With the explosion of resources for People with Parkinson’s Disease, you would think that it would be easy to find all of the different types of exercise classes that you are interested in, especially in a bigger city like Los Angeles. Wrong!
Living is West Los Angeles can be challenging for those of us with PD. Pre-pandemic, there were many choices – boxing, dancing, yoga, pingpong and more. 6 years later, most of those classes have not returned to the westside. Yes, there are some resources available, many a 45-60 minute or more drive from my home, which often means navigating the crowded freeways, something I would rather not do anymore.
Fortunately, Ping Pong and Dance have returned, but little else. Several attempts to bring boxing to West Los Angeles have failed. Support groups have gone almost exclusively on-line, missing the personal face-to-face contact that we so desperately need.
So the big question is, why have smaller communities managed to provide so much for their PwP’s, while we in Los Angeles, can not?
What does success look like?
I recently searched the internet to see how other areas are successfully providing services to PwP’s. In some areas, enterprising physical therapist has created a space exclusively for Parkinson’s. Rogue PT in Orange County and Kaizen Martial Arts in Monrovia are great examples in Southern California, but both are more than an hour away with no traffic.
In some cities, YMCA’s and Jewish Community Centers offer a number of classes for People with Parkinson’s, most at little or no charge. In other cities, people with Parkinson’s have opened Parkinson’s centers which provide a number of services including exercise classes, physical therapy, speech therapy and more. InMotion in Cleveland, Parkinson’s Place in Las Vegas and Florida and P-D Connect in the San Francisco Bay area are just a few.
Taking charge
About a year ago, I was referred to a woman who is a boxing coach, to see if we could bring back boxing to the westside. Several of us met with her and decided to give it a try by working out in small groups with her in our homes. With minimal boxing equipment in my home gym, 6 of us have been meeting with Angie twice weekly. Although not Rock Steady certified, she has her own neurological issues and has a good understanding of what we need. We do circuit training, rotating from one exercise to another for an hour, ending with a little Tai Chi. We laugh a lot, talk a lot and get a pretty good workout in spite of ourselves. Here are a couple of very short videos that show bits of our workouts.
Where do we go from here?
Ideally, a Parkinson’s Center somewhere in West LA would be created to fill the need for anyone living in the area. Given the geography of Los Angeles, there really is a need for multiple sites that offer many different types of exercise as well as other services.
All it will take is a few like-minded people who want to make it happen and a whole lot of money!
Have you been successful in setting up a Parkinson’s center where you live? We want to hear from you. It is important to see what works in different cities to help us determine the best way to do this. Do you have any advice? Tips? Please share with us in the comments so that everyone can see what works for you.
Two Programs next week on Zoom!
Don’t forget to register for the next 2 Sunday Mornings with Twitchy Woman.
Friday, February 20 at 12:00 EST, Dr. Michael Okun with be here to answer your question about Parkinson’s. Email your questions to me at twitchywoman18@gmail.com.
Sunday, Febraury 22 at 1:00 PM EST Julie Fitzgerald will talk about the charming little book she wrote with her granddaughter to answer children’s questions about Parkinson’s and DBS
Have a great week
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