HOOP THERE IT IS!

Here is my last blog ever!!!! Well maybe not ever, but my last Innovative Activities blog. During class, we had the privilege of learning all about therapeutic hula hooping from Ali Serber, one of our fellow TR students. She is really passionate about using hula hooping to benefit a number of different populations. She started off by giving our class a brief overview of the benefits of hula hooping in general. I was very surprised to learn about the recent study done that proves that hula hooping offers the same aerobic and calorie burning benefits as a kickboxing or bootcamp type class. We got to make our own hula hoops our of irrigation tubing and all kinds of fun duct tape. (My personal favorite was the black with red/orange flames on it!!!!!!)

Here's Chris and I Hula Hoopin' it up outside the HSC! 

"Do you know "Hula Hooping" was an ancient invention? There are historical evidences to prove hooping was one of the exercises practiced by the Greeks. In olden days, hoops were made from wood, bamboo, grasses, vines and at times from metals such as iron and copper. The Hula-hoops that are available in the market today are made from safe plastics. Hooping as a toy for children was introduced in Great Britain in the 14th century. In the early 19th century, some British soldiers happened to witness "Hula" dancing in the islands of Hawaii. The hooping and hula dancing had some similarities because dancing used the hoops. Hence, the name Hula Hooping was given to this fun activity and exercise."

^ This info came from a website that described the Health Benefits of Hula Hooping

There is a lot more info out there about hula hooping as a form of exercise than I once thought! There are many websites that offer different varieties of hula hoops including different sizes and weighted ones too to enhance the workout for different ability levels.

There is even a "Free Style Salsa" Hula Hooping workout DVD!!!!!

Check out this WEBSITE for more cool hula hooping exercise stuff!











I never thought about utilizing hula hooping as a part of a therapy program before, but after this class I definitely think that I will be utilizing it in my future career as a CTRS. It offers so many benefits to all disability populations: relaxation, exercise, and especially the mind, body & soul connection that is so important in all TR programs. Also, by making your own hoops, they can become very inexpensive to make and can add in the extra element of creativity for each population. I really enjoyed learning more about this activity, and I am definitely planning on learning more about the vast world of hooping in the near future!

Peace & Blessings :)

Loooong Activities #2!

During class in Innovative Activities the last 3 groups facilitated their long activities! We met in Wittich gym for the first group. The first group did Team Sports. We were divided up into teams and completed different activities such as hula hooping while connected in a circle, dropping toothpicks into a bottle and a blindfolded obstacle course. All of the activities were very challenging but fun! The group did an excellent job of modifying each activity to mimic everyone having some type of disability. For example, while Hula Hooping in a big circle as a group, some people were told to have their eyes closed or stand on one leg. I really liked the blindfolded obstacle course the best. It really put me out of my comfort zone and allowed me to better understand how a person with visual impairment experiences their world. These activities would be very good for a variety of different populations, young and old, to work on team building activities, gross motor skills, and enhancing cognitive abilities. Youth-At-Risk would benefit greatly from these types of teamwork and leadership activities in their therapy program. While looking up "obstacle courses," I came across a neat idea: a realistic obstacle course to use with rehabilitating patients. Orchard Ridge Care and Rehabilitation Center in Florida has a  

"therapeutic obstacle course, where patients can practice walking on surfaces they may encounter at home, including stairs, cobblestones, inclines, declines and even a wooden dock." 

I think that's such a great idea that directly addresses the goals of any type of therapy in general: to get the individual to return to their normal environment as quickly as possible! For more info you can check out the facility's webpage!

        The second group had Drama as their topic. I really enjoyed doing the activity where each group picked a random object and had to come up with an alternative use and name for the object. My group picked an artificial flower and termed it the "Food-Fan," a fan that could be attached to your body and grew berries and other food out of it so a hunter could take it with while out in the forest so he wouldn't get hungry or tired! This activity would definitely be a hit with the younger populations, and would be a good activity to use with kids with any disability that have trouble expressing themselves and their ideas in a group setting, and to work on speech presentation in front of others.


Drama therapy is something that is really interesting to me. According to the National Association of Drama Therapy:

      "Drama therapy is the intentional use of drama and/or theater processes to achieve therapeutic goals.

Drama therapy is active and experiential. This approach can provide the context for participants to tell their stories, set goals and solve problems, express feelings, or achieve catharsis. Through drama, the depth and breadth of inner experience can be actively explored and interpersonal relationship skills can be enhanced. Participants can expand their repertoire of dramatic roles to find that their own life roles have been strengthened.

Behavior change, skill-building, emotional and physical integration, and personal growth can be achieved through drama therapy in prevention, intervention, and treatment settings."


 I definitely see the many benefits for adolescents/youth-at-risk, or any child with a disability. They can to work through any issues they may have including anger issues or self-esteem issues in a non-traditional therapy setting.


Here's a really cool video of the "Discovery Academy" in Utah, that does Drama therapy with all types of adolescents!

The video pretty much sums up what this is all about: "Drama Therapy is an experience that leads to discussion."


The last group did Stress reduction/Relaxation techniques. We participated in a guided mediation video/ "nature walk" video that definitely de-stressed me! I could see this use of guided meditation/imagery very useful in hospitals with cancer patients, surgery wards, etc. Also, for anyone who has recently been diagnosed with a disease/disability and is learning to cope with it would definitely benefit from learning relaxation tools. We also made stress balls, which I think is a great activity to make with a variety of populations. The only adaptations I would make would be to use latex-free gloves because so many people are allergic to the latex in balloons, and make sure assistance is available to the individuals who need it while completing this project.


Click on this LINK for a great video that shows some breathing/relaxation techniques that can be used with children or adults! I like the volcano pose! :)


      Here's also a cool video on the same youtube channel that explains what exactly inclusion is.. I think it's something we as future CTRS' definitely need to understand so we can be the best therapists possible!

Loooooong Activities # 1!

Tonight was the first night of our final projects---our "Long Activities." Groups 1-3 presented tonight. Group 1's topic was art. They did a great job facilitating their project of creating a scrapbook out of an old book with many different creative and decorative elements! Group 2's topic was "Team-building/Challenge Activities." They did three different group activities that definitely challenged all of us! My group was the last group that presented on our topic of music. We did different rhythm activities, made musical instruments and also incorporated body awareness into our project!


They all were a lot of fun to participate in, and I feel like I have learned a lot about how to plan and facilitate different TR programs. After experiencing all of the projects tonight, the main question we are left with was, "SO WHAT?"
What do all of these activities tell us about how to become a better TR specialist?


One of the main things I have gained from these projects so far is seeing just how broad the field of TR is! There are many guidelines that are important to follow in TR, but there are endless ways to change up the activity to fit different populations and different groups of individuals. For any number of goals/objectives for a client, there are at least double if not infinite ways to reach those goals! I have learned that there is never just one way to do things in the wonderful world of TR!


Another important thing I picked up on from experiencing these projects is how versatile you have to be. Even if you have a certain thing planned out exactly how you want it, 99.9% of the time it is not going to go just as you wanted it to. I have learned this from working at a summer camp with kids for the past 5 years. I have learned that you need to overplan activities and plan for them to go differently than you originally decided. The main thing is to just go with it!!!! As long as the main goal/point is being reached, go where the group goes. If they want to spend more time on something or if the activity takes a completely different direction than you thought, let them do it.  If they are enjoying themselves and getting something out of it, the number one thing is to

just go with the flow!!!!! :)

AHHH...STRESS!!!!!!!!

Now that we are nearing the end of the semester, I feel that my stress is at an all time high! Between all of the projects, papers, presentations and exams, and not to mention adding 20 hours of work on top of that, I sometimes don't know how I am going to fit everything in! 
        However, I know too well how important stress management is and how crucial it is to incorporate relaxation activities into my everyday life, no matter how busy I am. In Innovative TR, we discussed a wide variety of relaxation activities to incorporate into our TR programs. 
The main objectives we discussed going over with clients are:

•           Body Awareness
•  Decreasing Stress and Anxiety
• Use as a coping skill
• Transferability into everyday life <------------- SUPER IMPORTANT!!!!!

Skills that a CTRS needs to have to facilitate stress-reduction techniques are:

• A variety of approaches
• Lead by example
• apply to various situations (ex. journaling)
• Develop your own relaxation kit
• Become confident at leading quiet activities

One of the first activities we discussed to use is:

BREATHING, the foundation for all relaxation!

Some things we talked about to make deep breathing exercises successful are to make sure to consider:

• Body posture/position
• Breathing from the diaphragm
• Start simple and progress to different imagery

Progressive RELAXATION, the next phase in stress reduction!

Progressive Relaxation's focus is to tense/relax muscles to move into a deeper state of relaxation. For example, clenching fists, then relaxing them, clenching shoulders, then relaxing them, etc. It helps to reduce tension in all parts of the body!

Some Unique Breathing Exercises that were discussed were the

Yawn/Yell Exercises and Laughter Yoga

Here is a cool video I found on Laughter Yoga featured on CNN!

We also discussed the benefits of Meditation and Guided Imagery for use in TR programs. Some of these benefits include:

• Integration of "all levels" of ability
• Fast results
• Different types/applications to leisure education/recreation participation and rehabilitation

Finally, in class we talked about what type of relaxation program would be beneficial for different specific TR populations. My group discussed how we could design a relaxation program for adults recovering from a spinal cord injury.

We decided that a guided imagery session would be extremely beneficial for them because it would help them de-stress and learn how to calm themselves down while learning to adjust to their new lives after experiencing a drastic change such as having a spinal cord injury. We decided that having calming images of the outdoors/nature and having soothing music would be good to incorporate into the sessions. The goal would be to focus on their breathing and focus on happy memories/positive goals for the future while also working to bring themselves into a relaxed and positive sense of being.

Stress reduction techniques are definitely something that I am going to be using regularly as a future CTRS!