Kathleen Ahern, Instructor

Bio

I've come full circle,” says Kathleen Ahern, one of BTC's two Aging Bodies seniors program teachers. She is remembering a long way back when she left teaching because of the public school system's rigidity. “Students couldn't learn at their own speed, or focus on what interested them most,” she says.

She stayed on in the system for many years in counseling psychology, in both guidance and administrative positions (areas in which she holds several Masters degrees) in several states. She has been teaching at BTC since 2006 and studying tai chi and chi gung since about 1998. Part of what she loves in the seniors program is the flexibility and freedom for students to learn in a nonjudgmental, noncompetitive way. Whether she is teaching how to feel the breath, soften the feet, or shift the weight, the primary focus is on seeing where students are at and “making any one movement fall into place a little bit better.” She gets to see, too, some “wow moments,” when students register that their bodies are changing: A student no longer fears falling on wet pavements, another loses a longtime limp . . . .

The classes have a slightly different feel than other BTC courses, she says. Partly that's because they're paced slower to address the needs of students who may have significant health issues and are learning to get back into their bodies without pain. Partly it's because of a “very loving atmosphere; they look forward to coming not only to class but to see each other.” Kathleen enjoys the 'we missed you last week, how are the grandkids' talk.

The same culture of encouragement also thrives, she says, in BTC's teacher support system. Attendance at twiceweekly meetings is optional but “everyone comes because it's so helpful.” Topics run the gamut from how to open up the midriff to how to make eye contact so that a student nervous about coming late can feel part of the class. Outside of school, Kathleen gardens, golfs a little, socializes a lot, but says she has “nothing as passionate as tai chi.”