THE POISE PROJECT: alexander technique for the 21st century
For a more detailed timeline of The Poise Project’s activities in 2021, and all timelines from 2016-2020, Click HERE
For Donor information, Click HERE
Poise Courses
We continue to find novel and creative ways to combat the health risks of social isolation for people living with Parkinson’s and dementias and their family care partners during this pandemic.
In the US, we delivered 3 more of our innovative 9-week Alexander-based POISED FOR PARKINSON’S courses virtually for people living with Parkinson’s and their family care partners. These were funded by a grant from the PARKINSON’S FOUNDATION. 31 people living with Parkinson's and family care partners were served.
We then moved on to use our successful experimental model to adapt our 10-week Alexander-based PARTNERING WITH POISE course for family care partners of people living with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias to virtual delivery. We were funded by a grant from the ALZHEIMER’S FOUNDATION OF AMERICA. Two instructors were trained in strategies developed by The Poise Project to meet the challenge of using synchronous online delivery for AT classes in cognitive embodiment. 2 online courses were delivered and 17 family care partners were served.
In France, with support from FRANCE PARKINSON, we began to develop a series of shorter workshops based on POISED FOR PARKINSON’S that focus on management of specific Parkinson’s symptoms. This French version is called “Prêt pour Parkinson”.
Poise Research
We were determined to collect research data from all of our online courses, which we did with IRB approval from the University of Idaho.
We had a research abstract for the Parkinson’s course accepted for presentation at the February 2022 Pan-American Parkinson’s and Movement Disorders Congress in Miami FL.
We will be submitting our research abstract for the care partner online course for the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in San Diego for July 2022.
These novel Alexander-based programs are very much on the cutting edge of 21st century interdisciplinary telehealth. We had one-to-one meetings with Program Officers from nine different NIH institutes in November. Not only did many of them show interest in our adaptation of AT for people with chronic conditions, but many had already been hearing about Alexander technique for Parkinson’s from their interactions with the Parkinson’s community in DC.
This shows that our persistent efforts are having a powerful effect!
The Poise Project has been consistently showing up, exhibiting, presenting research, and networking with many different professionals at many conferences over the past five years. We are seeing the results!
Poise Advocacy
Due to COVID, conferences were held virtually in 2021.
Though this is challenging, it had the advantage of saving us travel costs, and allowing us to have direct access to greater numbers of delegates that we could network with.
For example, at the International Movement Disorders Conference where we had a virtual exhibitor booth, there were over 13,500 delegates from 143 countries who attended.
Another advantage is that these conferences are recorded and stay accessible for many months. The Alexander technique instructional course that we delivered at the American Congress for Rehabilitation Medicine had both a pre-recorded and a live component. Although the conference was in September 2021, the course will be accessible for interested allied health professionals until the end of March 2022.
Here is a sample of conferences and symposiums that The Poise Project attended:
International Somatic Movement Education and Therapy Association conference. Virtual. March 2021.
Led a two-hour interactive presentation about AT, research, & The Poise Project’s model.
The Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation Conference. Virtual. April 2021.
Attended 3-day virtual conference with panels & presentations by medical & allied health professionals, people living with paralysis, & family care partners.
Women’s Health Awareness: Race and Health Symposium. NC Central & Women’s Sorority. Virtual April 2021.
Attended, gained knowledge, and found possible NC partners to reach out to.
Decolonization Psychology & Research Symposium. Columbia University Teacher’s College. Virtual April 2021.
Attended, gained knowledge, and found possible NYC partners to reach out to.
World Parkinson’s Congress. Virtual Conference. Virtual. May 2021.
Interim WPC due to Covid. NYC & international connections for possible partners made and renewed.
98th American Congress for Rehabilitation Medicine Conference. Virtual. September 2021.
Led half-day instructional course, “Learn how Alexander Technique Interventions Can Complement and Enhance Rehabilitation Research and Interdisciplinary Clinical Practice”. Led half-hour interactive AT session for interested delegates with great success - one in a series of three such complimentary sessions that Monika had proposed (See image above)
International Congress of Parkinson's Disease and Movement Disorders Conference. Virtual September 2021.
TEAM~ Marie-Laure Deplaix, Rajal Cohen PhD, Monika Gross, Dr. Stephanie Young
Virtual exhibit booth reaching 13,500 delegates from 143 countries. Lots of interactions, both via chat and via Zoom conversations, with new and renewed medical and allied health professionals.
National Institutes of Health Program Funding & Grants Administration Seminar. Virtual. October 2021.
Rajal Cohen and Monika Gross participated in a 4-day intensive seminar in navigating all aspects of NIH grants and programming. Met one-to-one for 30 minutes via Zoom to discuss options for grants for Alexander technique focused research with 9 Program Officers from NIH Institutes: NIA (Aging); NIDA (Drugs & Addiction); NICHD/NCMRR (Children’s Health & Human Development - Medical Rehab Research); NINDS (Neurological Disorders & Stroke); NCCIH (Complimentary & Integrative Health); NIDCD (Deafness & Communication Disorders); NIAMS (Arthritis, Musculoskeletal & Skin Diseases); SBIR (Small Business Innovation Research); The Fogarty International Center.
4th Longevity Innovation Summit: What’s Next? Virtual. December 2021.
Typically, this conference takes place in Washington, DC, but this year’s conference was virtual. With the theme Innovation, Investments, Infrastructure and Influencers, it offered DC-insiders’ perspectives on the fast-paced changes happening in our government, including the effects of stimulus funding and the infrastructure plan, Medicare, Medicaid and regulatory issues, as well as the global impact of COVID-19 and recovery from the resulting economic recession, all of which are bringing about unprecedented changes that will ultimately affect the longevity economy.
The Poise Project is well positioned to help forge a path for AT to be an innovative and impactful approach in the aging & longevity field!
Poise Grants
2020-2021 Parkinson's Foundation Community Impact Grant $15,000
2021 Alzheimer’s Foundation of America $ 6,000
Poise People
Feedback from our “Poised for Parkinson’s” participants:
“My cousin said I looked more like myself. He asked what I was doing.”
“My pastor said I was handling it real well. He said his father had Parkinson's and he didn't handle it as well. I think generally I'm more positive. My daughters said that I'm a little more playful and active.”
“I've noticed that my posture is better. I haven't had the burning in my neck as much. I still have it, but it used to be constant. When I first started the class it was every single day, and now it's maybe once or twice a week.”
“I think it's just a sense of having some control over your life instead of being at the mercy of the disease. That you have more choices, just gives you more confidence.”
“I am more active. I am able to do more stuff around the house. Basic things like sweeping the garage. Riding my motorcycle. I tried doing a little bit of running, but that's more a problem with my knees, not the Parkinson’s. At the end of my walk, I jog up the hill. I'm able to walk further and faster.”
“I became very aware of my negative self-talk. To me that's been one of the most powerful things that happened in this program, how I had almost a sense of shame about having PD. I've kind of caught myself at it. That's a first step in doing something about it. I have a choice whether to listen to those negative things. They aren't going away, but I've stopped doing it and started looking at myself doing it.”
“I think it's great to be able to offer this course at the beginning of diagnosis. There can be a lot of denial then. Our first year, my husband and I didn't communicate. Oh most definitely, it helps with the relationship. 100%.”
”It was definitely a positive to have your spouse with you in the program. I think that it is sort of like a football team. The fact that you do something together - like pre-season summer workouts - which are terrible - but if you do them together it strengthens your relationship. It helps you understand what the other person is going through. It improves communication. I don’t think I can emphasize enough how important having your spouse in the program with you will be.”
“On one occasion I was walking through the garden and there was a wire basket that's used to hold up pepper plants that we had left in the middle of the lawn, and I stepped into it, and I started falling forward, and I thought I was going to fall, but in fact I caught myself and I didn't fall. So I was really quite pleased about that. And I was practicing, you know, finding my poise right before that happened.”
“One of the things that I was just really aware of, is the classes were very relaxing to me. I could enter the class tired or stressed or whatever, and I would just end feeling really quite relaxed.”
“I think that I learned that I have more power than I think I thought I did. That I have more control over my life and my movement. My husband and I talk, and I say, "you're rippling up!" and we talk back and forth and prompt each other. We are going to do a certain section of the course each week to refresh each other.”
“Every time the instructor discussed something with the bones or the skeleton I thought, “My goodness, I didn't know that.” It all made sense. Like at the top of the spine with the head “Tip’. And the getting up and down. I've actually shared that with my neighbor. She's been having trouble with falls.”
“It's a program that encourages you to be aware of your body, your movement, and your feelings. It aids you to control your movements, control your emotions, and have a more positive attitude about living with Parkinson's. It helps you to override some of the negative aspects of Parkinson's as you deteriorate. I really think it is quite ingenious that this was able to be adapted for Parkinson's. I don't know who came up with that idea, but I think it's brilliant.”
“It really has been a life changing experience for both of us. And we have a bunch of tools in our toolkit that we can draw on moving forward.”
“It gives us a common language to use for the future. ‘What would Alexander say? Pause. Poise.’ “
Feedback from our “Partnering with Poise” care partner participants
“I certainly noticed a difference in terms of stress level and anxiety level. In terms of having more compassionate understanding for the person I care for. I guess I would say where as normally if I got really stressed out with the person I cared for that would usually devolve into anger, and I haven't had that experience over these past ten weeks. I haven't experienced being triggered with things that arise with the person I care for. I have more of a sense of being settled about my role. That I chose it. In the interactions I've had with the person I care for, they've been less fraught, and, I don't know, more open, more present. I'm not so focused on fixing things right away.”
“Every now and then as I’m going through my day I would go,“Oh I can use that.” I'm sure my mother feels the mutual positive change. Is it because I'm not worrying myself in a way that I don't realize and so that lets her become softer, and in turn I become softer? What I perceive is that she became less confrontational, and so then I was able to become less confrontational. So that was a very welcome relief because I was ready to jump off a bridge (Laughs). I mean it's changing my whole feeling about my mom for the better.”
“Well, I don't know if that was a coincidence or because of the class, but I started doing some simple stretches and exercises. Which is a big deal. It doesn't sound like a big deal but it is. I haven't done that in a long time. Actually I've also been more aware of what I eat. I've given up salt for two days. I feel like there are some changes happening. I've been told to give up salt for years now.”
“It's really functional body awareness, for both the giver and the receiver. Things that you can apply to yourself for you and also for your receiver. You can kind of sneak them in ... I think it works. It works.”
“I have noticed that I have remembered to pause, you know, and then proceed more thoughtfully. You know, exhale, inhale, and then reply. No one has mentioned it, but I feel calmer. I believe I'm more patient.”
“All the interaction, all the activity, the physical activity was a surprise. I was prepared to sit and listen to a lecture. Variety kept my interest.”
“I finally came to the conclusion that caregiving can swallow you up, and with the "I am's" I am affirming my personage. People say it gives you agency. To me that meant affirming that I am a worthy person aside from my role as a caregiver. To remind me I’m a person of value, and that caregiver is only one part of my role or purpose in life”.
Poise Donors
We are very grateful to all of our donors over the years. We have given thanks to all of you on OUR DONORS page!
Now, at the start of 2022, will you please help us help others to help themselves?
Here is how to donate:
Go to our PayPal Giving Fund page
www.paypal.com/us/fundraiser/charity/2891341
No fees - funds go directly to The Poise Project. (Please check "Share name & email" so we can send your receipt and tax information.)
Go to our Website Donation page www.thepoiseproject.org/donations
Here you can also chose to become either a one-time, an annual, or a monthly donor.
Send a Check:
The Poise Project
5 Grove Garden Avenue
Candler NC 28715-8902
Choose The Poise Project for your personal Facebook Fundraiser
If in 2022, 40 people each did a $250 Facebook fundraiser, you would collaboratively raise $10,000 for Alexander-based programs & advocacy.
You can do a FB fundraiser anytime during the year.
Chose The Poise Project for your birthday fundraiser in 2022!
Here’s how: www.facebook.com/help/990087377765844
THE POISE PROJECT® is a 501c3 located in the United States, however contributions from individuals outside the US are very welcome. Please note that they are not considered charitable contributions outside the US, However, Alexander technique professionals may be able to deduct their contributions as professional marketing and promotion. Please check with your tax preparer. To donate to The Poise Project, please go to: https://www.thepoiseproect.org/donations