Class Description: A Tall Man Runs, Tawny Kangaroos Jump, Girls in School Uniforms Skip are words that not only create vivid images in the mind's eye but also connect the brain to the muscles and stimulate blood flow to both the brain and muscles. Recent medical research supports the idea that the mind can change the brain and physical body in a positive or negative way.

This course is designed to help people with a diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease to walk more smoothly, move with greater confidence, sleep more deeply and restfully and experience greater brain clarity. The course is made up of 6 modules (5 or 6 minutes each) that clearly explain each exercise, how to do it, when to do it, and how often to do it. Each module will also highlight one piece of the research behind these visualization exercises.

At the end of the course, the student will have a unique piece of poetry to use like a mantra or inspirational piece to encourage them to use their mind to walk with greater balance and confidence.

An award-winning poet, Kimberly Burnham is a brain health expert with a PhD in Integrative Medicine. Her dissertation focused on using complementary and alternative medicine to eliminate the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease.

No prior training is necessary. Please consult with your primary health practitioner if you have any concerns.

Some of the exercises involve visualizing and noticing the color green, using action verbs to stimulate your brain and muscles and describing an item. Each exercise is designed to help you create a more functional and clear brain. By the end of the class, you may see improvements in your comfort, movement, and sleep with 5-10 minutes of exercises a day.

Introduction

Talking head with colors and words interspersed

2 minutes

Introduction to instructor: An award-winning poet, I have a PhD in Integrative Medicine and 25 years of health coaching experience. My skill is taking abstract research and developing easy self-care exercises and poetry to improve brain health.

Action Verbs Spinning Moving Dancing (1)

5 minutes

Developing goal setting skills. What do you want to improve in your health? Scribble down a list of 8 health goals, things you want to improve this year.

Then look at the list. How many of the goals are written in a positive way? It is easier for the brain to reach for something it wants that to let go of what it doesn't want.

Rewrite the list so that each goal is written in a positive way.

Measurable goals are also easier to accomplish.

Look at your list and think about ways to make them more measurable. How will you know when you accomplished the goal?

Now pull out all the verbs in all your goals and write them out one or two words on each line.

Post your "poem" on the community board.

The Physics of Legs (2)

Instructor talking interspersed with images of leg anatomy and people walking

5 minutes

Guided visualization of the anatomy of the legs, musculoskeletal system, cellular system, elements & atoms, quarks,

Research on Action Verbs impact of brain and muscles.

Take your "poem" from the goal setting module and add some words to each line that take about what part of your body is doing the goal.

Post your "poem" on the community board.

Sensing the Leg Meridian (3)

MP4 Instructor talking, interspersed images of colors and Traditional Chinese Medicine Acupressure meridians.

5 minutes

6 lines of energy from Traditional Chinese Medicine (acupuncture / acupressure) run down the legs. The wood elements associated with the color green are the Liver meridian on the inner thigh and the Gallbladder meridian on the outer side of the leg.

Research: Acupressure

Add sensory words like red, soft, fuzzy to the lines.

If you want to walk confidently what would that look like ... green energy streaming up and down your legs, warm hands lifting, shoulders low and soft?

Post your "poem" on the community board.

Visualizing the Midbrain, Substantia Nigra & Dopamine (4)

Instructor talking interspersed with images of the brain and chemical symbols

5 minutes

Visualization of the midbrain, substancia nigra and dopamine.

Traditional Chinese Medicine idea that where the mind goes the energy follows and where the energy goes the blood follows.

Add something to your "poem" about the mind or brain, what you are thinking as you accomplish your goal.

Post your "poem" on the community board.

Motor Imagery Solutions (5)

Instructor talking interspersed with images of people walking, jumping, moving.

5 minutes

If your goal is to walk comfortably to the park and back. Sit quietly and imagine yourself doing just that. Then imagine yourself looking out of the window as a friend or loved one accomplishes your goal (ie) walking to the park. If your goal is to run a marathon, imagine yourself running and then completing the marathon. What does it feel like? What do you hear? What do you see or smell? How do the orange slices at the end feel or taste?

Write a poem as if you have accomplished one of your goals. I can it Remembering the Future. Write a few words on each line describing the event or process as you accomplished one of your goals. Use action verbs, colors, and sensation words.

Post your "poem" on the community board.

Learning Long Walking (6)

Instructor talking interspersed with images of people walking, running, long jumping.

5 minutes

As Parkinson's disease progresses, a typical posture is bent forward at the hips and short steps. It is not that the person can't take long strides but their brain predisposes them to take short shuffling steps. This exercise is about first visualizing yourself and a friend taking impossibly long steps and then safely taking long steps as you walk around your house or around the block.

Write a few words about this experience. What did it feel like to imagine yourself walking with long strides? How did it feel to consciously move your legs putting as much distance as possible between your feet?

Post your "poem" on the community board.

Conclusion: How Far Have You Come?

Images of Words, colors and people. Instructor talking.

5 minutes

How far have you come? What has changed?

Go back over what you originally wrote as your goals. Rewrite them using what you have learned about words and the brain.

Post your "poem" on the community board.

Class Project

Project Description

Write a "poem" that embodies your goals, positives desires, action verbs, colors, and sensory words. This will be a kind of mantra to inspire you as you continue with the exercises and all your activities.

Evaluate how well you walk.

Step 1: Write 8 goals.

Step 2: Write 8 goals framed in a positive way.

Step 3: Write 8 goals using vivid action words.

Step 4: Write 8 goals using sensory words like red, soft, or tingling.

Step 5: Write 8 goals as if you have already accomplished the goals.

Notice what has changed in how you walk.

Kimberly Burnham

Nerve Whisperer Brain Health Expert

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