Parkinson’s patients benefit from Sign Chi Do class offered in the Valley

Chandler, AZ – A class combining sign language, energy, and Osteopathic medicine is helping patients with Parkinson’s disease.

More commonly called Sign Chi Do, participants of the class meet once a week in the Morrison Room next to Chandler Regional Hospital with founder and teacher Anne Borik, D.O. and her assistants.

“The Sign Chi Do technique and comprehensive wellness program incorporates sign language gesture with breathing, movement, intention, and music,” said Borik.

In the past 11 weeks, the members of this class have been working with Borik to improve balance, muscle strength, spirituality, and relaxation.

When asked what Sign Chi Do was, Ellen Lavhay described it as movement with a sign that integrates the mind, body, and spirit.

“It’s a relaxation tool,” said Peter Scott. Borik calls Sign Chi Do an excellent way to relax through movement. 

Borik entered the medical field simply on the basis to help people.

 ”The program is not movement at one level,” said Borik. Other programs that do not encourage the tightening of muscles, followed by relaxation, are not building the core strength that some of these Parkinson’s patients need to tackle each day.

Happy, healthy, and holy are three of the words Borik uses to motivate her class. Each one of these words has a movement and a song to accompany it.

“Connecting a word with a movement stimulates the mind,” said Borik. “It allows them to feel the sense of health, deep joy, and the sense of being connected.”

Controlled breathing patterns are also an important art of the Sign Chi Do program. Teaching the participants to breathe correctly is essential to getting them through stressful situations.

One of Borik’s goals is to have her students feeling better than they did when they first walked into the class.

Each of the songs played represents a different way to make the body and mind feel. One song is intended to give the person inner strength and power; another is projected upon the world giving the person a different feeling of giving and generosity.

“There is a chemical connected to emotions,” said Borik. “That is not made up. What we bring to a place- can be experienced by others.”

One student asked the question if the program is a substitute for medicine. Borik said that they are absolutely not an alternative. She is bringing the benefits of movement and focus to the table.

“You may end up needing less medicine, but this is no way a substitute,” said Borik.

The integration of the medicine and this program is offering the patients the prospect of reducing the amount and side effects the medicine can bring.

“We’re going the extra mile,” said Borik. “I’m trying to put together a program and prove that it has legitimacy and this is the first step.”

The last class of the 11-week program brought up questions that they may lose what they learned if they do not continually meet once a week. 

“This class brings deeper feeling,” said Stanley Olivier. “It brings me closer to God.”

Borik is working with Chandler Regional Hospital and the Muhammad Ali Parkinson Research Center to give them a space to continue their classes and to keep these patients on a positive and healthy road.

For more information about Sign Chi Do and where classes are being offered, visit http://www.signchido.com/.

Guest Article Contributed by Brittany Gonzales
Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication

Technorati Tags: Anne Borik D.O., balance, body, Chandler Regional Hospital, Health, joy, medical, medicine, mind, movement, muscle, Parkinson's, Parkinson's disease, relaxation, Sign Chi Do, sign language, song, spirit, spirituality, strength, wellness