Yoga and Stroke

January 22, 2012

Supta Baddha Konasana Variation

My class calls this the Chaise Lounge Pose. Fully supported, students relax into it, allowing tension to release. They say that the only thing missing is a drink holder. When to Practice the Pose Supta baddha konasana, or reclined bound angle pose, ranks high on their list for savasana. Mine, too. It’s also my top pick for a mid-day break. For five to ten minutes, I lie in repose with props tucked under my head, torso, legs and arms Benefits of the Pose What’s not to like? Gravity does the work loosening what the Parkinson’s squeezes tight. A restful, passive expansion across the chest opens my heart while flexing the vertebrae behind it. The curve in my lumbar spine relaxes on the bolster and the rubber-band muscles of my inner thighs lengthen without effort. These shifts help my posture, gait and sleep. Yum. There’s also a surprise bonus: Facial muscles […]
July 15, 2012

Right, Left, Right

The game Twister often comes to mind when I guide a class through numerous ‘right’ ‘left’ cues. It can get befuddle the most able bodied. And while the goal of the game is to fluster and tumble, yoga is more about focus and balance. Recently, a wonderful yoga teacher asked about how to work around the right/left issue when it begins to distract rather than guide. She kindly told me that she found my response helpful. I share it here with best wishes that you, too, find some benefit in your practice or teaching. Thank you for your question. It’s a good one.  There can be proprioception concerns as well as disjointed messages from the brain to the limb (also common with stroke).   Cueing from ‘right’ and ‘left’ to something more descriptive can help. In addition to cueing, I’ll often sequence through a series of movements on one side then […]
July 25, 2012

Shame, Shame

At the risk of shameless self-promotion, I am shamelessly self-promoting the new, just-off-the-press, expanded book: Revised Edition of Yoga for Movement Disorders. When the first edition released in 2008, very few books — one by my count, and that covered exercise in general — existed on applying yoga practice to the specific needs of those of us with Parkinson’s, dystonia, the effects of a stroke. I struggled to find a guide for my practice that explained what to do to ease rigidity and move more fluidly. I searched for pointers for my teaching on how, when and why to modify poses. I wanted such a book so much so that I filled the void by writing and publishing one. In the time since the original was published, research supports the benefits of yoga for movement disorders. I’ve included reference to some of these studies. In addition, through certificate programs, work […]
July 29, 2012

Yoga and Stroke Recovery

A student in a class of stroke survivors answered honestly when I asked how everyone was feeling. “Good days and bad,” he said. “Bad ones can get pretty bad.” He explained that certain unexpected losses occurred after his stroke. I listened. I encouraged. I responded in a way I thought was empathetic. In the middle of saying that despite my left-side stroke deficits and right-side Parkinson’s losses, I still — “Wow,” he interrupted. I was about to say that I still have — “You really got nailed!” No, no, I continued. I still have my insides, I said. “Total whammy.” I realized at that very moment how very fortunate I am that despite running out of sides,  I still do have my inside. Some strokes leave a person physically capable while wreaking havoc on thought processes, personalities. But yoga can still help. It engages. It allows. It brings focus, awareness, […]
August 21, 2012

I Dis-Agree

When disease gets defined by playing on the two parts of the word — dis and ease — I cringe.  A word nerd, myself, I often enjoy the nuance of language. But dis-ease feels forced, the meaning stretched to fit into an attitude. Dis-ease implies that the facility with which the body moves and operates lies waiting for us to diss the dis part and get back to a healthy state of being.  As though we have all the control.  As though it was likely our stressful existence that placed the dis- in front of our ease in the first place. This may hold some truth in relation high blood pressure or forms of insomnia. To apply this to all sickness, chronic conditions,  life-threatening illnesses is dis-comforting. Not only does it label a person as being out of whack, it implies that consuming fewer donuts and practicing some balance poses will put everything back in order. Explain […]
July 16, 2013

Kid’s Yoga

It’s not really yoga, but it is an example of opening up to how one can, as B. K. S. Iyengar says, endure what we cannot cure:  NEW! For Kids: “A Treasure Hunt for Mama and Me is an excellent example of offering ways a child can work to adapt to and accept a parent’s chronic or serious illness.” – Midwest Book Review   “For families coping with parental illness such as Parkinson’s, this is a very enjoyable and helpful read.” – Cathi Thomas, MS, RN Small Horizons (an imprint of New Horizons Press) Ages 5 up $9.95               Available at your local bookstore or on Amazon
June 1, 2015

I’m Back with a Twist

Life happens. Still, I practice yoga. With a teenager in the house (translated: grocery shopping and parenting have shifted to overdrive, much like his hormones), speaking engagements, and an upcoming move to the other coast, I need to practice yoga. Add that my Parkinson’s clocks in at a full decade, it’s no surprise that life has interrupted my writing and posting about yoga practice. The shift in my practice reflects the changes in my symptoms, (which includes less “on” time). During the increasing “off” times, I turn to yoga. I’ve learned a great deal about how the body moves, adjusts, compensates, peters out. I’ve added modifications in classes, slowing not in approach but in this awareness. I talk it through to students, wondering at times if I’m talking too much. The answer came last week after a wordy explanation of a twist. The synergy in lengthening and contracting seemed an […]
August 29, 2018

Don’t Just Sit There, Meditate

Here are a variety of insights on beginning a meditation practice. I was honored to be among the contributors to this Clever Yoga posting click here to go to post. Please be sure to read through to the end – I’m the last one. Speaking of meditation, it’s been a wild summer, from the wildfires charring my neighbors in British Columbia to all-that-was-normal gone wild here at home. These are the crazed days when there’s no time for yoga. There’s so much to do, to tend to, and only so much “on” time with Parkinson’s. But, the crazed days are when I find I need yoga the most, to re-center, to relieve stress, especially before it triggers more  symptoms. While I still dread “off” times, I’m learning to use them to practice some yoga. Rarely have I enjoyed the quiet breath work of pranayama or the immobility associated with meditation when I […]
September 1, 2018

Got Parkinson’s? Get Exercising.

The Wednesday class is back from summer vacation and it’s better than ever. It’s Live! Online! Free! Click here for info. Sponsored by the Northwest Parkinson’s Foundation/NWPF. Yoga is good for you. Not only that, it’s fun. It’s also a form of exercise, and exercise is good for you. Especially if you’re living with Parkinson’s. I’ve known it for years. Now studies even say so. Check it out: the Michael J Fox Foundation says so, too. No one should walk their Parkinson’s journey alone. Whether you’re convinced you can’t do yoga or you’re an experienced guru (or anything in-between), if you’re living with PD, yoga can help relieve symptoms. Join this live, online class with viewers from around the globe (including the instructor) who are living with PD. You’re not alone. See you on Wednesdays!