Parkinson's: Facial Exercises

 SMILE

A game I like to play:  Look in the mirror and make an outrageous face.  Then quickly see how many other faces you can make. It's fun and will make you laugh.  I've always made faces in the mirror, but now, it can count as a Parkinson's exercise too!

“Smile!” they say over and over in  many of our PD Exercise classes.  Or after a particularly mind boggling Parkinson's Specific exercise, Kim says “Did you remember to smile? ”

No Kim, we didn't, and we all quickly slap on a big grin. 

You need to remind your self to smile to exercise the muscles in your face.  It works to keep you from getting “The Mask” and it boosts your mood.  Some people with PD end up with “The Mask.” Your face is locked up with very little ability to express what you are feeling.  You may be feeling fine. But you look permanently grumpy.  I do not want to look grumpy! I have asked God for years to grant me a smile to wear, when I am old. My mom's face during her last years with Parkinson's, always looked frozen in unhappiness and kind of terrified. She probably had the Mask. I didn't know about it. I wish I had, I think I would have felt differently, understood more and  tried to help her remember to smile. It would have been easier to love her too.  I felt very bad that I didn't feel like I loved my mom during those years. I finally realized that I treated her with love so I must have loved her even when I couldn't feel it. 

A couple of days ago, I found a book on aging in the Little Free Library. It's called;

“Women, We're Only Old Once!” 

 “Keep What You Can, Let Go Of What You Can't, Enjoy What you Have!” By Bertha D. Cooper

One of the things it talked about was how many people as they age, get down turned faces, just because the skin on their face loses it's stretch and starts to droop.  (I've watched other parts of my anatomy droop, but didn't think about my face doing it too.)  When they are not consciously smiling or laughing they look grumpy.  Hence the adage by younger people that older people tend to be grumpy old women or men.  But you might not be feeling anything at all, just having a resting face that happens to slump down, Shucks that is an awful thought. So ladies and gentlemen, I suggest doing the face game- keep those face muscles toned up!

Bethany, my lovely, zoom exercise leader, has a couple of times played a face game as part of our session. She comes very close to  peer into the computer camera and asks us to “lift one eyebrow” -aaah  Spock, I think as I slowly lift mine.  Then she tries to lift the other one and ends up using her finger to push it up, while telling us about how this  has always been impossible for her.  Somewhere in the midst of this exercise, she starts to giggle.  We are all trying valiantly to arch each of our eyebrows, We go back and forth, first one and then the other and then end up waggling both of them.  I'd love to peek at the other people in the session, but I am too busy trying to do it myself and watching Bethany laugh. Then she says “make a sad face” and I swear she is channeling her baby boy's face getting ready to wail,  we all droop down our mouths. She giggles again, then says “now smile as big as you can.”  Everyone stretches their mouths into huge toothy smiles.  At least I think everyone is doing it. I'm still watching Bethany and giving my light bulb smile all I've got.  Lastly, she says “look surprised,”  as she pops open her eyes in round shock.  I follow suit. Yeeha, I love to make faces.

Making faces is also a great way to entertain little kids.  Both Corrine and I have agreed, it's great to be a silly grandma!

Go forth and make a face worth laughing at,

Nancy (practicing her little Buddha smile) and the Snark

Footnotes From Corrine:

 Lordy I'd better get on it coz I am drooping left, right, and center!