Digital Imagery

Digital Imagery
Captured on film

Monday 12 September 2011

Semester Two

Hi and welcome back to Participation in Occupation 2

First Blog entry:

Mindfulness
Practical Considerations


                                                     C.Tate 2009        
                                                      
This semester we will be exploring participation in occupation and the needs that this meets.  So in the following blogs I will be talking about an activity in terms of its mindfulness, ergonomics, ambiance, affordances and practical considerations and using a topic that I regularly participate in....Hebel Sculpture.
This is a man made product which looks like a concrete block though it is half its weight. It is made from sand, concrete and lime and it is aerated so it looks somewhat like pumice. Above is a sculpture I was commissioned to make.

Words that come to mind when I sculpt with hebel?
Relaxation,
Me time,
Productivity,
Sunshine,
Planning,
Fun,
Gifts/Presents to name but a few.

Occupational Therapy eyes:
When considering this activity of doing hebel sculpture through my OT eyes these words spring to mind: planning, sequencing, fine and gross motor skills, relaxation, purposeful/meaningful group and individual activity to name but a few.


But what is mindfulness?
Mindfulness refers to being “completely in touch with and aware of the present moment, as well as taking a non-evaluative and non-judgmental approach to your inner experience” (
about.com).

Take a look at this clip to get an understanding of just what mindfulness is.

http://youtu.be/HCnB5i0ToUc
 

Creating mindfully: what would help or hinder me to sculpt?

The weather, I always make the most of the sunshine and therefore the activity happens, I love being in the sun and especially with it on my back,

Distractions could alter the way I work at the hebel, my family could be a possible distraction but they respect that this is my time or wait, time and products available or otherwise would definitely hinder me from creating a sculpture mindfully too.

Practical Considerations:
“Practical considerations take note of the objects and tools necessary to engage successfully in occupations” (Christiansen & Townsend, 2004). I could not do my sculpture without being set up and organized.

Additional Information:
It's a weekend morning which means I'm not needed anywhere, it’s warm and sunny and the family are occupied. Of course there's always some studying to be done but not this morning, it’s time to be creative!
To the shed I go to retrieve the tools, hebel block, saw bench and the box with the dremel kit, sandpaper and turn the radio on.
I lay a carpet mat on the ground and place my back to the sun, glorious heat is penetrating my jumper. The project I have in mind today is one I have made a few times already but I never create exactly the same each time so it's always exciting to see how the sculpture evolves. I also have a person in mind for this piece and it needs to be completed this morning.


References: 

Christiansen, C. H. & Townsend, E. A. (2004).  An introduction to occupation.  In C. H. Christiansen & E. A. Townsend (Eds.), Introduction to occupation: The art and science of living (pp. 1-28).  New Jersey, USA: Pearson Education, Inc.


3 comments:

  1. This is awesome Cara. From reading your post i can see a lot of OT themes within this activity. I really like the way you have reflected on the experience as well.

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  2. Great reflection on your "me time" experience. Your activity uses many processing skills,meaningful and mindfulness, & with the use of fine and gross motor skills.

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  3. Thanks so much to both of you for your comments. Yes there are many occupational therapy connections within this activity, maybe thats why I luv it so much! Cara :)

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