Movement Is Medicine: Michelle Thielen on Aging Well, Building Strength, and Finding Joy After 50”
- Healthwise Exercise
- 10 hours ago
- 5 min read
1. What inspired you to become a fitness professional?
I grew up in the dance world and it was a natural progression to teach others the gift of movement. As we age, something gets locked up and people lose the gift of freedom in movement - the kind where you take up space, where your face lights up and there is no other care in the world. Some love a teacher guiding them into choreography, steps, or a flow on the mat. No matter where one is at, the importance is to never stop moving.
2. What certifications, degrees, or specialized training do you hold?
My first fitness certification was group fitness, then personal training and eventually yoga. Since then I have achieved many certifications in specialized trainings, including trauma, yoga therapy, 12 step and recovery and somatic movement.
During my professional dance days yoga was a requirement twice a week for injury prevention. I fell in love with it and started teaching in 2009, and even started a yoga school (YOGAFAITH) in 2013. Yoga has taken me all over the globe. I’m also able to incorporate my training and experience into my humanitarian work with young traffic survivors.
3. How do you approach fitness for people over 50, and what makes it unique compared to younger populations?
As we age the body naturally loses things such as a self-sufficient metabolism, healthy joints, bone density, muscle mass, elasticity, balance, and the list could go on. Being intentional about our health at 50 and beyond includes discipline in our nutrition and lifestyle. We must make health and movement a priority more than we did in younger years.
Fitness for people over 50 can be unique because our movement may look different. If we once loved high-energy activities, our older body may desire something with less impact where we are not jumping around or we may be prevented from getting the heart rate as high as we once could. Perhaps a runner may desire to walk more. Walking may double the time and effort that running once did, however it’s much easier on the joints and body as a whole.
Yoga is a unique exercise and can be enjoyed at any age, however, I find those that are aging to love the gentle movements and slower pace of yoga. Yoga also uses the body for weight resistance and challenges the balance so it’s a holistic approach to keeping the body, mind, and spirit healthy.
4. What are three of your favorite exercises for people over 50, and why?
Yoga
Walking, or walk-jogging
Strength training is a must, this can be with weights or body weight resistance
Floor aerobics or step (uses a bench with or without risers), as well as dance or a zumba-type class would be a close tie for #4.
5. What’s one small lifestyle habit you recommend that makes a big difference in long-term health?
If properly hydrating with clean, filtered water is a given, taking a walk outside every day is just good for the soul!
6. What’s a common misconception about exercising later in life that you’d like to clear up?
A common misconception is that resistance training can be 2-5 pounds. Though this is a great start, especially if one has never strength training before, there is no need to lessen the weight for resistance training but rather increase it as it takes more intentional effort to gain muscle as we age. I always say lift heavier than you think you can - grab the heavier weight, because you can always decrease if needed - but typically it’s a wow moment, “Look at how many reps you can do with that weight!”
7. Can you share a client success story that has inspired you in your career?
This began at a very young age when I was teaching dance to others. Seeing the faces light up or when others learned the dance and techniques but then did it with their own flare and ‘full out.’ What a joy to witness and the most rewarding part of teaching is guiding others into freedom and joy.
8. What advice would you give to someone who feels hesitant or intimidated to start exercising after 50?
Just start moving. Walk. Walk everyday as far as your body allows. Walk outdoors and absorb the beautiful creation such as the sky, trees, and sounds. Then, take some time to stretch, once again - noticing. Notice how the body feels, where it aches, perhaps trace the breath while you're stretching, noticing how the breath may be shallow or deep.
When you're mindful during your walk, surroundings, stretching or any activity for this matter, you will desire more of that activity. More of nature, more of quiet or alone time for contemplation or prayer, more deep breaths and stretching.
Soon, you’ll want to ‘keep it moving.’
9. What’s your personal favorite way to stay active?
Walking outside, I try for 10,000 steps each day which takes great intention. I bought a simple, inexpensive step counter so that I don’t have my phone with me (I actually never have my phone with me unless taking photos). Being unplugged is my healthiest habit.
And of course, yoga. I practice it, write about it, teach it and have certified thousands of others to teach it also.
10. If you could give just one piece of fitness advice to people over 50 to feel and look younger, what would it be?
You’ve heard it before, “Keep it moving.” Without our health we have nothing.
The Reason Healthwise Exercise TV Chose Michelle Thielen
to Bring Chair Yoga to Our Viewers
Michelle Thielen is a professional dancer who found yoga through her dance career and has been teaching somatic movement through dance and yoga for over 25 years. She is a certified yoga therapist, an ordained minister, and the founder of YOGAFAITH, a Christian Yoga Therapy school accredited by the Yoga Alliance, Christian Yoga Association, and IAYT. Michelle has been the lead trainer of over 200 Teacher Trainings, certifying thousands of instructors worldwide. She can be found teaching on platforms including OmStars, YogiApproved, BeYogi, IAYT, Yoga Alliance, and Yoga Journal.
As a Trauma Sensitive Yoga Trainer, Michelle regularly travels worldwide to aid in rescue efforts of human trafficked victims, combining her expertise in breathwork, sound and movement therapy with her humanitarian work. She is the author of, Stretching Your Faith: Practicing Postures of Prayer to Create Peace, Balance and Freedom and Exit Wilderness, A Roadmap Out of Depression and Hopelessness.
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