Parkinson's Group in Lincoln Touched Their Toes Today!

I was the guest speaker at the Parkinson's Support Group in Lincoln today.  I love public speaking and am honored whenever I am invited to give presentations for various support groups.  Now that I have been studying the brain and how to activate the brain for better balance, movement, vision and less pain, I have so much to share that I have to customize each presentation with the audience in mind.

I had prepared a Parkinson's-specific presentation for the Carmichael Parkinson's Support group earlier this year however that was one of my worst presentations ever.  I did not read the audience's needs and should have stopped talking 30 minutes earlier!  I feel I did better this time however the amount of information I have to share can be 'overwhelming' which is why I encourage private training sessions (repetition is king).

I've attended several Parkinsons Association of Northern California's (PANC) one-day trainings and with my brain-based training, I feel confident presenting to people living with Parkinsons Disease.

Today's audience was blown away with the vision drills.  As always, I had everyone do an assessment.  In this case, reach down to touch their toes (while seated.  Needless to say, over half the room needed longer arms to touch their toes during the initial assessment.

Then I showed everyone how to do pencil push-ups.  After the group did about 5 pencil push-ups, I had them reach down and touch their toes again.  All I heard was, "what in the world just happened", "how did she do that", "oh my gosh".... this is because almost everyone could reach their toes this time!

I laughed and said, "it's not magic, it's neuroscience"!  I kept talking about the power of vision and that it is the #1 input to the brain and if you train the four components of vision, your vision will get better.  Then I had them do another vision drill that targeted eye movement.

After doing a drill, I had them reach down and try to touch their toes again and once again, exclamations, laughter and smiles as the entire front row touched their toes.  These are people who haven't touched their toes in over 20 years and today, after two vision drills, they were able to touch their toes.

We did some exercises that activated basal ganglia and the frontal lobe and I had everyone stand up.  No stuttering, no hesitation, people stood up easier and without thought.  Big smiles.

If you are living with Parkinson's Disease and you know there's more than Rock Steady boxing, contact me!  I will come to your home for private sessions to discover what your brain needs for healthy movement.  I can't cure the disease but I can make living with it more tolerable.   I will give you tips and holistic options to make your life better.

info@thefallpreventionlady.com

ParkinsonWISE Training by PANC & Kasier Neurologists

Thanks to PANC (Parkinson's Association of Northern California), I had the amazing opportunity to learn from the best of the best; Kaiser Permanente movement disorder neurologists who specialize in Parkinsons Disease.

Neurophysical therapists and vestibular specialist Erin from Kaiser put on an amazingly functional neurology based-training program for health and fitness professionals who work with people living with Parkinsons.

Fabulous presentation by Drs and PT from Kaiser. As a brain practitioner, I loved learning functional exercises that target both how to reduce the risk of "freezes" but also how to work through a freezing epsiode.

I learned that there are two major areas of focus when working with people living with Parkinson's.  The first and foremost area of concern of their state of mind.

The second area of concern of people living with Parkinson's is motivation.  The PTs and Doctors shared motivational strategies like the reminder that "if you don't do it, the disease wins.  Get up, Do it.  Be accountable.  Be responsible.  You're empowered.

Specialists Neuro-PT, Erin showed amazing agility ladder drills stacked with my favorite stroop effect drill!  The tools they showed; amazing!  All my clients will benefit from speed and agility training.

Stroop is amazing for pre-frontal lobe activation.  Basal Ganglia,  Substantia Niagra.  Add metronome.  Bam.  It was so rewarding to see that the programs I wrote for my PD clients were right on time with neuro-specialist's suggested elements.

Amazing learning opportunity with awesome neuro-based exercises.  Pay attention to the Specifics.  Precise training gets precise results.  There is hope.  Train the input for better output.