The Power for Parkinson's Program: Manage Symptoms & Build Community with Dr. Nina Mosier

Are you searching for effective, accessible ways to manage Parkinson's symptoms while fostering a strong social community? This episode is a must-listen for anyone living with Parkinson's, their care partners, and healthcare professionals.

In this powerful interview on the Live Parkinson's - Live an Exceptional Life podcast, host Chris Kustanbauter sits down with Dr. Nina Mosier, co-founder of the life-changing Power for Parkinson's program.

✨ What You Will Learn in This Episode:

• The Origins of Power for Parkinson's: Hear the inspiring story behind the creation of this free and vital program, born from the mission to help people with PD live their best lives.
• Comprehensive Symptom Management: Discover how the program uses a multi-faceted approach to directly address common PD challenges. We dive into core components, including:
  • Dance & Move Classes: Improving mobility and coordination.
  • Vocal Components: Strengthening the voice and improving communication.
  • Stretching, Balance, & Flexibility: Essential for fall prevention and daily function.
• The Power of Community: Learn about the profound social and emotional benefits of connecting with others who understand the journey, turning exercise into a shared, joyful experience.

If you are looking for Parkinson's exercises at home, free Parkinson's programs, or ways to improve quality of life with PD, Dr. Mosier provides actionable insights and resources.

🔗 Resources Mentioned & Calls to Action

Connect with Power for Parkinson's:

• Website: www.powerforparkinsons.org
• YouTube Channel: Find tons of free classes and exercises! Search Power for Parkinson's on YouTube.

Support the Live Parkinson's Mission:

1. Stay Informed: Visit liveparkinsons.com to subscribe to our free monthly newsletter for the latest strategies, research, and Parkinson's insights!
2. Support the Show: Help us continue to deliver high-quality, free content designed to help you live an exceptional life! Click the SUPPORT THE SHO

Chapters

• 0:13 Welcome And Mission
• 0:27 Meet Dr. Nina Mosier
• 1:27 A Father’s Journey Sparks A Movement
• 6:25 From Idea To First Classes
• 8:12 Symptom-Targeted Exercise Philosophy
• 12:15 Making Newcomers Feel Safe And Seen
• 14:25 Caregivers, Volunteers, And Safety
• 20:31 Funding A Free, Scalable Model
• 21:44 Balancing Local Classes And YouTube
• 23:03 Beyond Exercise: Voice, Yoga, Ping Pong
• 26:04 Stories Of Progress And Hope
• 34:42 What Sets Power For Parkinson’s Apart
• 38:02 Neuroplasticity, Cardio, And Accessibility
• 42:40 Purpose, Community, And Staying Engaged
• 45:19 Closing Gratitude And Invitation
• 46:19 Resources, Spanish Channel, And Hotline

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:13

Hello and welcome to Live Parkinson's Live an Exceptional Life. I'm your host, Chris Kustenbotter, and I've been living an exceptional life with Parkinson's for the past 15 years. And the mission of this podcast is to help as many people as possible living with Parkinson's to lead a great quality of life. Today I'm honored to introduce a very special guest, Dr. Nina Mosier. And Dr. Mosier is a dedicated leader with the Powerful Parkinson's program. It's an organization that has been transforming lives through free, accessible, exercise and wellness programs designed specifically for people with Parkinson's. With her expertise and passion, she has helped countless individuals discover the power of movement, connection, and resilience in their journey with Parkinson's. So in our conversation today, we'll dive into her work, The Science Behind Exercise and Community, and how Parkin how powerful for Parkinson's is making a global impact. And I know you'll find her insights both empowering and practical as we continue to explore what it means to live an exceptional life with Parkinson's. Well, welcome, uh Dr. Mojer.

SPEAKER_01: 1:14

Well, thanks so much, Chris. And you can call me Nina. Um today. I'm excited to have this conversation.

SPEAKER_00: 1:24

Oh, great. Well, I want to start out with your background. Can you share what inspired you to transition from being an internal medicine doctor to leading up the Power for Parkinson's program?

SPEAKER_01: 1:36

Sure. Well, it was it was quite a journey. I kind of look at this as my um my third, my third career, my third act, because I practiced uh internal medicine for about 10 years. And then when I had my kids, um, as they were getting a little bit older, I it got a little challenging. So I took off time to raise my kids. And by the time my son, my second child, was in high school and you know, very independent, I started looking for something else to do. And at that time, my dad was really struggling with his Parkinson's, and one thing led to another, and uh Power for Parkinson's was born.

SPEAKER_00: 2:22

Okay, so you mentioned your dad had Parkinson's. That's what I was gonna ask you about. How did his experience shape the importance of exercise as part of living well with Parkinson's?

SPEAKER_01: 2:33

Yeah, so I think he really my dad had really had Parkinson's, well, at least 15, probably longer years. I wasn't diagnosed until you know about um let's see, maybe he was like seven years into it, but really had this progressive decline and really I ended up seeing like the whole gamut. And he had, if you name a symptom, he had he had it. So um around that time uh he had started, well, it was 2012, I guess, when he had done a course of the of the big program, and he made dramatic progress. And I just um, you know, just seeing him, like he was was able to walk better, his mood was better, he just seemed like just everything seemed to be improving. But as soon as it was done, he didn't really have a way to keep it up. And because he isn't wasn't not the kind of person that was self-motivated to exercise, it just started to dwindle. And we started exercise. I tried to get him to do the big program online on Skype because we didn't live in the same city, and we kept it up for a while, but it was really hard because I had seen and I always was a believer in exercise. And I'd done a lot of research around that time just trying to see what was available for people with Parkinson's. And there were a few studies at the time, um, you know, talking about forced exercise and how it really can change the trajectory of Parkinson's, but there weren't that many resources out there. And he was in a big city in Philadelphia. I was in Austin, Texas, and neither city really had sufficient resources for someone with Parkinson's. And that's when I started brainstorming Power for Parkinson's.

SPEAKER_00: 4:33

Okay, so how did that lead into then starting a program from scratch? So, you know, you saw the benefits that your dad had, but how did that translate to, wow, geez, I really need to start a program to help other people as well?

SPEAKER_01: 4:47

I think just all the stars aligned. I was just really ready to get back to, I wanted to work, I wanted to do something. And then in medicine, one of the things that was always the thing that was really the most important to me is just the people. I was an internist, so I got to know my patients, and I just liked that that feeling working. I didn't like necessarily love all the other parts of medicine, but that was really important to me. And so this just seemed like my like something I could really connect to. And then my a good friend of mine, Susan Stahl, her father, also had Parkinson's and actually had recently passed away after many years. You know, he was in his 80s, and we had been friends for for years. Somehow I convinced her to get on board with me, and we just started brainstorming. We were at just at the perfect time in our lives, and we were able to pull it together with a lot of support from community members. I was on the board, I was the vice president of the Capital Area Parkinson Society at that time because I was already getting involved with the local organization. So I was, no, I could see what the benefits were. I mean, I could see what the needs were. There was a there was a hole there. And I just felt like we really had the opportunity to fulfill that deficit.

SPEAKER_00: 6:12

Nice. So can you tell me about the early days? How did you get started then from the idea generation stage to actual putting it into practice and and getting people to come and be part of the program?

SPEAKER_01: 6:25

Yeah. Well, uh, one of my roles at the local organization, uh Cap the Capital Area Parkinson Society, was to bring in speakers and we would have monthly uh educational events. And so we had a it had been around for quite a while, so we'd usually have at least 100 to 130 people each month. So we had an audience already. We knew that there were people with Parkinson's, you know, um looking for resources. And so that was a really helpful situation to be in. And they were very supportive as well for this new program. And then we got three different locations were donated to us the space to hold the classes, and we had instructors. We we fortunately met one of our instructors around the same time who had just taken dance for PD, the course. She's a longtime dancer, so she and had a lot of experience in the nonprofit sector. So she helped us, you know, being in that community, and it just uh we got a couple other instructors who are really interested, longtime group fitness instructors, and we kind of trained them about Parkinson's. And as much as we knew and as really knowing a lot about the big program, because I had worked so much with my father with those exercises, using their knowledge, it all kind of came together. And, you know, it it was an organic process. And we were really lucky. No one, you know, everyone worked for free, the space was free, and then there were people that were that I knew already that were really excited about it.

SPEAKER_00: 8:11

Oh, great. Now, do you see a difference in creating exercise programs for people with Parkinson's versus the I don't want to call it the regular population, but people that exercise on it on a daily basis because there are, you know, with symptoms and you know, people have different struggles. So so is the program designed with different types of exercises that other people might not be involved in?

SPEAKER_01: 8:33

Yeah, so I think that is a great question, and I think it's really important that um, you know, what we do with power for Parkinson's is always symptom directed. And when I say symptom, so what the difference with Power for Parkinson's versus maybe another class and why it's important is because all of our instructors have a very thorough understanding of Parkinson's. And when the exercises, our lead instructor always says, Lauren Lewis, she is always says, I didn't invent these exercises. But the way she's like, anyone can copy me, that's why we put it out on YouTube. She said, but the way you put them together and how you present them is different. So a lot of what we work on is building neuroplasticity, and that means using different exercises to develop these new neural pathways, and also by targeting the symptoms. You may do a certain exercise like in a regular class that you don't know what it's for necessarily. But I think what's the beauty of our program is that the people with that you understand why you're doing an exercise, it's motivating, and they're tied together. Like let's say we're working on gait. So there's a lot of different aspects of gait. So we want to help overcome shuffling, we want to overcome bradykinesia. Um, so we want to be able to lift your leg up higher, we want to be able to swing your arms, opposite arms, and we want to have increase our pace. So the exercises are targeted in that way, as opposed to saying, okay, we're gonna build your quads, or we're going to uh, you know, we're doing it for specific muscle group, or um, and then also um, you know, we're not talking weight loss or anything like that. It's all about let's improve these symptoms. And all of our classes include a cardio, I mean, not a cardio. Well, yes, we do include cardio, but also a cognitive component. So the exercises are complemented by some kind of cognitive challenge. So there's a lot of like triggering the multitasking in the brain.

SPEAKER_00: 11:04

Yeah, we do I've I'm a part of two different Parkinson's groups. One's called momentum and the other one's called punch. And but we do a lot of that as well, where if you're doing an exercise, maybe you're spelling a word forward and backwards while you're doing it, or you're, you know, you're counting to 60 by threes or whatever. So I think it helps train us to that. Number one, it helps with our cognitive function, but number two, it helps us. We're not we're doing exercises that help us in our daily lives as well. It's not just we're doing an exercise just to do an exercise. And I think that's what you're saying, and that's that's what I really liked about the program.

SPEAKER_01: 11:38

Yeah, exactly. So we're not there to get, I mean, of course, we want people to get strong, that's part of it, but it's just building, you know, the it's strength to manage your symptoms. So it's it's combining a lot of different aspects of exercise together and in different ways. We use a lot of patterns also in our classes. So they're we're working in memory and coordination. So we're trying to target a lot of the issues that people with Parkinson's do struggle with.

SPEAKER_00: 12:15

So I guess the question I have is when you have new people come into the program, I notice the groups that I was in, a lot of times people are a little reluctant because they think, well, these people have been doing it for a long time. How do you get people maybe that haven't exercised or they're nervous about exercising to come and feel comfortable and participate in the group?

SPEAKER_01: 12:35

Yeah. That's been very, very interesting. And we had a lot of naysayers early on saying we couldn't do that, but people wouldn't come. They said if we offered our classes for free, people aren't going to come. And truly what happens is that our community is so strong and so warm and welcoming that we just encourage everyone, and there's a feeling that you do what you can. And so we can't when someone walks into the class, I mean, getting to the class is is the hardest part, stepping in the door. But I would say, in general, once somebody walks into one of our classes, they they come back because that you feel that sense of community, and our instructors are so talented and they're the way they cue people, and they're um anyone can be successful. And whether you are doing it with a you know, big open arms, big range of motion. We have a gentleman who has frozen shoulder, but he still does whatever he can. And we're not ever looking for perfection, and we let people know that as soon as they come in the door. Like they're there to just, you know, it's gonna take a little time. People have been there. And we also have the other thing that we do have is we call it our hotline, and we actually answer the phone. We have a great our program coordinator, Kevin Curtin, is amazing. He answers the phone, he'll talk to people, you know, kind of get them in the right direction, whether it's on YouTube or in person, and kind of guide them as to which class would be the best and how to, you know, get started on a program. You know, we and we see more and more people because neurologists now, even it's becoming more, I wouldn't say mainstream, but more and more doctors and neurologists are recognizing that exercise truly is medicine for someone with Parkinson. So as soon as they're diagnosed, they're often in Austin, they're sent to us. The doctors know we're here, and we have so many different locations. So we're very accessible. And so they know that this is something they need to do. So they're they're ready to do it.

SPEAKER_00: 15:00

And just to camaraderie, you mentioned social interaction, and I I think that's one of the key pieces too. And the groups that I participate in, we actually we've become such close friends that we go out to breakfast once a month and we do social activities together. So it sounds like that's with your power for Parkinson's group that you've got you're building this for a lack of a better term, a family that really looks forward to helping each other out.

SPEAKER_01: 15:25

Yes. Yeah, and it's amazing. I mean, sounds like you do have that experience, and just that um having others that are kind of in this similar situation, it just I mean, people are just so warm and welcoming, and you know, in this time in our world that's so divisive to come to a class together, sharing this you know, unusual, different condition, same condition. We don't talk politics, it's not negative, it's very just a supportive atmosphere. And I think people feel, you know, when you're first diagnosed with Parkinson's, it's shocking. Like this is the end of my life. But really, that doesn't have it doesn't have to be that way. And I think a lot of people have found that you know, getting involved in a group or exercising and feeling better about yourself in general can really help, you know, give you a new lease on life. You can reclaim who you are. And I think that's really important.

SPEAKER_00: 16:36

Yeah, exactly. So caregivers are allowed to participate in your program as well, is that correct? And can you talk a little bit about how that fits in? Because I think that's an one of the pieces that often gets forgotten, the caregiver, and you know, that with all the struggles that they go through.

SPEAKER_01: 16:51

Well, I'm glad you brought that up because that since the beginning has been very important to us. And Susan, like I said, my my co-founder, she helped with her father. And I was a caregiver from afar, but you know, of course, I knew the struggles because of my mother. And so we could never forget the caregiver. So we always welcome the caregivers or family member, a friend, whoever that is, somebody, you know, they're open to bringing somebody, but it's so, and a lot do come. Uh, but they also, you know, some people choose, like this is when they're gonna go grocery shopping or their little respite period or read a book. So we just wanted to make sure that they felt part of it because I think you and I know like Parkinson's has like a disease of the family. Everyone's impacted, whether it's the spouse, the children, the grandchildren, everybody. So we try to get everybody involved. And I think we have a lot of social events. We have 11 locations currently, and so at each location we'll have different events and parties and all kinds of things throughout the year. And we always encourage, you know, them people to bring their loved ones with them. So it's really good experience.

SPEAKER_00: 18:12

And you have volunteers as part of the program as well to help out, is that correct?

SPEAKER_01: 18:15

Yeah, and that's really another key element of our programming, and that's from the start, it's been essential to manage our classes because we not only are all our classes free, there is, you know, people don't need any, they don't need a formal, they don't need to prove to us that they have Parkinson's, they don't need a doctor's note, they don't need to have insurance, there's no insurance involved. And so they don't have to sign up necessarily. We tried to get people to sign up, but they don't have to sign up. So we never know how many people are coming. We don't necessarily so far we have not put a cap on our classes, but we could have anywhere from, depending on the location, 20 to 60 people in a class. And you know, some of our bigger locations can get really full. And we want it to be safe. So most of our classes um have are seated, the majority have chairs for everybody, but we always try to have a standing section, and we want to have volunteers to spot people, the people because we really want people to be able to stand if they're if possible. So we've we train our volunteers, they're very dedicated, and our volunteers also help with equipment and they're very warm and welcoming, and they help us build the community so they really feel part of it, and many of them have been with us for years. Plus, we have great relationships with several universities in our area. There's uh this year we are really proud because the uh University of Texas just started a student chapter of Power for Parkinson's, and it started off with a bang because we have over 40 students in that group. So they help us. We have uh two other universities in the area that send either like physical therapy, occupational therapy students, and kinesiology students to help out. So from all parts of the city, we have volunteers and then just you know community members that are interested in helping.

SPEAKER_00: 20:21

Great. Do people ask you how you can run a free Power for Parkinson's program? How do you do that and offer it as a free service?

SPEAKER_01: 20:30

Yeah, people ask us that all the time. And early on, uh, we presented the World Parkinson's Congress, or we had an we had a um poster. And like I mentioned before, people couldn't believe that it would really could really work. But I mean it's hard to start, but we really rely on we're almost fully community supported. We have been since the beginning, which means the people that use our program, whether they're on YouTube or in person, tend to support us in different ways, you know, financially. And then the locations have been donated to us. So that all of that funding goes back toward um, you know, mostly for staff, which were really a small staff, and for our instructors. It was it happened kind of organically.

SPEAKER_00: 21:27

How do you balance then you have oh, I'm sorry, you have 11 locations in Austin, but then you also have all these YouTube subscribers that follow you all over the globe. So how do you balance the between the two?

SPEAKER_01: 21:44

Well, we're um we have a studio in our office, and what happens is that the same instructors that are teaching the in-person classes are on YouTube, and so they will often teach their class and for the week, and then they come into the office and redo it. So we never have a class that's the same. So right now, Lauren Lewis and Polly Caprio are kind of our regulars that are filming, and they use these different different patterns and will use different themes or focus on a specific symptom, and that's how they develop their classes, and they both are and well, really, everyone that works for us has so much experience that they and they're doing it every single week, so they know how people respond. We recently kind of talked about it like we have a lab almost because they can see what's successful, and sometimes we get every now and then someone in YouTube is saying, Oh, this is so hard, I can't keep up, and we're like, Well, you just need to practice because you you will get it. It just takes a little time. So, because we see that people can everyone can be successful.

SPEAKER_00: 23:03

And then you also, in in addition to exercise, you also offer other programs as well, right? Voice and and other things. Can you talk a little bit about that?

SPEAKER_01: 23:11

Sure. So again, what I was mentioning from the beginning is that our whole mission is to be symptom directed. And so that's you know, that's that's kind of a big umbrella if you think about it. So our I want to kind of focus on our YouTube uh first because I think probably your audience is not in Austin. What we've done um there is just um we've added these, so we have a rhythm and moves class, which is a dance class primarily, or dance moves, and that we also have that class here in Austin. And then we have what else? We have a relax and reset class, which is yoga, meditation, stretching, and of course, all of those things are great for people with Parkinson's, but when you think about it, we're targeting symptoms. So anxiety, depression, rigidity, all those things, those are that's the reason for that. So it still is really part of our mission and targeting symptoms. And then let's see, and then here in Austin, we also have a ping pong class. So I don't know how much you've read about ping pong or if you play at all, but again, that works on balance, it works on flexibility and against bradykinesia. So it's really, you know, you're crossing the midline, you have to think, you're doing like multiple things at one time. So it's that multitasking, and that has been a really fun addition to what we do. And then online we have some singing classes or vocal classes. Kind of put a pause on it because our instructor um she has isn't with us any longer because she had children and she is taking time off. But we're about to launch a new singing class here in Austin or vocal. I'm trying to remember what we had. We're launching it in January. That's gonna be an in-person. But we also have move and shout, so that's one of our online classes, and that is targeted to vocals, so increasing your vocal strength. So we're trying to really come from a lot of different angles.

SPEAKER_00: 25:38

Yeah, that's what I really liked about your Powerful Parkinson's program. It encompasses everything exercise, movement, flexibility, and stretching, and then working on your you know, voice projection and and things like that, you know, coming from a person that's living with Parkinson's. Have you had uh people that have been with you from the beginning that are still participating in the program?

SPEAKER_01: 26:02

We do. We definitely do. In fact, we just had a really special event over the weekend. Uh it's called our creative showcase. And what we did is, and again, this has to do with support and social activities, but also because we know people with Parkinson's often develop this new creative streak. And so we turned our office into an art gallery, and we had, I think we had about 12 uh visual artists that displayed their artwork, and then about eight performers, and it was it was just an incredible community experience for everybody. I mean, just we had a backing band, so four or five people sang with the backing band where they had would never have that opportunity normally. We had a couple people tell stories and poetry, and just seeing all the artists feeling so empowered was incredible. And one of the reason I'm telling that story is because Michael Ray is one of those, one of the people who was attending, and his wife also, who had been with us since the very first class, he came up to me and he's just like, Can you believe how this has evolved? Because he was really instrumental in kind of helping me develop that community, that big sense of community. Because he wanted to start, he started a support or a lunch group early on. And he's like, We need this. And you know, that was so anyway. And what I wanted to mention, because I just want your audience to know that by using our YouTube channel, I think people feel less alone because we do we premiere our videos. So that means when we first release them, you can chat, you can talk to other people during that release. And we have uh someone from my office who's usually on there, and also another participant who's in Rochester, New York, who has taken on the facilitator role, which is Heidi, on our YouTube channel. And she has been exercising on YouTube. She's probably missed two sessions since we started during the pandemic. And so she's on there, she knows more than we do, probably, about the schedule, but she's always on there, and so there's a lot of communication, and then people leave us comments and we answer every comment. We have a lot of comments. It's it's kind of a nonstop stream, but there's communication, so we're always responding to people. Wanted to actually I I save different videos and different comments, but do you think I could read you one that we just got?

SPEAKER_00: 29:01

Oh, absolutely.

SPEAKER_01: 29:02

Okay, well, this one, and we get these. I can't tell you how many we get, but I love this one. And this is from Sandra in Cyprus. And she said, I love this workout. It reminds me how far I've come since starting these exercises, especially the rainbow leg near the end. I used to be really unsteady and couldn't stand on one leg, and now I can do it easily. It makes my day, so I go back to this routine to remind myself how far I've come. Thank you, Lauren, and the rest of your team. I'm truly grateful.

SPEAKER_00: 29:36

So that's incredible.

SPEAKER_01: 29:38

These are the type of comments we get from places all over the world, which don't typically have any Parkinson's resources. And so people are using the channel every day and they feel so connected that they share this information. And this person in particular, we hear from her quite often, and I know she feels very comfortable in communicating with us. So there are still that community.

SPEAKER_00: 30:06

Yeah, that's what's great. You can see the the results of helping someone improve their life. It's it's it's really heartwarming. I teach a pedaling for Parkinson's class and uh everybody in in the group when when someone's not there we get concerned and so we have this sense of community. But one of the things I've noticed just over I think I've been doing it a year and a half now is just how much people have improved. And it's it's great to watch and they push themselves further than they think they can. And then it when they think back and say wow when I started I couldn't do this and now I can do do sprints or whatever it happens to be and it's it really it's it's great to see them light up and see that wow this has really had an impact on my life. So that's that's great to hear.

SPEAKER_01: 30:51

I know it's I'm so glad that you feel that way also because we we see that so much and just like and and I think the other thing that's really incredible is for us when the in-person classes like your experience um you know of course one of the symptoms of Parkinson's is that mask faces and fewer smiles but I cannot tell you how many people we see smiling.

SPEAKER_00: 31:19

I mean you would think you wouldn't believe it's a room full of people with Parkinson's because people are happy and laughing and it's it's really really moving and just so much fun not to put you on the spot but can you think of anybody that well you gave me the example with Sandra but anybody else that's in your local community that you've seen just blossom from the time they started till now well there are so many stories but one that is striking happens to be one of our our biggest supporters financial supporters but the reason is his name is Joe and he and I know he wouldn't mind me saying that but he moved to Austin from Ohio after his wife passed and he moved here to be with his family and when he first came to class and he had been going to classes um he had always been kind of a fitness buff but when he first walked in he was really shuffling using a walker you know not you couldn't see a smile on his face and he you know you could just see he was like really focusing and trying to improve and each week he would come and you could see the moves were getting easier for not easier but smoother for him and um sure enough you know after about four to six weeks you could just see like a more like lightness in his stuff and he was always happy to be there.

SPEAKER_01: 32:52

And a few months after that he told me it's like you know what I couldn't use my mouse for my computer when I got to Austin. And he's like after coming to your classes and exercising twice a week with you I'm using my mouse again and I could be on the computer which is something he loved. And that was so transformative for him and really well it turns out it's transformative for all of us because he's such a big supporter but it really I think that's like such an amazing example and something that I never really thought about using the mouse. So I think that's uh was a really striking example. But we see so many others because we also see people who come in who are really shuffling or using a walker or a cane and after just a few weeks often they'll end up forgetting they even have one and just walk out of class they feel so strong and secure. So it's an occur it really is I can't even tell you there's just so many people that I see like that. And and I also see maybe you've seen this as well with your pedaling for Parkinson's but there's a really a delay I don't see people progress very quickly at all. I mean obviously we have you know people are getting older so of course you see there's that too that you're dealing with but um we have so many people that are I mean we have the whole age the whole gamut of people but we have several people in their 80s and you wouldn't believe how great they're doing. They blow me away.

SPEAKER_00: 34:33

So how how would you say Power for Parkinson's is different from maybe some of the other programs that just focus on exercise that are out there.

SPEAKER_01: 34:41

Yeah I think what we're doing is we uh well first of all you know we have and this is something I actually was listening to your podcast about uh aerobic exercise which I thought was great I love that um podcast and I just have to say that we really really push cardio in our classes so I think since we do teach the majority of our classes are seated I think that's one big difference although they can be modified for standing but they are challenging in a way that because each class is different we're not doing the same moves in any class we use all different props we use different music and the sequencing is every time we're going to give you something brand new and we're pushing the concept of neuroplasticity and that's behind everything that we do. So it's just I think the whole idea of learning something new helps your brain so that's one of the things that I think that we have to offer plus you know we have the there's the Parkinson's foundation exercise recommendations and the Michael J. Fox exercise recommendations. And if you take one class with power for Parkinson's you're gonna reach all those targets in one one hour class. So um you know we work on crossing the midline using opposites lifting your legs and we work help on rigidity flexibility coordination all those multitasking all of that in one we also don't ability group either so our classes are designed for anybody with Parkinson's so we're not saying like oh you belong in group one and you belong in group two this is for everybody we're all in the same boat. We have students from UT that come and can't follow our classes you know it takes a lot it's a lot of focus it's really amazing so I think that's kind of what what makes us a little different and we also are always responding to the latest studies. So you know there's been a lot of um a lot of um new research on cardio aerobic activity I mean we've known that for a long time we've always incorporated it but we're doing it even more and in different ways and you can actually I was going to um let you know that taking one of our classes you will get your cardio in because we put it in in everything and it's not like and what I've seen over the years from just the people that I work with is that there are people that come in they're diagnosed with Parkinson's and maybe they've already been exercising or they're a little bit they're on the younger side and they're have their balance is still okay. So they can do a lot like so young people often will even start doing extreme sports and marathons and triathlons and all of that which of course is great but you don't have to to do that. And then there's sort of another group of people that either haven't exercised much in their lives or their disease has progressed and they're nervous because of their balance. So the walking and running and biking is not really something they feel comfortable or can get as much cardio as they need. And then of course then there are people that are even older that that's even more difficult. So by doing the way we've structured our classes by having them in a chair they're they're very challenging you will get your cardio in and so I think that's that's all been really helpful. And that's something that we hope maybe your you and your audience recognize that a power for Parkinson's is something a little different that's out there that's a free resource for people with Parkinson's where you can get accomplished all those goals and they're modifiable. So if you don't want to stay seated you can do those same exercises standing. And we often will show you how to do those I liked what you said about neuroplasticity.

SPEAKER_00: 39:29

I talk about that on the podcast pretty frequently but you know it's I think when a lot of times when people get diagnosed with Parkinson's they think oh I can't do this anymore and it's I always think you can always learn something. I decided after seven years I wanted to learn to play guitar when it was a little bit of a struggle but I I just look at it as I break it down into small steps and and then build on it. And I think you can learn anything I've always I hated the word I can't because I think if you really want to do it you you can do it. It's just you just have to figure out how to do it and neuroplasticity will help you build those you know neural pathways that you know enable you to continue to do what you do. So I'm glad you brought that up so yeah that was important.

SPEAKER_01: 40:09

That sounds like you're really driven.

SPEAKER_00: 40:12

Oh yeah I like well I've I well it went back to what you said earlier about having a sense of purpose. When I had to stop working I I felt like maybe for a year I'd lost my sense of purpose and I had a mentor and that's where she mentioned about doing a podcast and she had me write a book and I just it gave me a sense of purpose again because I've always liked to help people my grandfather was a a family doctor when I was growing up and this was back in the late 60s early 70s and I would go on house calls with him and there was a lot of the people couldn't afford to pay him and he he didn't do it because he was getting paid. He did it because he was wanted to help people and I've kind of lived that my whole life and I I think I've I felt like I lost that when I uh had to stop working but uh you know podcasting and talking to other people and volunteering those things you know really help give you a sense of purpose and whatever somebody's passion is just go after it if you want to learn something new you can do it if if you have the mind to do it just break it down into small steps.

SPEAKER_01: 41:16

So well I love how you break things down for people because I love the way you summarize all the research and latest studies for people you're you are doing exactly that breaking it down into small steps though for your audience and that's really cool that you have that capability of doing that. It's a great service yeah it's a great way of helping people get through all the dense scientific literature so if I could ask you what gives you the most joy and fulfillment of working with Power for Parkinson's I think just seeing the the community the way people respond and how empowered people become I just it makes me feel good and inspired every single day. And I think that's the way it is for our whole staff sometimes we're we're working and trying to get a lot of stuff done behind the scenes but we always try to go to a couple classes a week and it's just you walk in and you just know that you're helping people and it just it's a great feeling.

SPEAKER_00: 42:23

And I think that there's a lot of hope for people Parkinson's oh absolutely so if you could have just a couple key messages on somebody that just got diagnosed or maybe they've been living with Parkinson's and they feel isolated or what would you tell them?

SPEAKER_01: 42:38

Well I would tell them that don't give up hope and that staying engaged social being social trying to in whatever capacity be around people and stay active and I would invite them to use our YouTube channel because that will help and get into the understand the movement and if there's something in their area try to get involved in a group take a course do something that keeps your mind active I think that would be the most important thing. Okay great and we also I want to oh go ahead I just wanted to just put in a little plug because we're about to launch a uh a virtual support group and that will be pretty soon because we've had a lot of requests for that so if anyone's interested and just wants to have an opportunity to talk with others could be from anywhere we will be having that soon so they can sign up on our on our website get our newsletter we have a weekly newsletter I know you do too we try not to bombard people but just so they know what's going on.

SPEAKER_00: 43:52

Great so if people wanted to get in touch with Power for Parkinson's can tell us what your YouTube what they would look up on YouTube, what your website would be and if they wanted to support you as well.

SPEAKER_01: 44:03

Okay. So it's pretty easy you can either go to our website which is www.power for fourparkinsons dot org or on YouTube they can go just look up power for Parkinson's words YouTube slash power for Parkinson's. We also have a Spanish channel which I didn't mention earlier uh but as we try to reach as many people as possible with Parkinson's that is our goal this is something that we've just launched in the last year. So we have a designated YouTube channel for people who speak Spanish and that's Power for Parkinson's in español. And our social channels on Facebook and Instagram and LinkedIn are extremely active almost a hundred thousand people following us on there and we post really fun videos on there as well so there's a lot of ways to get in touch and like I mentioned our hotline our phone numbers on our website if there are any questions people can give us a call.

SPEAKER_00: 45:08

And I really like that you get back you respond to all comments I think that's that's great and I think it's very important it it makes people feel like they're appreciated and someone's listening to what they have to say. Yeah well we're here for you we're here for anyone who has PD and we're ready to help out and guide you you know in any way we can so I want to thank you so much for being on today I want to thank you so much for being on today and I I want to ask people to go and visit your website visit your YouTube powerforparkinsons.org and go to the YouTube channel and participate in the classes that are online and if you're in the Austin Texas area then show up and participate and you'll feel you'll get a great sense of community. So I want to thank you again for being on the program I really appreciate it.

SPEAKER_01: 45:59

Well thank you so much for what you're doing and I really appreciate the opportunity all right well thanks and uh hope everybody has a great weekend and thanks for listening. Thanks by the way