Life is sometimes mind over matter.  When Americans reach that 65 and older period in their lifespan, falling down becomes more of a reality than just a thought and begins to really matter.

A healthy aging program has been designed by Karen Peterson, a Brain Gym® instructor, educational kinesiologist, natural vision improvement instructor, Touch for Health instructor and a massage therapist for 25 years, teaches these modalities to all ages and occupations with suggested moves such as; The cross-crawl, Forward toe-touch dancer, Sensory integration – the arrow chart, Side-step walk and believe it or not, The cat jump.

“The projected cost in health-care expenses for 2020 due to fall-related injuries in the United States is $55 billion,” says Karen Peterson, author of “Move With Balance: Healthy Aging Activities for Brain and Body,” (www.MoveWithBalance.org).

“It’s important for seniors to keep moving and learning.  That’s what helps improve balance and coordination” says Peterson.  “But if you’re rather frail, or just very fearful of falling, you’re less likely to get up and move around.” These activities benefit all seniors, from 55 to 105.

If you’re a little unsteady on your feet, but you still want to move and groove and be active as possible, that’s great and commendable, but be smart and wear protection.  And the most effective way to protect the most vulnerable parts of your body–your hips– is to pad them unobtrusively and securely with ComfiHips® (www.comfihips.com).

The last thing you want to do is break a hip, because that will put you on the sidelines and out of commission, maybe forever.  For many a senior, a hip fracture can take you right out of the game, perhaps spell the end of exercise and might even trigger a steep decline in your health putting you on a downhill track you don’t want to be on.

So be smart and think about wearing protection.  No one will even know you’re wearing ComfiHips® as they won’t show under your exercise outfit.

And if you happen to stumble you can get right up saying: “I’ve fallen . . . but I CAN get up”  And get back in the game!

Now if you are a postmenopausal woman who typically consumes only one or two servings a day of dairy, you may be hard put to get 1,200 milligrams of calcium you need from the rest of your diet unless you take a supplement. Dr. Ethel Siris, director of the osteoporosis clinic at Columbia University Medical Center in New York, said such women could benefit from a supplement of calcium carbonate (600 milligrams a day) or calcium citrate (500 milligrams a day).

Be sure to read the product label carefully — a usual “serving” is two tablets. Calcium carbonate should be taken with meals to assure absorption, but calcium citrate can be taken at any time and may cause fewer digestive problems.

Most calcium supplements now also contain vitamin D (usually as cholecalciferol, or D3), supplying about 250 to 300 international units in two tablets. The Institute of Medicine recommends 600 units a day for everyone from age 1 to 70 and 800 units for men and women 71 and older, with a safe upper limit for everyone over the age of 9 of 4,000 units.

Calcium with Vitamin D is a good idea because Vitamin D has one advantage over calcium alone: It is fat-soluble and can be stored in the body for later use.