Here at the Wolfson each patient has an individual weekly timetable. This week a new session appeared on mine for today - Relaxation Group. I am unsure why I had suddenly been put into this group one week prior to my discharge and not before, but thought that it may teach me some relaxation tools to take away and would therefor be of some benefit. How wrong I was!!
The first problem is that the concept of relaxation in a grotty room in a 1960's hospital with all the related noise is difficult before you start. Still, 7 of us sat there prepared to put that to one side and give it a go. The second major problem for me was that some of my Occupational Therapy sessions have involved me typing in a bid to improve my left hand. I have mainly been copying what ever has been at hand, a paper, leaflet...or on one occasion what I thought was an example of a relaxation session. Turns out it was THE relaxation session. So as the OT started to read in a monotone voice I could see myself sat at a desk struggling to type...not very relaxing. As the session progressed my mind just kept wandering, I just could not focus on "floating away weightless, totally supported, surrounded by a soft sunshine yellow". ( How is that meant to feel???!) I just could not stop thinking about the typing and how she was literally reading word for word.........Soon though I was in uncharted waters, I am unsure if she went off programme or if she was still reading, ( my typing slow!!) But she was now talking about how we should all imagine we were walking barefoot down a soft sandy Caribbean beach with gently lapping waves. All I could think about was that my stick would probably get stuck in the sand and that I can't walk barefoot!! I'm sure that I have a very bad attitude to this type of thing and that I am a right old cynic but I cant help thinking I am very glad I did not have to go every week!
3 comments:
Mel sweetie, we'll have you on a beach soon even if we have to carry you, which i know we wont. H and I are going to try and persuade you to come to the DR. Its very much like Koh Tao.....!
God I used to hate having to do relaxation sessions with my patients. We had some dodgy music tapes - hooked on classic stylie - and a dodgy tape player. The tapes had been played a hundred times so were stretched meaning the music sped up and slowed dowm, the sound went up and down and just as you thought you'd nailed it, there was a surge in tempo and loudness and everyone came to as if having a sudden heart attack. I also had difficulty telling people to imagine they were orange (as we did in some of the colour pyramid sessions) - well done for not laughing too much.
Colour Pyramid.......i knew there would be some fancy name for it! I can just see you with your dodgy relaxation tape, sounds even more comical than my session...
xxxxxx
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