I briefly touched on the whole exercise thing in my post about ridiculously easy exercises. Being disabled and having your body not work when you want it to can feel so frustrating and demoralizing. I've learned to love my body when it's struggling to just survive, but it's taken over a decade of work to get to this point. I also learned that you don't need to "do" a lot to get the benefits from exercise - hence the post about it. I used to teach the local arthritis foundation exercise program at the community center, and we did all the exercises sitting in a chair and only 4 repetitions per exercise, and that was enough to get some astounding results. You might want to see if there's a local program like that near you.
I have found the videos from Grow with Jo on YouTube really good and convenient—ticks loads or neurophysio boxes without being tagged as such (I reach max PD wording quickly) and fun and peppy with no equipment. And doing twice weekly weight training with a real life bodybuilding PT to feel good about the bod and its potential for growth and generative change (even still). It helps dystonia for me. I love Kathy Acker’s essay here! https://www.ubu.com/papers/Acker-Kathy_The_Language_of_the_Body.pdf It sounds like you are deadlifting already!
Excellent post. I definitely had a hard time changing the expectations that I had of myself as my Parkinson's progressed. Not just the external ones that impacted my family and career but those internal expectations and assumptions that create the person whom I think I am. Young-Onset Parkinson's asks me for continuing self-reflection and many times has forced me to choose between the physical pain of movement or the emotional pain of losing out on a much anticipated ambition or experience. First, you need to "know thyself" and then "to thine own self be true."
I agree that "fighting" Parkinson's is futile in the context of defeating it because, unless some big cure is discovered overnight, we aren't getting out of it. However, I tend to fight internally against the idea of Parkinson's in a positive way by focusing on what I can still do well. Take exercise as an example. I live near mountains and used to hike most weekends. Those days are long gone but I can still walk my dachshund without a problem.
I briefly touched on the whole exercise thing in my post about ridiculously easy exercises. Being disabled and having your body not work when you want it to can feel so frustrating and demoralizing. I've learned to love my body when it's struggling to just survive, but it's taken over a decade of work to get to this point. I also learned that you don't need to "do" a lot to get the benefits from exercise - hence the post about it. I used to teach the local arthritis foundation exercise program at the community center, and we did all the exercises sitting in a chair and only 4 repetitions per exercise, and that was enough to get some astounding results. You might want to see if there's a local program like that near you.
*hugs* xxxxxx
So that's what you look and sound like! You're a natural on screen.
I have found the videos from Grow with Jo on YouTube really good and convenient—ticks loads or neurophysio boxes without being tagged as such (I reach max PD wording quickly) and fun and peppy with no equipment. And doing twice weekly weight training with a real life bodybuilding PT to feel good about the bod and its potential for growth and generative change (even still). It helps dystonia for me. I love Kathy Acker’s essay here! https://www.ubu.com/papers/Acker-Kathy_The_Language_of_the_Body.pdf It sounds like you are deadlifting already!
Excellent post. I definitely had a hard time changing the expectations that I had of myself as my Parkinson's progressed. Not just the external ones that impacted my family and career but those internal expectations and assumptions that create the person whom I think I am. Young-Onset Parkinson's asks me for continuing self-reflection and many times has forced me to choose between the physical pain of movement or the emotional pain of losing out on a much anticipated ambition or experience. First, you need to "know thyself" and then "to thine own self be true."
I agree that "fighting" Parkinson's is futile in the context of defeating it because, unless some big cure is discovered overnight, we aren't getting out of it. However, I tend to fight internally against the idea of Parkinson's in a positive way by focusing on what I can still do well. Take exercise as an example. I live near mountains and used to hike most weekends. Those days are long gone but I can still walk my dachshund without a problem.
Class act, like a swan all the frantic energy must have under the surface.
A few people have asked me about the art work behind me: https://wefail.art/products/souvenir-open-ed-a4 it’s by the amazing Wefail.