<h1>Nightmares are the shadows of the dreamer's reality</H1>

My wife was sleeping when I got into bed. I lay down, fortunately facing away from her. I started to drift off but was awakened by a sudden straight arm punch. I was about to throw a second jab when I woke up and the punch became a familiar muscle contraction. Had I been facing my wife, she would have been my first knock out of my boxing career.

She slept through the whole event.

This is the first time that PD has caused a violent incident. Usually my PD dreams are quite vivid and some can be rather creepy, interesting but almost spine-tingling.

What causes these dreams. I don't know. I have yet to research the cause, but my action in throwing a punch probably comes from my boxing practice. The club founder gave me a heavy bag. I set it up and trained for an hour. The words "jab, cross, etc" have become a normal part of my vocabulary. I say them over and over as I hit the bag. I don't know why, but boxing is good for me. It makes me feel loose, free from PD and for the few minutes I devote to it daily will help to slow down my PD. Maybe. Maybe not. How can boxing be a boon to PWP?

We all have a lazy brain

The Chicago Tribune (Dec 21, 2016) contains a short op-ed with one explanation as to why boxing is good for PWP.

Trying a brand-new type of exercise taxes your brain because it forces it to figure out how to do something for the first time. This can help with Parkinson's, the neurological disease affecting movement.

Exercises — such as boxing, which most people haven't attempted — are effective for Parkinson's patients, he said.

"The brain is a lazy organ," Schmidt* explained. "It has figured out a way to do the things you do routinely with the lowest possible energy."

So when you try something new, it requires the brain to find a new, high-energy maneuver. With boxing, the brain would have to work its way toward the jabs, hooks and uppercuts.

Rather simplistic, but it sounds plausible. I have made it part of my exercise regime, hoping it will tax my mind. I have a long way to go before my brain has entrenched the actions that accompany "jab, cross, etc". In the meantime, I will practise and practise some more. Hell, I will even practise in my sleep!

* Dr. Pete Schmidt from the National Parkinson Foundation