As many of you will know this week I entered a swimming pool for the first time in well over a decade. being a very poor swimmer has always restricted me it's not a fear of water it's just up or swimming Style I can just about do breaststroke badly. I have never been sporty or truly enjoyed any kind of outdoor activity aside from walking and tennis I seem to lack the aptitude of a sportsman and perhaps that is because of my Parkinson's who knows.
But now it's something different is it play my body is craving movement today's with Parkinson's you understand what I mean when on a daily basis it's like being encased in a concrete box. That is no exaggeration. my body is stiff and often ridgid and does not respond to my mental instructions to move. when I sit down it is hard to get up when I am standing it is hard to sit down when I am lying in bed my husband now has to turn me over. rigidity comes with its own curious form of claustrophobia it's not that you feel trapped in the space you're in you just feel trapped in you. so far of all the things that I have tried swimming is the one that ranks the highest in terms of liberating that physical cage. So today once more I am off to breaststroke badly to feel free as a soaring bird.
I am hesitant to reply since I am a new member but I wonder if you have read Brain Storms by Jon Palferman? There is a chapter about Pamela Quinn, a dancer who has great control of her body despite having PD. As a dancer she knows how to make her body work. On her website "pamelaquinn.net (I think it's net, not com) she has a section at the top called Me to You (I think that was it) or similar name and has 6 good tips for moving around--walking etc. Maybe her tips would help you. I hope they do. Meanwhile swimming should be very good too.
Don't be hesitant! Thank you so much for taking the time to post and for being so thoughtful. Yes I've known of Pamela for a very long time and she is marvellous. I'm working through a publication called the art of moving it is proving to be very useful. 😀
I looked up the publication you are reading on Amazon and it does look like it would be very helpful. I know what you mean about "working through it". It takes time to try exercises and begin to remember how to do them.
Did you enjoy it? I loved swimming but when I try now, I list to one side, like a toy boat in the bath! But I get joy from stretching and yoga. I went to the gym today very wobbly and after fifteen minutes of stretching I was so much steadier. Like you, I've never been sporty or indeed, very physically active. Ironically, I am now because I know I have to keep moving.
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