Wait… What? Surprise! Remember me? I know. It’s been a really long time. You know when people say they have good reasons to be absent? Oh my, I have the best. No really I do. I haven’t just been a bit busy, I’ve been wrangling with some serious stuff. I have it all. Drama, excitement, … Read more

Keep On Moving! Hello again, or as we say in New Zealand, Kia ora. I have been remiss with my usual updates. It’s been tough getting back into a routine. What has been especially tough has been forcing myself back into exercising. Nobody likes exercise, but those of us who are forced to endure this … Read more

Pilates Power I have just returned from a Pilates class. I’m supposed to be completing a blog post for kittyfitton.com but I have got back, showered and changed and feel that this is more important. I’m approaching a kind of turning point in my Parkinson’s journey and I don’t like it. I was diagnosed about … Read more

Because research makes me miserable I don’t often read much about Parkinson’s and research. Perhaps I ought to do it, running a blog about the very subject, but the truth is it scares me. The first time I realised that was shortly after my initial diagnosis. I read about some people with Parkinson’s, some more … Read more

Disease or Condition? I had a call from a friend yesterday that had been reading my blog. She asked me why I kept referring to Parkinson’s with the word ‘Disease’, as she knows I hate that term. I explained that it is a new website and I wanted to attract the widest traffic I could, … Read more

The Muhammad Ali Approach to Affirmations Last year for Christmas I bought a ‘Big Life Journal’ for my two boys. It’s a guided journal with a series of research-based activities and resources to help kids build positive “growth-based” mindsets. The one we got was for “tweens/teens”, but there are different versions for younger kids. My … Read more

A Day in the Life – Emma Woke up, got out of bed, took a bunch of dopamine. Living with Parkinson’s sometimes involves some crazy swings and roundabouts in energy, and general feelings of wellbeing. Yesterday I gave a good demonstration of how suddenly and shockingly I can crash. I was making pancakes for lunch, … Read more

Positive Affirmations Emma wrote recently about Mohammad Ali and how it created her own motivational mantra. How positive affirmations helped her feel some much better day to day. I used to think that mantras were just for the hippies. The brown rice and sandals brigade. (Disclaimer – I own both brown rice and sandals) However … Read more

Moving On Alone I’ve put off writing about this for some time. It’s tricky. I have wanted to work it through in my head but I don’t want to upset anyone with what I say. I’m going to write about my recent decision to do something many people have thought is ridiculous, rash, stupid and … Read more

Bodily Intimidation Last night I went to karate in glacier-mode. A glacier is a good analogy for times when I look like I have great potential to move, but I feel slow-moving and rigid. I tried to push through by jumping around and attempting various basic moves in the dance studio where we have taken … Read more