I am a retired agricultural economist and my wife Helena a retired nurse. When I married Helena in March 2016, she regularly attended Christien’s MAP movement classes and wanted me to join her. I had a good excuse as I was still working fulltime and was away from home regularly. I promised to join her as soon as I retire. In December 2016 Helena had a brain aneurism and spent nearly two months in hospital and step-down facilities. In time she recovered and said that she wanted to start MAP-movement classes again. I had promised and thus had to join her. In August 2019 we started our MAP journey. That was one of the best decisions of my life.
My whole school and army life I hated physical exercises. But I made a promise, so there we were, in Christien’s class with all our aches and pains. At the first few classes we were unable to get up off the mat without help. We have now been part of MAP-movement for two years, with some disruption during the strict lock-down in 2020.
After two years I now know that aches and pains are not a required part of growing old. I no longer get up with a stiff neck or back-pain after a day behind the computer or on the road. My photography has improved a lot as I can now get down low and know that I will be able to get up again. Helena’s right arm was very weak after her aneurysms. It has now recovered nearly completely. MAP-movement’s slogan “Move whenever you can, move before you can’t” is just as true for us as it is for younger people.
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