We at Outsiders decided that the best way to start living life to the full and having lots of fun would be to become as healthy as possible. We realize that, whatever our disabilities and impairments, health radiates out like the sun. People with physical and sensory disabilities have a special duty to ourselves to make the most of our bodies and minds. You’ll notice in the media, the disabled people who get the positive coverage are the Para-Olympians. If we all want to be treated as equal, we need to prove ourselves too.
Physical and mental decline is too often caused by feeling dis-empowered, lazy, or unmotivated. It’s up to us to be as healthy as possible: by keeping fit, eating well, and staying mentally active.
Fitness may seem more difficult for people with mobility impairments, Visual Impairment s, fatigue, and chronic pain, but is actually very important. Exercise and nourishment will maintain and improve control, decision making, and mobility — which, in turn, will make it easier to keep fit and stay independent.
This section of the website is being written at a time when keep fit classes and home exercise machines for disabled people are at last being pioneered. “Seated Exercise” classes are starting up in leisure centres: try typing the name plus your home town into a search engine (like Google) and, if you don’t find one, hassle your leisure centre or your GP to get one started.
Those with limited mobility can also do a seated form of therapeutic exercises based on the Chinese Taiji and Qigong — see A new guide to exercise for limited mobility.
Whatever you do, keep active, enjoy the sun on your face, quit nicotine and other dodgy drugs, limit alcoholic intake, and eat delicious fresh foods.
