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Did you know that 60-80% of all falls happen in your own home or yard? The two most common rooms where falls happen are in the kitchen and the bathroom. In the yard it’s usually the steps, a planter, or your own dog.

Since many people are staying at home more, now is the time to work on your balance so you don’t fall. But how do you work your balance when your balance is not good? I’ve put together a video showing you how to practice navigating different surfaces safely. In the video I will show you how to set up a safe balance station in your home.

Continue reading “Safely Improve Your Balance at Home!”

Due to the COVID-19 virus, many people find themselves at home with very few resources. But I don’t want you feeling alone and stressed. We are going to do this quarantine thing right, starting with breathing!

The video below is a great breathing exercise I used all the time when I worked in hospital pulmonary rehabilitation, and when I taught at Parkinson’s wellness retreats. If you are not breathing right or fully, a host of problems can arise (like pneumonia). This is why after you have a surgery, a therapist will come into your room and help you breathe deeply.

Do this exercise before your stress gets too bad, and before you get stiff from not going to your exercise class that you are unable to take deep breaths. I think it is fun, and you can do this anywhere with minimal or no equipment.

Continue reading “I Have Parkinson’s & Need Home Exercises for Stress & Breathing”

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:

Continue reading “Do You Know How to Thoroughly Wash Your Hands to Protect Against Coronavirus?”

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.

Continue reading “How Can I Comfortably Sit On The Floor When My Parkinson’s Makes Me So Stiff?”

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.

Continue reading “My Back Hurts, Is It My Chair? Proper Sitting Posture for People with Parkinson’s (Part 1)”