Tag: calibrate yourself

Dealing With A Restless Body

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spoonie-living:

There’s a hilarious and informative thread going around, probably best known as the “YEET THE CHILD FOR THEIR HEALTH” post.*

While it’s worth a read by its own right, we’d like to bring you one particularly spoonie-oriented reply from Paediatric Occupational Therapist
Zoe Gianduzzo:

As
adults, does your body ever feel jittering/jiggly/wiggly/like it needs
to move or calm down but you just can’t figure out why? That’s your
sensory system saying Hey! I need to feel differently in order to
function better!
 
Here’s what you can do:

  • Jump up and down (vestibular and proprioception)
  • Give yourself big squeezes (proprioception)
  • Place your hands on a wall and do push ups (proprioception)
  • Do cartwheels (vestibular and proprioception)
  • Get someone to give you the biggest bear hug for at least 10 seconds (proprioception and social connection, also proven to help regulate your sensory system into just right zone!)

  • Get a drink of water and drink it through a straw OR blow bubbles into the water (way more fun!) (oral motor input and respiration)
  • Have a shower or a bath (tactile)
  • Stretch and do exercise (vestibular and proprioception)
  • Eat something crunchy or chewy (like chips or gum) (oral motor input)
  • Listen to some music that suits your mood (auditory)
  • etc
    etc etc! I’m sure you already have a strategy that your body has
    figured out works for you. I personally like to chew gum when I feel
    like i need to eat something but I’m not actually hungry and just need
    that chewing sensation in my jaw.

Long story short,
everyone has a sensory system and we all use regulation strategies like
the ones listed above to help make our body feel better. So if you ever
see someone (especially kids!) fidgeting and having a hard time
focusing, maybe suggest something from the list above!

If you’re a leg bouncer, you’ve already found one solution—but now you know why you do it, and some other things that may help.

Big thanks for Zoe for her permission to repost this content! Zoe is on Tumblr as @hjartaohamast-svohljott, and her business is on Facebook as AerialTherapeutics and Instagram as AerialTherapeutics!

*If you missed the whole “yeet” thing: it’s a new slang term that means to throw or fling something. You can also yell it as you throw something or as a victory cry, but you might get some funny looks if you’re not a Gen Z-er.

We on this blog, of course, encourage you to use it to mortify your children and grandchildren 😈

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hjartaohamast-svohljott:

roseyturtles:

severalowls:

deanwinchesterisadorable:

abigboysblog:

turing-tested:

turing-tested:

there’s nothing purer or better than how much kids enjoy being picked up and then hurled at soft surfaces

anyone who’s ever been around kids for ay meaningful amount of time should know exactly how much kids long to be hefted up and then just fuckin tossed! it’s so good! they’re so excited to get fucking tossed around like a sack of potatoes it’s so pure

Why do kids love it so much? Like I remember when I was a kid at diving practice during the summer, the best part was when one if the coaches would toss you into the deep end. And in gymnastics coaches would toss us into the foam pit. Do kids just have a evolutionary urge to die?

https://themilitarywifeandmom.com/why-kids-wont-listen/

“Vestibular sense provides information about where the body is in relation to its surroundings. This is the sense that helps you understand balance, and it connects with all the other senses.

When the vestibular system does not develop properly all other senses will struggle to function properly. Without a strong vestibular sense, kids will have no choice but to fidget, get frustrated, experience more falls and aggression, get too close to people when talking, and struggle with focusing and listening. Because they literally cannot help it.”

“Here are a few ways to support your child’s vestibular sense:

  • Spinning in circles.
  • Using a Merry-Go-Round.
  • Rolling down a hill.
  • Spinning on a swing.
  • Going upside down.
  • Climbing trees.
  • Rocking.
  • Jumping rope.
  • Summersaults or cartwheels.
  • Using monkey bars.
  • Skating.
  • Going backwards.
  • Swimming.
  • Dancing.
  • Wheel-barrel walks.”

Yeeting kids, spinning them, flipping them upside down, tossing them in the air, and otherwise disrupting their balance temporarily, is Important For Their Development, specifically for their vestibular sense.

Kids love this because they NEED it.

In other words: Don’t forget to calibrate your child’s GPS!

YEET THE CHILD FOR THEIR HEALTH

Hi! Paediatric Occupational Therapist here who yeets children into pillows for a living. It’s actually more than the vestibular system! It’s also giving them proprioception, which is the feeling of your joints and muscles / where your body is in space! 

We all seek proprioceptive input, leaning against walls, pushing against the steering wheel when driving, giving your body a squeeze to wake yourself up, the list goes on! When we ‘crash’ kids into soft things like pillows or beds, we’re waking their bodies up AND calming their bodies down! In other words, getting them into this super nice zone of “just right” regulation. 

When I see a child who is bouncing off the walls and can’t seem to stand still for more than a few seconds? I start wrestling with them, crashing them into pillows, giving their body the right amount of input they need to feel good and organised. And suddenly, this kid is able to sit and play attentively or do their handwriting practice. It’s amazing! If you want to know more about why the vestibular and proprioceptive systems are awesome at making your body feel good, google those two words (and sensory processing) and read through some occupational therapy websites! 

Side note: As adults, does your body ever feel jittering/jiggly/wiggly/like it needs to move or calm down but you just can’t figure out why? That’s your sensory system saying Hey! I need to feel differently in order to function better! Here’s what you can do:

  • Jump up and down (vestibular and proprioception)
  • Give yourself big squeezes (proprioception)
  • Place your hands on a wall and do push ups (proprioception)
  • Do cartwheels (vestibular and proprioception)
  • Get someone to give you the biggest bear hug for at least 10 seconds (proprioception and social connection, also proven to help regulate your sensory system into just right zone!)
  • Get a drink of water and drink it through a straw OR blow bubbles into the water (way more fun!) (oral motor input and respiration)
  • Have a shower or a bath (tactile)
  • Stretch and do exercise (vestibular and proprioception)
  • Eat something crunchy or chewy (like chips or gum) (oral motor input)
  • Listen to some music that suits your mood (auditory)
  • etc etc etc! I’m sure you already have a strategy that your body has figured out works for you. I personally like to chew gum when I feel like i need to eat something but I’m not actually hungry and just need that chewing sensation in my jaw. 

Long story short, everyone has a sensory system and we all use regulation strategies like the ones listed above to help make our body feel better. So if you ever see someone (especially kids!) fidgeting and having a hard time focusing, maybe suggest something from the list above!