THE POISE PROJECT® ANNOUNCES
"POISED FOR PARKINSON’S"

A UNIQUE NEW ONLINE PROGRAM FOR PEOPLE LIVING WITH PARKINSON’S

To manage motor and non-motor symptoms during daily life
 

Mondays & Thursdays

Time to be determined by particpants

June 22 - August 13, 2020

Location:
We will meet together for this course live via Zoom

This course is free through funding from a
Community Impact Grant from the Parkinson’s Foundation
 

Registration is required and limited to 5 couples
(A person living with Parkinson’s and a family care partner)


To register, and to make sure this course is appropriate for your needs, please contact:
Monika Gross
monika.gross@thepoiseproject.org
828-254-3102

Learn lifelong skills to improve overall self-control, body awareness, coordination, and ease of motion. Build resilience for the physical and emotional challenges of living with Parkinson’s.  Enjoy a supportive group setting to learn skills and strategies based on Alexander technique (AT) to manage the many daily challenges that Parkinson's brings into your lives. The course is focused on the needs of the person living with Parkinson’s, but care partners who take the course will be able to not only learn ways to support their partner, but will also gain their own personal skills to enhance their own well-being and self-care.
 

The program consists of an online group class meeting for 105 minutes twice a week for 8 weeks. It is appropriate for people in earlier stages of Parkinson’s along with a family care partner.
(The first and last classes meet for 120 minutes.)

It is understood that you may not be able to attend every class. Review Handouts and in-class review, as well as a “buddy” system with other participants will keep everyone on track.

How is this approach new and innovative?

Alexander technique (AT) has been a well-established approach in the performing arts for decades for skillfully managing stressful circumstances, avoiding injury, and reducing anxiety. AT training for people living with Parkinson’s has also been found to be effective in reducing physical symptoms such as rigidity, instability, and stooped posture, as well as neck and back pain, all of which are important for mobility and function. It has been demonstrated that AT training can also offer long-term retention of benefits.

Alexander technique (AT) is a non-exercise educational intervention.

Unlike PT, or exercise programs, yoga, tai chi, or meditation, applying AT skills does not require setting time aside for practice and does not rely on a particular set of movements. Once AT principles are learned, your self-management skills continue to develop through application in your daily experience, and these self-orientating skills tend to increase with time.

To hear what some participants have said about Alexander technique (AT) benefits for them personally, you can view some video interviews with prior participants as well as other informative videos for background on AT, on our Vimeo page: www.Vimeo.com/thepoiseproject

Here are links to specific interviews:

Jim & Monica: https://vimeo.com/346978375
Chuck & Alice: https://vimeo.com/346987631
Vincent & Kricket: https://vimeo.com/347676273

This live online Zoom course, Poised for Parkinson's, is part of a research study through the University of Idaho. Participants will be asked before and after the course to do a survey over the phone and to do a physical assessment over the internet

Research from the in-person course was presented at the World Parkinson Congress, Kyoto Japan (June 2019); the International Congress for Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorders, Nice France (September 2019); and the American Congress for Rehabilitation Medicine, Chicago IL (November 2019).

You can view a research poster from this study at this link: https://bit.ly/PoisedForParkinsonsPoster

This course was originally developed with funding from the Parkinson's Foundation.

Questions?
Please contact the instructor, Ashley Hyers
ashleyhyers4@gmail.com or 336-908-0028

Poised for Parkinson’s course participants in Asheville - Graduation Celebration, Fall 2019

THIS PROGRM IS FUNDED BY A COMMUNITY IMPACT GRANT FROM THE PARKINSON’S FOUNDATION

For more information about the Parkinson’s Foundation, please visit: https://www.parkinson.org/

The Poise Project® is a nonprofit with the mission of maintaining poise and personal growth throughout all stages and challenges of life using the principles of Alexander technique (AT). We design and deliver Alexander-based programs that give people greater confidence to manage life’s challenges and increase agency, independence, and quality of life.

"Poised for Parkinson’s" is a program of The Poise Project® and was developed as a research project through the University of Idaho with support from two Parkinson's Foundation Moving Day® grants.

To learn more about The Poise Project®, please visit: thepoiseproject.org

For more information about research on AT for Parkinson’s, please visit: https://www.thepoiseproject.org/alexander-technique-for-parkinsons-research

For more information about AT for Parkinson’s in general, please visit the European Parkinson’s Disease Association website: https://www.epda.eu.com/living-well/therapies/complementary-therapies/alexander-technique/