Notes from the Neuro Café on 17th March 2021.
To celebrate St Patrick's Day Conor showed up in his retro Irish football jersey , but best dressed went to one of our participants who arrived in his Green Lyons rugby jersey with a big Guinness hat on! Before we got started we were treated to a little history lesson about Ireland and the St Patrick's Day tradition from one of our Irish members.
Art
In keeping with the celebration of St Patrick's Day we created some Irish themed art work and attempted representations of shamrocks and celtic knots. We had a real Blue Peter moment when the one of the members pulled out a well decorated bottle cover in Celtic knots saying “Here’s one I made earlier”. Participants were encouraged to use their affected arm in any way they could during the task (e.g. stabilising the page or colouring).
Sports
During the task we talked all things sport as members reminisced and shared stories of their previous involvement in sport with memories both good and bad . There were a lot of injuries along the way! One member missed the bus to his rugby game so he had to play with a different team in a different position, which did not end up going well and resulted in a broken back. The moral of the story was to always be on time for your bus!
We also spoke about Gaelic football and Hurling, which some people hadn't heard of and the ones who had thought it was a sport for mad people.
Nordic Walking
After last week's conversation, one member had bought some Nordic walking poles, prompted by hearing other LEGS members speaking so highly of them. They were keen to get them out of the box and try them but they were unsure about the set up. Advice was given that the walking pole height should be set up at hand shaking height.
There are number of Nordic walking and walking groups around London that meet to walk together. Check your local area to see what groups are available. Two members are in Nordic walking groups and find it very enjoyable.
Not everyone will be able to do Nordic walking and it is important to speak with somebody first to see if it is an appropriate type of exercise for you.
Here are some videos to help with getting Nordic walking:
Hydrotherapy
Another type of exercise that people found very beneficial for their recovery was Hydrotherapy or Aqua aerobics. With the swimming pools reopening soon we decided this could be the topic of discussion for next week’s Neuro Café.
As usual we finished with a couple of jokes from the group, which are always well received well!