Medicated Thoughts 2
Aug. 11th, 2020 01:13 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mesotablarMost people learn how to walk once in their life. Most people, though I don't know how common it is, have to learn to walk several times in their lives. I myself have had to learn several times. Some times it was easier than others because of the conditions I had to overcome, and thinking about it I have to point out that 'learning to walk' is not always the baby's first steps which generally pops into everyone's mind.
There are three* different conditions of learning to walk:
1. Blank Slate. The brain has to learn balance, movement and control. Eg. Baby's first steps, brain injuries
2. New Equipment. Something alters the walk which has to be altered or completely relearnt. Eg. Wearing heels, prosthetics, being pregnant
3. Uncrippling. Something has happened over time which has lead to unnatural movement, then the condition is relieved and you have to learn to move again. Eg. Knee/hip replacement, Muscle wasting, arthritis
Arguably muscle wasting could be classified as Blank Slate....depending on how walking is recovered.
I Blank Slated as a baby, with wedge shoes and stilettos I have New Equiptmented twice (and it feels every time I put heels on I have to do a refresher course) and then there is the Uncrippling...well I have done that in a major way at least twice and in a minor way at least twice more.
So that is the framework of thinking that I use. Which led me to my medicated thought, I was in pain and watching a heavily pregnant woman waddle which made me think of the time I got around walking on the balls of my feet because my knees were so bent I could not get my heels down and keep my balance. Because I have had to learn to walk so many ways, and arguably women in general have to learn to walk many more times in their lives than men, would it give us a benefit if we had to learn to walk again? Learning to adjust walking patterns surely must strengthen an internal dictionary of walking information. New adjusted balance, new rhythms, new movements, repeated learning of control.
We have to learn new or adjusted skills through focus, but once humans get the hang of something it is generally relegated to background levels of the brain so that it can just 'happen' and we can use our brains to focus on other things, information on this is not hard to find, just think of all the parents who have to teach their kids to drive and suddenly feel lost. Each type of learning to walk has its own difficulties, but my own experiences with Uncrippling was the worst because it is so hard not to fall back on bad habits because they hurt less or get you there faster. Though with that I have a much safer balance now than ever before simply because I had to spend so long focusing on it. If I had to learn to walk again I would hope that some of that information is stuck in my brain and I would unconsciously retain some patterns. So all those people who trained themselves to stride in stilettos, have waddled under the weight of a baby, have gone to physiotherapy for professional guidance in structurally healthy locomotion, will we (re)learn faster in the future?
*Three at least, there are probably more.
There are three* different conditions of learning to walk:
1. Blank Slate. The brain has to learn balance, movement and control. Eg. Baby's first steps, brain injuries
2. New Equipment. Something alters the walk which has to be altered or completely relearnt. Eg. Wearing heels, prosthetics, being pregnant
3. Uncrippling. Something has happened over time which has lead to unnatural movement, then the condition is relieved and you have to learn to move again. Eg. Knee/hip replacement, Muscle wasting, arthritis
Arguably muscle wasting could be classified as Blank Slate....depending on how walking is recovered.
I Blank Slated as a baby, with wedge shoes and stilettos I have New Equiptmented twice (and it feels every time I put heels on I have to do a refresher course) and then there is the Uncrippling...well I have done that in a major way at least twice and in a minor way at least twice more.
So that is the framework of thinking that I use. Which led me to my medicated thought, I was in pain and watching a heavily pregnant woman waddle which made me think of the time I got around walking on the balls of my feet because my knees were so bent I could not get my heels down and keep my balance. Because I have had to learn to walk so many ways, and arguably women in general have to learn to walk many more times in their lives than men, would it give us a benefit if we had to learn to walk again? Learning to adjust walking patterns surely must strengthen an internal dictionary of walking information. New adjusted balance, new rhythms, new movements, repeated learning of control.
We have to learn new or adjusted skills through focus, but once humans get the hang of something it is generally relegated to background levels of the brain so that it can just 'happen' and we can use our brains to focus on other things, information on this is not hard to find, just think of all the parents who have to teach their kids to drive and suddenly feel lost. Each type of learning to walk has its own difficulties, but my own experiences with Uncrippling was the worst because it is so hard not to fall back on bad habits because they hurt less or get you there faster. Though with that I have a much safer balance now than ever before simply because I had to spend so long focusing on it. If I had to learn to walk again I would hope that some of that information is stuck in my brain and I would unconsciously retain some patterns. So all those people who trained themselves to stride in stilettos, have waddled under the weight of a baby, have gone to physiotherapy for professional guidance in structurally healthy locomotion, will we (re)learn faster in the future?
*Three at least, there are probably more.
no subject
on 2020-08-11 10:56 am (UTC)I spend a lot of time relearning walking - I'm just enough hypermobile that if I do myself any kind of mischief, or sit too long, or get chiropractic or massage therapy, or anything else adjusts my spine/pelvis alignment, there I am working out how to stay balanced over my own feet without injuring myself. Not a full on learning, but more of an effort than remembering how high heels work when I put them on.
(I'd say that any time I do much walking at all, I'm actively managing the way that the right hand side of my body is moving, because a sequence of injuries mean that everything is out of kilter. But I'm not sure that that counts for what you are talking about here)
no subject
on 2020-09-09 10:28 am (UTC)I just feel most people don't think about any of this stuff until they injure themselves or become frail aged, when we should be trying to be balanced and strong most of the time.
no subject
on 2021-12-24 02:01 pm (UTC)Since this post, I've ended up talking multiple times about this process with partner, sometimes with Youngest around. Youngest nods along and says similar things; partner is always bemused that they never ever think about these kinds of things. I think it has been very useful as a conversation, because it gives them much better understanding of the way that my muscles work. And, given that they have managed to injure a foot recently, I think it meant that they already have the thoughts and conceptual understanding to address the recovery.
no subject
on 2022-01-03 02:41 pm (UTC)Especially as you say they 'never ever think about these kinds of things' normally. I think that awareness, even if just thinking about how you move for a minute of normal mobility, will make you more resilient when re-learning or even able to correct on-the-fly something you feel is going wrong.
no subject
on 2022-01-05 02:37 pm (UTC)I agree -- it helps to have this conversation with more people. And I have hopes that it helps people not injure themselves when they need the info.