SPECIAL HELP FROM MY WALKER

Hello!!  I pointed out in my January 1, 2019, Post that I was walking with my walker & that it really helped me with my ability to walk with my cane & even to walk with no support at all around the house!!  I still use the walker, however, to reinforce certain brain rewirings - like what I need to do with my arm/wrist/hand. And I am also using the walker to reinforce certain leg & foot necessities. Those I want to share with you now.

I use the walker to provide support as I am reinforcing (exaggerating) raising my thigh when I am walking so as not to drag my foot. I also reinforce raising my thigh when I do my Chair Raise-Ups and my Floor Planks.  The walker really provides support - sometimes I even lift my thigh extra high while I hold the walker and watch TV.  The other exercise I am now doing with the walker (as support) is working on increasing the quickness of my gait as I walk.  Again, the walker provides support as I increase my speed - without worry of falling down. Increasing my gait while walking with the walker has allowed me to increase my gait while I walk with my cane at the park. I want to start timing my laps around the park and keep track of the improvements.  I will share those with you.

I do both of these with the walker and in my bare feet!  I enjoy the opportunity to retrain my feet the feeling of the floor beneath them!  And I am retraining my brain what it is like to walk around barefoot!

Finally, after I exaggerate raising my thigh up and then increasing my gait, I do an equal share of laps (or more) around the house without the walker to gain confidence in my stride. I walk very carefully - I do not exaggerate my thigh but I do not drag my foot either.  And I don’t “race” the speed but I don’t go as a slow-poke either! This is really improving my walking more and more every day!! I also make sure that my brain talks to my arm (my entire arm - from my shoulder all the way down to my fingers). I want my brain to keep reminding my arm that if my leg can do it, then my arm can do it too!!

GOD BLESS! PEG

“We first make our habits, and then our habits make us.” ― Og Mandino