1111 
SPORTS, FITNESS &SPORTS, FITNESS & 
HEALTHY LIVINGHEALTHY LIVING 
UNLOCK YOUR LIFE 
Mountain Views-News Saturday, February 7, 2026 
1111 
SPORTS, FITNESS &SPORTS, FITNESS & 
HEALTHY LIVINGHEALTHY LIVING 
UNLOCK YOUR LIFE 
Mountain Views-News Saturday, February 7, 2026 
FALL PROOF 

Michele Silence, M.A. is a 37-year certified fitness 
professional who offers semi-private/virtual fit-
ness classes. Contact Michele at michele@kid-fit. 
com. Visit her Facebook page at: michelesfitness 
Visit her Facebook page at: michelesfitness. 


Imagine 
this: your 
loved one 
slips in the 
living room 
and hits 
the floor. 
You rush to 
help—but 
they can’t 
get up. 
They’re 
stuck. It’s 
scary. And 
it happens 
far more 
often than 
people 
realize. 

Fallingis one of the leading causes of serious injury and 
death for older adults. But here’s something that 
surprises most people: it’s not the fall itself that’s 
often deadly—it’s being unable to get back up. Being 
stuck on the floor can cause dehydration, low 
blood pressure, hypothermia, or even heart problems. 
Hours can turn into a life-threatening situation. 
And all of this could be prevented with a skill 
that takes just a few minutes to practice each day. 

Each year in the United States, more than 36 million 
older adults fall, leading to about 3 million 
emergency department visits and 1 million hospitalizations 
for injuries like broken bones and head 
trauma. About 32,000 people aged 65 and older die 
from fall-related causes annually, making falls the 
leading cause of injury deaths in this age group. 

Public health evidence clearly shows that many falls 

— including those leading to death — are preventable. 
It’s all about learning how to get up from the 
floor safely. Simple yet so many people never think 
about it. They assume it will happen naturally if 
they fall, or that someone will always be there to 
help. The truth is you can’t always rely on that. Even 
if someone comes, waiting for help while stuck can 
make injuries worse and slow down recovery. 
The good news? It’s easy to prevent this risk. Anyone 
can learn, no matter their age. It’s not about 
being young, super strong, or flexible. It’s about 
knowing the steps and practicing them. 

Here’s how you can do it:
Method 1: Hands-and-Knees with One LegForward. 

• Start on a soft surface. Use a carpet or exercise 
mat. Begin by lying on your side. Bend your 
knees slightly and use your arms to push up. Move 
into a hands-and-knees position. 
• Transition to kneeling. From hands-andknees, 
bring one knee forward so you’re in a half-
kneeling or lunge position. This gives you a stable 
stance to stand safely.
• Push to stand. Press through your front leg(your stronger leg) and rise to a standing position, 
using a chair or counter for extra support if needed. 
Method 2: Hands-and-Knees, Feet Together, Usinga Chair or Wall 

• Start on hands and knees. Kneel on a carpet 
or mat with your knees under your hips.
• Move your hands forward and rest them on 
a sturdy chair, table, or against a wall.
• Lift both knees slightly. Keep your feet side 
by side on the floor. Lift your knees a little off the 
ground so your weight shifts toward your hands.
• Push with hands and feet. Press down 
through your hands and feet to lift your hips upward, 
keeping your feet together.
• Shift weight to feet and stand. Continue 
pushing until fully upright. Pause and stabilize before 
walking. 
Both methods are safe, effective and easy to learn. 
Some people may find one easier than the other depending 
on knee, hip, or back comfort. The key is 
daily practice. Start slowly, repeat a few times each 
day, and soon it will feel natural. 

If these two methods are too tough to do, start 
with building strength and balance with these easy 
exercises: 

• Leg strength: Sit-to-stand exercises or gentle 
squats from a chair.
• Core strength: Simple planks or seated 
twists. A strong core helps your balance and ability 
to push off the floor.
• Balance: Shift weight from one leg to the 
other or practice standing on one foot while holding 
a counter. 
Being able to rise from the floor keeps you independent, 
safe, and in control of your life. It also gives 
peace of mind to family and caregivers. Knowing 
that you can handle a fall on your own reduces 
stress for everyone and encourages regular movement, 
which strengthens your body even further. 

Don’t wait until it’s too late. Treat learning this skill 
as part of your daily health routine, just like brushing 
your teeth or taking a walk. The time you invest 
in practicing could save your life—or the life of 
someone you love. 

It’s all about being prepared. Falling is part of life,
but staying on the floor doesn’t have to be. Roll,
kneel, rise, and repeat. Soon, getting up from the 
floor will feel normal—and it could be the difference 
between independence and serious risk. It just 
takes a little thought and a minute or two of daily 
practice. 


ALL THINGS by Jeff Brown 

THE POWER OF NOW: 

A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment

by Eckhart Tolle 

The claim that there is only the now challenges one of our 
deepest assumptions: that time exists as a sequence of equally 
real moments stretching behind and ahead of us. We speak 
as if the past is fixed and stored somewhere, and the future 
is waiting to arrive. But when examined carefully, neither the 
past nor the future is ever actually present in reality. Only the 
now is. 

The past exists solely as memory, evidence, and influence appearing 
in the present moment. A memory of yesterday is not 
yesterday itself—it is a thought arising now. A photograph 
from decades ago is not the past preserved; it is a present object 
triggering present perceptions. Even historical facts are 
accessed only through current records and interpretations. The past has no independent existence 
outside of these present traces. It does not exist anywhere we can point to; it is reconstructed, 
again and again, in the now. 


The future is even more clearly unreal in a literal sense. No one has ever experienced the future. 
What we call the future consists of predictions, plans, anxieties, and hopes—mental images 
occurring now. When the “future” finally happens, it does not arrive as the future. It arrives as 
another present moment. The future is always anticipated but never encountered. 

From this perspective, time is not a thing that flows. It is a concept the mind uses to make 
sense of change. Reality itself does not move from one moment to another; rather, it continually 
is this moment, constantly transforming. Change does not require past and future to exist 
as places. A flame flickers, a body ages, a thought dissolves—all of this happens in the present, 
without ever leaving it. 

Importantly, saying there is only the now does not mean nothing matters or that causes and 
consequences are illusions. It means causes are present conditions shaped by prior states, and 
consequences are future-present states shaped by current ones. The chain exists, but every link 
appears only now. 

Everything real—every sensation, decision, emotion, and event—has always occurred in the 
same place: this moment. There has never been an experience outside of it, and there never will 
be. The now is not a slice of time. It is the only stage on which reality ever appears. 

So when not living & attached to the conceptual world of past and future but open completely 
to the reality around and within us we can then feel connected with everything there is, where 
true happiness lies. 

Eckhart Tolle has many videos on YouTube & his books can be ordered at Fables & Fancies 
Bookstore in Sierra Madre. 

Lori A. Harris 


IF I DIDN'T THINK IT WAS IMPOSSIBLE 

We tell ourselves elaborate stories about why certain things can't 
happen. Not now. Not for me. Not with my circumstances. 

But here's what I've learned from three decades in courtrooms 
and coaching sessions: the word "impossible" is usually just fear 
wearing a very convincing, but thin disguise. 

So let me ask you something: If you didn't think it was impossible, 
what would you do? 

Would you finally write that book? Launch that business? Have that conversation? Make 
that career change? Book that trip? Set that boundary? 

In the question, there is another question: what do I really want? What am I afraid to even 
know or try? 

Notice what just happened in your body when you read those questions. Did your chest 
tighten? Did you immediately start listing reasons why it won't work? That's your nervous 
system trying to keep you safe by keeping you small. 

I spent years representing people whose circumstances truly were impossible: youth 
trapped in systems, survivors of trafficking, and clients facing capital charges. I learned to 
distinguish between actual impossibility and the kind we manufacture to protect ourselves 
from disappointment. 

Most of what we call impossible is actually just unfamiliar. 

The difference matters because the unfamiliar can be learned. Unfamiliarity can be practiced. 
Unfamiliar can become your new normal if you're willing to stay in the discomfort 
long enough for your nervous system to catch up to your vision. We can learn to talk to 
ourselves differently. We can train ourselves to process that discomfort differently. What if 
that feeling I’m experiencing is the excitement of trying something new? What if this feeling 
is what growth feels like? 

So here's your assignment this week: Write down what you'd do if you didn't think it was 
impossible. Don't edit. Don't explain. Don't justify. Just write it. 

Then ask yourself: What's one action I could take this week that moves me 1% closer to 
that vision? 

Not 50%. Not even 10%. Just 1%. 

Because impossible things don't usually happen all at once. They happen in a thousand 
small moments when you choose the unfamiliar over the comfortable. When you choose 
your vision over your fear. 

A 1% move could be doing the research on day one. On day two, it might be making a list; 
on day three, it might be making the first phone call or sending the first email. Don’t try to 
tackle the whole thing at once. 

Start by letting yourself know…that thing that’s on your heart. 

What's your impossible thing? And what's your 1% action this week? 

Guess what? Doing the impossible is fun. 

Lori A. Harris is an award-winning coach and podcaster. You can learn more about her at 
loriaharris.com. 


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