How to Get Up from the Floor— MacGyver Style!

Whether or not you live with a risk of falling, I always ask my students to “Make friends with gravity,” because it is a force that is here to stay. If the only reason that you are on the floor is because you are scrubbing it or you fell. . . you have a negative relationship with gravity. Walking around the planet with a constant fear of falling, or avoiding being on the ground because we’re not sure how to get up again, is not a healthy way to live. So don’t be afraid to proactively seek Physical Therapy coaching to help you work with the body that is yours “today,” and learn new ways to support freedom of movement and independence.

Other options would be to do a little Home Play. Set up a supportive circumstance with family or friends around to do something fun while sitting on the floor at least once or twice a week. Soon, playing cards at the coffee table, watching tv from the floor, or playing with the grandkids on the floor will be activities to look forward to.

It might also be helpful to watch this fun YouTube video too, and practice some of these “MacGyver Style Techniques,“ to see how they work. The video shows a variety of ways to safely get up from the floor after a fall. Be sure to watch to the very end to see how someone who is injured during a fall might respond.

Even if the likelihood is not great that YOU might fall, it is important for each of us to practice these techniques, so we can proactively teach others, or know how to help when needed. Click here to see the YouTube video:

How to Get Up From the Floor (after a fall) — MacGyver Style!

NOTE: MacGyver, is the character in a former American TV series featuring a very resourceful hero/ secret agent who prefers non-violent resolutions and prefers not to handle a gun. In each episode he solves complex problems everyday objects he finds at hand, along with his ever-present duct tape and Swiss Army knife.