They move better and life gets a little easier

Even a body that can't move much at all can develop the ability to move better.  Why is this important?  Well, it can make your life as a caregiver a little bit easier and your loved one more productive and independent.  Imagine improving whatever movement that they already have just by doing 2 things: 1.   increasing the duration 2.  increasing the frequency. Quality of life improves while participating in functional every day activities.  They gain  independence and you gain a few minutes here and there for yourself.

Ways to Achieve better movement
First, realist that it doesn’t have to be about more movement although that is good, let’s start with BETTER movement because everyone can improve quality of movement.  Yes, everyone. 

Here are some of the things my therapist/clinical eye is looking for:

 Breathing qualityDissociation of movement of Upper body and lower body and left and right sides Tendency of posture, position in bed or while sitting on the couch, chair or at the table  Standing quality  (duration, balance, surface needs, confidence, awareness) The need for a  walking device that is best for more quality of movement.  Sometimes hand held is best

 Second: increase duration and frequency of movement as this leads to more strength and endurance.
Examples to consider: 

 Increase the amount of time they are currently sitting at the table  from once a day to 2x by including their morning coffee / beverage.Increase the amount of time they are standing and walking by adding even one more activity to the daily routine.Begin a home exercise program ( option from me):  https://www.caregiverbydesign.com/seatedexercises that consists of basic stretching and strengthening and set a goal that they will see a mastery of by Christmas     (ex: start with 10 reps and get to 20 reps with ease,  Bigger goal - their exercise program will carry over into them being able to do a task that they couldn’t before )  

Did you know that grip is a great indicator of overall body strength and it can be increased with whole body exercises? Why is this important?  Grip is needed for success in so many tasks like: feeding yourself, putting on clothing, managing doorknobs and buttons and levers.  Your hands are a gait way to freedom in your day right.  Think about how this would impact your role as a caregiver too.  Where will you gain more freedom and opportunity to make time for your own activities. 

Don't forget about your needs, your vision and your goals.  You will find that gaining just a few moments a day will add up to an eventual valuable amount of time that will allow you to accomplish personal goals of relaxation and wellness that you deserve.

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https://www.caregiverbydesign.com/

FREE  exercises to help get the body moving
https://www.caregiverbydesign.com/seatedexercises

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