Three years ago, Crestline resident Penny Shubnell had a chat with herself. “Life has to offer me more than this,” was what she said.

As she explained to members and guests of the Women’s Club of Lake Arrowhead, Shubnell was getting epidurals for her back pain, was seeing her chiropractor monthly and was using a walker.
Sandra Johnson, who teaches yoga for the Crest Forest Senior Citizens Club, “kept begging me to do it,” Shubnell said. She resisted but finally gave in after Johnson assured her she wouldn’t have to get down on the floor.

“She offered me things I could do,” Shubnell said.

Today Shubnell does yoga every day at home. She stands up straight and walks freely – with no walker.
“Keep moving!” Shubnell urged the women at the meeting.

She then told another story, one about her brother, Ralph, who had moved to Hemet from Michigan. “I told him he couldn’t just sit and watch TV. That’s what he was doing. He had lots of excuses.”

His routine, Shubnell said, was to sit in his chair, get up to get something to eat, then go back to his chair.

“I don’t wear a white coat with a name tag so he didn’t believe me,” Shubnell said. “He fell six months ago because he wasn’t moving and ended up in rehab. There he learned to walk again. And someone with a white coat and a name tag told him to move.”

The fall and subsequent therapy scared her brother, Shubnell said.

“Keep moving – spread the word. You can walk in the forest, take classes at Refresh (where the Women’s Club meeting was held). It will do me good if you take this message home and share it.”

Following the lunch prepared by Refresh owner David Milligan – a charcuterie board, vichyssoise soup, sweet potato salad in a mango vinaigrette and crusty bread – Debbie Middlebrooks entertained the women by playing three pieces by Edvard Grieg, Amy Beech and Ottorino Respighi on the Yamaha concert piano.

“I love music. I love beauty,” Middlebrooks said. “Music transcends language.”

She invited everyone to close their eyes as they listened.

Refresh on the Mountain in Crestline offers yoga, Pilates, tai chi and meditation classes. For more information, visit www.refreshonthemountain.com.

For more information on the Women’s Club of Lake Arrowhead, visit their Facebook page: www.facebook.com/lakearrowheadwomensclub.