On Episode 53, Stephanie Goodman, an OT practitioner from Kansas City, MO, shared about her work as a coach at The Parkinson's Exercise and Wellness Center in Overland Park, KS. On this episode, two individuals with whom she works - Sarrisa Curry and Jacob Weiss - both of whom are pioneering innovative work with people in the Parkinson's Disease community, talk about their work and research with people with Parkinson's Disease.
From a young age, Sarrisa has been fascinated by the human body's ability to adapt to the stimulus, positive and negative. She sought a career that would allow her to pursue this passion. She achieved her Massage Therapy certification in 2002. Over the next few years she added certifications in multiple forms of health including weight training, group fitness classes, and nutrition supplementation. She became a NASM Certified Personal trainer in 2014. She spent 6 years as the manager of operations of a high end Racquet Club, learning the ins and outs of the fitness industry. In 2016 she began working with people with Parkinson's Disease in an exercise setting, boxing specifically. Very quickly she saw that the brain, even in a diseased condition, can adapt and positively change with exercise. She witnessed miraculous changes in people's movement, balance, mood, and neurological function after just a few sessions of boxing. It was a lifechanging interaction. She shifted her entire focus to the Parkinson's Community and soon thereafter founded The Parkinson's Exercise and Wellness Center (The PEWC), a non-profit organizations dedicated to offering exercise as a form of therapy for people with PD. She has surrounded herself with 4 other coaches who share the same passion for the PD community and Health. Together they provide 6 different forms of exercise formats in over 25 classes a week via Zoom and in person. The impact her organization has had on hundreds of people in The Kansas City area is phenomenal. Her life was shaped by her fascination and all the paths she traveled prepared her for the mission of The PEWC. She loves the path her life has taken her. She walks along with her husband and co-Founder David Curry. Together they are raising 3 daughters and 2 sons, 2 dogs and a Holland Lop Rabbit.
Dr. Jacob Weiss is the founder and the director of HandEyeBody, a social enterprise with a mission to help people of all fitness levels move better, focus better, and function better. Since graduating from Princeton University and completing his PhD in Biomedical Informatics at Vanderbilt University, he has developed and shared his interactive training programs with conferences, corporate teams, schools, and non-profit organizations. He also has toured the world as a professional juggler and social entrepreneur, bringing laughter and joy to communities and families that need it most. Dr. Weiss currently runs HandEyeBody Academy, a global online training platform to bring accessible and fun movement methods to health, wellness, and fitness programs.
To connect with the guests, visit their website at https://www.handeyebody.com or follow their work on social media @handeyebody (Twitter and Instagram) or www.facebook.com/handeyebody (Facebook).
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