Silver Sneakers helps make retirement a joy!

I never thought, living in the landlocked heartland, that I would start my retirement days in a lovely pool of warm water.  But I am doing just that and it is the very best thing about retirement.

Three days a week, at 9 a.m. Hubby and I do water aerobics at our neighborhood YMCA.

We get to go swimming free through the Silver Sneakers program.  If you are over 60 and NOT a member, please check with your insurance carrier NOW! Coventry, AARP, Humana all offer the Silver Sneakers program.  It is a free membership and once you have your card, you are entitled to so many activities.  The only one we use is the FREE membership to the Y which is an all inclusive membership, allowing us to partake of all the Y activities, including water aerobics as many times a week as we choose.  This is a huge benefit for retired folks on a fixed income and all it took was a call to Coventry and our membership cards were in the mail.  We took those cards to the Y and got our free memberships from them.

The 8 a.m. aerobics class is more athletic but it is just too early for me so Hubby agreed to the 9 a.m. which is more for the really old and arthritic, which actually is Hubby (arthritic -- not really old).  The water temp is nearly always perfect, the pool is well maintained, even with lots of use throughout the week, and the participants are diverse and friendly.

These are actual shots of the pool in which we work out.  

On Mondays and Wednesdays the babies come in at 9:30 for "swimming lessons" -- mostly just splashing in the pool and learning pool-side safety (no running, no jumping, etc.).  Us olders love to watch the tots as they, either with great glee or fearful wonder, explore the shallow end of the pool. It's hard for us to maintain our focus on our own workouts.  On Friday the mentally handicapped children come at 9:30 and it is just as joyful to watch them whoop and clap as soon as they see the water.  

However, the 8 and 9 a.m. hours for the pool are NOT open to the public and we oldsters doing aerobics have the whole, huge pool for our enjoyment, except for the 9:30 classes.  

My personal well-being is greatly enhanced with my "communication" with the water; I love being in the pool and every day we go is a better day for having spent an hour exercising in my "rejuvenation juice."  I thought my swimming days were behind me but life has handed me a lovely surprise and I'm very grateful.