July 29, 2012
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, […]
July 25, 2012
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 15, 2012
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 […]