by Connie Bateman
Several years ago, when I was much younger and had low vision, I participated in dance classes, aerobics classes, and step aerobics classes. All I had to do was talk to the instructors in advance to explain the nature of my sight loss and the need for me to stand near them in front of the class to follow their routines. I also asked them to be as verbal as possible.
When I transitioned from low vision to blindness 16 years ago, I thought my exercise days were over. Then I heard about a program called Eyes Free Fitness which offered audio-described workouts. I purchased the easy workout set, which consisted of workouts for stretching, upper body core, lower body and balance, and cardio. I downloaded this workout set onto my Victor Reader Stream and was able to do the workouts at home. Later, I purchased a balance routine and a cardio workout on thumb drives and was able to play them on the NLS player.
A couple of years ago, I heard about wellness and lifelong learning classes offered by a senior center called A Community of Caring (ACC) here in Sacramento, Calif. One of the classes that interested me was a dance aerobics class called Moving On. I contacted the coordinator of the program, and she connected me with the instructor through e-mail. The instructor and I met on Zoom a few times so he could show me some of the routines and make sure I was doing the movements correctly. Then I signed up with the ACC Rides program so I could get rides to the class every Friday. The drivers get me to the class 15 minutes early. This gives the instructor time to show me what routines we’ll be doing that day. When I lost all of my sight, I realized that I’m not able to stay in place because it’s difficult to know where I am in space, so I use a chair to anchor myself in place and to line myself up when I need to move forward and backward and right and left.
ACC also has a walk program in which they pair up visually impaired people and seniors with senior escort volunteers. This decreases isolation and loneliness, gets us out of the house, makes us visible in our neighborhoods, and helps us to stay active.
A resource I heard about from the ACB community healthy living support group is the Northwest Association of Blind Athletes. This group has audio-described workouts online which you can follow from the comfort of your home. I’ve done a few of their dance aerobics workouts, and the audio description is very clear and easy to follow.
Speaking of the ACB community, there are several exercise classes available on these Zoom calls which are sponsored by ACB’s Get Up and Get Moving campaign. I attend the resistance classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays using resistance bands, and the happy hour cardio class on Wednesdays. The instructor does an excellent job describing the movements, and the people who attend her classes are fun and motivated.
Although we are blind or visually impaired, we can have active lives when we choose to take advantage of the many resources available to us. Find a variety of activities that you enjoy doing, get together with other people, and get moving!