Page 33 - Peter Farrelly Issue

We’re reaching forward to get uneven in some way. The muscles in the front will shorten, those in the back will lengthen. Essentially, we’re setting ourselves up for a secondary disability. It’s super-common. We need more research on it. We know that we’re twice as like- ly, upper-limb amputees or people with limb differ- ences will have–– are twice as likely to have muscu- loskeletal complaints. It will help in a lot of those ways.
There’s also the mental health aspect. I have to say that it’s helped me enormously to put everything aside for an hour and just be out of your head and in your body. I think that’s something everyone should have the oppor- tunity to try if they want to. And I mean, flexibility as well, yoga helps with that. And just in order to do the thing, to operate in a two-handed world–If I’m going to tie my shoes, I have to be flexible. If I lose that, then everyday activities become harder. Strengthening core. When you think about, let’s say you’re on the bus and the bus starts moving before you’re sitting down and you want to reach out and grab something but maybe you’re holding onto something with this hand, essential- ly you need to use balance a lot more because you don’t have another hand to stabilize with or to grasp hold of something with.
Pushing up from the ground, those kinds of things. It all comes back to your core. Yoga is almost purpose-built to help with these things that limb-different people could benefit from. But unfortunately, it’s inaccessible, even though it’s so accessible as a sport. You’re really encouraged to adapt. It’s a really kind community that welcomes all kinds of bodies and all kinds of differ- ences. But the fact remains that it’s much harder if you don’t have two hands to evenly balance on. I guess Koalaa is bridging that gap for a lot of people.
Kaplan: Fantastic!
Macabuag: I want to follow up on that. You’re kind of in a unique position. Because your studying as an OT, you’ve got a unique perspective.
Grazian: Thank you.
Macabuag: Which is quite exciting. In terms of as a tool, because OT is a fantastic place to select the right tools to get people to do whatever they want to do, how do you think something like the yoga tools, like the ALX, fit into that system? How should OTs engage with that?
Grazian: OTs will look at the whole person, their body, their mind, their family, their culture, everything about the person, their value and priorities, and the environ- ment they’re in, the things they want to do. We feel that if there’s something that’s preventing them from doing what they want to do, what in the person or in their
environment or the thing that they want to do can be changed? If the thing someone wants to do is working out, then there you go. You change something in their environment. You give them a tool that helps them do it. It’s such a neat, simple solution.
And working out and doing yoga, those could also be interventions that an occupational therapist uses for someone because maybe if the fact that they’re not flex- ibly or they don’t have the core strength or they need help with emotional regulation, those are all things yoga helps with, so the OT can help them integrate that into their life as the intervention itself. And to do that in the case of people with limb differences, it helps to have a tool that lets you will help you do the thing. (laughs) Does that make sense?
Macabuag: Yeah, I think that’s an interesting place that we haven’t really touched on before because we’ve always done stuff directly with wearers and with users. I think there’s a lot of opportunity to do stuff with clini- cians and with the OTs and the physios. I think I just want to do more of that. I think it could be a cool way to bridge that gap we’d like to.
Grazian: I think also we should talk! (laughs) Macabuag: Oh, we should talk? Fantastic!
Grazian: I have a cool community of OTs and pros- thetists here at University of Washington that are– I’ve talked about you and they’re interested.
Macabuag: I recently decided, as in this morning, that Chelsea and I will come over to the West Coast again this year.
Grazian: Yes!
Macabuag: So I’m on my way!
Grazian: Incredible! All right! Let me know when and where!
Kaplan: Awesome! Making things happen! All right! If there isn’t any more, it was nice talking to both of you. I think this is super-informative
Grazian: That’s so exciting!
Kaplan: Yeah, this is a life-changing device.
Grazian: I have to say, it’s been such a fun conversation that it’s easy to forget that we’re doing this for ABILITY Magazine! That’s it, this is so exciting! Thank you, George!
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