As you know, I teach fall prevention exercise classes throughout the Sacramento region. I am currently teaching a balance and mobility training session at Carmichael Presbyterian Church in Carmichael and this small group is thriving! In fact, they are enjoying the training so much that they want to extend the session from the original 4-week session to the 6-week training package.
In today's class, one lady shared two revelations or "A-HAAAAAAA" moments that she had over the weekend. In other words, the light bulb went off and she suddenly understood, very clearly, two concepts that I have been teaching since the first day of class. These moments occur when a person applies the training principles in everyday life. When she/he is practicing what is taught in class.
Her realization was how important it is to pay attention to where she is looking while standing or walking. A person tends to fall in the direction that she is looking so if you are looking down at the ground, your chances of falling down if something unexpected happens (bumped, stumble, trip) are pretty good.
She went on to tell us that she observed people at the park and EVERY SINGLE PERSON was looking at the ground while walking. She noticed people's forward-rounded postures, chins pointing to the ground (or cell phone) and eyes focused on the ground. I'm not saying to ignore the surface you're walking on but there is a research-based training principle that can help you reduce the risk of a fall simply by changing where you're looking.
Postural awareness is a vital component of my balance training and so is multi-sensory training. We are a vision-dependent society when it comes to balance so I strongly recommend you get into a training program that challenges your vision, vestibular and somatosensory systems, if possible. If not, stay tuned...I am creating a new fall prevention product that will benefit everyone!
Her other A-HAAAA moment? Stay tuned. I will discuss that next time.
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