We’ve all seen the articles and studies about the benefits of exercise and I believe that exercise is a valuable tool for those living with Parkinson’s disease. Although purely anecdotal, I had a recent personal experience that proved to me just how important exercise is to my wellbeing.

After and unusual two week period of extraordinary events in my life, some sad and some humorous, I fell out of my exercise routine. I could not believe how stiff and generally awful I felt. Pushing myself back into my daily three mile power walks and stretching routine has brought me back to a healthier place both physically and mentally.

We love walking on the trail in my town and my hubster and I never know who or what we will encounter along the way. We’ve seen coyotes, deer, and the occasional bobcat and bear along with the regular dog walkers and spandex people on bikes. Sunday, while walking, we passed a father and son. Sitting on the son’s shoulder was a parrot. It was a beautiful bird with bright yellow feathers (think school bus) and a bright orange plume atop its head (think Woody Woodpecker). After a double take, I noticed the bird was wearing a leopard diaper! Now there was a bird after my own fashionista heart. Obviously we had to stop and converse with these interesting people.

Moral of the story, get out and take a stroll, it just might make your day and improve your PD symptoms!

I have a brisk one hour walk every day. During the cool down after a walk, all of my symptoms fade away for several hours. Almost seems like there is an increase in dopamine production during moderate exercise. I read that some studies are being done about dopamine production in PD patients while using a treadmill.