BIG ANNOUNCEMENT!! My Geriatric Gymnast story is highlighted in the Atlantic! Read on for more information. I am fully entrenched in all flippy things Paris 2024. Like the rest of the world, I love watching the glory of Golden Girls Simone, Suni, Jordan, Jade and Hezly, and the greatness of the bronze boys Paul, Brody,… Continue reading Geriatric Gymnasts in the Spotlight
Author: Stacey's Headspace
Educator, family woman, author and Geriatric Gymnast.
Preparing for my First Gymnastics Camp
Stepping out of your comfort zone is always a challenge. This article talks about preparing to take a giant leap out of mine. While I've been flipping for 16 years now, I have never flipped anywhere but my home gym. In the past year or two, I've seen lots of adult gymnastics "camp" and competition… Continue reading Preparing for my First Gymnastics Camp
Promoting adult gymnastics
Gymnastics is not just for kids anymore. This is a story of a recent encounter I had with a fellow writer, athlete and coach who is doing a deep dive into the expanding realm of adult gymnastics. I recently made a new flippy friend! Out of the blue, I got an email that caught my… Continue reading Promoting adult gymnastics
Inspiring Through Adult Gymnastics
Last June, I published Why Do I Post So Much?, a reflection on all of the gymnastics stuff I put on social media. At the time, I had posted a video that was getting some attention (over 140K views, which is gargantuan for my little account). As others commented how inspired they were by the… Continue reading Inspiring Through Adult Gymnastics
Transitioning to Summer Relaxation: A Teacher’s Journey
Now that summer break has officially begun, so too has my annual practice of hammocking whilst staring at the green, leafy trees dancing in the gentle breeze. On the first few days of summer break, I make myself sit on my hammock, especially when the sky is completely blue and clear, with just the faintest… Continue reading Transitioning to Summer Relaxation: A Teacher’s Journey
Validating Fitness Strategies: Gymnastics, Nutrition, and Bone Strength in Perimenopause
Back in 2022, I wrote an article called Keeping the Bones Strong, which was an overview of the science behind bone building and how gymnastics activities really helps achieve strong bones. This article tracks my recent DEXA scan and looks at the strategies I've been using to maintain strong bones. I've spent the better part… Continue reading Validating Fitness Strategies: Gymnastics, Nutrition, and Bone Strength in Perimenopause
Hot June Challenge, Geriatric Gymnast Style
What do Geriatric Gymnasts do in the heat? We pull it back a bit, but we still know how to have fun. Read on for some tips and examples of how we navigate class in the hot summer heat. The heat is on! Tuesday was one of those long, hot days just before summer begins.… Continue reading Hot June Challenge, Geriatric Gymnast Style
Empowering GenX Women: Navigating Perimenopause with Expert Guidance
On one of my recent long walks, I was inspired to commemorate some thoughts on my iPhone. Seems as though walking gets the brain juices flowing and that's when many of my thoughts spill out. Dictating through heavy breaths, I waxed philosophical about being smack-dab in the middle of the menopausal transition. Living in perimenopause… Continue reading Empowering GenX Women: Navigating Perimenopause with Expert Guidance
Practice makes habits
Whether you are a newbie or veteran gymnast, this article might be helpful when you consider how you create consistency in your training habits and why the journey is so darn hard. Gymnasts, particularly those of us “of a certain age,” work to develop complex physical skills through the obstacles of body limitations, fear and… Continue reading Practice makes habits
When it’s time for them to come back
Last August, I wrote a couple of posts about the slow slide to the empty (albeit temporary) nest. For the first time, both of our kids would be in college, and my husband and I would rediscover life as a couple. This is an update, nine months later. Oh, how time slowly flies. Read When… Continue reading When it’s time for them to come back
A Primer for Back Tucks on the Trampoline
This article is designed to help gymnasts who are struggling with their back tucks on the trampoline. It offers lots of how-to tips and detailed, step-by-step descriptions of the hows and whys of the drills I've personally used to improve my technique. One of the main questions I often get relates to getting over the… Continue reading A Primer for Back Tucks on the Trampoline
Improving back handsprings, part 2
This article was actually written and published in February 2024, before my April version of Improving Back Handspring Technique. For some reason, it got lost in the WordPress ether and I had to do a lengthy archive search process to find it again. When I read it through, there was even more useful information than… Continue reading Improving back handsprings, part 2
Improving Back Handspring Technique
If you are looking to solve your back handspring issues, this article might give you some food for thought. Back handsprings are one of the harder basic skills to acquire, especially for adult gymnasts. The idea of hurtling yourself backwards onto your hands, then snapping your feet back down to the ground and rebounding back… Continue reading Improving Back Handspring Technique
Return to nature
It's been eight months, but I finally returned to my beloved Ramapo Reservation for my first hike of the season. I had almost forgotten the amazing feeling I get from spending a couple hours traversing the nature preserve and all of its offerings to my soul. I was inspired to share some of the benefits… Continue reading Return to nature
The Power of Yet
This article is the convergence of all areas of my life experience: teaching, parenting, singing, and being a Geriatric Gymnast. No matter what the effort is, I have found myself feeling like I am lacking in more ways than one. I've mused a lot about impostor syndrome. I published a meditation about it, talked about… Continue reading The Power of Yet
Commit to the Fundamentals
In gymnastics, every choice you make is an important one. Each skill, whether a handstand, salto (flip) or a complex combination of moves, requires a laundry list of technical requirements. When you are first starting out, that list can be very intimidating. I coach adult gymnastics at Flipper's Gymnastics in Ramsey, NJ. We now offer… Continue reading Commit to the Fundamentals
Translanguaging in Arts Education
I am an arts educator. My charge is not only inspiring the creative spark in adolescents, but making sure our English Language Learners have equal access and opportunity to participating in the creative spirit. When you are in charge of a school theater organization, you shoulder the weight of so many things, artistic decisions being… Continue reading Translanguaging in Arts Education
You have to go through it.
This phrase is something I found myself saying since the beginning of the 2023-2024 school year. It was one of those wise things I’d say to the kids when things looked tough, like during the last two weeks of our fall show PUFFS when the Monday tech rehearsal was over three-and-a-half hours long and it… Continue reading You have to go through it.
Mental Breakthroughs 2
Two years ago, I wrote an article about some of the mental blocks I've managed, largely due to injuries sustained, and the mental breakthroughs I've made in trying to overcome them. Months later, I did a little research and realized that the reason for the blocks was due to our lizard brain, the part of… Continue reading Mental Breakthroughs 2
Phytoestrogens and (peri)menopause
As a female Gen Xer firmly in the middle of her (peri)menopausal transition, I realize just how much I don't know about this part of my own life cycle. In my (peri)menopausal quest for knowledge, I've been digging for good research to learn what actually helps and what is bunk. This article delineates some of… Continue reading Phytoestrogens and (peri)menopause
Passing the torch
As I write this post, I have three and a half years to go before I step away from teaching at Spring Valley High School. Now is the time that I am starting to think about succession; who will take over for me when I retire? What will happen to Thespians, which was handed to… Continue reading Passing the torch
Weight-loss 12: Tricky 2023
It seems I’m posting these weight-loss journey reports biannually now. Apparently, I wax weight management when my work life wanes; during winter break and just as summer starts. A year ago, I recalled in part 10 the food challenges during my November reverie (birthdays, anniversary, Thanksgiving) and into the winter holidays (Chanukkah latkes and Christmas… Continue reading Weight-loss 12: Tricky 2023
Mid-life Musings: Insomnia and Brain Fog
Insomnia. Wake at 3:30 a.m. Go to the bathroom. Lay back down under the covers. Never get to slide back into the state that unlocks rest and dreams. It’s a form of slow torture. Historically, I've been a champion sleeper. Younger me would sleep 12 hours without missing a beat. Sit me down on a… Continue reading Mid-life Musings: Insomnia and Brain Fog
It’s November again
It's been a while since my last post. Once the boot came off from breaking my foot in August, it seems I hit the proverbial ground hobbling, then running, I was able to drive again, I started testing the foot in the gym, slowly adding some flipping back into the mix. I've also gotten busier… Continue reading It’s November again
Sometimes you break yourself, part 8
I'm approaching the end of week seven post-fifth metatarsal break and the foot is healing, slowly but surely. My follow-up appointment was on Friday morning, just two days before the end of the seven-week mark. Another set of X-Rays were taken and unfortunately, it didn't look that much different from the one taken the week… Continue reading Sometimes you break yourself, part 8
Sometimes you break yourself, part 7
It's been a couple of weeks since my last update. I'd been putting it off until this week's doctor's appointment, the anticipation of which was a source of anxiety and a bit of dread. I finally returned last week to the gym, not to flip, but to coach. It was good to breathe the air,… Continue reading Sometimes you break yourself, part 7
The Geriatric Gymnast chats with painter Tessa Lang
On the eve of the launch of her brand new Chtapodi Collective line, Tessa Lang was so gracious to sit for a chat to talk about her artistic journey and diving into the world of wearable art.
Sometimes you break yourself, part 6
I've been back to work for a week now, and I have to say in the middle of week four, I am exhausted. The boot saga continues.
Sometimes you break yourself, part 5
Healing a broken bone takes a long time. Intellectually, I know this. Emotionally, it's a whole other story.
First day jitters
After 27 years in education, I still get anticipatory anxiety on the last night of summer vacation. It's even worse with a broken right foot. Here's the play by play how I worked through it.
Stacey's Headspace 