Impact Story January 2019
Shining a Light on Wellness: Mind, Body, & Soal
When the Towpath Trail YMCA opened in 2006, Shirley Tucker fell in love with the art of yoga. Acquiring mindfulness and a habit of regular exercise and healthy dieting, she has found a devoted passion to personal wellness. For the past year, she’s been teaching both yoga and qigong classes at the Towpath Trail YMCA, loving being able to spread her love for the art and better her own personal wellness. Initially, Shirley started teaching yoga at the Beach City American Legion, but at times would be without students to participate in the class. She says,
“The Y has made it possible to keep teaching. I’ve also joked that yoga is my retirement job and joining the Y staff has made that a possibility. One of my goals for 2019 is to become an Urban Zen Integrative Therapist.”
It is her practice of yoga and the training that she has gone through to embrace the meditative and spiritual side of the art that has helped Shirley to find solace during the difficult times in life, the feeling of health and wellbeing giving her motivation to move forward.
The YMCA has been a part of her life ever since she first learned to swim as a child. When the Towpath Trail YMCA opened, she rushed to get a family membership to share her wellbeing with her two youngest daughters. All four of her children lead healthy, active lifestyles, bringing her pride in knowing she has been their prime example of a healthy life. Overall, she has found the Y to be a great place to work out, socialize, and make new friends, being a great community resource that offers services for anyone. She states,
“The Y has added quality to my life by being able to take advantage of all that the Y has to offer.”
In addition to her job at the Y, Shirley has been a Registered Nurse at Aultman for 40 years, working as a nurse, in food services, and in the clinical lab. Currently, she is working on becoming board certified in Mental Health Nursing. When asked how having Aultman physical therapy at the YMCA could contribute to our community she replied,
“I was a client at Aultman physical therapy and I always had to work my therapy around my schedule because of the distance. I think having it closer to home would have made life so much easier. However, when my doctor suggested physical therapy, I was skeptical, but much to my skepticism, my results were amazing. One of the exercises prescribed, I do in my yoga classes.”
When it comes to making positive changes in your life, she encourages keep the consistency, don’t give up. “You will come to look forward to your ‘me’ time.” Her point is that no one is ever too young or too old to make a difference in the lives of others or themselves and she leaves us with a favorite quote of Walter Bortz, the author of Dare to Be 100, which states,
“Fitness for young people is an option, fitness for old people is an imperative.”
For I will restore health to you and heal you of your wounds.
Jeremiah 30:17
