We welcomed Genevieve Geffriaud to our online Blether, on Wednesday 3rd February.
Genevieve, who has Parkinson’s, lives in France and met Alison Williams online on a recent international dance project.
Having been severely restricted with Parkinson’s after her diagnosis, Genevieve has freed herself over the past few years of nearly all her Parkinson’s symptoms, through her purposeful journey to access and practice physical, mental, spiritual and emotional joy. Below is her 5 aspects of living well with Parkinson’s:
The following is taken from Genevieve Gauffriaud’s notes for her talk and conversation at the Branch Blether on the 3rd February 2021.
“1: Circadian Rhythm
Have a regular way of living to improve our circadian rhythm. You know that we are diurnal animals. That means we have to live in the rhythm of light and night. Which is necessary to regulate our biological rhythms via the melatonin hormone. So we have to go out as much as possible morning and afternoon. Have meals at regular times, do only a short nap. It was difficult for me to sleep well during the night, because I was sleeping all day long with a very long nap.
2: Exercise
Do cardio exercises (running, bicycle, Nordic walking for example) because this help us to produce natural dopamine. Dopamine is also essential in our reward circuit.
I do this 3 times a week for one hour. This is only my example but everyone can do cardio exercises according to their physical capacities. This can be 5 or 10 minutes to start with but it is essential to be working on continuous progress as if we were a top athlete (high level sportsperson) – working to improve our personal best (PB).
3: Pleasurable and creative activities
Get involved in pleasure (creative) activities, if possible with other people in a club, or with friends. This generates oxytocin which is the hormone of attachment, love, confidence. And which reduces stress. For me it is qi gong and country line dance (it can be painting, cooking, singing, gardening etc)
4: Social activities These give us an aim in life and give us also pleasure to be in the company of others. Altruism – doing things for other people – is important. All this contributes to maintain our dopaminergic neurons.
5: Nutrition We need to have natural and balanced diet. Because the gut microbiome is very important in Parkinson disease, with a direct link via the vagus nerve between the gut and the brain.
For me this meant that I regained the desire to live”.
We recorded the Blether but due to the size of the recording, we were unable to upload. We are considering options as to whether we can make the recording available. Please bear with us while we do this.
Video: This is a short video made about Genevieve. It is in French but is subtitled. We showed it at the meeting.