I laughed out loud years ago when Myrna (a writer in one of the classes I lead for The Village Chicago) told me she was taking a class to learn how to fall.
Really? Who needs lessons? I do that naturally!
Myrna’s class started making more sense in 2015, when I fell and broke bones in my left hand. Yesterday The Village Chicago offered an hour-long How to Fall class free of charge at Balance Chicago, and this very simple description of the class motivated me to finally take the plunge and sign up: “ Please join Chris Smith, stage combat instructor along with Taryn Sowa, physical therapist assistant as they teach you the safest way to fall to prevent further injuries.” Stage combat instructor? Only an hour? Free? Who could resist.
Twenty or more of us shoed up for the class yesterday. When we arrived we discovered that in addition to stage combat instructor Chris Smith, a yoga teacher and fight instructor for theater named Maureen Yasko would be helping us, too. Cool.
We’d been told to dress comfortably and be prepared to participate in demonstrations if we wanted. I was the only participant who was blind. The instructors did an excellent job describing their actions out loud as they demonstrated ways to avoid injuries during the three basic sorts of falls, but I knew I’d benefit from a bit more explanation.
I am not comfortable acting in front of an audience, but I sucked it up and volunteered to give it a try right there in front of the entire class. When I expressed concern over how Whitney would react to my fake falling — Seeing Eye dogs are trained to prevent us from falling — a dog-loving staff member named Patricia came to the rescue. She understood it was important for me to get some hands-on instruction and generously offered to take Whitney out of the room during my performance.
But I’m getting ahead of myself. Back to the three basic falls: Front falls (includes tripping), side falls, and backwards falls. Each fall had its own technique to help reduce injuries, but since my falls tend to be forward ones, I focused on those techniques:
- Give into the fall, accept you are falling and don’t try to fight it
- Don’t hold your breath, that tightens your joints. Yell/swear/shout as you are falling, that releases tension
- Don’t fight gravity, it will always win. Instead, try to lunge or crouch down as low to the ground as you possibly can while you are falling, give the fall less impact
- Avoid locking your joints, and aim to land on your meaty parts (bottom, in most people, but thighs or stomach will do) rather than your elbows, knees, wrists, shoulders
- Turn your head to the side. Cradling your head in your upper arm and shoulder will reduce the risk of hitting your nose or mouth on the ground
- Pretend you are Wonder Woman or Superman. Rather than bend your wrists to prevent the fall, slide forward with your arms out so you land on your palms and forearms together. That will help avoid broken wrists.
The only way to remember all that while you are in the midst of falling? That’s the bad news. You have to practice falling on a mat or soft surface every day. That’s what the stage combat professionals do, and they promised us that, eventually, breathing out during a fall, getting low to the ground, turning your head, acting like Wonder Woman — that will all come naturally during a fall. So will I manage to practice at home every day? Stay tuned.
thank you, beth for taking notes. I thought I would remember but couldn’t repeat them that night.
see you at Mel’s –
mary kaye
You know, I actually did take notes –there was a lot to take in. And remember, you have to sign up if you want to attend that Monday memoir class at Village Chicago. I’ll email you separately to let you know how to do that…
Thanks for the tips: I have one particularly meaty part that I’ll aim to fall on in the future, should the opportunity arise….
Ah, yes. I know what you mean, and for me to achieve that goal, I’ll have to see to it that all my future falls are backwards.
Wow! Do I need this class! I had a grande mal seizure (I have epilepsy) on October 1st. When I was almost to the 2nd floor of our home, I fell backwards down 15-17 stairs. I broke 5 vertebra, 10 ribs, collapsed my right lung, hit my head and got a subdural hematoma. Plus l broke my right shoulder and collar bone. I spent 10 days/nights in the trauma ICU at Vanderbilt University Hospital. Then I was in a rehab hospital for 3 weeks. I almost died and it was NOT fun. Now that I’m getting back to normal, a professional dog trainer is helping me train my Chesapeake Bay Retriever puppy to be a seizure response service dog. So far the training is going well. He’s 11 months old and loves to learn. He already knew basic obedience before my accident. My hope is that he will eventually start to alert me to seizures before they happen. If not, at least he’ll respond when I have one. Wish us luck!
Oh, Kim. How awful! I am so sorry to hear this. No wonder I haven’t heard from you in a while.
That fall happened less than four months ago, and for all the injuries you endured I am amazed you are able to sit and type this coherent message. What a lot of hard work you must be doing towards recovery. Continue healing, and best of luck with your new service dog.
Excellent info. Now we can include how we have learned to fall when we speak to the elementary kids and then they can ask, “How does your dog help you fall”? Emerald is going to go nuts if and/or when I practice at home. I also have some great “wonder woman” band bracelets to wear to make it more real. 🙂
Oh, Tracey, how wonderful to hear from you. Delighted to hear Emerald is still working with you –she was in Harper’s graduation class, right? And oh my goodness your son must be so big by now. You are so right, I’d better start brushing up on an answer when the kids ask that question…..
Sounds painful! But maybe with a mat, or trying it on the bed at first?? Ooops!
They suggested we practice in our beds, but we don’t have a King size. It’d be just my luck to fall off while practicing…and break a bone!
Fascinating. Maybe we should have a “fall” party to practice, seriously! I bet it gets easier with beer! But put down the beer before you fall – but near your fall so that you can’t say “Help! I’ve fallen and I can’t reach my beer!”
Wow. Lots going on here, Susie! I will say this: one thing they really stressed in the class was to “give in” to the fall. If you just accept that you’re falling and don’t fight it, you are more likely to escape without major injuries.
And to that, I’d say it’s a lot easier to accept a fall after imbibing a drink or two. Don’t ask me how I know…
Hi Beth,
Interesting blog on falling. I fell about two weeks ago crossing Polk St. at Plymouth Court. There was a piece of cement sticking up and I didn’t see it until I felt like I was thrown into
the cement fingers and knee first. Wow, did that hurt. My question to you is where is where
is The Villiage Chicago?? Oh, that Susie Ohde and her jokes!!
Thanks,
Kathy
Ouch!
No broken bones, I hope?
Link here to learn more about The Village Chicago. It’s an organization with hundreds of members all over the city, and they have a small office on N. Clark in Chicago.
Thought it was about time I made a comment since I have been reading your blog since we were in class together. Emerald(Emmie) and I were with you and Whitney. We have been busy, Elijah is 13, wears a size 13 shoe, and is 6ft tall in 7th grade and yes, he plays basketball. Emmie and I are doing ok, we survived a dog attack by 2 boxers running loose in the neighborhood. I do not know if we will ever fully recover but we are still working together. The dogs decided I was more tasty than Emerald and I think that saved her from certain early retirement.
Dog attack? Whoa. Sounds like you survived physically. But emotionally? Maybe I can enlist you to write something about the issues concerning attacks on service dogs and the people who need them.
Sorry for the long comment. In case you wanted to know, the devestation from Harvey and the following dam release devastated our neighborhood. thankfully we came within 3 inches of flooding but 90% of our neighborhood was devastated including my childhood home. Even today, our neighborhood is still a mess and we have not been able to have our walks. This really stinks because we need to be taken to a 3rd location to have our walks! It looks like recovery time is not in sight. We are looking at moving . Hope you are well.
No apology needed for long comment – how can you keep a story like this short?
I new you were from Texas but had forgotten you are so close to Houston. Now that I think of it, didn’t you and your husband meet at a Houston sporting event, do I have that right?
Anyway, I am so sorry to hear of all this devastation. Seems we Americans devote a lot of attention to issues like this –the Houston hurricane was all over the news when it happened — but then forget about the aftermath. Thanks for letting me –and our blog readers –know. Glad your fabulous family made it through without physical injury, and hope you continue to mend from the emotional trauma. Must have been quite scary.
Oh my, I did attempt to get notifications when a new comment was added but apparently failed. I would be more than willing to share about my experiences about the dog attack. This July 20 will be 4 years and my attorney is threatening to take my case to trial. My physical injuries were extremely painful and gross but healed without any stiches or surgeries but the emotional injuries have left scars on both Emmie and me. You remember Emmie, she was a “high anciety dog” from the very beginning. Please email me and let me know if you would like me to give you a few paragraphs. I will look forward to hearing from you whether you would like me to write or not. 🙂
Goodness gracious! that’s what I get for not reading over my comment…what is anciety after all? Please save me from my butterfingers!
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