Homer Nottingham, 84
Farm boy from central Arizona, American Express division VP, Kiwanis Club member, recipient of the William A. Dunlap Fellowship Award for supporting pediatric care.
I’m on a mission of health and wellness!” declares Homer Nottingham, who spends his weeks offering free and low-cost fitness classes.
He was living in Los Angeles and on one of his business trips to Hong Kong, staying at a hotel across from a park. “I looked out one morning, and the park was full of people. They’re out there at 6:30; they just go out and do it!” “It” is the ancient Chinese practices of tai chi and qi gong. Nottingham was intrigued, so he tried it, too. The complex, repetitive sequences of seemingly simple movements — flowing, punching, pulling away, turning, balancing, pausing, flowing again — filled him with an energy the overweight exec had never felt before. “It was the most amazing feeling!” he recalls.
“It’s all about preventive medicine. Stress and tension – like we’ve all suffered during the pandemic.”
Homer nottingham
For more than 20 years in Nevada County, the lanky grandfather has been a fitness apostle, proclaiming the ability of tai chi and qi gong to connect body, mind and spirit by building new brain cells and forging new neural pathways. Studies from top universities verify that these practices fortify the brain’s cognitive reserve, a kind of back-up system our brains use to continue thinking when dementia sets in.
“It’s all about preventive medicine!” Nottingham explains. Stress and tension – like we’ve all suffered during the pandemic –settle into the body, eventually manifesting as physical symptoms and disease. Tai chi and qi gong release that tension while challenging your brain, strengthening your body, lubricating your joints and cleaning your lungs, he declares. “In the United States, we have the best medical system, the best pharmaceuticals, but we’re 32nd in the world for health. Why is that? We’ve never had a preventive care system! That would eliminate 60 percent of illness and injuries.”
Nottingham offers low-cost classes at area assisted living facilities, fitness clubs and at Pioneer Park in Nevada City, donating the fees to charity. He also trains others to lead, spreading the word that, as we age, we can keep our bodies and minds in better condition than we thought.
HomerNottingham.com
homer@homernottingham.com
(530) 263-1627
