Session 1
Conscious Walking
Welcome
Session 1 - Conscious Walking and Music
Hello and welcome to session 1 of this online creative consultation for my PhD research into the creation and usefulness of immersive audio stories for PD.
This session contains a welcome video that describes the overall project and the different areas that these sessions will cover.
Todays session has three parts:
Starting to explore conscious walking and mental imagery through audio.
Music, rhythms and audio cues.
An early iteration of an Immersive Audio Story called Forest Walk which will provide context for the research.
I have included a questionnaires in each part to hear your thoughts, ideas and feedback.
This way of consulting with you is new to me. It is because of Covid-19. I would have loved to meet with you in person. However, together, I hope we can make the most of this medium and I am very keen to hear from you if you find that the formats I am using to communicate are not working for you. As, at the end of the day, you are the most important people in this project.
Thank you,
Hanna
CONSCIOUS WALKING
The beginnings…
This section will start to explore conscious walking and mental imagery. These are two foundation blocks of the overall project.
Sometimes everyday movements such as walking, that we are used to being automatic, are disrupted in Parkinson's. The idea behind conscious walking is to enhance the mind/ body connection by consciously thinking about the movements, and to imagine them in our minds eye. I will cover some of the anecdotal and research evidence behind this claim in session 2.
Please view this 3 minute video on how best to use these audios, what you will need and the precautions to take before doing the exercises in the audios below.
All the exercises can be done seated, if that is more comfortable to you.
Conscious walking set up video
AUDIO EXERCISES
Audio exercise 1
This audio introduces, simple mental and motor imagery exercises, focussing on standing, shifting your balance and taking a step and how that feels in our bodies. It is the first step in highlighting the connection between mind and body. It will draw your attention to the different movements and muscles that are engaged in these simple action.
It is important to the research because the idea of creating immersive audio environments in which you can practice conscious walking is at the heart of the project. Working with your imagination provides us with different means of stimulating the body, mind and movement connections that can be affected by Parkinson's
Audio 1 is 6 minutes
Audio exercise 2
In this exercise we will replicate what we did in the first audio whilst seated.
We shall focus on creating mental and motor imagery in our minds eye. This exercise and much of this research is inspired by the ‘simulation hypothesis’ where data has shown that motor imagery, on its own without physical movement, can activate your heart and breathing. I will return to this in more detail in Session 2.
Audio 2 is just over 4 minutes
Audio exercise 3
In this audio I will play 4 different rhythms and I am interested to see which one you find useful and interesting whilst practicing the conscious walking in your minds eye. They can also be used whilst walking. . Rhythms is an important part of the research as music and different audio cues have been seen to be helpful for some PD symptoms.
Audio 3 is 5.5 minutes long.
Audio exercise 4
In this audio I will be introducing different environments. This is an important part of the research as I want the Immersive audio stories to be enjoyable, to transport you into new environments and worlds. My own hypothesis is that location sounds recorded through technologies such as binaural and ambisonic microphones help the mind - body connection that we are exploring.
Audio 4 is 11 minutes long.
QUESTIONNAIRE - Conscious Walking
Please follow this link to the Conscious Walking Questionnaire
Music, Rhythm and Audio
A questionnaire
Music, rhythms and audio cues has all proven helpful to people with Parkinson's. The explanation is partly in how sounds trigger wider neural networks in our brain, stimulating many other areas than just hearing, such as the motor cortex. Music- associated physical therapy improves gross and fine motor control, coordination and rehabilitation. It improves mental concentration, gait and balance and importantly for people with Parkinson's the initiation of movement. (Alan Harvey p. 195).
The idea of conscious walking in combination with sounds rhythms and music is to give you the means and tools to help you find the mind - body connection to see if that can help you, if you experience freezing. Research has been conducted in this area since the 1990's looking at mental singing, or singing out loud, tapping, listening to music and dancing your way through situations when your body is not responding. So, for this part of the research, I would love to hear from you what tricks and tips you have using music, mantras, verses, rhythms or words to help your body and mind connect.
In addition, if you think it would be a good idea, we could create a shared resource with different tricks and tips you have found useful. Later on we can use that resource to discuss what works in combination with other aspects of the audio stories. I will look into what the best platform is to build and share this resource as we go along.
AUDIO CUE QUESTIONNAIRE
Please follow this link for the Audio Cue Questionnaire
Forest Walk
An Immersive Audio
FOREST WALK AUDIO
Please find below a link to an immersive audio piece I created earlier to experiment with different techniques. I have included it here so that you get an idea as to what this project is about. What we are aiming for. You will need your headphones.
This audio is best enjoyed seated upright with your feet flat on the floor.
It's an aid to practice conscious walking and to create mental and motor imagery in your minds eye, connecting your motor cortex and your body.
The Forest Walk file is too large to have on here so when you click on the link, you will be directed to my google drive where I store the audio file. You may receive a warning that google can't scan this file for viruses, so I want to reassure you that it is a secure drive and the audio does not contain any viruses.
FOREST WALK AUDIO LINK
After listening it would be helpful to me if you answered some questions through the final questionnaire this time.
QUESTIONNAIRE - Forest Walk
Please follow this link for the Forest Walk Questionnaire
THANK YOU ALL!
In the session 2 we will look closer at mental and motor imagery for Parkinson's and continue to practice the skills introduced in this newsletter.
Any feedback on how you find this way of communicating is much appreciated.
My university email is hslattne01@qub.ac.uk
Hanna