Parkinson's Class Waipahu, Hawaii
Phyllis Donlin
Let me tell you about this picture taken the first week of January 2015. We are a Parkinson’s Class… Not shown are about 12 more participants. I am the red head standing on the left. Our instructor, Paula Sheehan, is standing second to the left…We wanted to give something to Paula to have as a Thank You moments for her to keep warm in Worcester, Massachusetts. When the Parkinson’s class started there were only 5. More Parkinson’s people kept coming and attending classes on a consistent basis. Maybe because people and doctors heard how good the class was and because it was a unique class not offered publicly. Mostly they came and stayed because Paula took a caring interest and concern for each of us. She is a certified trainer and has completed training in physiology, Parkinson’s disorders and treatments, reflexology, physical coordination, dance movement for health of the infirm, weight training classes and use of equipment instruction, TMX, Bootcamp, Yoga and probably many other areas that I have no listed or have no knowledge about.
She was/is a friendly, sharing and sensitive person who is happy and that lifts your spirts up. We did all kinds of exercises standing and sitting. We used weights and small heavy balls for strength and agility training. We vocalized as loud and clearly as possible to strengthen voice quality and get over mumbling as some of us do with Parkinson’s. One of our participants told us that due to the vocalization he was swallowing better than before he started the class. We met on Mondays and Fridays for an hour around lunchtime. Before we knew it the class was over. We did so much during that class doing exercises both sitting and standing, stretching and the format of the class was interesting, never dull.
We wanted to let you know…that Paula Sheehan did a fantastic job as a person, friend and instructor. She supported us individually and cared for us as a group. At the beginning of each class she would bring us up to date with what’s happening with Parkinson’s Groups around Oahu, such as support groups, Parkinson’s marches or fundraisers, news from Michael J Fox’s Parkinson’s Organization and more.