July 8, 2009
A highlight of my recent travels in Paris was attending a yoga class in a small neighborhood studio. Though the instructor’s English was flawless, she taught in her native tongue. All those high school body part vocab lists uploaded in my brain – arm, leg, right, left, breathe. I recognized the words for strong while in warrior pose and solid while in mountain. The very same descriptions that I use. Somehow, though, they held a certain beauty listening to them in French. In the calm of her gentle class, she allowed for moments of self-reflection in and between poses, where she spoke one phrase again and again: Ouvrez le coeur, Open the heart. The repetition wasn’t because we didn’t understand her words, it was because that reminder is worth repeating in any language.
July 3, 2009
It was my honor to guest blog for Rogers Hartmann’s site Life with Dystonia. She is a gift to the word of movement disorders. Check it out: www.lifewithdystonia.com
June 24, 2009
I always loved Tigger’s song from Winnie-the-Pooh, especially the end when he stops bouncing and declares, “and I’m the only one.” Unlike Tigger, I’m not the only one, not the only yoga teacher out there living with PD. I’ve had the pleasure of learning about Paul Zeiger’s class and approach to yoga for Parkinson’s. Paul even made Denver news and was featured on the local Fox television station teaching his class. A number of his students commented on camera about Paul’s skill and the benefits they were feeling from the yoga. Like Tigger, that’s a wonderful thing.