling and standing on machines with oscillating plates.The trainer explained to me that these vibrating plates cause an involuntary reaction in the muscles that cause them to contract and release thousands of times in just a few minutes. After repeated vibration coaching, my grandma felt much more balanced, she has become much stronger, and her bone density has increased significantly. Now she’s back to all her favourite activities. The best part about the coaching is that it only takes 15 minutes to perform all the exercises needed to have a positive effect on the body.
To commemorate the new strength she was feeling, I took her to the zoo. We stood and watched the elephants play like we have always done. My opinion is that my grandmother has always been the powerful and caring woman I model myself after, but I love that now she feels that far too.
