Saturday 11th April 2020
Parkinson’s greatly impacts the way a person moves because of dysfunction within the basal ganglia, the area within the brain affecting motor control and movement. How you move greatly impacts your quality of life and those around you.
Yoga can help those with Parkinson’s. Yoga may improve functional mobility, stability, balance, coordination, posture, strength, range of movement, confidence and reduce fear of falling. Yoga may also help with stress and anxiety, sleep and self-efficacy. Living with Parkinson’s can be a difficult and sometimes lonely time. Attending a yoga class is a terrific way of promoting social participation and inclusion.
Yoga means union or harmony and is a practice that integrates breathing, stretching, balance and strength for a holistic exercise.
Yoga has been around for thousands of years, however, has only recently become more accepted as a complementary treatment modality for people with Parkinson’s other neurological conditions.
Relaxation is a key focus in a typical yoga class for Parkinson’s. There are also many great standing, seated and lying down poses to try. You don’t need to be able to touch your toes, put your legs behind your head or have any previous experience. A good teacher familiar with neurological conditions like Parkinson’s will be able to modify yoga poses for you, and tailor a specific yoga program suited to your capabilities whilst maintaining a safe and fun environment.
Below are 5 yoga poses that can promote greater ease of movement and make you feel more joy within your body. Before commencing any physical exercise program like yoga remember to consult with your health professional.
5 Yoga Poses for Parkinson’s
1. Seated Cat Cow
Sit up nice and straight at the front of your chair. Place your hands on your knees. Take a deep breath and allow the abdominals to move forward with ease slightly arching your back and opening the chest. Breathe out and allow your back to round contracting the abdominals and tuck your chin in to your chest. Continue to move your spine forward and back 5 times.
2. Seated Side bend
Place your elbow on your thigh. Release and extend your top arm towards the ceiling. Turn and look towards your lower shoulder. Breathe in and out 5 times whilst staying in the pose.
3. Seated or Standing Warrior
Use a chair to support your lower body in warrior pose. Support your right elbow on top of the chair and your right front thigh over the chair. Start with the right foot forward with the knee above your ankle and your back-left leg straight behind. Inhale and reach your left arm up to the ceiling looking forward. Breathe in and out 5 times. Exhale, lower the top arm and turn to the other side. Start with your left foot forward with your knee above your ankle and your back-right leg straight behind. Inhale and reach your right arm up to the ceiling looking forward. Breathe in and out 5 times.
4. Standing Knee to Chest
Use a chair to support your lower body with one hand. Lift one knee into the chest and hold with the opposite hand around the front shin or behind the thigh. Inhale and exhale 5 times. Place the leg down and swap sides.
5. Sun Salutations
Begin in mountain pose. Standing up nice and tall with arms by the side or with palms together in front of your chest. Inhale reach the arms up overhead and look forward or up towards the hands. Exhale bend forward from the hips, placing the hands on your thighs, shins or block in front of you. Inhale lift the head and chest looking in front of you. Exhale fold forward and tuck the chin into the chest. Breathe in and out 5 times. Inhale come all the way up to standing raising the arms up towards the ceiling. Exhale and release the arms by the side or with the palms together in front of the chest. Returning to mountain pose.
Importantly when trying or practising yoga some days will feel easier than others. Honour what you feel, smile and laugh. Some days sitting or breathing feels more important than trying more vigorous movements.
Remember it is only yoga so, just breathe.
Written by: Marcus Edwardes
References
- Deloitte Access Economics, ‘Living with Parkinson’s Disease: An Updated Economic Analysis 2014. Parkinson’s Australia Inc. August 2015
- Meng Ni, Kiersten Mooney, Joseph F. Signorile ‘Controlled Pilot Study of the Effects of Power Yoga in Parkinson’s Disease. Complementary Therapies in Medicine 25 (2016) 126-13
- Neena K Sharma, Kristin Robbins, Kathleen Wagner and Yvonne M Cogrove. ‘A Randomized Controlled Pilot Study of the Therapeutic Effects of Yoga in People with Parkinson’s Disease. International Journal of Yoga 2015 Jan-June; 8 (1): pp. 74-79.
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