This exploration lead me to Bianca Molle, who seems to have beat back PD by spending three hours a day doing Qigong; she used DVDs from Mington Gu who now has online courses at The Chi Center. I took his online class for some time, but, frankly, it moved too slowly for me after awhile.
Then I looked into what Bruce Frantzis has to offer, as he has some really well-thought of books and courses. I have been reading his book about Dragon and Tiger Qigong (which is Qigong specially designed for healing). I learn physical things by watching and following along, so I have been taking an online course from one of his students, Bill Ryan; this has been enormously helpful for helping me learn the Dragon and Tiger form, combined with the book. Also recently have returned to Dr. Paul Lam's DVD/download Tai Chi classes. While the Qigong leaves me feeling refreshed, it doesn't do much to challenge my balance, and the Tai Chi provides that.
Right now, I spend 30-45 minutes a day working on my practice. Practice has multiple meanings, including - to repetitively work on something to get better at it.
I've been doing a variety of Qigong practices for about 6 months. I've noticed an improvement in non-motor symptoms: urinary urge is less, sleeping better (able to return to sleep more quickly), small motor skills like typing and writing have improved a little. Dry eyes are a bit better, too. Cognition is a bit better - less problems with word-finding (long may that last). On the other hand, rigidity and slowness are the same, as is blood pressure (too low). The one thing that's not getting better that I really want to improve, still, is balance - trouble with stairs and curbs, lurching like a drunk. Grrrrrr. Still, there are brief times (under a minute) when my walking is normal, which hasn't ever happened, so I'm keeping an eye on this.
Lam and Frantzis images from Amazon.
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