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May 2003
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June 2003 Getting up and learning to walk .
The first step lifting up your head.
This is something which, as a grown up I never thought I would have to think about again, because I can already do it . Then again is that true? Have you ever taken time to break it down into its parts? It is far more complex than at first thought. Proving that our brains , specifically the cerebellum is an astounding organ. Why would you do this I hear from some , bored , procrastinating voices. Read on and it will become clear. Firstly imagine that you can no longer walk at all. In fact you can’t get out of bed. In a matter of days your muscles atrophy and weaken, through inactivity. You feel more and more useless, breeding even more feelings of depression. Now you need a reason to get up and keep going. That is something that comes from within if you are able or more often from an outside source. A partner, wife, lover, husband, therapist! What or whoever provides the impetus or raison d’etre , it is then over to you and you alone, to drag your sorry ass out of bed and learn again. The fundamental thing is you have to want to do this, it starts from the supine position (lying on your back). Are you breathing properly? Deep in through your nose and widen those lower ribs into the sides, out through your open mouth, taking your ribcage toward your pelvis, hollowing your lower stomach toward your spine . Pull up the muscles in your pelvic floor which stop you peeing yourself when desperate to go. At 30 % of maximum effort. Can you lift your head up? Do it. Keeping your chin in of course. That may sound complicated, but it is only the start, and what else are you going to be doing? If you are going to do it, do it properly. It is all about setting realistic goals. This is difficult for the injured person who constantly refers to what they used to be able to do. Take advice, take it slowly, remember you need to take the first step to walk, and walking comes before running. You will get there , slowly maybe annoying but it is better than too much too soon and back to square one needlessly. Stuck on your back and unable to toilet without help, that is pretty sad I can tell you.
