Choosing a word as a guiding light for the new year is a wonderful idea. When Dr. Robert Cochrane suggested it a year ago giving Susan the credit for starting the tradition I was happy for the change of perspective. New Year's resolutions, no matter how sincere the intentions, often don’t pan out in the […]
Back in 2021, my dear friend and co-founder of Yes, And…eXercise!, Susan Scarlett gave me my first word of the year. She did it in a very kind way, recognizing that I had a deficit of this keyword in my life. By embracing it as my word of the year, she reasoned, I might be […]
Michael J. Fox’s iconic Back to the Future turns 40 in 2025. The trilogy of films are all about time – the future, the past and the present. As Marty McFly says repeatedly in the Future trilogy, “That’s heavy.” So how does time relate to Parkinson’s disease (PD)? It can have an inspiring effect, leading one to […]
For six Fridays, from mid-November through Dec. 20, we met online to look at clips of classic Christmas movies through the lens of the Hero’s Journey. Joseph Campbell is credited with creating the form that helps us understand how our stories all fit together into what he called the monomyth. Regardless of culture, language, time […]
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 […]
