FREE Proprioception, Heavy Work, Deep Pressure Education and Activities

Included are two pages of Proprioception / Heavy Work / Deep Pressure sensory activities as well as the following information and education:

Proprioception.

Definition: Proprioception is the sense of where your body is in space. It is perceived through receptors in the muscles and joints.

Purpose: This sense orients you to your position, movements, and your relation to other objects around you. It aids in balance, coordination, and movement. Additionally, receiving this stimulation through deep pressure and heavy work can also be grounding, calming, and organizing.

Decreased Sense: Since this sense helps us with body awareness, having a decreased sense of proprioception might look like clumsiness, falling, running into things, and difficulty coordinating movements. It often leads to seeking out proprioception input by crashing, pushing, compression, hitting, bumping, flopping, squishing, running, stomping, jumping, climbing, chewing, biting, clenching, and sucking.

Stimulate: To stimulate proprioception, deep pressure has to be provided to the muscles and/or joints. This is where the proprioception receptors are located. Deep pressure to the muscles and joints can be provided by “heavy work” (heavy pushing, pulling, and carrying) and through squishing and squeezing (hugs, massages, compression of muscles and joints by objects or movement, etc.).