Welcome Bridget Frederick, Our New Editor!

Photo Credit: Steve Jones

I’m excited to announce that Bridget Frederick has joined the staff of Yoga for Healthy Aging as a copyeditor and proofreader! Yeah, I admit it: I’ve been a bit sloppy in the past. Early on I made a conscious decision that while I would quickly edit each post for clarity and tone before I publish it, sometimes even doing a bit of a rewrite, that I wasn’t going to take the time to pour over each one for typos. And then there was the problem of the posts that I was writing myself; I had no one to edit those. So I had a pretty good idea that those typos were there, maybe even hurting the eyes of some of our more meticulous readers. So when Bridget, who is both a writer/editor and a yoga teacher, offered us her services, I jumped at the chance.

After a couple of weeks of trial, I decided to announce to everyone that Bridget was now on board and to let her tell you, via an interview, a little about who she is and why she decided to join us. I want to warn you, however, that she isn’t always able to edit the posts before they go out (as you might imagine, we have a pretty short turnaround time). While she is sometimes able to edit the draft version of the post before it is published, there are times when I publish the post first and she updates it later. I’m telling you this so you can blame ME, not her, if you see any errors in future posts.

And now let’s find out a little about Bridget —Nina

Nina: Why did you decide to offer us your services as a copyeditor and proofreader?

Bridget: The Yoga for Healthy Aging blog came out several months after I started teaching yoga, and I began reading it regularly, getting a lot out of the great insights. I teach at the North Berkeley Senior Center on Monday mornings—many of my students there either haven’t paid much attention to aging in a healthy way until now, or are just dealing with complications as they age.

And I’ve got longevity in my family. I had three great-grandparents when I was born, and they all lived through my entire childhood. The last one passed when I was 23—he was 99. Watching my two grandmothers age has shown me that living long is less pleasurable if you don’t have a healthy body to take along for the ride. The grandmother who will turn 93 this year has always had a daily exercise routine—she is still driving herself to the gym every weekday for her water aerobics class. On the other hand, my 87-year-old grandmother lived most of her life with little or no daily exercise, and has been incapacitated in a nursing home for the last seven years.

So that’s why I was interested in reading the blog. But I offered to edit it because I know it takes a lot of time to maintain a good, productive blog. Another pair of eyes to make sure it flows well can be helpful, and I’m happy that my skill set enables me to participate in this way.

Nina: Can you tell us a bit about your yoga background and your yoga practice?

Bridget: I started doing yoga in 2002, shortly after I was rear-ended while stopped at a red light. The whiplash I experienced was exacerbated by previous car accidents as well as three over-the-handlebars bike accidents—none of which I’d ever had treatment for. This time I found my way to a chiropractor, who recommended I try yoga. Well, she actually recommended Bikram yoga, but I went to the Berkeley Yoga Room instead, and have had a regular practice there ever since. The Iyengar-style focus on alignment and core strength, as well as the gentle approach of all of the Yoga Room teachers, was just what I needed to gain confidence in yoga’s ability to heal what ails me.

I completed the Yoga Room’s Advanced Studies Program in 2011. Presently I teach seven classes/week, have a regular home practice, and continue studying with my Yoga Room mentors.

Nina: Tell us something about your writing and editing background.

Bridget: I started editing in college, typing and editing other students’ papers in exchange for grocery money. While working at the Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, I wrote articles for the newsletter, and wrote and edited website content as well as creating contracts for use of the space. In all of my independent production work, I’ve been the writer and/or editor of content for all outreach and production documents, grant proposals and bios. My work as a Grant Manager is all about details – editing narratives is the start of many levels of detail in getting a proposal ready for submission. I also write and perform my own solo work, which is more about storytelling, but there’s a huge editing process involved before a piece is ready for the stage.

Nina: Is there anything else you’d like to tell our readers?

Bridget: I’m completely bicycle dependent—have been for five years. I’m getting better at hauling cargo, as well as layering for the changeable weather the Bay Area is known for. I generally ride 60-100 miles each week just getting myself where I need to be. It’s nice to have aerobic exercise built right into my commute time.

Eight years ago, I created a monthly solo performance series called Tell it on Tuesday with my friend Rebecca Fisher, and we still co-produce it together. I’ve written four of my own short works and am currently working on a fifth, to be performed in April.

I like to sew—mostly bags and cards— recently I've been more interested in altering clothing, or using the fabric from an item of clothing to create something totally different. I don’t like to plan it out, so sometimes it works great and sometimes not so much. But when it doesn’t work, there’s always a chance to re-purpose the material again!

And I make sauerkraut. Want to try some?