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Oh George, George, GEORGE!! I can SO relate to your "take a tumble" experiences.... Sometimes it seems like my feet have a life of their own because I TRY to asses potential problem spots BEFORE I fall, and I often remember those places AFTER I've hit the ground <GRRRRR!> The good thing, as you've pointed out, is the "slow motion fall" that appears to buy us that bit of time to lessen the damage from those tumbles. Unfortunately, I've yet to discover how to do a "freeze-frame fall," or a "fall-in-reverse"like the special effects people do in the movies <rueful grin> One of the reasons I moved last November was to get from my home of 18 years with it's stairway, plus the stair between the garage and my home office. BEFORE they maimed or killed me! Ya know - there should be an 11th Commandment stating "Thou shalt be EXTREMELY careful *BEFORE* thee takes thy next step..." <deep sigh> Barb Mallut [log in to unmask] -----Original Message----- From: George J. Lussier <[log in to unmask]> To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]> Date: Friday, April 07, 2000 5:26 AM Subject: Had any "good" falls lately? >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. >[log in to unmask] http://www.ultranet.com/~glussier/ > > > >Coming to you from Acton, Massachusetts