Six years ago, Mercy Health Home Care client Cecilia Pertout was introduced to tai chi. For Cecilia, who turns 90 on Boxing Day 2020, tai chi came easily to her as the breathing techniques required are similar to those used for singing. As a former trained classical singer herself, Cecilia should know.
Cecilia has attended the Mercy Health Wellness Centre in Preston for beginners tai chi and strength and balance classes every week for more than five years. Not even a global pandemic could stop her. During coronavirus restrictions, Cecilia remained committed to her regime, attending the classes online from the comfort of the study in the Eltham home she shares with her daughter Maritza.
After being introduced to tai chi, which is a gentle movement and breathing activity often called ‘meditation in motion’, trained soprano Cecilia realised early on that her singing skills came in very useful.
“For me, the breathing for tai chi comes very naturally because of my singing,” Cecilia says. “It’s automatic. I enjoy tai chi a lot and I feel much stronger, my balance has improved a lot and I am sleeping better too. I now walk in the community with confidence.”
Mercy Health Home Care client Cecilia Pertout loves her virtual tai chi classes
Cecilia first discovered her love of singing when she moved into a convent in Santiago, in her native Chile as a 17-year-old. She met her future husband, Slovenian-born Aleksander, when she was 22.
He taught languages for a living, but he, too, was a singer. Together they took lessons and performed in restaurants and clubs before they and their four children moved to Australia. In the mid-1970s, they ran Keyhole restaurant on Lygon Street in Carlton, where tenor Aleksander would leave his chef duties so the duo could sing together for their patrons. Together they would sing classics, including I Could Have Danced All Night, You’ll Never Walk Alone and a range of opera arias and operettas.
Cecilia and her husband Aleksander singing together, circa 1962
Not only have the tai chi sessions at the Mercy Health Wellness Centre in Preston helped Cecilia to re-engage those breathing techniques learned long ago, she is now undoubtedly fitter and stronger, says Mercy Health Wellness Allied Health Assistant Janine Miller.
“I would call Cecilia a quiet achiever,” Janine says. “She has developed so much and has blossomed since I first met her. From time to time, she sings while she is doing her exercises. I love those times and I think she is marvellous.
Cecilia participates in Mercy Health Wellness Centre’s Tai Chi for Rehabilitation class, Tai Chi for Arthritis 1, Tai Chi for Arthritis 2 and the Strength and Balance Program. All these classes are subsidised through the Commonwealth Home Support Programme (CHSP) for eligible Home Care Services clients and are also available to eligible private clients.
For me, the breathing for tai chi comes very naturally because of my singing. It’s automatic.
Janine has seen some encouraging improvements in Cecilia over time. “She is certainly stronger and better balanced and she has also gained a lot of confidence, as do most of our clients,” says Janine. Our tai chi and strength and balance clients report fewer falls, reduced stress and improved balance since attending our classes. The benefits are clear.”
Both individual and group classes at the Mercy Health Wellness Centre in Preston have now resumed in person following an easing of coronavirus restrictions, however virtual classes are still running for those who prefer to participate from home.
For information about our services and class program, contact the Mercy Health Wellness Centre between Wednesday and Friday on 9244 0900 or email jmiller3@mercy.com.au
Last reviewed December 15, 2020.