Author-writer Usha Jesudasan, 70, has lived with polio since she was two years old. She shares how her relationship with exercise has changed over the years and why we must exercise the body, mind and soul.
My mother said that I could walk when I was just eleven months old and run by the time I turned one year. ‘I was so proud that you could do these things earlier than your cousins. Your chubby little legs going pat pat pat on the ground when the others were just learning to stand.’ ‘But then just after your second birthday, you came down with this strange fever called polio and you were paralyzed from your neck down. My walking, talking, running little doll girl could not move at all. For two years we took you to all kinds of doctors and healers and with massage and exercise you recovered to a point.’
My right leg was always very weak, the muscles being affected badly from polio. I could walk first with the help of heavy calipers, but needed a lot of exercise. How I hated the exercises. I was stuck at home doing leg lifts and bends when my cousins were out playing. But these regular exercises helped so that I could eventually walk without calipers.
Over the years I have had so many fractures that I stopped counting them. Recovering from these was always hard and painful – taking those first steps, learning to balance again, falling over, the depressing feeling that I could never walk again. My self confidence at these times always plummeted. What helped most was those dreaded exercises.
I never really enjoyed ‘ going for a walk’ until I got married. As a new bride, my husband and I lived in the forest campus of a leprosy sanatorium. Every evening after work we had a typical English tea with my homemade cakes and biscuits. Then just before the sun went down, he would take my hand and we would go for a walk. But ‘first some exercises to warm up,’ he would say, showing me what to do. ‘ Twist your hips like this. Move your legs like this. Lift your legs like this. Bend it five times and we are ready to go!’ Then we would gently saunter through the campus. He would point out a flash of turquoise amidst the greenery and point to a kingfisher just before it flew swiftly into the pond and out again with a fish in its beak. On the ground there would be huge ants or caterpillars of different colours. We sat on a stone ledge and watched glorious sunsets. And then walked home again. The routine would be the same - stretch / lift/ balance and do it all again. And again. I was too in love with my husband to figure out that he was cleverly putting me through an exercise routine to strengthen my leg muscles without my rebelling against it.
After a lapse of twenty five years and many changes to my life, I began walking for pleasure again. Once round the block, then rest on a little ledge, watching the stars and clouds and the moon, feeling the fresh breeze. I began sleeping better, and my joints felt less stiff.
Over a month ago I came down with viral flu and was confined to bed for almost 2 weeks. It took me a month to recover and I listened to the doctor’s advice to rest and take things easy. Perhaps I rested a bit too much! When I did start moving around, I found I couldn’t balance anymore or take even a few steps. My knees were buckling. A visiting doctor friend said, ‘ You hardly have any working muscles in your leg. Perhaps getting a physiotherapist home to show you muscle strengthening exercises might help.’
So since then I have been doing a daily intensive workout of the same exercises I did as a child – bend, lift, stretch and repeat again- with the help of a young physiotherapist who is even stricter than my dad. This time around I have also been using sandbags on my feet as I do the exercises. Three weeks later, I find I’m able to take a few steps on my own without losing my balance.
One of the lessons I have learnt late in life is that no matter what our age, physical exercise is an absolute must. It is so easy as we get older and especially if we have any kind of infirmities to become ‘ couch potatoes.’ To sit in front of the television and let our aging muscles become lax and flabby and useless. To have things done for us all the time. In the long run, this makes us a burden on our caregivers. So find a time that suits you (mine is first thing in the morning before I get out of bed) and follow your routine religiously. Do as much of the household activities as you can. Make your bed/ hang out the washing/ sweep the floor/ stretch as much as you can!
Just as we look after our bodies, we also need to look after our minds. ‘Minds age faster than bodies,’ warned my doctor. So I try to fill my mind with different activities. I’m a writer, so naturally I write a lot. I love reading so that also finds a space into my day. When I’m angry or upset I listen to music. ‘ Learn something new,’ advised my doctor. ‘Learning something new gives a thrill. During this time, our brain produces dopamine which makes us feel good and happy and makes us want to repeat the activity again and again so that we can keep feeling this happiness for as long as we can.’ Don’t use age as an excuse to not learn new technology that connects to friends and family.
I picked up the crochet hook and some sparkling red wool and relearned how to crochet after a lapse of almost fifty years. My fingers had become like cucumbers over the years so learning the basics needed a lot of concentration. I got myself a keyboard and have promised myself that I will do this also for half an hour a day. Another piece of advice I was given is to memorize poems, verses and songs!
What happens when we don’t learn new things as get older? A non - active brain slows down and can possibly increase the risk of dementia. We can also literally get bored to death!
We are beings formed with mind, body and spirit. It is at this stage of our lives that we need a calm accepting spiritual nature.
How do we nurture and weave this into our lives after years of neglecting it being busy with other things?
One does not have to be overtly religious to be spiritual although reading our scriptures and following faith rituals helps us to have inner peace. Accepting our physical limitations, being grateful for the many things life has given us, counting our blessings and strengthening relationships are ways in which we can nurture our spiritual lives. Being amid Nature is another soul calming activity. It doesn’t matter whether you live in the heart of a city, or a rural area, beside the sea or mountains – from wherever you are you can enjoy a bit of greenery, even if it is in a pot. I like watching my little balcony garden grow and observe the birds and butterflies flying around outside. Some days I watch the clouds and on stormy days love the sound of rain splashing on my window. Wound around my plants are some solar lights which bring much beauty and joy in the evenings and help calm me down. By the time we have reached our sixties or seventies we would have gathered a lot of unnecessary baggage like resentments, frustrations and irritations, jealousy, and so on. Now would be a good time to let these go so that our souls can be lighter as we prepare to leave this world for the next! This too is a form of exercise that we need to do every day.
EXERCISES FOR THE BODY
Stretch and Bend. Lift your arms and legs. Walk . Keep moving.
EXERCISES FOR THE MIND
Learn something new. Memorize a poem. Keep a journal. Paint/ sew/ do something with your hands.
EXERCISES FOR THE SOUL
Read something that brings good thoughts to your heart. Forgive the person who has hurt you. Do something nice for someone. Share an idea or a recipe. Have something beautiful around you and gaze at it as often as you can.
