>> did you know your eyes work together with your brain? it's true. today we'll be giving your eyes and your brain a workout to improve both. so don't go away. keepdriving.com is dedicated to helping older adults maintain their driving independence using cognitive training, exercise, nutrition, and community. explore keepdriving.com today. "sit and be fit" is a creation of mary ann wilson, registered nurse, teacher and recognized leader in the field of fitness and healthy aging. mary ann consults with a team of medical and exercise specialists to bring you a fun and effective way to maintain functional fitness.

>> mary ann: the exercise program you are about to do is effective for any age, but it was specially designed for anyone needing slow, gentle movement. all you need is a chair that touches your back while your feet are flat on the floor. if your back doesn't touch, put a pillow behind for that necessary back support. if you have your exercise band and towel, put them on the back of your chair. now, get ready to "sit and be fit." >> hi. i'm mary ann wilson. i'm so glad you could be here today. when we first designed this program years ago, i really knew i could do a lot of wonderful exercises for your body, but now we are finding research is showing us that we can do wonderful exercises for the brain as well. those will be coming up a little bit later. to begin with, though, i want you to get your towel, fold it in half lengthwise, and fold it in half again so it's kind of about that size. put it around your waist.

there's a move here that if you have osteoporosis i do not want you to use the towel. i just want you to do the exercise. we're going to be putting the towel around the rib cage, not pulling it, i just want you to feel that towel as you expand your ribs. so, let's do it! here we go. take a deep breath in and just open up that chest. and breathe out. we're going to work a lot with your breath today. open up, take a deep breath in. slowly let it go. blow it out through your lips. one more time. get the chest opened. and breathe out. good job. you're bringing that breath all the way down to the bottom of your lungs, aren't you? now, take your towel and just hold it there. take a deep breath in and feel your ribs against that towel.

and slowly let it go. we have muscles there that we need to work as well. take a breath in, and breathe out. let's do it two more times. breath in, and out. one more. let's breathe it out through your lips slowly. good work. now, take your towel, put it behind your chair. there you go. now, you're going to hold onto the towel. this is going to help you keep your shoulders back as well. you're going to take a breath in and slowly breathe out. pull your abdominal muscle in, and you have that towel there for some leverage. and then do it again. big breath in. breathe out.

press that back right into the chair. give a little pull on that towel. we're going to do one more. breath in, breathe out. now we're going to work the oblique muscles. you're going to take a breath in, and as you breathe out, tighten the abdominal muscle, bring one knee up and the opposite arm. and then relax. breathe in, breathe out. and again. breathe in first. breathe out. tighten. and again breathe in. breathe out. and now let's take another deep breath in. open up your chest and relax. let's do one more, pressing your back into the chair, holding your towel. breath in. let your belly expand, and then press that out, press all that air out. one more time.

a big breath. then bring your towel right here to the front. open up, turning in one direction, and let's turn in the other. one more. to this side and to this side. great work. now, i want you to fold your towel. put it on the back of your chair, and we're going to do some of the fun exercises. all right. we're going to start with some toe tapping. put your hand right here. now, one foot. tap your hand. now the other foot. have fun with this. and the hand. now, you're going to hold both

the feet up and tap down. one, two, three, four. all the way up. tap. one, two, three, four. now the heels come up. push down. one, two, three, four. one more. heels up. push. okay. take those toes up. side to side. this is the tibialis anterior muscle you're working right now. now, calf muscle, nice stretch. toe side to side. and this leg. side to side. some footwork here. forward, back. forward and back. now, i want you to press down. press. press. press. do it again. forward, back. forward and back. ready to press? one. two. three. four. now, push back.

you're using your hands to mobilize your hips. all right. let's change. give this hip a little bit of action. one more. and now, take this leg forward and back. ready? forward, back. now, come center. press it down. one more set. forward, back. forward. now, press. straighten out those arms and give a good push. pull up on the hands. gentle. and now interlace the fingers. pull up. pull. and then just wiggle them out. fantastic. this is a great routine to do some brain exercises.

we're going to start you with one arm here and one arm here. now, this arm is going to go up and down, and then at the same time, this leg is going up and down. and then we're going to touch the elbow and change. okay. let just do it. i hear a parade. here we go. are you ready? one. two. three. four. now, touch. let's do it again. same leg, same arm. and touch. okay. ready to change? now touch. and again. up. ready? okay. time to march. now the arms are really doing the complicated work. one arm's going back and the other one goes forward.

take your time. okay. we're going to reverse. good job. keep marching. now, opposite arm and leg. and change. we're going to pretend we have some foot puppets here. change. change. two here. and two here. now, singles. okay. now, here are your cheerleader arms. okay. now, this arm is out straight, and it's going up and down

with your knee. we're going to add the arm here. here we go. over and under. over and under. all right. cheerleader arms. okay. straight arm. going up and down with the same leg. and now we're going to add the other arm. over and under. kind of scissoring it. all right. here we go with those marches. arms. okay. one in one direction and the other in the other direction. one more. and now reverse. wow, we did it!

that's fantastic. let's do some eye exercises here. now, this is very good exercise for driving, and if you have any vestibular problems, i know this is going to help you so much. all right. let's get started. close your eyes. squeeze. and now open. close them again. squeeze. and open. now, i want you to look up and down with your head. now, keep your head still, and just with your eyes look up and down. all right. very good. now, you're going to take your arms out. this is for peripheral vision. look up at one finger without moving your head, and down. and now, up, down. up, down. up, down. up and down. okay. that was good.

let's try it with this side. remember, don't move your head. just with your eyes look up. and then look down. and then do it faster. up, down. up, down. up, down. up, down. that was hard, wasn't it? rub your hands. i want you to rest your eyes. here we go. all right. this next movement, i want you to make an "l" with your fingers. this finger is going to be your target. you're going to move the head this time but keep your eye on that target. side to side. this is a movement that you should do every day, anywhere from 20 seconds all the way up to a minute if you'd like. now, go a little bit faster. good work. that was fantastic. now, one hand here, one here close to you.

we're going to do an exercise for converging. i want you to look at that far finger. all of these exercises will work to make you a better driver. okay. now, we're going to take the fingers out to the side. look straight ahead, but keep those fingers in your vision. do it one more time. keep them in your line of vision. and then come back. now, you're going to take one hand, and you're going to take it back, head and eyes follow. now, stay right there. keep your head still. look forward. and look back. look forward and look back. forward and back. and now this hand. goes out to the side, head and eyes follow. now, head stays still. look forward and back. forward and back. forward and back.

okay. let's take the hands out to the side right here and back in. now, let's trace a rainbow. and now trace a larger one. follow. and now take it from here over to this side. another big rainbow. okay. you did a super job. >> exercising with weights helps strengthen muscles and bones. correct form is important. keep your wrists straight and breathe throughout the exercise. you can benefit from the movements even without using weights. if you have pain or can't maintain good form, do the exercises without them. if you have high blood pressure, check with your doctor before using weights.

>> let's get set up for your weight routine. you're going to put your hand holding a weight on one knee, and lift up that same heel, and then you're going to take the other weight above your head and drop it down. we're going to work a lot of muscles all at one time. so, let's do it. take a deep breath. push down. okay. let's change. the weight goes to this leg, heel is lifted, arm is right here. now, up. the more you point that elbow to the ceiling, the more you're going to work that tricep muscle. and this leg is working your calf muscle. okay. bring it together. we're going to take it up now.

all the way up. listen to your body. and part way down. now, you have to tighten the abdominals as you do this. one more. how are you feeling? now, leave it there and take it down just a little deeper and back up. you can feel this a little bit more down the sides of your back. and one more. good job. bring it all the way here in front. then i want you to glue your elbows right to your body. and extend to the side. rotate. can you feel that in the front of your shoulders? go ahead and make those muscles strong there. you have about two more. hold it.

there you go. now, we're going to hold this position and do some bicep curls. lift one knee at a time. now, you notice every time you lift your knee you've got to tighten your abdominal muscles. last two. good work. okay. i want you to brace yourself here. bend from your hip. keep your chest lifted. pretend you have a heavy suitcase right here. you're lifting it up. and then keep your elbow there and extend back. down and up and back. good work. control it. these movements are best done slowly so you can feel what you're doing. okay. chin up. lift up that suitcase and then extend.

lift up, extend your arm, down, up. one more. now, let's do a hammer curl like this and push up. now, can you push up a little bit more? little bit more. terrific! >> for leg strengthening and stretching exercises, stand directly behind your chair, placing your hand on the center of the chair for balance. if you prefer to stay seated, follow gretchen. she'll be turning during the leg exercises for demonstration purposes only. you should stay facing forward in ur chair for a solid base of support. >> time to work on leg strengthening and balance.

are you ready? >> ready. >> okay. here we go. bend those knees. tap those toes. hands on your hips. a few more of these. then we're going to do a heel rock. right now. two. three. four more. actually, three more. now, bring your feet together. seven... feet together. lunge. hands go up. and now lunge back. same leg. okay. are you ready to change legs? i am. one. two. two more. and your leg is going to go to the back and the arms go down. okay.

time to hitchhike home. and change. grab your rope. you're going to lunge right here. lunge. throw your rope and circle overhead. lunge. throw it. and circle. lunge. throw. and circle. one more. lunge. throw. and circle. other leg. other arm. lunge. throw. and circle. lunge. throw. one last time. all rit. out, out. in, in. now we're going to add the arms. right now. out, out. in, in. okay. go back to that heel rock.

whew! bring your feet together. one. two. okay. scarecrow. now go back. okay. can you do it all on the other leg? go back. hands down. all right. time to go home. got to get a ride here. change. okay. this next move is called a stovepipe slide.

bend your knee. push back. bend and push back. try this leg. bend. push back. push back. wonderful. grab your towel. fold it in half lengthwise. then fold it in lengthwise again. get into good alignment. take it up and down. take it up, and then take it to the side. nice side stretch here. up, and side. and then come up and bring that towel around your shoulders. you're going to swing one leg forward and back. and now as it comes back, you're going to go into a soleus stretch. and then come up. swing your leg again forward and back.

one more. and now i'm going to take my leg back. gretchen is going to take hers forward for a calf stretch. all right. lift up the back heel. bring your hips under. this is a hip flexor stretch. gretchen's looks totally different. and now you're going to bring your feet together and swing the leg forward and back again. and now this time plant your heel. this is a hamstring stretch. if you notice, we worked all the way up your leg. all right. bring your feet together. let's try everything on this side. start with a swing forward and back. forward. and now place that foot down. sink down.

okay. come on up now. and swing again. forward and back. and now we're going to go into a calf stretch. gretchen is going to take her leg forward. i'm going to take mine back. move into your hip flexor stretch, lifting that back heel, bringing your hips forward. there's the stretch. gretchen, your posture looks perfect. >> thank you. >> okay. i'm going to go back into the calf stretch and then bring my feet together. let's swing the leg forward and back and then plant your heel and do a hamstring stretch. reach, reach, reach with that hip. good work. all right. let's just do some relaxing stretching. we'll start using our towel. we'll go up over our head. and now pull to this side. i'm going to lift my heel. you can feel that stretch all

the way across your back. and now turn. let's go in this direction. give a gentle pull on that towel. and then come back. and now put the towel behind. it's so good to get your chest stretched out, because otherwise your back muscles can't hold you up unless the front muscles are stretched. they work together, you know. and then relax. let's take that towel overhead. put it right here. take your hands and just pull up on your temples, and then in a circle. circle around. and then right here, circle. oh, that was great, wasn't it? >> that was. >> will you keep reaching out with us for a better day?

for information on dvds, videos and audio tapes, including specialty videos for chronic conditions such as arthritis, or for a complimentary copy of the "sit and be fit" newsletter, please write, call, or visit us on our website. keepdriving.com is dedicated

to helping older adults maintain their driving independence using cognitive training, exercise, nutrition and community. >> welcome to "skyweek." let's see what's happening in the sky from monday, july 15, to sunday, july 21. three spectacularly close approaches take place in the heavens this week. on monday evening, people in the u.s. see the moon extremely close to spica, the brightest star of the constellation virgo. on wednesday, people in asia see the moon equally close to zubenelgenubi, in the constellation libra. and people worldwide can look low in the west shortly after sunset to see venus near the bright star regulus on sunday and the following monday, july 21 and 22. this is tony flanders from

"sky & telescope" magazine, wishing you clear skies and great views. download our free "skyweek" app for more information. maybe you have some energy- saving appliances, like an energy star-rated washer and dryer. but what about your tv? chances are it's on more than your washer, dryer, and kitchen appliances combined. did you know that if half of us in the u.s. replaced our regular tvs with an energy star model, the change would be like shutting down a power plant? you can find the energy star on everything from standard to high def to the largest flat-screen your heart desires. ow that makes sense.

>> mexico one plate at a time is made possible by these funders: >> bohemia-- 100 years of mexican craftsmanship.