Originally Posted by Bob Dawson

Well, I will avoid joining the debate about Peg being 'just a bit" strange.

\But what you are doing is in line with part of the Continuum method that I use several times a day - not the only weapon I use, but it is the only weapon I use every time I have what I call a "spastic attack" - in pain, sometimes writhing on floor, contorted, muscles pulling to crush me, almost completely unable to walk, speech slurred; sometimes near panic:

Lie down, let the pain rage for 10 minutes but I listen to it, I listen to what my body is doing, the muscles that are grabbing, the legs and hands shaking, and I sort of remain silent, non-judgmental, and just say "Well here you are again."

Then, for 20 minutes or however long it takes, I breathe deeply in, pausing just slightly at the top and bottom of each breath, and I place both hands on my head, (and after 3 or 4 breaths, move my hands over my eyes, then onto my chest, and often the abdomen, where there is often pain) AND when I exhale I make a sound all the time I exhale, such as eeeeee or ooooooooooo, or like a snake: ttthhhhhhhhhhh and so I breathe deeply and slowly 10 or 20 or 30 times AND THEN i relax with my eyes closed and i think of nothing - they call it Open Attention - i listen to my body and to myself and to the planet turning - listening, feeling and paying non-judgmental, non-critical attention - and over the months i start to become much more aware of just exactly my muscles are doing, for example, and I do that again and again until I feel really better OR the store whose floor i am lying on call 911 - better done at someone's home; but not always have that choice. Park benches are good because no one will look at you if they think you are just homeless. There is more to this method than breathing and sounding, of course, but I use the very basics of it in battle to fight the pain, the incapacitation, the Beast, to REGAIN CONTROL of my body and myself. This method has been used by dancers - Linda Rabin is a dancer and has trained dancers for 40 year and she trained me for an hour and a half a week for a year; note that she has nothing to do with Parkinson's; she is in the dance world; what she teaches me was never designed to deal with Parkinson's which to me is a good sign.

Dancers know about body movement, and how it is hot-wired to your psyche and you cannot fake it, and a dancer cannot go out on stage and have a movement disorder; their artform is perfection of movement control, the mind and the soul and the persona giving instructions to the body.

I am not using it to dance, i am using it to take action, to get in close with my physical self, below words, below intellect, below concept - and yes, also below emotion - right down to the wordless, primitive, sensations of the body.

And i also do exercise that resembles a bit what this thread is about:
When I am not in pain, when I can move freely, I exercise beyond my limits so that I have to sit down and puff and pant to recover. I have to do this almost every day for 2 or 3 months until i really notice as big difference. '

Now don't tell my neuro about this because he worries enough already: what works best for me is cutting down trees, chopping the wood, and stacking it. The chopping especially is very powerful. And I have FOUR chain saws.
But I must push myself to where I am puffing and panting. Less does not work. it is not so much the work, it is the panting and puffing.

None of the above gives me a longer life. But the difference in life quality is excellent. I suffer every day, and it gets really bad. But then it is not unusual that i have hours where i feel better about myself and about the universe than i ever did before i got PD.

AND I also use music, dance, acting (street theatre where no one knows they are now in the play I am making up as I speak to them); and whatever else i can grab hold of to fight the sabre-tooth tiger who sees me as cat food.

AND here's the kicker - everybody figures, hey, an hour every Thursday night in the church basement making movements to music with 40 other people - YES that is a good start. But I heard of Alex Kerten saying: You are training for the fight of your life, you are going to be in the Olympics and you are going to play solo piano at Carnegie Hall.
An hour a week to get ready? Hahahaha! You are not serious. FOUR HOURS A DAY
Alex was as combat engineer, doing things like building bridges while under enemy fire. Same thing as PD - building bridges under fire.
As you were, soldiers.

Originally Posted by imark3000

I cycle on a stationary byke to maintain strength of my legs. I do push-ups to keep my arms strong.
I received no guidance or encouragement to exercise from the numerous neuros I have seen.
But I was encouraged to exercise by a relative who had PD 7 years before me.
I started exercising from day one and I increased the rate over 5 years and up to now.
I cannot say objectively that exercise had any impact on the progress of the disease but to me, exercise has it's immediate rewards by giving a feeling of liveliness and joy.
Imad