This Giving Tuesday, December 3, 2024, we ask that you support our 501(c)3 nonprofit Yes, And…eXercise! and help us redefine Parkinson’s disease (PD). Beyond the physical symptoms, PD affects emotional, cognitive, and psychosocial well-being. Recent evidence is finally giving voice to the people with and affected by PD so we can rethink the way treatment and […]
This holiday season, immerse yourself in the magic of storytelling with our free Christmas Movie Hero’s Journey online celebration! Led by award-winning filmmaker Robert Cochrane, PhD, this fun and interactive one-hour online presentation delves into 12 of the most beloved Christmas movies, revealing how they follow the timeless 12 stages of Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey […]
This holiday season, immerse yourself in the magic of storytelling with our free Christmas Movie Hero’s Journey online celebration! Led by award-winning filmmaker Robert Cochrane, PhD, this fun and interactive one-hour online presentation delves into 12 of the most beloved Christmas movies, revealing how they follow the timeless 12 stages of Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey […]
THE INTERSECTION OF YAX AND YOU The following quotes were pulled together by YAX Board Member, Susan Scarlett. They demonstrate the impact of storytelling and improv with Yes, And … eXercise as told by People with Parkinson’s in their own words. “A year ago, I became concerned that some worsening of Parkinson's was getting in […]
One of my favorite, very silly, barely game-games that we play in the Jam for Joy improvisation classes is YOU! One person starts by pointing at another person in the game and saying “YOU!” The person receiving that point and callout immediately finds someone else to point at and say “YOU!” to. There are great […]
James Parkinson wrote “An Essay on The Shaking Palsy” in 1817, identifying the disease for the first time in medical and academic circles. For as many things as he got right, he excluded the mental health impact of Parkinson’s disease (PD) on those who live with it. Incredibly over 200 years later, we’re still dealing […]
We just completed a wonderfully (and appropriately emotional) Cinema Therapy session featuring the Pixar classic, Inside Out. Participants who have been through other Cinema Therapy classes several times had beautiful things to say about their hero's journey: I learned through the power of failure – and now I'm using it to keep moving. I thought […]
This is rough. There is more bad blood between Oakland and Las Vegas than a mob of Swifties and a MAGA rally. Just this week, Green Day’s lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong said in a People interview: “We don't take no shit from people like John fucking Fisher who sold out the Oakland A's to Las […]
We are all Unwritten. Natasha Beddingfield’s 2004 hit “Unwritten” is one of my favorite songs. The beat is magnetic and immediately gets me moving. There’s a yearning in her early vocals before we even start with the lyrics – and oh, those lyrics: I am unwritten Can't read my mind, I'm undefined I'm just beginning […]
Ryan Reynolds’ star power is soaring. He’s had a long string of solid hits, but nothing like what the role of Deadpool has done for him – and us. For all of the snark of Deadpool, Ryan, the man, also has tremendous depth and pathos that some don’t know as well. Ryan’s father, James, had […]
