Participation and Well-Being

Aerial yoga was great this week! The newest most challenging pose was the reverse Herron, which I really enjoyed. Each time I go I feel it getting easier and easier as I get more use to the silks. Some poses are terribly uncomfortable as the silk isn’t always soft on the body when it’s all scrunched up, but I feel that I either must be getting used to it, or my body is just more accepting of it because it doesn’t seem quite as painful as it was at first! Also, my teacher called me her “little prodigy” so that was both reassuring and motivating! :)

I feel that I am very fortunate to have the resources that I do in order to participate in my new occupation. The first being financially able. Obviously choosing to do a yoga class requires money and I am fortunate enough to have access to that in order to participate in this class. Another resource discussed was certain personality traits such as extraversion, optimism, and self-esteem, which all seem to increase one’s ability to participate in valued life activities. I would say these are traits that I possess in some way, shape, or form. Thus giving me the confidence to try something new that I’ve never done that requires me to kind of put myself out there, as I have to do this in front of a group of people. A third type of resource is social support, and I feel I have a very strong support system that enables and supports me in the things that I am interested in and want to pursue. There are times when I’m feeling unmotivated and not sure if I want to attend yoga but Dayne usually convinces me saying that I would be happy if I went. All of these resources support my ability to participate in some way. Money of course helps in participating as most things cost money. My personality traits help lead to new opportunities for participation as I feel I am outgoing and as the text stated: “self-assertiveness and self-efficacy open doors to participation in valued tasks.” I also feel that I am optimistic of positive outcomes but also feel that I am able to anticipate and prepare for potential obstacles that allows me to facilitate persistence in my occupation.

The concept of resources and the impact they have on our ability to participate in certain occupations reminded me of the topic of occupational injustice that was discussed within Hasselkus. This is an aspect of occupation and belonging, which is described as “a basic human need- crucial to well-being and survival (Wilcock 2006). The need to feel like we belong is such an important part of life and occupational injustice is something that can inhibit that from happening. Although occupational injustice is something that can be caused by a number of things, lack of opportunity due to necessary resources is a very common reason behind this injustice. I thought Christiansen (1999) did a good job addressing some of these resources and how many of them are necessary to have in order to do what we enjoy. Unfortunately many people do not possess or have access to many of these resources and as a result we see occupational injustice.