I just stumbled across this and thought that I would try to enlist a few white rats to see if it affects them as it does me.

Think of this as a therapy for Dk. To be repeated several times a day for several days. I got some acute relief in just the ten minutes invested.

Working over a sink, get two shallow bowls, fill them with water, cup one in each hand over the sink, and hold them in front of your body with minimal spillage.

I did this for ten minutes. I began with moderate Dk from the waist up and ended with none at all plus a relaxed feeling! Throughout, I had to focus on my arms. This diverted attention away from the other muscles. It was really unexpected. And the effect has lasted 30 minutes so far.

I'll give it a try. Hopefully, the bowls won't end up across the room.

Where did you come up with that, R123? Holding water, focus on arms; maybe like meditation, maybe like t'ai chi, maybe resembles hypnosis; there seem to be so many ways that PWP have managed to chase off the beast, even if just for a coffee break or 30 minutes and if we knew what the mechanisms are... who knows?
Rick holding the bowls of water - the closest thing I do to that is I suddenly and deliberately go from normal speed (in anything) to super-slow motion; 90 times slower, as slow as I can go; sometimes to barely perceptible movement. You can move any part of your body or every part. Super slo-mo, including your facial expression; whatever you want. I try it out for fun - dancing, walking, or just for its own sake; doing nothing for any reason except whatever it is do it to a slowness that you have never done before. It's mobile too, i can go slow anywhere, although the general public finds it a bit puzzling and may use you as a coat rack. Linda Rabin taught me this - the dance stars practise it because they know it helps,
And as for dance itself - I still swear by it too. There are people who cannot walk unassisted who can dance unassisted.
I have no scientific proof of anything, but of the $200 million a year spent on PD research in the USA alone, virtually none of the money goes towards researching these things that actually seem to work, although temporarily. It seems hard to get the scientists interested.
Why can Rick improve his life for 30 minutes by holding two containers of water for 10 minutes??? Whassup, doc?

Aw, I suppose they will say it releases some chemical in the brain but no different from being on / off; these are not the droids you are looking for, nothing to see here, move along.

And so we have no scientific proof because the scientists are not looking to blow the disease away, they are mostly looking for slight variations of what their professors - now doing the peer reviews - taught them: new agonists; pain killers, stimulants, pacifiers, sleep pills, wake up pills....
when some guy says he can ride his bicycle for hours on end you would think scientists would want to check that out massively; etc., many other such examples. They just don't have an action team to go zooming in to see why a few of us seem to succeed in scaring off the beast, for awhile. WHy not for longer?
ANdy Groves said once that it really made him angry - one study was thrown out because the scientists thought that on average most of the patients were not benefiting. But one patient improved by 80%. And they did not jump on him and try to find out why. His body or his mind possibly contained some information that could lead to a cure. But he was just one person, so why bother, they thought.
Andy Grove said that in high-tech, that 80% success would be the big thing they would investigate next. Why did one patient benefit immensely and others did not?
WHy does it benefit Rick to hold bowls of water?
There's something going on there, and you don't know what it is, do you, doc?

It worked while I was holding the bowls, but as soon as I put them down it came back. Will keep at it. Thank you! Every little bit helps.

Well, I guess that that tells us that, at least in your case, the wiring is still in place and can be used. If it gets easier and can be done sans bowls with practice, that sounds like a therapy to me.

I remember something from long ago about improving symptoms by balancing an object or package on one's head. A similar effect, maybe?

Try using two small 8 oz. glasses or tea cups. Instead of holding them in front of your body, concentrate as you make slow, sweeping motions with a full container in each fist. Feels kinda cool. Like I'm Jackie Chan or something.

I have way more control and dexterity when I'm off. My balance is better too. If only I wasn't so stiff, uncomfortable and in pain (talking requires a lot of effort too), I would much rather be in the off state. I can function but I can't function, if you know what I mean. Gonna try the glasses tomorrow. Practice makes perfect.

I keep hearing things that I knew but had no idea that I knew. I have had grave issues with our two choices: Off, or On. Sounds logical off or on.
But then when i have more control of my body being Off,and off feels more at home but more painful than On.... I try to stop blaming Off and rewarding On all the time. Poor Off is the bad guy and On is so perfect and can do everything for Mommy that Off can't do; looking for trouble among the identical twins
Sometimes Off and On are clearly in their place, but sometimes I am not so sure which one is 25% in control and then 80% in control. I try to abolish both because I think On and Off confuse me. Off seems to take the blame all the time, I mean from the Normals, but i have seen interviews where the caregivers prefer us to be Off because we are too much of a hassle when On. It makes me aggressive and I said to a nurse, well honey i don't think you have ever been On. You would not know the difference.
When Rick123 does his water trick, is he on or off? Doesn't matter, but if my hand is trembling really badly sometimes I just have to hold that hand in front of my face and yell :Stop it" and it stops instantly. Sometimes.
Why do we tell these foolish stories? Rick now moving glasses of water around instead of holding them still. Greg hypnotizing people. Me stopping in the middle of an activity and going super slow motion. Why be so silly? Because there are people who cannot walk without assistance, but they can dance without assistance.
Maybe all means nothing. But we see these glimpses, these little events, which seem to get bigger if we take them in. That guy, on his bycycle.... hundreds miles on bike and no PD> Cecil had no PD when he pretended to be Hank Williams because Hank did not have PD. okay i am rambling...rick123 got no multi-blind studies about his 2 glasses of water; but for us trapped in the dungeon, locked in for a life sentence, it is a matter of considerable importance when one of the condemned snaps off his handcuffs and says oh that is easy