Over 20 people flexed their minds and bodies in Ageless Grace’s brain health fitness program at Newtown Senior Center on Tuesday, August 19.

Ageless Grace is a brain fitness program based on the science of neuroplasticity, the ability of the brain to change structurally and functionally.

Routines are set to music and performed in a chair, with people carrying out movements that develop flexibility, hand-eye coordination, muscle memory, and more. These exercises are designed to address all five functions of the brain and the 21 physical skills needed for lifelong optimal function.

Ageless Grace Trainer and Educator Audra Mace gathered attendees into the senior center’s fitness room and led them in one seated routine after another.

Mace had everyone show their jazz hands and tap their feet along to “At The Hop” by Danny & the Juniors and an instrumental of “There’s No Business Like Show Business” from the musical Annie Get Your Gun.

She later had them imagine they were animals to the song “Take Me To The River” by Talking Heads. Attendees tapped into their creative side for this routine, picturing themselves as big, burly bears or little frogs hopping up and down by the river.

The program culminated in an exercise to “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell. Mace led everyone in stretching as though they were climbing up trees and gently spinning in circles as if they were rolling down a hill.

All the while, Mace encouraged attendees to relax, work within their limits, and have fun.

“Music may spark some joy or some sadness. Let those feelings come to the surface, and allow those feelings to happen,” Mace told her class Tuesday afternoon.

She said the goal of Ageless Grace is to keep people moving, stimulate their brain, and combat cognitive decline, no matter how old they are.

The seated nature of the program also allows people with limited physical capabilities or chronic conditions to perform at their own level of ability. Participants develop a healthy habit that can be practiced for ten minutes daily.

Mace said Newtown Senior Center had looked into Ageless Grace back in 2021 as an alternative class. However, nothing came of it at the time. Two years later, Mace was intrigued with the program and felt a fire within her to teach it.

She said Community Center Program Coordinator Maria Neufeld turned her onto Ageless Grace, and gave her the encouragement needed to see and experience it for herself.

“And once I saw and experienced it, I was in love,” Mace said.

She went on to became an Ageless Grace educator in March 2023. Friends of Newtown Seniors sponsored a series at the senior center later that same year, and brought it back again in 2024. Mace said she also taught an Ageless Grace series at Newtown’s Continuing Education Adult Enrichment Program in 2023.

While Mace has been a Bethel resident for over two years, she has also taught Tai Chi at Newtown Community Center.

To Mace, she loves every aspect of teaching. The whole process, from selecting the music to aligning tools with different movements and situations, she said is her favorite part.

“I especially love the engagement, watching people’s faces light up and hearing them sing songs,” Mace said. “Seeing them get one of the patterns, you can just see the celebration come over their face. That makes all the preparation worth it.”

C.H. Booth Library started hosting an Ageless Grace series taught by Mace earlier this summer. The program was added to the “Timeless Newtown: Embracing Every Generation” initiative presented by the library. Commission on Aging, and Friends of Newtown Seniors (FONS), which strives to counteract the negative attitudes and stereotypes associated with aging.

The new Ageless Grace series is usually held at the C.H. Booth Library. However, since the library is currently undergoing an HVAC installation, the August 19 class was moved to Newtown Senior Center.

For more information about Ageless Grace, visit agelessgrace.com.

Reporter Jenna Visca can be reached at jenna@thebee.com.