I’m only human after all

To err is human, to forgive divine. And to be applauded for mistakes and wobbles, well that’s another thing altogether.

You left me last time creased up with giggles after my Friday Let’s Box class. Our instructor Debbie encourages us to have fun and not to worry about getting the technique right first time – she can help us tweak that as we go along.

I have fun exercising online, too. Zoom (other meet and team apps are available) and YouTube have really opened up the channels for top quality instructors to strut their stuff. But often they are the only ones doing the strutting and my stuff doesn’t get a look in. I can’t work like that. I need feedback on the hard work I’m putting in – “Bottom down, Ali!” “Shoulders right back!” “Push hard, straight elbows, all the way to the ceiling!”

Neuro physiotherapists Anna Kharin and Laura Douglas deliver this quality feedback for me, and for everyone in their Neuro Heroes classes.  

Balance is my main challenge, and Anna and Laura will often catch me lurching perilously on one leg, every fibre of my foot and ankle working every which way to keep me upright.  “Good recovery!” they’ll shout, as I come back to the vertical. On the rare occasions when I launch out of sight into something soft, they’ll check that I’m all right.

Because, as Anna says, it’s OK to wobble:

“We applaud every wobble completed safely. Our bodies need to feel the edge of what is possible. When adults acquire a balance difficulty, they need to relearn how to move through exposure. The central nervous system and muscles work hard to maintain balance and to create the flexibility needed between the different balance systems.  

By practising and pushing yourself you refine your balance through exposure, which enables you to function confidently and efficiently in the real world.”

Wobbly with words

The other weekly Zoom I eagerly anticipate is Yes, And…eXercise! (YAX!). I’ve written before (Jamming) about this marvellous hour of improvisation games in which we throw words around and just wait to see what happens. We speak, we listen, we acknowledge what the last person said, and we add to it. “Yes, And…!” keeps a conversation going much better than “No, But…”Q (try it). It is a glorious game of verbal tennis in which we aim to keep the rallies going rather than serving 120mph wisecrack aces. It’s fun and we laugh a lot. 

We also wobble a lot. We struggle to find the right words, we come out with the wrong ones, and a combination of wi-fi delay and different accents often propels the conversation in a totally different direction. Here, the skill is to keep moving forward with what you’ve got, and not try and retrace your steps with “Sorry, I didn’t catch that?” or a patronising “I think you mean…”

There’s a safe word – ‘Ah-woo-gah!’ which helps the wobbler acknowledge their verbal wobble without apology or frustration. It helps the group to re-focus and keep the conversation going.

One of my YAX buddies, Venetia, says:

“The power of the Ah-woo-gah! moment is freedom. Freedom from having to think about what you are going to say. Freedom from worry that you may say the wrong thing. Freedom from what others may think. 

Yes, And… Freedom to forget that you have Parkinson’s, because you don’t have to worry about proprioception and balance. You don’t have to think about moving without falling, or leaning like the Tower of Pisa. And because you are totally involved in the present moment.”

YAX funmaster Dr Robert Cochrane says:

“People with Parkinson’s and their care partners report feeling depressed, anxious, and isolated. There is no magic pill, therapy or self-help program that can ‘fix’ this. However, positive social interaction in a safe and brave space with people who empathise and actively reassure you that there are no wrong answers can help.”

Find out more about wobbling in safe and brave spaces:

www.neuroheroes.co.uk

www.yesandexercise.org

Play> Human>Rag’n’Bone Man