A common scenario for freezing is getting up from a chair and starting to walk. Initiating the first step often brings on freezing. When you add getting up from a seated position, it’s a double whammy!

This Sit-Stand-Walk exercise is a great repetitive drill that has helped so many of my fighters with their freezing. We use it in our classes, even our online high-intensity boxing workouts. I love helping someone who is having difficulty find a practical solution. Overcoming something that previously made you fall improves your quality of life and feeling of empowerment!

Because of the quarantine and lack of exercise many people with Parkinson’s are falling more these days. I decided to do these quick beginner exercises to get you started improving your balance.

Your balance is a process of many systems working together to hold you upright. Your eyesight, ears, muscles, tendons, joints, and nervous system send messages to your brain. The basal ganglia is the balance center of the brain and also the part of the brain most affected by Parkinson’s.

Is it any wonder why people with PD fall so much? The body tries to compensate by using other parts of the brain for balance, and all that does is disrupt other systems, like thinking and executive functioning.

The only thing that significantly helps with balance is specialized coaching and exercise. Your medication will not help you with balance. Once again, it is movement (nature’s cure-all) to the rescue!

“Kimberly, what can I do to straighten up? I feel like my posture is getting worse!” This is a very common question and concern for people with Parkinson’s.

Parkinson’s disease causes your chest muscles to tighten, creating a flexed-forward posture. This creates a host of problems, including back pain. You can use a foam roller to facilitate some great extension in your muscles, improving pain and your posture. I’ll show you how to use a bath towel to keep the roller in place.

I was interviewed by Epicurious cooking magazine in response to an article I did on Kitchen Safety for People with Parkinson’s. (Scroll down to see the Epicurious article.)

Here is my original article with a few updates:

Being creative in the kitchen is important to so many people with Parkinson’s. Meal prep can be exhausting, challenging and dangerous. Let’s make it as safe and easy as possible so you can keep cooking for the people you love.

Because of tremors and balance issues, the risk of having a kitchen accident is greater for people with PD.

Here are my favorite kitchen ideas used by occupational therapists and tested in the kitchens of my fighters and dancers with Parkinson’s.

Although it may seem simple, reaching your arm overhead is a complex movement, requiring the coordination of multiple parts of your skeleton. Your shoulder blades (scapula) and your arm bone (humerus) have to work together in a simultaneous, synchronized pattern.

When this movement pattern is disrupted, a cascade of problems occurs, leading to pain and mobility issues. Routinely encouraging your shoulders, shoulder blades, and spine to move in a supported range of motion is crucial to counteracting the stooped posture and associated pain that are common in Parkinson’s disease.

The Foam Roller Scissor Exercise is a great way to improve your posture and support a healthy range of motion through your shoulders and back. All you’ll need is a full-size (36-inch) foam roller. Watch this video to learn how to do it: