Though it is only in its third week, teacher John Gonsalves said he is already getting positive feedback on his Parkinson’s Wellness Recovery Training class.

The new class, held at the Gleason Family YMCA, is meant for individuals suffering from any stage of Parkinson’s disease, a degenerative disease that affects the central nervous system and makes it difficult for those who have it to walk and perform everyday functions. The class is geared towards helping those with Parkinson’s and with multiple sclerosis make what many who do not suffer from the diseases see as basic movements.

“What I am doing in the class may appear very basic to some, but is not basic for others,” Gonsalves said.

The class is held Mondays from 12 p.m. – 1 p.m. YMCA Wellness Director Chris Koziol said the class only had a few people when it began on Dec. 14, but that it has since grown, nearly doubling in three weeks. The class is partly walking, and partly chair-based, Koziol said, meaning the participants go through everyday movements that require them to bend over and pick up or move exercise bands from a sitting position.

“It’s all about functional movements,” Koziol said. “For somebody with the disease, that can be a daunting task. It’s simulating, ‘Hey, I just dropped my napkin at a restaurant, how can I get it without falling over and hurting myself, or embarrassing myself?’”

Gonsalves also teaches the participants how to walk with foot traffic, which he said can get a little difficult, especially when class members start to walk towards each other. Koziol said they had participants walk at a steady pace, but learn how to dodge each other, simulating a busy mall environment.

“It’s helping them with that stop, pivot, turn, and go,” Koziol said. “They have to stop, know where I am going, take that step, turn in that direction, with balance – I know I need to go that way, my mind knows I need to go that way, but my body just can’t fire quick enough.”

Koziol said he and Gonsalves attended a class in Marblehead to certify them to teach a Parkinson’s wellness class with a woman who herself has Parkinson’s disease, and is a certified program trainer. In addition to teaching the pair how to work with those who have Parkinson’s, she also helped dispel some of the common ideas about the disease, like those who suffer from it can’t control any of their motor functions.

“She sent us this really cool video of this guy who could barely walk on his own,” Koziol said. “They put him on a bicycle – he could ride that thing like you would have thought he was a four-year-old riding a bike.”

Gonsalves said he has learned a lot from his class members in just three weeks, and that his favorite part of the class is the end.

“Just before the end of class, I have them do a little balancing,” Gonsalves said. “Everyone holds onto one another, and we form a circle. … What I like about it is we are holding each other up for support.”

Gonsalves said the class is surprisingly uplifting.

“I don’t feel pity for them. I admire them for being brave,” he said.

For more information on the class, contact Chris Koziol at 508-295-9622, ext. 19, or at ckoziol@ymcasouthcoast.org.