by Richard Adelman

When I told the taxi driver that I was 80-years-old, he looked surprised and said that I barely looked 70. Then he raised his fist into the air and exclaimed, "¡Tienes galletas!" (You've got cookies).

I lived in Veracruz for over 20 years and am fluent in Spanish, but I was unfamiliar with this expression. I thought maybe it was an idiom from this part of Mexico. But, no, a very literate and hip friend in Veracruz informed me that to "have galletas" means to be strong, resilient. He added that "echar galletas," (throw cookies) means the same as "echar ganas," to apply yourself to a task, to put your energy into it.

But before I had gathered this information I had already gotten the gist of what he was saying: I was well-preserved, taking care of myself, eating well and exercising, not collapsed like most 80 year olds, which he demonstrated by forming a collapsed, hunch-back posture.

Sitting in the front seat, as I always do, I observed and commented that he looked much younger in person than in the photo on the taxi credential displayed on the dashboard. He told me that when those photos had been taken by a professional photographer, they had come out much better. But now that the taxistas have to shoot them themselves everyone looks angry in their photo. He laughed when I commented, "la vida moderna."

Continuing our conversation about health, he told me that he had never smoked and drank very little, but had had lots of women, punctuating the last statement with another raised fist and another "¡Tengo galletas!"

I considered that my chief association with raised fists was the Black Power salute given by Harry Edwards and Tommy Smith in the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City. And that brought me back to fond memories of one my favorite Feldenkrais clients in Berkeley, California in the 1990s. A former shot putter, he had been a roommate of one of those two Olympic athletes at San Jose State College.

There, in the taxi's front seat, reflecting further upon my work and life, I realized that a major theme of both has been helping other people and myself to age gracefully, to continue to have galletas. This involves working to preserve our vitality, flexibility, optimism, and rhythmic coordination through gentle movements and educated touch. As a practitioner of both the Feldenkrais Method and Pilates and a 50-year student of Somatic Psychology I have developed my own integration of these approaches.

Soon my taxi ride was over. I wanted to tell the taxista how my practice of body therapy profession along with studying, playing, and teaching Afro-Cuban rhythms on congas since 1970 has helped me to slow my aging process and maintain my vitality, to keep my cookies, but, having reached my destination, there was no time to tell him. So I've told you instead.

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Richard Adelman has 50 year's experience in Feldenkrais and Somatic Psychology and is certified in Pilates. He now lives in San Miguel and maintains a private and group practice. He teaches classes in Feldenkrais for Seniors Mondays and Wednesdays (12-1:30pm) in Salón Semilla, Mercado Sano and sees private patients in Centro and at their homes. He has played bongó with Gabriel Hernandez and currently plays salsa with La Libertad every Thursday at El Chope.
richardadelman@gmail.com
cell/whatsapp: 415 197 7895

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