Dear colleagues,
I, as an experienced faller, believe there are "good" falls and "bad"
falls. "Good" falls are long (several seconds) falls and "bad" falls are
short falls(You are on the ground before you know it). A couple of weeks ago
I fell down my 10 step stairway on the way up. I have been taking yoga
lessons lately and I noticed how good my balance was as I climbed each
stair; getting my whole foot on each step. That is until I reached the top
where I only managed to get the toes of my right foot on the landing and
then it was all down stairs from there.
What was remarkable to me was I seemed to be falling in slow motion where I
could see clearly and had time to make decisions. I reached for the
railing,failed and reached and failed again. I then tried to plant my left
foot, failed, experienced a moment of panic when I realized I wasn't going
to be able to stop my decent, decided to go limp and managed to push off
with my right foot in order to land on the floor rather then on the steps.
I landed on my side, counted my body parts and my blessings and took a very
deep breath. No damage at all! I've never fallen backwards down a flight of
stairs before but I did learn a few things which I hope will help someone else.
First of all I'm in decent physical shape and the yoga and other regular
exercises I do help a good deal.
Second, I think most of us can extend the amount of time during the fall
that we are in some measure of control and able to exercise some decision
making ability that might interrupt your fall. The trick is not to panic at
all if you can. If you must, and I experienced a moment of panic, try to
minimize it.
Third, Study how you fall and try to adjust your maladaptive behaviors. For
example, I should have been more careful given that it was 11PM and my
muscles were exausted. Every one of us is different so learn how YOU do
things like fall
Fourth, Like most car accidents (Good weather,straight dry road, close to
home) most falls occur when we least expect them. Do you think I've ever
fallen in the woods when I'm walking my dog? Of course not because I know
enough to pick my feet up in order to clear the roots,rocks etc. But back on
the straight away......
Enough!
george
Editor of the GOOD TIMES NEWSLETTER, A home grown product that stands for
the notion that Parkinsons is not a sentence but rather an opportunity.
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Coming to you from Acton, Massachusetts
