The Key Biscayne Community Center offers residents and guests a plethora of options to stay in shape. Group exercise classes include everything from stretch and strength training to boxing to yoga and more.<\/p>\n
Donatella Dillon teaches a popular tai chi class, and it\u2019s clear she enjoys it. \u201cI feel at peace while teaching,\u201d she says. \u201cThat\u2019s why I keep doing it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tai chi is a centuries-old practice rooted in Chinese martial arts that exercises the mind and body through a series of slow and gentle movements integrated with mindful breathing. Sometimes referred to as \u201cmeditation in motion,\u201d tai chi improves strength, flexibility, and balance.<\/p>\n
Originally from Milan, Donatella moved to Key Biscayne fifty years ago after meeting her former husband, Matt Dillon, in Italy. \u201cI love the people here,\u201d she says. \u201cKey Biscayne is my family and my home.\u201d<\/p>\n
Prior to teaching at the Community Center, Donatella worked as a personal trainer and yoga teacher at the Ritz-Carlton resort on the Key for 18 years. But tai chi is her real passion. She first took up the practice 36 years ago as a way to recover from a knee injury. Finding a peace through tai chi that she hadn\u2019t experienced elsewhere, she stuck with it.<\/p>\n
\u201cBeing Italian I have a short fuse. One of the first things I noticed after starting tai chi is that I was becoming much more calm and patient,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
A former fashion model, Harley-Davidson motorcycle rider, and stunt double for the movies \u2013 including performing stunts for Jamie Lee Curtis in the 1994 film \u201cTrue Lies\u201d \u2013 Donatella has led quite an adrenaline-filled life. But one of the things she appreciates about her life on Key Biscayne these days is its regularity. \u201cI go to The Golden Hog, to CVS, to the post office, to the Community Center \u2013 there\u2019s a convenience to living here. At this stage of my life, I like the routine.\u201d<\/p>\n
Students are attracted to tai chi for all sorts of reasons. Brian Corbett first discovered Donatella\u2019s class two years ago when he was looking for a new activity. \u201cIn life, you should try something new every couple of years,\u201d he advises. \u201cIt keeps you humble and sharpens your mind.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brian, who is 81, reports that the biggest benefit he has derived from tai chi is an improved sense of balance. But he also relishes the camaraderie in the class. \u201cI have to say, we have the most wonderful teacher. Donatella has a great sense of humor, a huge amount of patience, and she teaches very, very well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Maria Iriondo, age 60, has been attending Donatella\u2019s class for only a month but it didn\u2019t take long for her to become a dedicated fan. She has already noticed improved balance and better posture.<\/p>\n
Donatella\u2019s tai chi classes are held in the Island Room at the Community Center on Tuesday and Friday mornings at 10:30 a.m. A new class for beginners will take place Wednesday evenings at 6 p.m. starting September 2.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Key Biscayne Community Center offers residents and guests a plethora of options to stay in shape. Group…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":384652,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[154136,126,1356,54186,123,125,124,74896],"class_list":["post-384651","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami","tag-donatello-dillon","tag-key-biscayne","tag-key-biscayne-community-center","tag-lighter-side","tag-miami","tag-miami-headlines","tag-miami-news","tag-tai-chi"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/384651","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=384651"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/384651\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/384652"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=384651"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=384651"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=384651"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}