Recovering Strength Through Chair Yoga at the Plant City Y

After six years of caring for her parents until their passing, Theresa moved to Plant City with her husky-mix Pearl, finding stability in a local senior community. 

Earlier this year, that stability faltered. 

Years after surviving the cancer that took her right kidney, Theresa’s remaining kidney function dropped suddenly. Her blood pressure surged. Walking Pearl around the block grew difficult; she relied on a walker and faced a constant fear of falling. Doctors adjusted medications, labs were drawn every two weeks and wellness became a challenge. However, Theresa refused to be discouraged. 

“I’m only 68,” she says, when asked about her motivation.

That motivation turned into action. She was directed to the Y by her brother-in-law, a regular swimmer at the South Tampa Family YMCA, and joined her local center in Plant City. That’s when chair yoga, by way of the Plant City Y’s Silver Sneakers Stability class, became an important part of Theresa’s wellness journey. With a chair as her safety net, she showed up on Tuesdays and Thursdays with Wellness Coaches Mary Ruth and Sue. The class is designed to help members become stronger and improve balance through exercises that focus on joint mobility and reaction time. After just two classes, Theresa felt it: balance and strength returning. By the third class, she stood up without her walker. 

“I could feel myself getting stronger,” she says. 

Through chair yoga, Theresa felt safe enough to push herself – whether she needed the chair or not.  When asked what emotions come to mind, Theresa replies simply: “Grateful, grateful. I didn’t know [the Plant City Y] existed a year ago.”

Theresa’s return to strength becomes another thread in her family’s story: She speaks warmly about her daughter, who passed at 34, leaving behind two children who are now parents themselves in Northwest Georgia. A granddaughter who will host her first Thanksgiving this year, and the great-grandchildren she will see there. There is Pearl, who hasn’t played with toys since Diva – the family’s “diva dog” – passed, but who lights up when her littermate Buddy visits. They’ll be reunited at Thanksgiving, too. 

When asked what she’s learned on this path – through cancer, caregiving and the steady practice of chair yoga – Theresa doesn’t hesitate. “Do what I set my mind to.” 

Theresa once feared she’d be “stuck with that walker.” Today, she conquers that fear every time she stands.