celebrating international day of older persons 1st October 2018
The 1st of October annually has been gazetted by the United Nations as the day to acknowledge elder generations worldwide. To honour the elders in our community and to celebrate this day in the Northern Rivers region, the Joy of Ageing team held an event in Ballina, NSW – Celebrating International Day of Older Persons.
The day’s program was officially opened by Councillor David Wright, Mayor of Ballina who talked about the way council is considering the needs of older residents in their planning strategies. David is a role model as an elder who is fully engaged in serving the community.
The focus of the presentations on the day was to care for our body as we enter into the cycle of the elder years. |
The morning’s program was an opportunity to present the importance of self-love and caring for our body and to ensure that we are fit for life and can continue to live joyfully.
The inspiring presenters came from a range of fields; medicine, physiotherapy, naturopathy, yoga and palliative care. Our audience engaged enthusiastically in discussions and enjoyed participating in the physical activities. The wellbeing tent was a popular venue for esoteric hand massages and many expressed how the experience felt very healing.
The first presentation of the day by Dr Anne Malatt clearly brought the message that we need to self-love, self-nurture and value our bodies.
Presenting from her own personal experience that the way she had previously been living was neither healthy nor loving, Anne explained how she made different lifestyle choices, to now live with increased vitality and quality of life. With her experience in medicine, her talk was very practical in advising us to take responsibility for our health and wellbeing, as well as in the importance of having a two-way communication with our doctors.
The inspiring presenters came from a range of fields; medicine, physiotherapy, naturopathy, yoga and palliative care. Our audience engaged enthusiastically in discussions and enjoyed participating in the physical activities. The wellbeing tent was a popular venue for esoteric hand massages and many expressed how the experience felt very healing.
The first presentation of the day by Dr Anne Malatt clearly brought the message that we need to self-love, self-nurture and value our bodies.
Presenting from her own personal experience that the way she had previously been living was neither healthy nor loving, Anne explained how she made different lifestyle choices, to now live with increased vitality and quality of life. With her experience in medicine, her talk was very practical in advising us to take responsibility for our health and wellbeing, as well as in the importance of having a two-way communication with our doctors.
The following presentation was by Kate Greenaway and Lisa Hansberry. Kate has a solid background in physiotherapy and has worked with many clients with complex chronic pain. Lisa has taught yoga for many years and is passionate about the benefits of Esoteric Yoga practice and she guided us gently into a deeper connection with our bodies. Kate then demonstrated ways that we can maintain good posture as we age and supportive connective tissue exercises to keep our bodies flexible and supple.
|
Participants had the opportunity of being able to connect with others and talk with the presenters during the morning tea break, with many complimenting the team on the delicious gluten-free, dairy-free, sugar-free treats.
After the morning tea break, an interesting and informative presentation was given by the two highly-regarded Naturopaths, Henrietta Chang and Zoe Sherrin. They explained the nutritional needs that we need to be aware of in our elder years with some colourful charts demonstrating the importance of having nutritionally dense meals. We were all surprised to learn that fats are actually beneficial to our bodies and do not make you fat.
Our distinguished men were thoroughly enthralled listening to Zoe and Henrietta give us some valuable tips about eating well in our elder years.
The title of the next presentation, ‘Living Joyfully to our Last Breath’, caught everyone’s attention. Elizabeth Dolan, who has been awarded for her work with palliative care patients, captivated the audience with her humour and down-to-earth attitude to death and dying.
The title of the next presentation, ‘Living Joyfully to our Last Breath’, caught everyone’s attention. Elizabeth Dolan, who has been awarded for her work with palliative care patients, captivated the audience with her humour and down-to-earth attitude to death and dying.
She brought our attention to the importance of making the subject of death and dying an everyday conversation. Her co-presenter, Anne McRitchie, shared her experience of having been medically close to death several times in a way that showed that death is not to be feared and can actually be a joyful process. They both stressed the importance of preparing for the end of life stage by completing the relevant documents, and more importantly, completing relationships with family and friends by saying everything that you want to say, e.g. I love you.
|
This event truly celebrated the International Day of Older Persons by starting the conversation to break down some of the ideals and beliefs we have around ageing. We very much look forward to future events, which celebrate the Elders in our communities.
Finale to a grand day of celebration – members of our CIDOP team with presenters.
TESTIMONIAL from one of our visitors:
MY THOUGHTS RE THE AGEING EXPO - CIDOP
A friend Deidre called to my home with an invitation to celebrate International Day of older persons in Ballina. My daughter drove me to the venue at the Richmond Room in Regatta Avenue where we found the place was alive with activity as we entered, a pretty corsage was pinned to match our clothing. Then after a cup of herbal tea I was given a hand massage by a delightful young woman, who I later learned was in her 70s!
Then came the animated speakers to show us self care in aging. After a short break for morning tea, the speakers continued. I am so glad we accepted my friend's invitation for I for one, came out of the meeting feeling much brighter for the experience that morning took me back more that twenty years to my retirement in the Northern Rivers where I had joined several Women’s Organisations where I became a busy newcomer. I now look back on that time and count my blessings and hope that my daughter may take an interest now that she is in her late sixties. Thank you for a lovely morning.
Josephine
TESTIMONIAL from one of our visitors:
MY THOUGHTS RE THE AGEING EXPO - CIDOP
A friend Deidre called to my home with an invitation to celebrate International Day of older persons in Ballina. My daughter drove me to the venue at the Richmond Room in Regatta Avenue where we found the place was alive with activity as we entered, a pretty corsage was pinned to match our clothing. Then after a cup of herbal tea I was given a hand massage by a delightful young woman, who I later learned was in her 70s!
Then came the animated speakers to show us self care in aging. After a short break for morning tea, the speakers continued. I am so glad we accepted my friend's invitation for I for one, came out of the meeting feeling much brighter for the experience that morning took me back more that twenty years to my retirement in the Northern Rivers where I had joined several Women’s Organisations where I became a busy newcomer. I now look back on that time and count my blessings and hope that my daughter may take an interest now that she is in her late sixties. Thank you for a lovely morning.
Josephine
Our inaugural event proved a big hit so sign up for our Newsletter (below) and stay tuned to this page for information on Celebrating the International Day of Older Persons Expo for 2019.
All written content copyright © 2022 Joy of Ageing Esoterically Pty Ltd and all Authors as mentioned.
Photos copyright © by the photographers: Alan Johnston, Clayton Lloyd, Dean Whitling, Desiree Delaloye, Iris Pohl, Steffi Henn, Steve Leca ,
Shannon Everest, Matt Paul, Gayle Cue
Photos copyright © by the photographers: Alan Johnston, Clayton Lloyd, Dean Whitling, Desiree Delaloye, Iris Pohl, Steffi Henn, Steve Leca ,
Shannon Everest, Matt Paul, Gayle Cue