Setting Aside Fear and Anxiety

One of the most common questions that I am asked when I address a crowd is what can I do to improve my condition with Parkinson’s disease (PD)?

My short answer to this question is usually a lengthy list of complementary therapies to try and taking the time to experiment in finding what it is that your body, mind, and spirit are drawn to and react to. In this posting, I am focusing just on two components that make up PD, but I believe that these are probably the two key components to keeping PD in check and improving your overall quality of life.

Fear and anxiety feed one another and only exacerbate the symptoms of PD. When these instigators are controlled through breathing, relaxation techniques, and other mind/body exercises, something very positive can happen. A calmness and a sense that your body is prepared for anything lowers the stress that comes with fear and anxiety. Fear, anxiety, and stress, when dissected, are really self-generated weights that we unknowingly put upon ourselves.

Setting arbitrary deadlines for ourselves that are unrealistic or just unnecessary only adds to the pressure that we ought to be alleviating. Focusing on the stressors that trigger our symptoms are key in improving our quality of life.