Friend Steve shares some of the exercises that he does at home.

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Tricky thing to answer. We all differ in our weaknesses/loses so its not as simple as "do this". For anyone early in their recovery just try anything at any time to try to get some movement back no matter how small, then work it and speak to your physios, they should be able to feel what muscles you are controlling and help you target those. For myself I would always try to use what I had no matter how silly it looked or if I failed.

My motto is "it's ALL exercise". Even though my hand is still useless I put drink bottles in it to hold while I open them even though I can open them one handed. And I use the hand/arm to push open doors. We have an infinite range of movements we can do, so anything you try will exercise all those tiny muscles and control we are not consciously aware of.

Over time I can see I am doing more even though my grip strength isn't much improved. When I started walking there was a "vagueness" in my mind as the brain was frantically dealing with all the inputs from my senses plus all the focus I was putting into balance and walking. So practice walking a familiar route often, your brain will adapt to the peripheral stimuli and you will relax into your walking easier and put focus into technique. When you set goals or use aids you limit yourself, why settle for less than you can be? But be sensible, if you want to try something new think about the safest way to do it (don't rush) and have someone stand by just in case you get yourself into trouble (they could even provide feedback like "your foot is curling in" so you can work on exercising the foot more to prevent that. I walk a lot outdoors around my street, the familiarity feels safe so its not so stressful and the neighbors get used to seeing me around and don't rush me so I don't have to shift too much focus to what they might do near me. I also make sure to walk at different times of day so the brain adjusts to the changing light, different temperatures too (I don't feel too much on my affected side, so temp changes are interpreted as pain and i have to train that), ditto wet weather, I started with small walks after rains to feel changes in the ground/grip, then walking during light rains and increasingly heavy when it occurred. Just a matter of progressing things and challenging myself. It took a long time to trust my leg to support me, I started with having someone come with me on a walk and progressed to going solo. Also good walking shoes and walking on different surfaces, vary it up. Look around your home, where there's concrete and asphalt to walk on, maybe grass, dirt, gravel( careful!) etc. The local playground has bark chips so make it safer for the kids and I go there often (its rarely in use) and can safely hold onto the sturdy equipment and stand/stretch/walk on the softer ground. Lots of variety and take it slow and careful.

One of the biggest hurdles is other people. They don't know what to do or how to act, So the people in your life try to include them often so you both get used to the situation and gain confidence. Just be patient and take things slow, new places and situations just observe and think before you move forward. Be honest with yourself, walk next to something you might be able to lean against or hold onto if you need, try to avoid being in other peoples way and do as much for yourself as possible as often as you can. No such thing as a day off for us!