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Reaching
Out on a Moscow Beach By Anna Dolgov, The Moscow Times, August 14, 2003 Women
stretching as Dmitriyeva, second from left, intones, "I am love, I am
joy, I am kindness …" on a Khimki reservoir beach. A dozen elderly women
in swimsuits stand on a beach in northern Moscow, raise their hands above
their heads and stretch to an invocation by their leader. "Let the sun rays
go through us," said Lyudmila Dmitriyeva, 72. "I am love, I am
joy, I am kindness, I am reason, I am strength, I am energy, I am
health." The sight is strange
enough to draw a small crowd of puzzled onlookers, but the women seem to
enjoy the limelight. They gather every
morning -- weather permitting -- on the Pokrovskoye-Streshnyovo beach at
the Khimki reservoir, where they go for a swim and then proceed with their
health routine. The club sprang up
earlier this summer and is led by former yoga instructor Dmitriyeva, who
says she was guided by divine inspiration, although the group is not by
any means a religious sect. "I had been
teaching yoga for a long time, but then I quit. And this year I suddenly
got a desire to resume, and together with the desire came the idea,"
said Dmitriyeva, who is nearly blind from cataracts but remarkably trim
and flexible for her age. The group practices a
blend of yoga, breathing exercises, massage, meditation and spiritual
renewal. "The spiritual
foundation is a faith in God -- any faith, Christian, Muslim, Buddhist or
any other," Dmitriyeva said. The informal gathering
has drawn together only about a dozen members -- all women, mostly
retirees aged between 50-something and over 70, living in the
neighborhood. A few are Dmitriyeva's old friends, others joined after
seeing the workout while passing by. "I was walking
through the park with a friend, and I said to her, 'Look at those nice
women exercising.' Then I came up to them and said, 'May I join
you?'" said Lyuba Kovalyova, 63. To some, this is
mostly a social club and a break from the loneliness of old age. The women call each
other "girls" and address each other by their first names,
abandoning the customary use of patronymics. They share dieting
ideas and tips about where to buy clothing such as inexpensive natural
silk outfits. ("At our age we should wear only natural fabrics,"
Kovalyova said.) They are planning a
group outing next week at a cafe in the center of the city. But Dmitriyeva seems
to have more ambitious goals. As the women waited
for her Tuesday morning, they stood around "like a flock of lost
chickens," Dmitriyeva complained. "My goal is to
help every person be confident, to find a way out of any life situation
through their own strength," she said. The women insist they
have started to enjoy life more since joining the daily workout. "I was not in a very good
mood when I came here this morning, but now I have talked with the others
and I feel much better," said Irina Metlitskaya, 65. Copyright
© 2002 Global Action on Aging
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