Student Blog
Don’t Look Down! ⟩
February 3, 2012, by Chelsea
In occupational therapy we learn that different people have different sensory thresholds. Some have low sensory thresholds and get all the sensory stimulation they crave just by trying a new type of food. Others have high sensory thresholds and crave activities that will boost their adrenaline such as rollercoasters, snowboarding, dirt-biking, and rock-climbing. Well my boyfriend happens to be someone with a high sensory threshold and enjoys all of the adrenaline boosting activities I just mentioned and more. Last weekend we took a group of friends on a treacherous hike to a hidden waterfall. We didn’t really specify that the hike would involve rock-climbing and so all ten of our friends agreed to go. The hike was just north of Pasadena in a place called Eaton Canyon, which runs along the San Gabriel Fault. The beginning of the hike is easy until the rock-climbing begins. It involves cliffs, ropes, rocks, creeks, and at the end a beautiful 35-40 foot waterfall. Once we reached the waterfall there was an awesome area in the rocks that had been carved out and smoothed by the water so that it formed a fun waterslide that we could slide down and it would shoot us out about 30 feet above the water into the pool at the foot of the waterfall. I went on the waterslide the last time I hiked there during summer, but this time the water was much too cold for my liking and I’m pretty sure my sensory threshold had already been met without having to drop 30 feet into a pool of freezing cold water!
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New Year, New Teachers ⟩
February 2, 2012, by Alix
Since moving to LA a couple years ago, I’ve been faithfully going to Exhale Center for Sacred Movement, a great yoga studio in Santa Monica. Some of my favorite teachers — Shiva Rea, Saul David Raye, and Erich Schiffmann, to name a few — teach there, and it’s really close to my house. But for 2012, I wanted to branch out and try something new. So I’ve started going to a new studio, Santa Monica Yoga, and I’m remembering now just how much a new teacher helps to revitalize my practice. The classes are smaller and more intimate, so I’m getting lots of great adjustments. And I’m learning even more about teaching techniques, which helps me to be a better instructor for my students. (Also, the teachers at SMY have really good playlists, which helps.) With the help of one of my new teachers, I’ve even able to achieve one of my 2012 goals: freestanding pincha mayurasana!
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Clipper Nation ⟩
January 31, 2012, by Kimberly
Living in LA School/Life Balance
One perk of living in downtown LA (if you are a sports fan) is access to Staples Center. The arena is literally 7 blocks from my apartment and still it has taken me 2 years to make it down there. Last night I was able to attend the Clippers / Oklahoma City Thunder game and it was awesome! I love sports; learning them, watching them, playing them, but I don’t really have a team that I am 100% loyal to. Thus it is fun when I go with others who are really into their team . . . and you could definitely say this about Clipper Nation. The energy of the fans at Staples Center was contagious! Plus the game itself last night helped a bit too as the Clippers held a continuous tight lead on OKC Thunder, Blake Griffin made an amazing dunk, literally jaw dropping to watch, and the clippers left at the half with a 12-0 run solely on 3-pointers. It was phenomenal! Even If I am not a life-long Clippers fan, I became one for the night. The other highlight for me was seeing the devotion of one particular fan, “Clipper Darrell.” From starting arena-wide chants to dancing in the aisle along with Clipper Spirit Dance Team to wearing a fully decked out blue and red 3-piece suit, he epitomized the intensity of these fans’ loyalty. The whole experience was a great break from school and a refreshing interaction with an entirely different crowd. If you live in LA and haven’t rooted for our local teams, I would highly recommend it!
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Me vs. the Gym ⟩
January 30, 2012, by Floyd
So this is it. It’s time to get back into a regular exercise routine. I used to be very active and go to the gym regularly; however, [insert excuses here]. No more excuses, it’s time to get back to it.
I am not going to do the “gym thing” because I am not willing to shell out the monetary funds to support something I can do on my own for free. I think the only reason why I am writing this blog because it will motivate me to follow-through with my commitment. For my sake, let’s hope that it will bloom into fruition. I would love to do something like P-90X but I have no one in my house! There I go again with my excuses . . .
Let’s see . . . I can do push-ups and sit-ups on my yoga mat at home. My room is really cluttered so I would have to do some organization and kill two birds with one stone (clean my room and exercise, yay!). Plank exercises are good right? Maybe some of those will be good. Oh, I can throw in some free weights! This way, I can watch TV and do some lifting. Ok, I know myself. I know if I put too much on my plate, I will not do it. So maybe just the free weights for now. Then throwing in some push-ups and so on.
Now what to do with scheduling this exercise in. I think 3 times a week is a good start. Hey, it’s better than the nothing I’m doing now.
That’s me down there . . . the T-REX!
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My Mom Came to Visit Me! ⟩
January 26, 2012, by Chelsea
Living in LA School/Life Balance What are OS/OT?
Last Monday on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, my amazing mom drove two and a half hours from San Diego just to hang out with me for the day. We are both avid beach-goers and so, naturally, we decided to beeline for the Pacific Ocean. We hopped on the 110S, merged onto the 105W, and didn’t stop until we saw the bright sun shining over the sparkling water. One of our favorite restaurants in Manhattan Beach is called the North End Café, which had a debut on Food Network’s Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives and has been a hot spot ever since. We drove down Highland Avenue, but passed the North End Café since it looked so busy and we decided to try somewhere new with a good view. Well we got a great view, but the food was nothing to brag about and I can’t even remember the name of the restaurant.
After eating, my mom and I went to a small grassy park looking over the beach and sat down. There were four blond little girls ranging from 2 years old to 7 years old and they had three skateboards. The grassy park started on Highland Avenue and went almost all the way down the hill to the beach. It started with a plateau, then curved downward, then plateaued, and so on. The four little blond girls would sit on their skateboards and ride down the hill from the top to the bottom laughing and screaming for joy. My mom and I had so much fun watching them and I couldn’t help thinking about my Sensory Integration elective and how these little girls were organizing play and integrating their senses so flawlessly. In my head I’m thinking, “Wow, they are receiving proprioceptive, vestibular, and tactile input from this activity, all of which is aiding their childhood development and they don’t even know it!” The proprioceptive skill of knowing where their body was in space will help their motor coordination, the vestibular input of motion caused by gravity will help their postural control, and the tactile input of holding onto the skateboard will help their skilled movement as well as emotional development! After taking this sensory integration course I don’t know if I will ever be able to look at kids playing without thinking in occupational therapy terms!
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