Yoga can be a powerful tool for someone who has MS. There are so many ways to vary the practice depending on the student's mobility, flexibility and ability to move independently or with assistance.
Yoga can be energizing, relaxing and empowering. It can serve as an energy booster and can soothe harried nerves. It is a great way for the MS patient to build confidence and create clarity.
It can be done sitting in any kind of chair, a manual wheelchair or even a power chair. It can be done on the floor, or supported by props - whatever it takes. There is no one correct way to do yoga. Yoga does not have to be performed standing or sitting or lying down.
Yoga can bring back memories of sensations and movement in the body....even if one is unable to actually experience the sensation or move the body part unassisted. I like to think of it as recalling body memory. There are many ways that the body remembers and pathways can be retraced and revisited. when the mind and the body are connected there is greater clarity of mind and connection to one's inner core.
Private and group lessons offered.
I read this poem by Mary Oliver this morning and I thank her for the reminder.
Wage Peace by Mary Oliver
Wage peace with your breath.
Breathe in fireman and rubble,
Breathe out whole buildings
and flocks of redwing blackbirds.
Breathe in terrorists and breathe out
sleeping children
and freshly mown fields.
Breathe in confusion and breathe out
maple trees.
Breathe in the fallen
And breathe out lifelong friendship intact.
Wage peace with your listening:
Hearing sirens, pray loud.
Remember your tools:
flower seeds, clothes pins, clean rivers.
Make soup.
Play music, learn the words for thank you in three languages.
Learn to knit, and make a hat.
Think of chaos as dancing
raspberries,
Imagine grief as the outbreath of beauty
or the gesture of fish.
Swim for the other side.
Wage peace.
Never has the world seemed so fresh and
precious.
Have a cup of tea and rejoice.
Act as if armistice has already arrived.
Don’t wait another minute.
