SUCCESS STORY:
How the Building Better Balance DVD series affected
one large senior residence.

The COVID-19 pandemic created a unique opportunity for some. Solstice Senior Living is a retirement community in Sonoma County, California with 115 apartments. When the pandemic hit, residents were isolated in their apartments. All in-person group programming was halted as seniors were served within their apartments to reduce exposure to the COVID-19 coronavirus. 

One older resident had purchased a full set of Building Better Balance DVDs. At the start of the pandemic she convinced the head of the residence to allow 4 or 5 to gather in the exercise room, socially distanced, to take these DVD balance classes 3 times a week. For the past 17 months, the only physical activity at Solstice has been these classes, becoming a perfect research experiment. (How often are you given the opportunity to isolate seniors' activities over such a long period of time to study the health benefits of one particular program?) Here are some of the stunning results:

  • The resident who started this class by purchasing the DVD series told me her own story. In her elder 90s, before the pandemic she had been diagnosed with advanced and painful scoliosis of the spine. Her doctor had told her that the condition would just worsen with increased pain as she aged. A vigorous and dedicated person, she was quite self motivated to attend my DVD classes consistently every week for the entire year and 5 months. Now 100, she wonders if her scoliosis has actually disappeared because she is no longer in pain. She is certain that it could only be because of the Building Better Balance classes. 
 
  • In 2021, I had the opportunity to meet the students after class to answer questions. As I sat in the back of the room waiting for the DVD class to end I was amazed by what I saw. Everyone in the class was doing an excellent job! Even though many in the class needed walkers, canes or in one case a motorized wheel chair, they all looked fantastic and it was clear their balance was strong and improving. It is extraordinary if this is what my balance classes produce. 
 
  • I heard many stories of success during those questions and answers. One lady (in the wheel chair) exclaimed how her knee used to bother her so much. But now she does that fantastic BBB knee exercise* whenever her knee hurts and the pain disappears!
 
  • Classes became so popular that the director of the retirement home had to increase the maximum number of people allowed. Currently at least a dozen seniors take these DVD classes consistently.
* The Building Better Balance technique includes a number of unique exercises that I have invented myself including what is I believe the best knee exercise in the world. To read more about this exercise please see Knees That Hurt.
Published August 16, 2021.
​Updated July 23, 2022.