This week’s blog doesn’t have a lot to do with Parkinson’s disease, but my fighters wanted me to talk about it. It seems that everyone is worried about the spread of coronavirus, and they want to know what we can do to protect ourselves and our loved ones. Some people are especially worried because they are on immunosuppressant drugs for various conditions that put them at extra risk.

Kat Hill, a Nurse Midwife-Nurse Practitioner, joins me today to show you how to wash your hands thoroughly to protect yourself against Coronavirus and other nasty germs and viruses. 

Kat has young on-set Parkinson’s, and during her clinical career delivered nearly 800 babies! She knows her stuff! Check out the video below to watch:

Another question I was recently asked by one of my fighters was, “I want to sit on the floor to meditate, but how can I meditate if I’m not comfortable?” What a great question!

Sitting on the ground is very good for the body, but people with Parkinson’s struggle with this. Their bodies are so tight, so they rarely sit on the ground. It becomes a vicious cycle.

I realize not everyone can safely lower themselves to the ground. (See last week’s blog post on proper sitting in a chair) While my wish is for everyone to regularly get up and down off the ground, I know that it just isn’t possible, especially as we age.

For those who can get to the ground, if you are stiff, it makes floor sitting very uncomfortable and creates bad posture that is harmful to your lumbar spine.

However, I have a simple solution for sitting on the floor correctly! Don’t risk hurting your back. It’s easy to modify. Yogis have been doing this for hundreds of years, and you may have been suggested this strategy in an adaptive yoga or Pilates class.

This week 3 different people in my Parkinson’s exercise classes asked me about proper sitting posture. If you do not have PD, keep reading, this information is for everyone. You may need to improve your own sitting posture. I will spend the next couple of weeks talking about posture.

Question 1: When I’m sitting my back hurts… Is it my chair?

Proper sitting posture is a combination of the chair and your body alignment, but mostly the later. I’ve sat in terribly designed chairs and was able to align my body correctly, but I sure wouldn’t own a chair like that.

I will start with alignment, since the answers to these questions will all fall back on these rules.

Two of my students with Parkinson’s hit their head at home recently. One tried to break through a freezing gait and fell, hitting his head and hand. The other came up under a cupboard that was open, and the impact split the skin on her scalp. I thought this was a good topic to cover since we do have falls from time to time in class. I am referring to the Mayo Clinic page as a reference.

Rarely does a bump on the head result in serious injury. Injuries to the forehead and scalp often result in a lot of bleeding under the skin because there is a rich blood supply to this area. When the bleeding is in just one area, it causes bruising and swelling (hematoma).

Even a minor head bump can cause a large amount of swelling. Speed, momentum, size of the person, and the surface hit (concrete floor vs carpet) may increase the possibility of serious injury.

When I do a Parkinson’s assessment, I am testing the individual’s multitasking ability by asking them to follow a rhythm (metronome) in multiple ways. They do upper body, clapping, walking, marching, and I add on layers of movement. Then I ask, “Do you enjoy dancing?” So often they respond with “Yes, I did. But now I can’t.” Sometimes they say, “Now I just look dumb.”

If you know me, I am not going to let this topic rest. I have to remind them that I just saw them duel-tasking to a beat, so yes, they can still dance! They are just out of practice and lost some of their confidence.

Individuals and/or couples often don’t dance unless they are at a wedding, or in front of people without PD and are self-conscious. Well guess what? All that’s needed is a little bit of practice, just like any other skill. You can dance at home with your sweetheart (it’s fun!) or take a dance class with us!

Yet another study has been published showing that dance can reverse the signs of aging in the brain! We’ve known for years that exercise can improve age-related brain degeneration and cognitive impairment through neuroplasticity. This is especially true of dancing because it requires more than just motor skills; there is more “thinking” associated with it. Dancing is fun and great for your brain!