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August 30, 2009
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September 30, 2009
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August 30, 2009
Atlanta Braves
September 30, 2009

Yoga Teacher Training

On November 7, I’ll be part of the team who will lead a workshop for yoga instructors on working with Parkinson’s patients. I am so looking forward to sharing.

I know that as I will gaze around the room at the collected teaching experience, I will be thrilled, humbled, honored.

I don’t propose to have the answers. If I did, the medical staff and I wouldn’t be there – there’d be no Parkinson’s.

What I do hope to share is my experience with other instructors so they can help people living with PD truly benefit from yoga practice.

It is not a matter of simply introducing a chair to the mat, or adjusting a student more often. Certain positions – and adjustments – can trigger tremors and spasms, overheating can happen rapidly. It is a matter of understanding the disease and its effects.

Yoga is no cure. It is, however, a healing path. I know that yoga teachers know that. My hope is that I can place a few more tools in their supply kit.

For more information, or to register, click here:

http://www.bu.edu/parkinsonsdisease/documents/yoga.pdf

3 Comments

  1. Sam says:

    If you want to deepen yourself in the study and practice in yoga, ayurveda and meditation than this is a golden offer to change the direction of the life with the help of yoga and meditation. Our sessions begin each morning with 90 minutes. We are offering the opportunity to practice the yoga in fullness and expand the internal energy. It’s a combination of mental awareness, philosophy and yoga science with physical behavior and movement. In yoga we are working on how to create a balance in life via breathing and concentration methods.

  2. Hi Renee,
    I appreciate your initiatives. We need more studies to determine the most effective type of yoga for people with Parkinson’s and at what dosage.However, While working at Anamaya Yoga ( http://www.anamayaresort.com ) I’ve seen what happens when people with PD embrace yoga…It [induces] relaxation, which helps control tremors, activates affected muscle groups, and can be a steady reminder of where your body should be and how it should move.

    • Renee says:

      Thank you for your comment and insights. I agree with you that the PD body responds to yoga in ways that are beneficial. The added bonus, for me, is that as the body responds, the mind also relaxes. Yoga practice has been instrumental in guiding me back to me. I’ve learned to let go of the fear and grief that has accompanied this chronic, degenerative disease. The awareness I’ve learned to bring to my physical movement in asana practice seeps into my day. Such freedom it brings to enjoy the present moment! P.S. I agree that more research is needed. The Parkinson Disease and Movement Disorder of India recently released the results and details of a six-year study on Iyengar yoga and Parkinson’s. Significant positive measures were noted in each area tested.

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