Category Archives: Dancing and Parkinson’s

Slow Movement Remedies

Question:

I am wondering about how to deal with slow movement. I never hear this question addressed. Are there any ways to overcome this? It is my worst symptom. People tell me I move very gingerly.

Thank you for your help.

Karen

Response:

The big picture is the reprogram your neural networks. It appears that your movements are being controlled by neural pathways that are a bit rusty.

There is no reason for panic! The brain has an incredible capacity to reconfigure pathways. You just have to begin moving a bit differently to configure the new pathways which will make walking easier and require less effort on your part.

First, I suggest that you listen to my interview with Professional Dancer Pamela Quinn from New York City. Pamela offers a number of suggestions you should find helpful. You can find her program from last week by visiting the Parkinsons Recovery Radio Network page below:

Second, I suggest that you add a little music (with a nice hefty beat) when you walk. Use an MP3 player or IPOD  or something portable. Find some music you like to listen to which has a marching type of beat. Music with a strong beat does wonders for movements that are slow and cumbersome. Michael Jackson recorded some great songs with incredible beats you can dance to.

Third, there are a number of brain challenge exercises and programs which provide great ways to forge new  neural pathways. You might try out a few. They always have free ones to try out on the websites. I posted information on one such program on this blog September 30th from Posit Science which is backed by sound research.

Fourth, inside of thinking of walking from point A to point B, think to yourself that you will dance from Point A to Point B. You may be surprised by the difference created by the different in thought forms.

Let us know what turns out to help!

Robert Rodgers, Ph.D.
Parkinsons Recovery

Resources
Dehydration Therapy: Aquas
Parkinsons Recovery Membership
Parkinsons Eye Problems
Vibroacoustic Therapy
Parkinsons Recovery Chat Room
Symptom Tracker

Books
Road to Recovery from Parkinsons Disease
Pioneers of Recovery
Five Steps to Recovery
Meditations for Parkinsons

Welcome to Our World

Dancer Pamela Quinn recently made a video which was a co-winner of the first prize awarded in the video competition sponsored by the Second World Parkinson Congress. Pamela is the individual Daniel Loney talks about in the September 4th post here on the Parkinsons Recovery Blog [scroll down to the next post]. Daniel put a link to the video on his post – but I did not anyone to miss it!

The video, entitled Welcome to Our World, takes three minutes to watch. You will remember it for the rest of your life.   Click on the link below to watch.

http://www.youtube.com/user/filmbee#p/u/10/jhxtqwHO9Tg

Robert Rodgers, Ph.D.
Parkinsons Recovery
www.parkinsonsrecovery.com

Arts Based Classes for PD

The mission of the Brooklyn Parkinson Group is to enrich the lives of persons with  PD and their families by providing arts based classes such as dancing, singing and community based exercise programs. Click on the link below to watch an amazing 5 minute video that previews the innovative work being done by the Brooklyn Parkinson Group. You will find the video on the top right. Click on the arrow to watch.

http://www.brooklynparkinsongroup.com/

Robert Rodgers, Ph.D.
Parkinsons Recovery
1-877-526-4646 (Toll Free)

Resources
Jump Start to Wellness
Dehydration Therapy: Aquas
Parkinsons Recovery Membership
Parkinsons Eye Problems
Vibroacoustic Therapy
Parkinsons Recovery Chat Room
Symptom Tracker
Parkinson’s Disease News

Books
Road to Recovery from Parkinsons Disease
Pioneers of Recovery
Five Steps to Recovery
Meditations for Parkinsons

Struggling to Move

Click on the link below to read dancer Pamela Quinn’s remarkable article titled “”Parkinson’s Disease Took Her Dance Away, But Dance Gave Back” which was recently published in Dance Magazine.

http://www.kidscanmakeadifference.org/Newsletter/07-10/Moving%20Through%20Parkinson_AP.pdf

This article was reprinted in a remarkable newsletter published by Larry and Jane Levine. Jane currently has the symptoms of Parkinson’s.  To learn more about Larry and Jane’s fascinating Finding Solutions newsletter, click on the link below:

http://www.kidscanmakeadifference.org/Newsletter/07-10/about%20this%20issue.pdf

Robert Rodgers, Ph.D.
Parkinsons Recovery
1-877-526-4646 (toll free)

Resources
Jump Start to Wellness
Dehydration Therapy: Aquas
Parkinsons Recovery Membership
Parkinsons Eye Problems
Vibroacoustic Therapy
Parkinsons Recovery Chat Room
Symptom Tracker
Parkinson’s Disease News

Books
Road to Recovery from Parkinsons Disease
Pioneers of Recovery
Five Steps to Recovery
Meditations for Parkinsons

Incredible People

Incredible People

By

Daniel Loney

I recently returned from a fantastic five week visit to the U.S. I had been invited by the Parkinson’s Recovery organization to give a series of Tai Chi workshops to Parkinson’s people during an eight day cruise to Alaska. After the cruise, I gave several workshops in Washington and Oregon on behalf of the Northwest Parkinson’s Foundation.  And then, before returning to Israel, I spent a week in New York where I attended some dance sessions for Parkinson’s people, sponsored by the Mark Morris Dance Group.

One evening during the cruise, my brother and I were having dinner with Robert Rodgers and Deborah Russell, the founders of Parkinson’s Recovery.  In the course of our conversation, Robert turned to me and said,

“Danny, all week long people have been coming up to me and saying that the Tai Chi is great, but Danny is incredible.”

His words went straight to my heart.  I was fighting to keep back tears. Robert continued,

“When you do your Tai Chi, you do it with such passion that the room just explodes with a high frequency energy that draws other people in, prompting them to be involved.”

I was overwhelmed that I had such an impact on others.  Tai Chi is one of my passions in life.  When I am doing Tai Chi, I feel at my best.  I go deep into myself, to a place where Parkinson’s symptoms melt away.  Just as a painter expresses his inner most self through his painting, and a poet through his poetry; I express my inner most self through my Tai Chi.

This “frequency explosion”, or whatever you want to call it, repeated itself with every subsequent workshop that I did.  Participants’ faces would light up with smiles as they followed my movements.  At the conclusion of the Mercer Island workshop near Seattle, people were standing around in small groups, discussing the workshop. In one group, Bill Bell, president of the Northwest Parkinson’s Foundation was commenting to others that the energy level in the room was so high that people could not keep from participating.  One woman in the group said that when we were doing our Qi Gong exercises, she felt as if I were lifting her hands for her.

There is certainly nothing special about me. If I am incredible, then it must be because I am surrounded by incredible people.  In fact, the Parkinson’s group on the cruise was filled with many incredible people who were taking active roles in finding relief and healing from their Parkinson’s symptoms. One such incredible person is Dave Yonce.  Talking with Dave is a wonderful experience.  He has a gentle personality and his life is packed with adventures.  He related to me how, in his younger years, he had walked and hitch hiked across North Africa and had tried to enter Israel. But, because there was no peace agreement at that time between Egypt and Israel, he was not permitted to cross the border.  Dave recently completed a walk across the Olympian Peninsula in the state of Washington, a trek of more than fifty miles (80 kilometers).  I looked at Dave wondering how on earth he had accomplished that task, as Dave had marked trembling in both hands and certainly did not look able to do such a feat.

The next morning I understood how he had walked such a distance.  As the ship docked at Ketchikan, my brother and I disembarked to walk around and see the town.  After walking some distance, we stopped to rest and take some pictures.  Suddenly, I noticed Dave and his wife walking in our direction.  As a Tai Chi instructor, I pay particular attention to people’s posture, how they move their bodies and how they walk.  As I watched Dave approach, I was witnessing one of the most astounding acts of movement I have ever seen.  Dave was gliding along, with big strides, effortlessly and efficiently moving his body.  As he floated by, he moved like a graceful crane as if he was skimming on top of water.  Dave smiled at us as he passed and I turned my head staring at him as he disappeared off in the distance.  Later, we managed to catch up with Dave.  I noticed him through the window of a small café, comfortably parked at a table having a bite to eat.  He looked relaxed, comfortable, and energized as he smiled through the window at me.  By that time, I was sweaty and exhausted after clomping along trying to keep pace with my brother.  I have since tried many times to replicate Dave’s walk, but to no success.  I hope that I will see Dave again so that I can study his walk in greater detail.

While I was at a Parkinson’s dance class in New York, I met another incredible person, Pamela Quinn.  Pamela is a professional dancer who developed the symptoms of Parkinson’s at a young age.  She is currently 55 years old and has had Parkinson’s for fifteen years.  As she started teaching her class, there was that same explosion of energy that Robert had described about my classes.  Participants were smiling and laughing and enjoying themselves.  I was deeply moved as I watched her guide the class through her routines. She had such grace and poise.  Pam is extremely innovative in her approach and has developed many exercises that address specific Parkinson’s symptoms.  I had taken my camera along, but I was so mesmerized by Pam’s passion and positive energy that I completely forgot to take the pictures.

So what made my visit to the States so special?  It was special because I discovered that each one and every one of us has the opportunity to become incredible. I learned that we become incredible by living and investing ourselves to the fullest of our abilities in pursuit of our passions in life. And when we begin to share our passion with others, we release explosive high frequency energy that brings healing, encouragement, comfort, and joy to everyone around us.

Links:

Parkinson’s Recovery Home

http://www.parkinsonsrecovery.com

Parkinson’s Recovery Radio Blog     http://www.blogtalkradio.com/parkinsons-recovery

Pamela Quinn:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHXP0xjxnq8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhxtqwHO9Tg

Drumming, Dancing, Music and Parkinson’s

I’m a man (57- diagnosed 5 years ago-medicated
since 8 months ago) living in The Hague (Holland).
I really enjoy your Parkinsons Recovery daily letters
and I look forward to receiving them.

I enjoyed your letter about drumming. Last Friday
I ended a course of salsa-dancing for PWP. It was
organised by a dancing-school in The Hague.
The lessons were given at a beach-restaurant.
It was funny for the regular costumers to hear
swinging music and to see people dance with
slow movements.It was great fun to do it.
I cross the streets singing a rhythmic song loudly.
I learned that from a chapter in Olivier Sack’s
latest book Musicophilia.


Thank you and go on like this.

Kind regards

Hans de Rijke