Parkinson’s and Zumba Gold
Ok, so it does not sound like Parkinson’s and Zumba should be used in the same sentence. What am I crazy thinking I can make my body listen to my brain during an active hour of dancing to continuous music? Yes and no!
I started Zumba recently and I love it. Let me first say that it is Zumba Gold which means it is a tad bit less intense than other Zumba classes, but it is in no way a session for whimps. We start out with disco and end up with dancing to New York, New York in Rockette formation, hop, kick, turn. My brain gets the concept, but my feet do not always get the message so I tend to turn, hop, kick or some other variation of the routine. Our gracious instructor just simply ignores my gross motor skill chanllenges and keeps on keeping on.
What I really like about the experience is the freedom I feel as I dance around the floor with great music playing for a complete hour. My tremors do not get in the way in fact, they seem to enhance the overall presentation. As I shake, I appear to be keeping a beat. OMG, I have rhythm! Ok, if I am totally honest, I have stumbled a few times and my legs and feet cannot seem to get the instructions from the brain quick enough. Often, I feel uncoordinated and sometimes I simply freeze in place. When this happens, I have an interesting approach. I ignore it and try to catch up. Since every other dancer is busy making her own way through the routine, it is easy to go unnoticed during my klutzy times and just keep rolling on (direct reference to a line from Proud Mary which is part of our repertoire.)
Just like with line dancing, I find that the joy I receive from participating is emmensely satisfying. It is fun to move around to music that you remember from decades past. And it is good to laugh at myself and with others when the YMCA dance ends up being the YM dance because I am not fast enough to get to the other letters. Oh well….
Remember with all degenerative disorders, it is essential to move, move, move. It increases muscle memory, keeps the blood circulating and is vital for your mental health. With Parkinson’s, the one thing we can usually do quite well is: “Shake, shake, shake.” So shake that booty,” and go for it!
