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13 Fighting Parkinson's with Boxing

Christine Seaby

Owner and Founder of Boxing 4 Health

I’m a mom of 2 kids and a stepmom to another two, all between the ages of 8-10, and I can’t forget our fur baby Molly (photo). After being a Registered Massage

Therapist for over 16 years, I founded Boxing 4 Health Inc in 2016 and also created The Parkinson’s Pathway to Empowerment Program this past year. My goal is to help

as many people as possible who have Parkinson's disease achieve a better quality of life.

A few years ago, I decided to combine my professional experience with my passion in mixed martial arts and opened a gym in my community. I put together an innovative

program for people with Parkinson's disease to benefit from and the results were even better than I had hoped.

‍
I decided I wanted to get the word out so that other people facing the same issues as my current clients can benefit from the program and help slow down the

progression of Parkinson's. My goal is to help you enjoy a better quality of life!

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www.boxing4health.com

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[0:00] Welcome to Artful aging with your host Amy are you a senior or caregiver of a
looking for support and Direction best-selling author educator and expert in Senior Living Amy Friesen is here.
With the help you need while providing you with an important and valuable support.
So now please welcome the host of Artful aging Amy Friesen.

[0:30] Good morning everyone I'm Amy Friesen and this is article aging with Amy thanks so much for joining us today we are live from Bold Brave TV and Today's Show is all about Parkinson's
and boxing which is which is really exciting for me because I'm learning a little bit more about it myself actually so
Parkinson's disease is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder it after Alzheimer's disease.
Parkinson's disease affects one in every 500 people in Canada.
Over 100,000 Canadians are living with Parkinson's today and approximately 6,000 and 600 new cases of Parkinson's are diagnosed each year in Canada.
I know that with our crowd as you know I run a company called tea and toast that I know that we are actually
seeing a lot of folks with Parkinson's who are looking to plan a little bit earlier and how to be
Proactiv which is if you've been watching our pelagian that's not what we're all about is planning and being proactive.
So I'm hoping that Today's Show will help help you do that if you are a loved one of someone who has Parkinson's or you Parkinson's yourself so.
My guest today is Christine CB.
Founder of boxing for health Christine has been a registered massage therapist for over 16 years and has a passion for mixed martial arts.

[1:49] Boxing for health was founded in 2016 with a hope to help as many people as possible who have Parkinson's disease.
Achieve a better quality of life Welcome Christine thanks so much for joining me today.

[2:01] Thanks so much for inviting me I'm it's a pleasure to be here I think maybe we should start out can you tell us a little bit more about you and why you started boxing for health.

[2:11] Absolutely so I've been in the Health and Fitness and Nutrition field for
about 17 years now so health and fitness has always been a big passion of mine and I was working as a therapist and a neurological clinic and I started working one-on-one with clients who had Parkinson's disease.
And they were just they were lacking motivation they were lacking Hope was the big one they were having lots of issues with their gait and their balance and they were just they were they just.

[2:41] I felt really defeated and I just wanted to help and it was
pretty much as simple as that so I started putting a program together I had experience in a passive doing boxing so I saw program in the states that was doing boxing with people with Parkinson's and so I just took a spin on that and
just made a really strong program with my experience in both boxing but also therapeutic work and Therapeutic Touch and I just incorporate it all into a program started working one-on-one with clients
and they just lit up especially hitting the pads like the seven year old women putting on boxing gloves
they just laid off when they when they started the boxing portion so I knew I had something and I started teaching classes out of my gym hung up some bags went into the garage and started teaching classes from there and it just quickly developed
and now I'm in a nice big gym and we have got three locations in Ottawa map.

[3:43] That's fantastic and you're the only one that I've ever heard doing this as well right so it's still.
Relatively unknown workout and life transition for folks with Parkinson's I would say it's still up and coming I would think.
For those who are unfamiliar could you describe a little bit more about what Parkinson's disease is.
Absolutely so you mentioned it was a neurodegenerative disease and it's essentially it's a movement disorder that is caused by.
Brain cells called dopamine that have either
that essentially have died off in the brain and so that can cause things some
the common symptoms are Tremors not everyone has tremors but it's a pretty characteristic sign of Parkinson's stiffness rigidity postural imbalances and balance issues those are kind of
the big the big symptoms but there's both physical motor and non-motor symptoms that are associated to the disease.

[4:50] Find that
when I'm working with seniors and their families I don't know if you happen to know extra information about this but I actually work we actually work with a lot of people who have both Parkinson's and Parkinson's dementia at the same time and I find
you know I we're trying to help them you know accomplish what they would like to do in their senior living goals but
I just find that it must be so frustrating for folks that have Parkinsons to also then have Parkinson's dementia have you come across this as well.

[5:22] We've definitely come across it and it's extremely unfortunate tears at the heartstrings when you hear that they've got both I am noticing it more especially in the last two years
whether it's covid related or not I just more people are servicing with Parkinson's I think maybe they've been waiting to get that diagnosis because it does take quite a long time to get a Parkinson's diagnosis and if you also have
I'm like a Lewy Body Dementia or Alzheimer's even we have a couple of clients that have Alzheimer's on top of having
Parkinson's or even parkinsonism 's.
It can be really challenging and it makes the care plan about more complicated however there's still Lots we can do especially the earlier onset.

[6:11] Yeah so you know especially you know if you're trying to plan ahead of time right and we'll talk more a little bit about that in a little bit but I would hope.

[6:19] You know with people that are dealing with even both
that they'll have a listen today or their caregivers of Moses day because I'm sure something they
be doing to help regret not must be challenging you said that you notice a little bit more cognition piece in the last couple years
generally speaking with covid as well my team and I have also noticed a huge spike in cognition issues and and
both just on their own and with Perkins and so it's been very challenging and interesting what you said to about taking a while for a Parkinson's diagnosis is that because
people can't recognize it as fast or are they have to look for certain pieces to know or
do you think maybe it's because people don't recognize it in themselves enough to go and get help have you come across any I think there's there's a couple of difference
there's a couple of different reasons but the biggest one is sometimes finding a neurologist like I work with clients throughout Canada and United States right now and
some of them have are waiting two years to get into a neurologist so if you're living in a rural area or area that doesn't have a neurologist
typically that wait time is going to be that much more
SO waiting two years to get a diagnosis is super challenging so I'm doing my best to try and reach out to people like that because
the faster they can get started an exercise program.

[7:45] The better off they will be but also can help them determine whether it's helping their symptoms or not which can also help
see if they actually truly do have Parkinsons kind of in the interim being proactive about it but it's definitely the wait time is a big factor.
I think if people don't have a spouse that notices some of these signs and and also.

[8:13] Yeah I think family members really are the big ones that point out certain things so when they see someone have an issue with their balance or they're walking Gates.
Sometimes it's not something we can notice in ourselves.
Yeah that is pretty wild it takes so long and you're right you know even any changes that happen for anybody.
If you haven't seen someone in a while or you're the one that's caring for that person.
The other person might notice it before you do or before you're willing to acknowledge that you notice it right so.
Very interesting for sure let's take a break now Christine
and after the break we're going to continue this conversation you're watching Artful aging with Amy here on Bold Brave TV we'll see you in a few minutes.

[8:56] Hi again welcome back to Artful aging with Amy we're speaking with Christine today from boxing for health Kristi maybe we could also go back for just a second can you tell me
about Parkinson's and age or.

[9:11] What how it relates I guess to age and or sex of people does it affect one age or sex more.

[9:18] Definitely the age the kind of average age people get diagnosed typically is in their 60s.
However there are a group of in the population that are getting diagnosed
early early onset Parkinson's so it's called young onset Parkinson's disease and their people are getting diagnosed in there some in their 30s in their 40s but typically
that middle-aged about 60 years old is.

[9:47] You know we see more of those at that age group in our classes and our programs and it is neuro
neurologic disorders of Deceit diseases are definitely a little bit more male dominant so we do see probably three-quarters of our clientele are our males.

[10:06] Interesting yeah actually even even my clients when I'm thinking back it's been male-dominated for sure so interesting do you have any suggestions for folks.
That could be watching us today that haven't been diagnosed or waiting to be diagnosed with the suspect they have Parkinsons.

[10:22] I definitely think I'm like I mentioned before exercise is key exercise is the only thing right now that can slow down the progression that can lessen the symptoms that can sometimes even halt it and it's steps so
the faster you can get into an exercise program that is Parkinson's specific even if you don't have that diagnosis yet Perhaps it's in your family
or the doctors have brought it up but they just haven't made that final diagnosis getting into a Parkinson's exercise program can show you differences even within the first few weeks of doing the exercises you can pinpoint yourself
whether you're noticing changes for the better and I'm also again your support care team to like your family members your spouse.
They can really help as well because sometimes we can kind of block those changes especially when you've been hit with.
The overwhelm of a possible diagnosis like this having some family support to be able to help guide you through it especially at the beginning of it
they can help pinpoint whether they're noticing changes in your kind of get up and go where your speed of movement those types of things
can be shown and if those do show a positive difference then it's something you can do in the interim while you're waiting to get to see a neurologist and get a diagnosis.

[11:49] And we were talking over the break a little bit about the cognitive part again
and maybe we could share with our audience as well about coming into the actual class and what that does for folks could you maybe elaborate.

[12:03] Absolutely not I mean we've been considered it essential for the last year or so so luckily for us we've been able to stay open for the clients that have wanted to come in person we also have a very good online program
so for people that aren't comfortable coming into the gym
or that are in rural areas or across Canada we are able to get them online in to live classes so that they can interact with other Fighters we give them time to chat because Community is huge and
it really is important to be able to have and be around other people that are dealing with the same frustrations and stresses and experiencing some of the same symptoms you might be
to have that form to be able to talk about it to others but also get support and motivation you know especially on the days that you're just
you're not feeling that your best so
I've noticed a big difference in people that have come back to the gym earlier on then we then you know for those that have waited months or even a year year-and-a-half now to come back in person there definitely has been.
A regression in some of some of their symptoms for sure so
the sooner you can get back there is a sense of urgency here that I'd like to get across because the sooner you can get back into your exercise program and be around others is going to help you not just physically but from a psychosocial aspect as well.

[13:30] Absolutely and speaking of the urgency maybe we can talk a little bit more about.
The stages of Parkinson's goes through because you explain a little bit more about that and is there a stage that's you know better to start.
To getting into the exercise obviously earlier than the earlier the better but can you explain what the stages are absolutely so there are five stages.
And we work with Stage 1 through 2 stage for so stage one is mild maybe earlier diagnosed or perhaps you had it for a couple of years but the symptoms are still quite mild and they're not interfering with your quality of life.
But I'm getting to Stage 5 that's.
You know the more advanced stages of parking they were more advanced stage of Parkinson's disease and typically the individual might be unable to walk at that point or they'll need they need full-time assistance
living at home or they may be in a long-term care facility.
Now a lot of our clients I will say this though for anyone that's newly diagnosed with Parkinson's you really can live well alongside Parkinson's.
Especially if you get on top of things on top of your your exercise and your nutrition there's a lot of things that can be done so you can maintain a good and strong and healthy lifestyle.
You know progression can be quite slow If you're diagnosed in your 60s it tends to be a bit slower.

[14:55] But I mean I see people who are still quite high functioning and of had
the disease for 10 or 15 years so in our classes we divvy the classes up so we have stage 12 which is typically more high intensity and then stage three four which is lower a little lower intensity lower impact but we can service
all of those all of those stages.

[15:20] It's interesting to know that you to break them up as well because sometimes when people are early they don't necessarily want to go into a type of program like this because I feel like.
Everybody's going to be more advanced or if they're more advanced they feel like everybody's going to be early right it's the same.
You know when we're helping folks fine Memory Care floors right it depends on where their cognition is and whether or not.
Were to take their early in it and whether they would benefit or not from a Memory Care floor whether they're more advanced so it's trying to feel that out but people are have concerns about it so it's good that
you can look at both ends of the stages both of the aspects so.
I know that you touched on died a little bit more I think that you know generally speaking diet is important to all of us and got health is important to all of us perhaps we can talk about that a little bit more when we come back.
After the break Christine and I are also going to continue the conversation about exercise with Parkinson's you're watching are pledging with Amy will be back in a few minutes.

[16:20] Welcome back
I'm joined by my guest Christine today from boxing for health before the break we were discussing a little bit more about diet and nutrition and gut health and so let's go and touch on that again Christine how important.
Is is your diet is taking care of your gut health when you're on a journey with Parkinson's.

[16:42] I think gun health is hugely important constipation if you jump right into it is a big.
Kind of a side effect to medications once people are taking medications for Parkinson's but when you are chronically constipated throughout your life you actually have a 40% increased chance of developing Parkinson's which is huge that's a huge percentage
so
Getting on top of that especially if you have Parkinson's in your family that's something you want to get on top of right away and do what you can to get that sorted out so you're getting the toxins out of your system.

[17:23] But got Health in general I really suggest to my clients and encourage them that they switch to what's called an anti-inflammatory diet so reducing any inflammatory foods such as red meat so just doing your best to really limit your intake of red meats
Dairy which is the hardest one for most people I strongly recommend they remove Dairy it's a
you know one of the top inflammatory foods so.
I re I speak to a lot of the a lot of my clients both in person and online about these types of things because sometimes they really need
are you to hold their hand especially getting off Dairy for for some of the for some of the senior clientele that have been on it their whole life so it's explaining what it's doing to not just the gut but also the brain.

[18:14] You know you can't feel inflammation in your brain.
So but it's there and it's there to have Parkinson's disease or any kind of other neurological disease so doing what you can to lessen the inflammation in your body can really go a long way.

[18:30] As someone who struggles to stay off of dairy myself I totally understand what you're saying it is a steep hill especially if you love cheese.
So this Steep Hill even we I've been just dabbling even going lactose-free you know trying to get it all out but you know if.
There we will lactose-free a bit but it's even more important.
For folks have Parkinsons for obvious reasons let's maybe talk a minute about the safety of exercising with Parkinson's can you talk a little bit more you know is it safe.
Is it you know is it more safe in stages one and two then it is three and four maybe.

[19:07] I definitely think as the disease progresses your balance becomes more of an issue.
So you can go into freezing stages which causes people to have more increased chance of falling.
So in our programs both in person and online we do a thorough assessment at the beginning to see where you're at if you are a fall risk potential.
Where are your balance is at.
And we try and pick out other strengths and weaknesses or challenges that you're dealing with when we first initially see you
and then we can help you as you work through the program and depending on how often you're doing the exercise whether again it's in person or online if you're getting those the right exercises that you need because everyone with Parkinson's is
someone else with Parkinson's so meaning
everyone is different so someone may have a Tremor but someone else their issue is slow move slow and small movements extremely stiff and rigid or have an issue with their voice whereas the next person you know
is just concerned about their tremors so really.

[20:16] Figuring out an isolating each individuals issues and concerns so that you're able to focus on that in your exercise program
I absolutely believe in exercise program should be safe if it's done properly by experienced and trained instructors that have experience working with the Parkinson's population we have clients.
That have canes Walker's wheelchairs that come in into our gym
or train with us online so it's all absolutely possible it's just working with the right the right instructors and the right Parkinson's program
that kind of works for you at the level that you're at and when thought I was just thinking when I was listening to you and then you mentioned wheelchairs is
there's a lot of people that don't feel comfortable because of the balance or what not standing and doing exercise are there exercises that they can do sitting as well in boxing for health or boxing with Parkinson's.
Absolutely so we have afternoon classes for people that are a little more whether they're progressed or they've got a bit of cognition issues arising
or their balance is.

[21:28] You know if there is our past stage one or two in their balance is a lot more of an issue or they're experiencing Falls all of the stations in our classes are equipped with chairs
so everyone can either sit.
When they need to or be told to sit during different exercises so you always have that safety option it's always there for you if you're in a wheelchair and you're able to weight bear
that our instructors will get you up and walk as much as possible during that class
and have you sitting only when necessary but there's so much you can do sitting like the majority of the class can be done sitting you can March sitting so there's a lot that can be done because we're often dealing with
hip and knee Replacements on top of Parkinson's so.
There's lots of modifying that has to go on in any of our classes and our instructors are really used to it and they're able to implement different changes in exercises throughout the exercise throughout the program for for all the different
the different clients that are there.

[22:28] I think that's great to know if her Comfort level for people that are listening to because as we were talking about again a break is that some people will join in.
But they you know depends on the exercise program it depends if they feel like it they're going to be comfortable and is there somewhere I can sit down if I can't do it and if it's too overwhelming
people generally just don't do it right so
knowing that things have been put in place so that safety is there there are places to sit down and rest and all that is terrific what else do our listeners need to know when they're looking to find a great exercise program which would they be looking for.

[23:04] You should make sure that that voice is integrated into the classes because whether your voice isn't
is a concern for you now it could be in the future so it's all about being prevent as preventive at preventative as possible so making sure that your exercise program integrates and include some extra voice exercises
I'm breathing exercises they kind of go one-on-one with voice exercises because you can't have one without the other so
making sure that that's a priority in the class dual tasking is being done
which means you're doing maybe a physical exercise like a squat so squatting but counting and counting from mountains
down 2-0 in increments of.
Or in our in-person classes we've got math equations so volunteers are coming around with math equations or they're doing matching cards something fine motor while they're doing an exercise so that we're training the brain to multitask
that's hugely and big and these movements is the last one.

[24:12] I've got to tell you I did not expect you to say that like so I didn't expect half of that stuff so that's amazing so thank you for sharing that because I think it's really important.
Again that people have an understanding of the whole part of exercising is not just physical.
Terrific let's say let's take a minute for another break Christine after we take a break we'll come back and continue speaking about boxing.
A little bit more specifically so this is our full aging we're on Bold Brave TV we'll see you in a few minutes.

[24:42] Welcome back thanks for joining us today let's discuss exercising a bit more in-depth and how it relates to Parkinson's.
Christina know we've been talking about just before the break the different pieces of exercise.
For the physical part will any kind of exercise do or can you tell us a little bit more about the physical aspect of it.

[25:04] So any kind of exercise won't do but if you
already are familiar and enjoy doing exercise and that's great because it'll make it a little bit easier for you to get into a regular exercise program so like I mentioned you really want to make sure that there's like the voice integrated the Dual tasking amplitude base movements which means most of the movements done in the class are all done in a
big exaggerated
way so that you are working working with your body to stop the like hunched stooped over posture that can come with
the disease as well but
making sure that all of those things are in your exercise program our key and then the most most important is intensity intensity is non-negotiable when it comes to Parkinson's specific exercise programs.

[25:57] So when you are doing an exercise class so our classes are an hour in length.
About 30 to 35 minutes is the high-intensity part where we're doing functional based exercises and then we're throwing in that boxing element if you're not.
Being challenged if you're if you're able to carry on a conversation with the person next to you or if you're doing it from home if you're able to carry on a conversation while exercising you are not close to being at that target heart rate.
For you need to be at your target heart rate should be.
We really we try and push to about 80% of your target heart rate for people with Parkinson's as long as they don't have you have any heart issues alongside their Parkinson's.
Which is a very high percentage to get to especially for the senior clientele so having people pushing you and motivating you while you're exercising is really key to getting you to that level because if you're not exercising at that
I thought at that range then you're not getting the proper benefits to the for the program from the program.

[26:59] Interesting that that until part scares me even a little bit because that's that's quite intense right so.
Do how long do you do the sessions for an hour how long.

[27:12] Can someone do it to be beneficial like is an hour what people need or is it workable like people that are interesting about myself as well people that are newer to exercise or come in and out of exercise like most of us do.
You know getting to that intensity in our class when you jump feet-first is a little bit terrifying so you know how can we best start that.
So we typically it depends so if someone's coming to us and they're like exercise phobic and they just are not someone that that enjoys exercise or has
you know it hasn't been a big part of their life then we kind of ease them in a little bit slower typically people are starting these twice if not three times a week
but then they ship once they start doing that even after a few weeks they notice oh wow I'm actually feeling a lot better my symptoms are better so they start coming more but we have a lot of clients that come four to five times a week
one big research study that was done said that the more the better when it comes to Parkinson's so six days a week was actually
you know where
our clients are the most amount of positive changes when working out so an hour is best if you can do 90 minutes some classes and programs can Implement a 90-minute window
and that's really good as well we have just in the past find that an hour to an hour and 15 is what works best for for our clientele.

[28:39] That's pretty wild like for me like thinking about how long that is in the gym and and once that time I mean it scares me myself you know that's a lot but
the thing is is it's a they see the benefit within a short amount of time that builds momentum and then it's easier to do right it's just like you know if you were going to the gym.
You know regularly will change into there's a definite
accountability Factor if someone doesn't show up to class the other students are asking nowhere such-and-such we should reach out to them and
you know it's a tight-knit community both in person and online so I think that that really helps as well when people are expecting you to
in class and you know they need up early in class like sometimes a half an hour before class starts there's a group of them meeting in the parking lot like just to catch up so.
I would be very helpful.
Yeah it's like a giant buddy group like a buddy program you know yes it was going to the gym that that would be super helpful can you tell me why specifically boxing work so well.

[29:43] So boxing actually ESPN right in boxing as like the top top highest intensity sport that there is and
I did do some amateur kickboxing why Thai boxing before I had children and the intensity was the most
I've ever received from a sport and I was quite athletic growing up so I played all the sports but boxing would all take the rain everyday like.

[30:12] The types of exercises that you're doing your challenging your body.
Outside of its limits on a regular daily basis so when you're incorporating boxing into our program it's the intensity but also again so many stages can do it so many levels of Mobility so someone sitting in a wheelchair at a retirement home
can still do the boxing elements and if someone is newly diagnosed they can
we can teach them to do a little bit more and maybe they're doing footwork and getting that dual tasking in as long as well as doing the boxing so you can really play around with the with boxing techniques and make them super challenging or you know more beginner so the variety is there and again you can up
um you can raise and lower the level of intensity as well throughout the throughout the class as you learn more about boxing.

[31:07] But it's also fun I mean you let you let loose when I it's such an energy release
I love hitting pads when I can with someone or hitting a bag and I think that that's what my students would say to you know like they'll yellow some frustrating words sometimes or emotions especially for people that have been sitting with their diagnosis for for a little while or even a couple of months
it's therapeutic to come to the gym and just let everything go on a bag leave it all out there and leave it all in the gym so that when you leave you're just feeling that much lighter
no from your stress and frustrations of dealing with this disease.

[31:46] I would say from my limited exposure to boxing and kickboxing I've always been a big fan of kickboxing by no means am I in that world but it is one of the preferred exercises I like to do
and kind of what you're saying to is a stress relief or even when I go in right your punch something right and for them as well because it must be so frustrating
people with lots of different ailments diseases different functions all have our different frustrations right and just to be able to release that somewhere and not
keep it inside and hold on to it I think would be super beneficial so after the break we're going to be discussing support.
You've been watching Artful aging with Amy where I live on Bold Brave TV and we will see you just in a few minutes.

[32:33] Hello again and welcome back thanks so much for joining us you're watching Artful aging with Amy and
moving the sky boxing and Perkins is Christine and we're going to discuss support here for
the Parkinson's Journey So Christine can you tell me and tell our audience how important is to have the support team while you're on the Parkinson's journey I know that you touched on a little bit but maybe we could put it all together for people.

[33:00] So absolutely a support care team is essential it's really key to living well with Parkinson's so I support care team needs to be not just
your immediate family and your spouse because they also need to reach out and have a support care team for themselves quite honestly
it's helpful as the disease progresses and to just learn and educate yourself more about the disease and what's maybe to come and how to work through all of that from both
the person with Parkinson's as well as the spouse or the caregiver.
In your life so family is definitely key but reaching out to experienced professional so
I'm really big on manual work I think that everyone has Parkinson's should try their best to get in regular massages.
They should link up with a physiotherapist that specializes in Parkinson's
even if it's just a touch base every couple of months but at least you're in with someone that understands the disease and that can pick things out for you maybe they notice some yellow flags before you do with your movement pattern that they can help you address
so that it can stay where it is for as long as for as long as possible.
And and getting a neurologist is key so if that's hard reach out because there's a bunch of different options and different routes.

[34:24] Getting into a support character support Care Group is really important we have a student ran one in boxing for health so one of the students has taken that over and they meet once a month and throughout the last two years they've been meeting through zoom and hopefully in the next couple of months we can start back in person but
support is huge I mean being with others that have Parkinsons
the sooner the better because you link arms and people you find good friends in others and other Fighters and they can really help push you on days that
you know down in the dumps or just need that extra push to maybe get to that exercise class.

[35:04] For caregivers I know that we talked about you know them noticing different things changing is there anything else that caregiver can do to support not only.
The person who has Parkinson's but also the caregiver themselves when one of our other shows we were talking about how a lot of times.
There's caregiver support but it's combined with the with the person so if it's Dementia or Parkinson's it's always the person with Parkinson's.
And in the caregiver is there anything for just caregivers and is there anything that they can do to support themselves and their loved one.

[35:39] There's definitely some support groups out there and I think it's important that they become.
Not just work alongside their partner which is important too but find a support group for just the caregiver for just the spouse because I don't even love the word caregiver as much as that's what you become as a spouse with someone with a chronic disease but it's
you need to take care of yourself too.
You know in our program we invite spouses along and we have a lot of spouses that train and join the program as well because they want to stay fit
and they motivate each other to get to the class so that's huge because you want to stay strong and healthy
for your partner with Parkinson's but also that person with Parkinson's needs to stay strong and healthy to so working together is
is huge but finding different Outlets that you can do just on you're on your own you know to really feel that self-care and take care of yourself and have places to reach out is really important so there's there's support groups online and in person
for those first spouses I know that think.

[36:48] I think many people who are the caregiver for someone who has anything really they feel like the support groups are to support that person but the support cards are also to support them and.
You know as a caregiver you may want to talk about feelings or or
her takes or things like that that is about the person you're caring about so you don't want to just you know say all this time this person was you know it was super super difficult and what not
because you don't want them to hear it because it's not intended for bashing anything or anything it's just to get it out right and so that's why it's extra important to have something of your own
to go towards I think before we finish up today Christine could you tell us a little bit more there's other programs that you offer at your gym could you let us know a little bit more about those.
So absolutely so we do specialize in working with Parkinson's but we also invite seniors to come to our classes we've got a lot of seniors that are involved in our classes because a lot of the symptoms
that come along with Parkinson's are actually aging related.
Symptoms as well so Stu posture issues with your posture your balance becoming more of a fall risk as you as you age so a lot of those things are implemented in the in the classes that really help.

[38:04] Um
seniors become that much more independent and empowered and stronger and we also a few months ago started a an awesome women's only class on Wednesday evening so we offered virtually online as well as in person at the gym
and
that's just for just for any women at any age really that can come and join us are we so we have our Parkinson's specific classes we run about 16 classes a week at our main location.
And then we have a western location in Canada and an East End location off Montreal Road
and again a really successful online program so you know there's no excuse not to exercise when you have Parkinson's we've kind of made all of these options available.
But now that we've added This Woman's class it's just an extra place where people even family members of those with Parkinson's or spouses like I mentioned to come and let loose and let those frustrations and stress out especially from.
You know being boxed in the last two years.

[39:04] Sure and I love the the fact of the online versions because again we're talking on breaking and I'm a little ways away from your gym but it would be nice to be able to join in
to some of the sessions.
And that's one thing that's come out of covid as this video atmosphere of everything and there's a lot of things online and so.
You know for our folks that are watching if you want to join anything it would be worth a search online just to see if it's virtual because a lot of things are virtual and things that you wouldn't even think about our virtual so it's nice to have that as an aspect.

[39:39] Well Chris Christine we've come to the end of our time together I want to thank you so much for coming and speaking with us today.
Thank you thank you so much for having me I appreciate the platform and hopefully we can were helping you know get this out to more people and letting people know that
there are things you can do you just got to make the right step forward.

[40:01] Absolutely absolutely for more information on Christine and boxing for help head on over to our kill aging with a me.com for all of the links
after the break we are going to be discussing my top tips from today's conversation make sure to grab a cup of tea we're not done yet and I'll see you back.

[40:18] Welcome back I hope that you have found Today's Show as an informative and helpful as I have
there's definitely a lot of things that Christine said that I didn't even realize and especially with the exercise and bringing all the mental
and physical together very very interesting I know that we'll be sharing this a lot with our tea and toast crowd because we do work with a lot of people who have Parkinson's and have
Parkinson's and with cognitive impairment as well so I know they'll find that helpful as well without further Ado these are my top tips from today.

[40:52] So number one would be to be proactive and keep your quality
of life in a good State I feel again that this is a good advice for all of us but especially for folks who are dealing with Parkinson's you want to try to get.
Things moving sooner rather than later so that your disease doesn't progress to a spot where you can't get started so
don't wait for things to change with your disease do something right now even as Christine was saying even if it's.
You know pre-emptive and you think that you might have a diagnosis coming or runs in your family do something now so that it doesn't boil over later.

[41:30] Tip 2 would be to exercise rarely rarely at regularly we really is what I do regularly is what you should do all of us should be exercising regularly for our General Health.
It's generally again another good life tip so I know many of us should be doing it a lot more carve out some time in your schedule and just do it so whether it's on.
Video or in person there are so many things available to us now again especially since we've all went through covid together a lot of things are online so just do a quick search.
If you can't get out bring it into your home and also have other family members.
You know work with you answer if it's a workout program you can do in your home maybe you do it with your partner maybe you do it with your kid.
Just make sure that there's that sense of support network around you is usually really helpful just like what Christine was saying as well when they go into the gym.

[42:25] There's a lot of people there that you know support each other because they know what each other are going through and that I find that really really important number 3.
Would be to expand your support so ask for help and better yet tell people you need help if you do.
People aren't mind reader's so remember that and sometimes you just need to tell people you need something for them to take action.
Don't wait for someone to do something and then be disappointed if they don't be proactive in your own care.
And and make sure just to expand your support group but Christine was saying again expand it to massage therapists and physiotherapists and all sorts of.
Different people that would be able to like invite be able to recognize things that you don't see yourself that you can address before it gets worse.
On next week's show we'll be talking with Brooke a speech language pathologist with the American speech language and hearing Association all about aphasia.

[43:24] Remember for more information on today's show
as well as the upcoming and past gas please join me over at Artful aging with a me.com there you'll find all the links to all of our shows you'll find our podcast links as well and you'll also find links to free resources.
If you happen to be looking in retirement living is which is what I do in my day job.
So thanks so much for joining us again today and replace aging and we're live on Bold Brave TV for me to you I hope that you have a wonderful Wednesday.

[43:57] You've been listening to Artful aging with host femi
many folks just like you feel they're alone in their journey and helping a loved one or caregiver.
So tune in each week and let a me show you that help is around the corner and it's just one conversation away here on Artful Aging with Amy.

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Season

1

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Episode

13

Fighting Parkinson's with Boxing

Christine Seaby

Owner and Founder of Boxing 4 Health

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