Thanks to the Parkinson’s community, there are many ways to learn and connect while you’re safe at home.

We’ve been contacted by organizations across the country with resources to keep you meaningfully engaged from the safety of your home. Below are some resources to learn and connect.

BGF Resources

Our online exercise videos and cooking videos are great ways to stay active and eat healthy during this time. We’re also hosting a Virtual Book Club every Tuesday in April and an Expert QA every Thursday in April. And don’t forget to follow us on Instagram and friend us on Facebook for our live events!

National Resources

The Parkinson’s Foundation is an incredible resource for staying connected. The organization has a helpline staffed by nurses, social workers and therapists. PF also hosts online events and a PD Health @ Home virtual series. Visit the PF events page and search by “online” or “PD Health @ Home” to find a variety of educational and supportive resources.

The Michael J. Fox Foundation has all kinds of online resources to help you learn about Parkinson’s disease. The organization has a vast collection of archived webinars as well as live Third Thursday webinars on a variety of topics in Parkinson’s. MJFF’s podcasts also provide a high-quality series of educational content.

PMD Alliance’s Neuro Life Online Programs are happening many times a week and include interactive sessions with movement disorder specialists, therapists and other experts. The organization has also launched a Stay Connected Social Distancing Series with archived and live content available online.

Local Resources

Parkinson’s Resources of Oregon has tele-support groups and online programs for people in Oregon and SW Washington. The organization also has a hotline for people to call if they need extra support.

Northwest Parkinson’s Foundation has Parkinson’s LIVE! archived and virtual live programs throughout the week. The organization also has a phone line for people living in Washington, Montana, Idaho and Alaska.

Switching his fitness routine to more exercises for Parkinson’s not only helped this former marathon runner improve his balance and gait, he happened to make some new friends in the process.

It’s wintertime in Grayslake, Illinois. Dale Moss, 62, and his wife, Paula, are gearing up to be “snowbirds” for the next couple of months. They’re migrating down to the Southeast for some well-deserved beach time. He decides to squeeze in one more Rock Steady Boxing class before he goes.

Moss has been living with Parkinson’s disease for about 10 years. He’s grown quite fond of the Parkinson’s fitness program held at Northwestern University Medicine Lake Forest Hospital. It’s the same medical institution where he participated in clinical trials and received deep brain stimulation (DBS) surgery three years ago.

DBS is a neurosurgical procedure that implants a neurostimulator (sometimes called a brain pacemaker) that sends electrical impulses to specific targets in the brain to treat Parkinson’s. DBS has become Moss’s passion subject, and he found it “very helpful” particularly at maintaining a loud, strong voice.

“I’m a big fan of all the programs they have at Northwestern, including the DBS surgery I had,” Moss said. “I take a lot of their fitness classes and participate in a monthly support group where I’m able to interact with other Parkinson’s patients and be part of a community.”

A targeted workout routine

Moss learned about the benefits of exercise for Parkinson’s symptoms through Northwestern, and it resonated with the long-time athlete. “Exercise itself is really the only thing that is proven scientifically to slow the progression of Parkinson’s. And it definitely makes symptoms more manageable,” he said.

Before he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s, he was a pickup basketball player; a sub three-hour marathoner who ran races in Chicago, Milwaukee and Boston; and a long-distance swimmer who once swam from Alcatraz Island to San Francisco.

But instead of running up and down a basketball court or jogging for a couple of miles a day, Moss does balance and strength training to improve his balance and gait. “I’m not always as steady as I want to be,” he said.

“These days I’m more focused on exercises that target Parkinson’s rather than doing some of those more grandiose events I used to do in the past. That’s the direction I’m going now athletically. I know that I need to be working out every day.

“I do a lot of stuff like squats, lunges, abduction-type exercises where you might balance on one foot while doing curls. These are the types of exercises that will help improve my quality of life and make it easier to do things like get up out of chairs.”

The power of community

At first, Moss wasn’t sure if he would enjoy working out with others living with Parkinson’s disease.

“I’ll be honest. There was a time when I didn’t want to see what other Parkinson’s patients looked like,” he admitted. “But then eventually I got over myself and realized how helpful it really is. There is so much to be learned from being around other Parkinson’s patients. It almost feels like a tough love sort of thing where we’re all in this together and we can get through it.”

“The interesting thing is that this disease manifests itself differently in everybody,” Moss continued. “You may have similar motor symptoms, but it’s still a little different, especially some of the non-motor symptoms that are more invisible. You find yourself sharing your experiences with other folks and learning so much from them.”

In fact, Moss had gotten so accustomed to working out with his buddies at the Rock Steady Boxing class, he realized he was going to miss them during the two months he’d be “snow birding” with his wife.

“Everybody in my boxing class knew I was leaving for a couple of months. ‘What are you going to be doing?’ they asked. I said, ‘The same exercises I’ve been doing here but with the added benefit of enjoying long walks on the beach with my wife,’” he recounted with a laugh.

“But I’ll miss that comradery during the two months I’ll be away. There’s a social aspect to it that I really enjoy. In fact, I find it more motivating to work out with other Parkinson’s patients than working out with a physical therapist or personal trainer.”

Sticking to a healthy diet and fitness routine to help mitigate symptoms isn’t just common sense – there is scientific evidence showing why exercise is the best medicine for Parkinson’s disease.

We scoured the most reputable scientific publications available for the latest and greatest in Parkinson’s research, and a universal theme kept popping up time and time again – exercise can vastly improve both motor and nonmotor symptoms of Parkinson’s disease.

The benefits of exercise for Parkinson’s is something researchers have known about for quite some time. However, it’s only been in recent years that scientists have started to uncover the complicated reasons why. This is groundbreaking because the closer researchers come to uncovering the mysteries of Parkinson’s, the closer they’ll be to finding a cure.

Here is a roundup of the latest developments in Parkinson’s exercise research.

Multi-module exercises are twice as nice for Parkinson’s

Researchers at the University of Kent in Canterbury, U.K., set up a weekly community-based multi-modal exercise regimen for Parkinson’s patients to determine whether the program could improve both physical function and cognitive function. The results, presented at The Physiological Society’s annual conference in December 2019 were positive.

Previous studies have shown that single modality exercise – which basically refers to a single type of exercise, such as running — can improve and help maintain both cognitive and physical function in people with Parkinson’s. However, multi-modal exercise — such as circuit training plus cognitive training — may produce faster and better results.

A total of 20 men and five women (average age of 64 years) with mild-to-moderate Parkinson’s disease participated in the study by attending a 60-minute multi-modal group exercise session every week for over a year. Results were compared to an aged-matched group of 20 older adults without Parkinson’s and 20 people with the disease who did not exercise.

Several health and functional assessments testing participants’ cognitive and physical capabilities were completed at the beginning of the study and then every four months for three years. People in the Parkinson’s group saw little to no cognitive decline over the three-year study span, which was significant given the disease’s tendency to progress over time. Click here to learn more.

The connection between cortisol and non-motor symptoms

Evidence has suggested that the overproduction of the stress hormone cortisol may be a culprit behind the progression of non-motor Parkinson’s symptoms, such as depression and risk behavior. Exercise is associated with a lower production of the stress hormone cortisol in healthy individuals; therefore, researchers believe this may also reduce the risk and rate of Parkinson’s symptom progression.

To test this theory, researchers conducted a small study in which they measured the levels of cortisol in saliva samples collected from eight people with Parkinson’s over six months. The results of the study were published in the journal Movement Disorders in May 2019.

The participants performed high-intensity treadmill exercises, including 5-10 minutes of warm-up, 30 minutes at 80-85% maximum heart rate, followed by 5-10 minutes of cool-down. They exercised an average of two or more days per week and increased their exercise duration and intensity over the first eight weeks of training.

Saliva samples were collected before and after completing the program, and at specific times immediately after waking up and during certain periods throughout the day. Overall, cortisol secretion of people with Parkinson’s more closely resembled that of people without the disease after they had completed the training program. Click here to learn more.

The balancing act between inflammation and aging

Balance training – or doing exercises specifically intended to improve balance – may slow down disease progression for people with Parkinson’s, according to study results published in the Journal of Clinical Medicine in January 2020.l

When humans age, there is a progressive decline in the immune system that results in low-grade inflammation – a process some clinicians refer to as “inflamm-aging.” A major characteristic of “inflamm-aging” is increased levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines. Cytokines are proteins secreted by specific cells of the immune system to mediate and regulate immunity, inflammation and the production of blood cells.

When people work out on a regular basis, their cells produce more of these cytokines that lower inflammation and improve the immune system. Not only is this beneficial to older adults in general, it could be extraordinarily helpful for people with neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson’s.

The study recruited 62 participants who were divided into two groups – adults with Parkinson’s participating in balance training vs. older adults participating in balance training who do not have PD. Blood samples were collected from all participants before and after 12 weeks of balance training.

It turns out that the Parkinson’s group had significantly lower levels of the pro-inflammatory cytokine known as tumor necrosis factor alpha, which causes progressive degeneration in dopaminergic neurons and plays an important role in the pathogenesis of Parkinson’s. Click here to learn more.

Physical therapist Nate Coomer discusses what led him to start in-house and online fitness classes for people with Parkinson’s, and how his unique business model sustains itself.

Physical therapist (PT) Nate Coomer was first drawn to the Parkinson’s community when he and his wife, Erin – also a PT – moved to Seattle a little under a decade ago.

“The research was so strong that physical therapy and exercise can really help slow the progression of Parkinson’s disease,” he said. “I felt like I had an important role in the lifespan of people with PD and wanted to be a part of their care team.”

The Coomers took ownership of an old CrossFit gym and converted it into a physical therapy practice, with Erin treating her clientele of runners and Nate treating his clientele of Parkinson’s patients.

“We wanted a big, open space with gym equipment, where she could see her runners and I could see people with Parkinson’s. They could mix together in an environment where nobody has to know who has Parkinson’s and who doesn’t,” Coomer said.

“This way, they can all feel like athletes, and both groups benefit from seeing how hard each of them works at their goals.”

Thus began The Parkinson’s Fitness Project.

“We wanted energy, laughter, comradery and for people to feel like they were part of something bigger. This wouldn’t be just another medical appointment on their calendar slot to feel discouraged by,” Coomer said.

His business model of providing formal physical therapy along with group and private neurofitness classes five days a week at a sliding scale of $15 per class proved successful. The company moved into its third location in March.

Daily Dose PD

Coomer was thrilled to learn that Parkinson’s Fitness Project was making a difference in the lives of so many people across the greater Seattle area. Then he realized, “Not everyone can make it to one more medical appointment that week. But they know how important it is to exercise.”

Our mission was to give people avenues to work out that are as convenient as possible. We have classes throughout Seattle and a wellness program with personal training in our clinics. But not everyone can make it to one more appointment that week, and yet they still know exercise is important.

Thus began Daily Dose PD, an online training program that offers a daily dose of exercise for people living with PD at all fitness levels.

“It started out just me taping videos with a camcorder. I wanted to release new workout videos that would challenge people and threw them into an online catalog or library. I wanted to give my patients as many exercise options as they wanted and for them to be able to use that whenever they felt like it.”

Today, Daily Dose PD helps more than 200 people in eight different countries – and almost all 50 states – to work out with trusted, certified and experienced trainers like Coomer.

“It’s been really great to meet new people in our live streams, connect with them and hopefully give them some guidance and be able to slow the progression of their disease, even if they don’t have quality resources in their area to do so,” he said.

Potential subscribers have access to all Daily Dose PD videos, with more than 400 workouts cataloged that they can use for 30 days for free. Going forward, it’s around a dollar a day or $29 per month.

“The whole idea is that the money they are paying into the service goes back into the service. This way, we’ve been able to create a much more interactive and user-friendly platform that allows for mobile apps and branded smart TV apps.”

“We’ve also been able to bring in more instructors so that it’s not just me in all the videos. And we’ve gone from one workout a week to roughly four livestreaming videos a week – all by taking those funds and putting them back into the program.”

Connecting with BGF

When Coomer started Parkinson’s Fitness Project, he wanted to connect with others around the country who were passionate about treating the symptoms of PD through exercise – and that’s ultimately what led him to the Brian Grant Foundation.

“I completed BGF’s Exercise for Parkinson’s Training for Professionals, and our original facility up here in Seattle began hosting bootcamp trainings,” Coomer said.

“Currently, we provide BGF’s ‘Move of the Month’ video series that helps people understand how to make exercise more Parkinson’s specific. We plan to do some educational videos to help fitness professionals better understand how certain exercise can be helpful for people with PD and provide them with techniques they can implement into their classes and training sessions. It’s been a great partnership.”

Coomer shared some advice for other physical therapists and fitness professionals serving the Parkinson’s community.

“Don’t focus on how many people you can get in class or how popular the class is. It’s more about quality vs. quantity. When you put out a quality product that people know is research based, it slowly builds into something consistent and sustainable,” he said.

When you plant a garden, pull weeds or mow the lawn, you’re not just getting chores out of the way – you’re improving your mental and physical health.

There are myriad health benefits to being outside. Spending time outdoors evokes a multi-sensory experience that improves our health both mentally and physically.

It’s as if we as humans have this innate tendency to seek connections with nature and be amongst other living, growing things – at least that’s what led famed biologist Edward O. Wilson to coin the term biophilia.

Gardening or doing yard work in general is an excellent outdoor activity because it serves a number of purposes. You’re accomplishing your chores while getting exercise, and if you plant a garden, you’re saving money by growing your own food. When you look at it that way, gardening is one of the ultimate forms of self-care.

Here are some unexpected benefits of gardening for people with Parkinson’s.

You’re getting some serious exercise.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, you can burn about 330 calories doing one hour of light gardening and yard work. In fact, you can burn more calories gardening than you can walking at a moderate pace for the same amount of time.

A study published in the American Journal of Public Health found that people who participated in a community gardening program had significantly lower body mass indexes (BMIs) than those who didn’t.

Like any other moderate to intense physical activity, you’ll want to pace yourself, listen to your body if it wants to rest, and always have plenty of water on hand.

You’re keeping your blood pressure in line.

As we’ve already learned, just 30 minutes of moderate physical activity three to five days a week can improve Parkinson’s symptoms. It can also curb high blood pressure. The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute recommends doing 30-45 minutes of yard work to help lower your blood pressure.

One study conducted in Sweden found that regular gardening reduces the risk for heart attacks or stroke by up to 30% for those over 60 years old.

Bonus: Getting just 10 minutes of sunlight outside each day will supply you with enough vitamin D to greatly reduce the risk of heart disease, osteoporosis and other diseases. But don’t forget to put on sunscreen!

It’s one of few chores that actually reduces stress.

Pulling weeds, planting seeds or pushing a lawn mower may seem like arduous work, but once you get into the zone so to speak, it can be oddly relaxing.

A study conducted in The Netherlands asked two participating groups to complete a stressful task. Afterward, group one was asked to garden for 30 minutes, while group two read indoors. Not only did the gardening group report better moods than the reading group, they had noticeably lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol.

It improves hand dexterity and tremors.

Gardening keeps your hands busy, which leads to more flexible and agile hand muscles, which could potentially lower stiffness and tremoring. It also improves cognition because your brain is constantly telling your hands to do different tasks.

In fact, gardening has been used in hospital rehabilitation programs for stroke patients to help them reacclimate and prepare for more complicated tasks like tying shoelaces.

That said, you don’t want to push your hands too far. Gardening can also lead to carpal tunnel, tendonitis, arthritis and cramping. Change up your tasks frequently or try using your non-dominant hand to relieve stress on the hands while boosting brain function.

Growing your own food makes you want to eat healthier.

Gardening helps people develop a lasting habit of eating more fruits and vegetables, according to a study from the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. You’re also more likely to try new foods and add variety to your diet.

Keep in mind that the fresher the produce, the better it tastes. You know how buying fruits and veggies at your local farmer’s market leads to higher-quality meals with fresher ingredients compared to buying frozen or canned produce?

Well, nothing’s fresher than eating something straight from your home garden. Not only is it jam-packed with vital nutrients, food just tastes better when you grow it yourself.

Quick tips for gardeners with Parkinson’s

1. Stretch before and after gardening. Yard work can make anyone stiff and sore, especially hunching over a garden, and this is especially true for people with PD.

2. Planting vegetables and herbs in raised beds can help relieve pressure on the joints. It also helps to place a cushion under your knees if you plan on being low to the ground for extended lengths of time.

3. Consider joining a community gardening group. Not only is gardening a fun activity to do solo, it’s even better when you can split the work and share the bounty with others. You may even pick up a few good tricks from veteran gardeners.

From improved memory and cognition to stronger bones and muscles, there are countless health benefits to walking outdoors with Parkinson’s disease.

When it comes to living well with Parkinson’s, think of exercise as a form of medication—you don’t want to miss a dose!

For people with Parkinson’s, walking every day can drastically improve your ability to live an independent and fulfilling life. Research has found that just 20 to 30 minutes of brisk walking daily can slow the progression of Parkinson’s symptoms, while improving gait, balance, tremor and flexibility.

In fact, just getting out of the house to run errands or taking your dog for a morning stroll can significantly improve your quality of life. See? You’re being healthy without even knowing it!

Now that spring has sprung, we encourage you to head outdoors for a breath of fresh air. Even taking a simple stroll around the neighborhood is a useful form of exercise because it makes the heart, lungs and muscles work harder, improves flexibility and relieves stiffness.

The many benefits of walking outside

You’ve probably heard of a runner’s high before, but did you know that walking can give you a walker’s high? When you exercise, your brain releases chemicals like serotonin and dopamine, the latter of which studies have found are lacking in the brains of people with Parkinson’s.

Walking also releases a protein called brain-derived neurotrophic factor that encourages the growth of new brain cells, which can help ward off memory loss. It tells skin to increase the production of collagen, the protein that keeps our skin smooth and elastic.

Walking prompts our muscles to release a fat-burning hormone called irisin, leading to the scientific theory that walking appears to reprogram fat cells to burn energy instead of storing it, therefore raising the metabolic rate.

The release of these valuable chemicals, proteins and hormones will boost your mood not only during the workout but afterward as well. In fact, walking outdoors in particular has been shown to lower rates of depression more effectively than walking indoors.

When you walk outside, you’re exposing your bare skin to sunlight, which prompts the body to make vitamin D, a nutrient up to 75 percent of American adults don’t get enough of. And as you walk, your heart beats faster and pumps more blood. Over time, as your heart pumps more blood with less effort, your blood pressure levels go down.

By the way, walking is a weight-bearing activity that can help strengthen your bones and protect you from osteoporosis and fractures.

There are more reasons to walk outside than not, which makes sense considering our species was originally meant to be on our feet walking for long stretches of time to locate food and avoid danger. The noticeable improvements we feel in our bodies and minds when we walk are a constant evolutionary reminder to stay active.

Tips for walking outdoors safely

When we’re active outdoors, we constantly encounter subtle changes in the environment. To keep the activity at a consistent pace, we subconsciously adapt to all those tiny changes in our surroundings in order to navigate various inclines, sharp turns, obstacles or uneven surfaces.

In other words, our bodies and brains have to work harder when we walk outside compared to walking indoors on a treadmill. We aren’t just exercising our muscles—we’re exercising our cognitive thinking. This is especially important for people with Parkinson’s disease.

Here are some tips for walking safely outdoors:

Focus on the size of your steps rather the speed of your steps. If you want to turn right, shift your weight to the left foot and step out with the right foot. To turn left, shift your weight to the right and step out with the left foot. Try not to pivot when you turn. Instead, focus on how you lift your feet. Then tell yourself to land with heel first. You can do this by thinking of each step as a big kick.

Lift your knees and swing your arms as you walk, like an exaggerated march. This could come in handy for those who have experienced gait problems or a freezing episode when they found themselves unable to move.

When beginning a turn from a stopped position, be sure to lead with your foot, not your upper body. Planting your feet and turning your upper body could lead to a freezing episode. Freezing also happens while turning around in close quarters. Try to avoid tight turns whenever possible and make wider turns instead.

If a freezing episode does happen, don’t panic! Picturing that exaggerated marching motion might give your brain a nudge to tell your body to resume moving. By thinking about what you are doing, you use a different part of your brain than the part affected by PD and can therefore re-route the message from the brain to the feet.

Last but not least, always listen to your body and stop if anything hurts or feels uncomfortable.

If the words “spring cleaning” make you groan out loud, don’t worry, we found some shortcuts to make cleaning with Parkinson’s easier.

Much like paying your taxes or waiting in long lines at the post office, cleaning your home is one of life’s necessities that few people enjoy doing, but it has to be done. However, cleaning tends to get a little more complicated when you have Parkinson’s disease.

Fatigue, stiffness, tremors and other motor symptoms of PD can turn ordinary tasks, such as washing dishes, ironing clothes or scooping the litter box, into monumental feats that suck up most of your time and energy. Before you know it, you’re too exhausted to make dinner, fit in a workout or socialize with friends and family.

If that sounds like you, don’t worry! This is a common predicament for the millions of people around the world with health issues. Fortunately, there are shortcuts that can make cleaning with Parkinson’s quicker and easier, sparing you enough time and energy to enjoy the rest of your day. Here are our five best tips.

Plan ahead and set reasonable goals.

Some folks despise To-Do Lists; others can’t function without them. If you fall in the first category, we implore you to give it a try.

Consider planning the next day’s activities the night before—not just the chores you want to accomplish that day, but all of your activities, including eating, exercise, recreation, medical appointments, social engagements and bedtime. Space them out throughout the day. Do the things that take more energy when you are feeling your best or when your medication is most effective.

Above all, set realistic goals for yourself. It can feel very disheartening when you don’t accomplish every task on your To-Do List. Don’t put too many things on your list. Set the bar low and raise it as needed. You may need to cut down on some of your activities, and that’s O.K. You don’t have to do things the same way you’ve always done them.

Keep things clean, minimal and organized.

Marie Kondo, the Japanese organizing consultant, author and host of the wildly popular Netflix show “Tidying up with Marie Kondo,” created the KonMari method, which consists of gathering up all of your belongings, one category at a time, and only keeping the items that “spark joy” as a way to declutter your home.

Whether you decide to jump on the KonMari bandwagon is a personal choice. Not everyone wants to “Marie Kondo their home,” as the expression goes. But here are three valuable takeaways from her methodology worth considering:

1. The less stuff you have in your home to clean, the less time and energy it takes to clean your home. To put it another way, owning more stuff equals more stuff to clean and more time spent cleaning it.

2. Staying organized and tidy, ala “putting items back where they belong immediately after you use them” makes housecleaning faster and easier. Bonus: It takes a lot less time to find things.

3. Decluttering your living space and keeping only the things you use every day (unless it holds significant emotional value) is sort of like decluttering your brain. You wind up feeling happier, more productive and more in control.

Drink water and rest between chores.

Consider including periods of rest on your To-Do List, especially in between chores. Do not plan activities right after you eat. Rest 20 to 30 minutes after each meal. People with PD are even encouraged to rest between recreation and leisure activities.

If you become fatigued during an activity, don’t push yourself to keep going. Stop, rest and drink water. If you have swelling in your feet or ankles, elevate your legs when resting. You may need to finish your chores another day or when you feel less tired. Rome wasn’t built in a day. Cleaning your home doesn’t have to be done in a day either.

Keep in mind that the concept of “rest” is open to interpretation. Maybe it means reading a book or magazine for 30 minutes. Perhaps it’s watching an episode of your favorite show or taking a nap. Whatever you define as rest, be sure to get plenty of it throughout the day.

Use energy-saving tools and techniques.

There is no shortage of gadgets and time-saving techniques that make it easier than ever to clean your home. Once upon a time, people used to get on their hands and knees to scrub the floor with a rag and bucket of soapy water. Fast forward to today, and now we have mops, brooms, vacuum cleaners and Roombas.

People with Parkinson’s would benefit from using cleaning tools with long handles including dusters, brooms, mops, dustpans, window washers and toilet scrubbers. Look for handles that have soft grippers. If you struggle to hold onto sponges or dusters, there are different types of gloves you can wear that make dusting, washing dishes or scrubbing the bathtub much easier.

Try keeping the bathroom cleaning supplies in the bathroom and the kitchen cleaning supplies in the kitchen, as opposed to having all cleaning supplies in one central location. This might reduce the time and energy spent returning to the same location to grab more supplies. Put supplies where they can be easily reached and returned.

Think about all the energy that is wasted standing in one spot for long stretches of time. Why not sit down when you’re folding laundry, ironing clothes or washing dishes? Sitting down while using long-handled devices is a huge energy saver. If you will be doing a lot of kneeling or work that is at the ground level, place a cushion under your knees.

Don’t be afraid to ask for help.

There are people on this earth who actually don’t mind cleaning. Some folks do it for a living or for supplemental income. If you have the financial means to hire professional cleaners, great! If you’re the parent of a child who is looking for ways to increase their allowance, there’s a good bargaining tool. If someone you know has fallen on hard times and wants to make a few extra bucks, this would be a classic win-win.

Sometimes you have to put your ego or pride aside and ask for assistance when needed. Divide the tasks among your loved ones. It can be your spouse, partner, child, friend, coworker, neighbor—whomever. Having someone help you clean will lighten the load, and together, you’ll be twice as efficient with time left over to socialize and have fun.

Look at it this way, if someone who cares about you realized the extra time and energy required for a person with Parkinson’s to do their chores compared to a person without PD, they would be happy to assist. Likewise, if they understood these tasks were taking away valuable time that you could otherwise spend hanging out with them, they would not hesitate to help.

This hearty chili makes a great meal for dinner that can also be frozen and stored for a quick lunch. The medley of beans adds fiber to aid digestion. Add fresh cilantro or avocado as a topping for extra nutrients and flavor.

Everyone knows physical fitness is good for our health, but did you know it also helps to to slow the progression of Parkinson’s symptoms? Regular exercise not only improves symptoms of PD, it can also stave off feelings of depression and promote sounder sleep. Those are compelling reasons to exercise more often, right?

Maybe you want to exercise more, but somehow, when it comes to actually doing it, you lack the in-the-moment drive to get up and move. Maybe you’re stressing over what kind of exercise to do or how many minutes of exercise a week you need.

The good news is that any type of regular physical activity will improve your health. In terms of finding motivation, new research suggests more open exercise goals such as “see how active you can be,” vs. “do 150 minutes a week” makes it easier to focus on your achievements rather than getting derailed—and demotivated—by perceived failures.

This rephrasing of goals gives you the opportunity to feel good about finding 15 minutes to take a walk on a busy day as opposed to feeling bad because you walked for only 15 minutes instead of the 30 you scheduled.

Here are four more tips for building motivation:

Reward yourself.

Treat yourself to a delicious smoothie, a luxurious bath, an hour of Netflix binging or whatever perk appeals to you after a workout. This will retrain your brain to link the reward with the activity and drive your urge to keep up the behavior. Research shows even small rewards increase motivation.

Monitor your progress.

Research shows that when you feel like you’re making progress toward a meaningful goal, you’ll have greater motivation to keep going. Celebrating small successes boosts positive feelings and makes you less likely to give up. Thinking positively about a previous workout will more likely inspire you to make another trip to the gym, according to a 2014 study.

Try new things.

Not only does walking on a treadmill or doing the same weight routine get boring, it may not be as beneficial for people with PD. To help fight symptoms, challenge yourself to try something different. Trying a new exercise sends the brain into learning mode, which helps forge new neural connections that protect against cognitive and motor function declines in PD.

Join a Fitness Group.

10. Join a Fitness Group.

Find a fitness network in your area that will connect you to others with Parkinson’s. Or find a workout buddy to build in accountability. Strong social connections increase immune system function and reduce stress and anxiety in people with chronic diseases, studies suggest they may help stave off depression and enhance day-to-day function in people with PD.