December 19, 2011
The holiday season brings together unlikely pairings: red and green, giving and receiving, Parkinson’s and beauty. Yes, beauty. Although it seems improbable, Parkinson’s has not simply taken but has added beauty to my days. One of the forms of that beauty manifests in the music of Greg Rice. Greg is a composer. He is also a father, businessman, active community volunteer and a person living with Parkinson’s. A law degree plus years of working in the corporate world added to a PD diagnosis wouldn’t typically total up to Musician. But Greg’s symphonies represent the sum of these aspects of him. The music – varied and original – surprises and delights. Performed by various city symphony orchestras, the sound is sometimes grand and sweeping, sometimes a simple dance. Each a pleasure. I play his music in my yoga classes. I play it in my car. I play it to fill the […]
December 5, 2011
Dear Yoga Teachers, If he or she hasn’t already, someone with Parkinson’s will attend your class. Or it may be someone recovering from a stroke. Or living with MS. Not only are there more and more yoga students living with a movement disorder, the number under the age of 60 with these diagnoses is increasing. And this growing population is turning to yoga. Ahimsa leads us to approach with compassion, which, considering the yoga teachers I’ve met over the years, is a given. Satya and asteya also influence that approach. With satya in mind, its truth dictates that meeting the special needs of a student with a movement disorder requires more than compassion. Considering asteya, we’d be stealing from our students’ time and effort if we didn’t try to meet those special needs with specialized training. Please consider learning more about strategies for managing rigidity, tremor, dystonia and balance and safety […]
November 30, 2011
A beautiful yoga studio sign! It stands, however, on the brick sidewalk outside the door of local clothing boutique. The bottom of it offers holiday gift cards for the shop. The sign struck me more, though, for the true gift it offers during this rushed holiday season: Breathe. Be present. Enjoy. Perhaps we all need a joyous reminder to keep from getting caught up in the next several weeks of To Dos and To Buys. As a person with PD, the sign’s living and being approach helps reduce the stresses that come with this time of year, stresses that can exacerbate my symptoms. It’s a yogic reminder that brings me back into the moment and out of past and future worries. If beauty is in the eye of the beholder, may many eyes rest on this sign. Enjoy the beauty, moment to moment.