Welcome to an archive of our Articles posted to the PWR! Website.

Welcome to our new CEO, Dr. Adrian Hutber PhD, MS

Dr. Adrian Hutber, PhD, MS, has been appointed as the new Chief Executive Officer of PWR!. He joins PWR! from his previous Vice President position at the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), where he was the executive staff member leading the Exercise is MedicineR Global Health Initiative (EIM), a multi-organizational, multi-national initiative co-founded by ACSM and the…

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Happy Holidays from the Parkinson Wellness Recovery team!

Happy Holidays from the Parkinson Wellness Recovery team! As the year draws to a close, I find myself reflecting on the challenges, hard work, and successes of 2018…all of which add up to a great impact on the lives of those with Parkinson disease. Some of our highlights include expanding (i.e. doubling) the number of…

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Catherine Printz, PWR!Moves Certified Therapist and Instructor

December is a Great Time at the PWR!Gym!

[clear-line] May 26 – June 1, 2019 Registration is open! Thank you to the many individuals who have started the process. Don’t delay! Start today. Don’t miss this amazing week-long experience! [clear-line] We are celebrating the holidays! The PWR!Gym will be closed from Dec 24 – Jan 1. No therapy or group classes will occur…

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For PWR! Professionals

Are You Interested in Volunteering at the PWR! Retreat in 2019? If you are interested in volunteering at the PWR! Retreat May 26 – June 1, the application forms can be found here. https://www.pwr4life.org/pwr-retreat/retreat-volunteers/. We review all applications and try to accept new applicants each year for a limited number of volunteer positions. There are many…

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PWR! Moves: Holiday Lights

Happy Holidays with Some Holiday Lights from the PWR!Gym   PWR!  Move of the Month Enjoy the Holiday Lights of the PWR!Gym! We’re always having a good time.   This month’s move of the month comes from Nancy Nelson, CPT and  Emily Borchers, PT, DPT of the PWR!Gym. For more about Nancy, visit the directory on…

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Habitual exercisers versus sedentary subjects with Parkinson’s disease

  This month’s research corner highlights the best evidence to date for why you need to exercise starting from diagnosis (even before) and not stop when you are diagnosed with Parkinson disease (PD)…. And, it explains what we mean when we say “Exercise is a physiological tool in your fight against Parkinson disease.” Since it…

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PWR!Retreat

May 26 – June 1, 2019 Registration opening this month! Watch out for the mid-month email letting you know that Registration for PWR! Retreat is open! Or follow our Facebook page. Or do both! Don’t miss this amazing week-long experience!

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From Dr. Becky Farley

This is a great story full of hope! Thanks to advocates like you, the Parkinson community was able to push through a $2 billion funding increase for NIH that includes priorities for PD research! While our PWR!Gym members work hard to stay better-there are many new therapy options on the horizon, and more to come,…

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PWR! Care Partners

When you walk into the PWR!Gym you often see a table of people sitting and chatting. The encouragement and connection found at this table can be pivotal for many of our members, but it can also be a huge support for our care partners. The ability to sit and chat for a bit helps everyone be a part of the…

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PWR! Wellness Series: Mime Over Matter

We apologize, but this month’s Wellness Series is canceled due to illness of the presenter. We wish Rob a speedy recovery and look forward to having him present at a future date! MIME OVER MATTER! PD Tricks from the World of Mime and Circus   November 15, 2018    4:00-5:30PM Come explore basic mime techniques—visualization, articulation…

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Getting up from the ground – PWR!Move of the Month

PWR!  Move of the Month     Getting up from the ground takes a lot of mobility, strength, and sequencing.  The PWR!Step in All 4’s is a great way to practice this skill!  It also makes for a great warmup to decrease rigidity through the hips. Thank you Evan Pierson!  For more about Evan, visit here. 

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PWR! Dine Out

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From Dr. Farley

This article provides scientific support for a pattern that physical therapists who treat people with Parkinson’s routinely observe. These PTs regularly discover that a newly diagnosed client has been living with pain for years, often in the hip, back, shoulders, feet, and/or hands. Furthermore, many clients have recently undergone knee or shoulder surgery, only to find out that the…

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PWR!Gym university interns - neuroscience and physiology

Welcome to Fall 2018 Interns

Welcome to the fall interns! With the start of classes at the University of Arizona comes a new crew of undergraduate PWR! interns. The work these students accomplish during their internships includes helping to provide more programs and services to our members, as well as to further the progress of active research projects. This fall,…

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PWR! October Wellness Series

We’re in this Together: Building PWR!ful Relationships October 18, 2018 4:00-5:30PM The significance of social connections for our overall health cannot be overstated, especially as depression and anxiety are widespread among people with Parkinson disease. We are truly “wired to connect.” Come meet a new member of the PWR!Gym community, Brian McElwain, and join our…

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Rolling over in bed with stiffness and rigidity – PWR! Move of the Month

    Due to stiffness, rigidity and difficulty sequencing rolling over in bed can be problematic. This can contribute to poor sleep and make it hard to get in and out of bed. The Move of the Month is actually a functional flow (linking several PWR!Moves together in a sequence) to help you roll over…

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PWR! in the Park

  On Oct. 6th at PWR! in the Park, we will be kicking off the 2019 Bowden Challenge, in honor of long-time PWR! supporters, Tim and Diane Bowden. This campaign presents all PWR!Gym members, volunteers, board members, and staff, along with friends and family, a chance to follow in Tim’s footsteps – challenging yourself to stay physically fit and mentally…

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From Dr. Farley

This month we bring to you what Dr. Becky Farley is listening to.   “This podcast interviewing Dr. Andrew Weil about his lifelong journey to change healthcare as it is today. The last 3 minutes summarize his insight as one of the original NIH researchers of cannibis working on his thesis in Botany. He is…

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Highlighting Andrea Kress

  Taking a moment to highlight an amazing PWR!Gym staff member Andrea Kress.  An interview with Andrea: How long have you been at the PWR Gym? -I started working at the gym in the spring of 2015. What is your favorite thing about teaching at the PWR Gym? – I love our members and the…

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September PWR! Wellness Series

Chakra Yoga and Sound Healing September 20, 2018 4:00-5:30PM Jovita and Morgana Wallace Learn about a unique program, created by the mother-daughter team of sound pioneer Jovita Wallace and yoga instructor Morgana Wallace Cooper.  Find out how chakra yoga and pure tone quartz crystal bowl vibration may strengthen, transform and align the energy fields –…

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Assist with a Lift from a Seat – PWR!Move of the Month

Practice getting up from a low seat with a PWR! Up and some momentum. Thank you Jennifer Bazan-Wigle. For more about Jennifer, visit her directory here.

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Labor Day, 2018

We are closed on Labor Day September 3rd, 2018

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Interesting Reading

One-item Scale Is Reliable Tool to Assess Fatigue in Parkinson’s Patients, Study Finds “The one-item Fatigue Visual Analog Scale (VAFS) is a highly consistent and reliable tool to assess fatigue in patients with Parkinson’s disease, and is associated with their quality of life, according to researchers. Their study, “The dimensionality of fatigue in Parkinson’s disease,”…

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