freezing

[jackhammersbro]

anyone have an effective way to deal with freezing when starting to walk?

[hopptimisten]

Hi, I haven’t got the freeze yet but to get the body to move there’s no better way than music. Try to sing a march or Walking after midnight (Patsy Cline). Let me know if it works for you.

[bookish in reply to hopptimisten]

How interesting, particularly in light of this post that came my way yesterday, on the benefits of both music and nature brainpickings.org/2019/05/2...

[JohnPepper]

YES! When you want to walk

1. Stand erect, with your shoulders back and your head upright.

2. Place you whole weight on one leg

3. Lift the other leg off the ground and move forward and consciously place the heel on the ground in front of you. You must concentrate on the front heel

4. place your full weight on the front foot

5. Lift your back foot off the ground.

You are now walking.

If you concentrate on your walking action you will be able to continue walking until you stop concentrating o the walking.

[Tony7979 in reply to JohnPepper]

Thanks John, I had the same issue and tried your suggetsion and it worked. It sounded too simple but perhaps that is the point!

[JohnPepper in reply to Tony7979]

Thanks Tony. Perhaps others will be encouraged to take the plunge and try it themselves. After all, it costs NOTHING! What have they got to lose?

[Dap1948]

I agree with hopptimisten and in my book “Music as medicine particularly in Parkinson’s” I discuss the research and describe why music helps walking and freezing. This is basically because listening to music activates more of your brain than any other activity and when you have a problem with the part of your brain which normally deals with movement, another part of your brain is able to take over.

[GymBag in reply to Dap1948]

My brother has alzhymers , very unsteady on his feet. Take him bowling ( he used to be great bowler) and he will hobble and shuffle into the Bowling ally and up to pick up a ball. Then the magic starts. Once the ball is in his hand, his brain remembers and he moves like a ballerina , gracefully tiptoeing towards the pins , releases the ball and 8 out of 10 gets a strike.

I think it is the same part of the brain that takes over when the best piano players play a difficult piece and is the result of practice.

Next time you go to a wedding or party and they have music, try dancing. The music will do it the brain will remember and much to every ones surprise , you will dance.

Good golly miss molly

[nedster]

Sometimes I do a "mental reset". Wipe my mind clean like turning off and on again a computer, giving a fresh start. Sometimes I ask myself, "What would it look like if I could walk normally again? Now do it!" It can change my posture and gait. Sometimes I stop and listen to a clock ticking and start walking in time to it. Sometimes I play a song in my head that is catchy and has a good tempo to walk in sync with. "We're Off to See the Wizard" works well The freezing is worse when I'm holding something in my hand, more so with both hands. Less so, when I've been focused on walking. I'll walk splay footed, goosestep, semi skip, anything to break the "loop" and free me up.

[104L]

When my wife gets frozen we call out “March your knees up and down”. Also using the cadence call “1,2,3,4” seems to help get her feet moving.

[GymBag]

All of the above

I use a small recording devise ,an MP3 player I think they called it, attached to small earphones that has many songs with several cadances. I keep it in my shirt pocket when walking for exercise and I walk with my wheeled walker to the beat of the music and I am able to walk much faster . I get tired and stop and sit on the walker, and after a few minutes rest I am ready to go again but sometimes I freeze until I start moving with the beat and then I am free. Rock and Roll forever.

[shanaandbear]

I just say to myself, “You can do this!” That gets me moving.

[jackhammersbro]

thank you to everyone who answered to my freezing post

[kaypeeoh]

I don't know how applicable this might be. I saw a video of a person frozen. Another person slapped him on the back and he instantly took off at a dead-run.