Physical therapists coined the phrase “Ski Jump” to refer to a maneuver to correct poor posture from slouching, tucking your tailbone under, or popping your rib cage up. For Parkinson’s balance issues, you find this movement most often in Tai Chi for balance classes.

I use it with my private clients, as well. I ask them to explore different positions on their feet and even in a chair. When you begin to fall, you do not have time to think about how to save yourself. You must make the rescue maneuver automatic. This requires daily practice!

Whatever our age, we tend to gather around shared interests and activities like exercise, the arts, or coffee with friends. Belonging to a group can help reduce stress, enhance mood, and promote meaning and purpose. Therefore, groups also form around common struggles, like Parkinson’s disease.

These great feelings stem from the way we interact when we gather. We tell stories, laugh, sing, dance, encourage and work out together. We celebrate achievements and console those who may be sad. This behavior comes naturally in every culture. 

All of us need to work on our posture, especially these days when we are flexed over our electronic devices. But for people with Parkinson’s disease, it’s even more important.

The neurological progression of Parkinson’s pulls the body forward constantly. Fortunately, we can combat that effect with some great posture-correcting exercises.

In my previous two blogs, I showed you how to do the Modified Superman exercise. Why “Modified”? Because most people with PD are so stiff in their upper back and shoulders that doing the traditional Superman can hurt their lower back, shoulders, or they just can’t do it at all.

Today I am going to show you another way you can do the Modified Superman using a yoga ball.

To my dear Parkinson’s community of readers,

Memorial Day has special meaning to me since my own father served in the Aleutian Islands during WW2. He lost both legs due to exposure. He spent the first years of my parents’ marriage in military hospitals and experienced great pain the rest of his life as a result. But he never complained.

A gentleman with stooped posture from Parkinson’s recently came in for a personal training session complaining of lower back pain. He showed me a list of exercises someone gave him, and on it were “Wall Leans.”

I asked him to show me what this exercise was. He said, “You know, the one where you straighten up against the wall.”  He then went to the wall, turned his back, and went through the steps. Heels against the wall, touching your back and head to the wall. Then he said, “It hurts my back more and I’m afraid I’ll fall forward.”

Of course it hurt his back! And yes, he was pitched “falling” forward.