what is activations?

The body has two priorities in life in order to survive, to breathe and to move and it will sacrifice anything to achieve this.

Unfortunately, in the process of life, muscle weakness, tight muscles, pain, dysfunction and negativity can often occur. But what if we can reset our system, remind it where its gone wrong and unravel it?

This is where we came up with the name ‘Unlocking Parkinson’s’ so by using neuro-muscular activations, manual therapy skills and activated exercise we can help the body find its way back.

Breathing is key

We can survive days without food and water but only minutes without breathing. It is easy to take breathing for granted, after all it’s what we do every day. BUT, are we breathing properly?

For the majority of us the answer is ‘no’. Our main breathing muscle is the diaphragm, responsible for 70% of our body’s oxygen, but most of us are using it incorrectly, breathing mainly in the upper part of our chest.

Oxygen is needed to make ATP which is the energy system of our body, needed for everything to function properly, our brain, heart, muscles etc. So, if we are not using our diaphragm effectivly, we are denying our body the most important thing it needs to funcion…OXYGEN!

Have you ever noticed baby’s lying on their back breathing? All you see is their tummies going up and down, they are breathing properly before bad habits set in! Learning to activate your diaphragm, improve your breathing and increase the oxygen in your body, ATP and energy system, is where we start.

Firstly, we assess the body in a different way to normal methods by testing muscle length and strength to see where compensation patterns have occurred. We use the Douglas Heel method of the 1-2-3 starting with the diaphragm, the psoas (hip flexors) and glutes (hip extensors) which forms our core or what we call our Zone 1.

Once we have established what’s happening, we set about stimulating/massaging different points around the body in order to access the nervous system and hence facilitate usually immediate changes, in muscle length and strength. We help the nervous system remember what it should be doing and when.

Everything we do is tested, activated and re-tested. So, both therapist and patient can feel and measure changed occurring. That way we know, what we are doing is working. We then teach you, your partner or carer, how to do this for yourselves - this is known as ‘Self-Activation’.

We know that all forms of exercise helps with Parkinson’s and its well documented; dancing, boxing, table tennis etc. But what if, by resetting the nervous system first, through activations, then do your exercise…well that’s a whole new ball game!

With Parkinson’s as with so many other conditions and to be honest just life in general such as sitting at computers all day long dealing with stress as a lot of us do, we do not have an effective breathing mechanism or strong hip flexor or glute muscles. 

But what if through activation we can improve these three muscles- the Diaphragm the Psoas and the Glute then you will be able to breathe better, move better, feel better and maybe just find life a little easier and more enjoyable?

Now there’s a thought and this is what we believe we can help you achieve.