There was a trick they taught in a spinal rehab hospital. I swear they did it to make the paralyzed people feel more in control when they took a fall. (Also, the worst thing you can do after losing balance is to try to RESIST the fall. That almost always makes it worse.)
As soon as you feel yourself starting to fall, (if their training kicks in), you were supposed to call out "Falling!" as if it had been your idea all along and you were just sharing the experience. You don't resist while you're saying "Falling!"
It turns off the panic-freeze reaction. It even cuts down on unwanted laughter!
It MAKES you calm, because you want to SOUND calm.
And once you're calm, you remember all that stuff about not hitting your head or elbows, bending at the knees, curling, and taking it relaxed instead of stiffening up so you fall like an oak tree and bounce your head off the pavement.
Another trick was to "Help your butt take the shortest, straightest path down to the ground". As if you were just "melting down" to sit gently on the ground. (This also makes you relax.)
Also, for some reason, "try to LOOK at the spot where your butt will hit. (I think it curls the spine and bends the neck.) Somehow it tends to keep people from spraining wrists, shattering elbows and whacking heads.
They had a million tricks!
