The 5 Tibetans - Yoga for Dummies, I think

Unhelpful to the sometimes helpless

The other day, as I got to the station and was making for the train, I saw a lady who appeared to have lost her orientation.

She was blind and she was using her cane to try and locate the blind guides and I just realised that there were none on the station concourse.

Interestingly, just outside the station on the forecourt where we could board trams and buses there were yards of markers for the blind but they had to get there first.

It then occurred to me that for the minor handicap I have with a funny back and a once flexible left foot that had by reason of cancer made me flat-footed seriously affecting my gait, it could no way compare to the situation this lady was in.

Inaccessible to those needing easy access

I have many a time lamented the fact that stations and airports were not necessarily built for easy or enabled access, in what I will with political incorrectness term handicap-unfriendly.

The lifts are far away, sometimes the escalators are not working, in some airports, especially Amsterdam Schiphol and London Heathrow, it could be hellish at best to get from check-in to boarding gate – the planning is utterly inconsiderate of those who might with their handicap want to maintain their independence and sometimes travel alone rather than have to be accompanied by reason of dictates of the establishments that run the buildings.

So, I went to the lady asked where she needed to go, she wanted to go to the ticket office, I offered to take her there and she confidently linked her arm in mine and we made for the ticket office and did not leave until she had been served.

Sadly, in such situations you find the able-bodied being indifferent, inconsiderate and uncaring, they’ll jump the queue to steal a match on those whose mobility or ability is restricted and do so without any feeling of guilt or concern, it is appalling.

5 Tibetan Rites

As I visited someone yesterday, he asked why I was using a cane and then gave me some advice as to how to manage the issues with my back.

It is called the 5 Tibetans [1]; a number of easy yoga exercises that apparently help with his more serious back problems than mine and he proceeded to first demonstrate the exercises and then drew them out.

I found a flash-based demonstration of the 5 Tibetans [2] and I suppose this will become my daily routine with the hope that I will get to see and feel some good results.

What I cannot seem to control is the fact that sometimes I can walk really long distances at pace and well, this afternoon, I do not think I was making more than 20 metres in a minute, I just cannot bring myself to speed up that crossing roads with traffic lights still have me far from safety long after the lights have turned red.

I cannot put it down to tiredness at all, it just seems to be a weakness in my motor systems that manifests at times that I just consider each step I take is towards my destination without giving consideration to how long it might take to get there.

Suffice it to say I have usually willed myself to walk when it might be considered sensible to just use other means of transport; there is no doubt that I probably need a regimen of physiotherapy.

Sources

[1] Five Tibetan Rites - From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[2] 5 Tibetans - Yoga Rejuventation Exercise