Springs Senior Citizen Club members gathered for a delightful morning on May 7 to celebrate the chair yoga’s first birthday.

The members enjoyed dancing, laughs, and delectable food while reminiscing about the club’s growth since its conception.

“It started with six people, and now I fear we might be too large a group to fit in this room,” said Karin Pienaar (68).

The group is led by a former nurse, Lorraine Sweeting, affectionately known as Lolly. The members shared testimonies of how their health and well-being have improved, thanks to the weekly exercise.

“Lolly taught me to walk. I used to struggle, but since I’ve started with the stretches, I can walk much better. I may wobble once in a while, but it is a stark difference from last year,” said 77-year-old Pat Hallas.

Penny Steele (78) said, “I used to be flexible but very weak, so I can tell that it has helped with my sciatica. I can now get up from the chair without having to push myself up.”

Bruce Bennett (75) shared similar sentiments, stating that his overall well-being has improved.

“The alternative for a lot of us is to stay at home on our own. Some of us don’t have our partners anymore, so we genuinely enjoy coming here twice a week.

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“It’s such fun. Apart from the exercises being good for you, there’s a good spirit, and we have a lot of laughs because Lolly is always cracking jokes,” he said.

Lorraine shared her excitement about their first birthday.

“I am absolutely dumbfounded that it’s a year old and has grown so much, she said.

She says she started the sessions because she has a heart for older people.

“It’s all about stretching, seated exercises – we also do standing exercises, but it’s mainly seated. If someone is weak, I will give them different exercises to suit what we are doing, which is a little bit harder.

“The big thing we focus on is the prevention of falling. We do different scenarios so they know how to help themselves,” she said.