After watching this video, I decided that a. I need to get back into a Yoga class asap and b. I need to quit wondering why I can’t drop ten or twenty pounds and just do it. When is your next Yoga class?
Check out this great video featuring MSer Kendall Freeman, Neurologist Elliot Frohman and Baron Baptiste of Baptiste Power Yoga Institute. You can order your free DVD here:
In October 2009, I flew to Boston and took part in a Yoga program with Baron Baptiste. The program was developed and a DVD was produced by Biogen Idec. There are three levels of Yoga on the DVD and it is FREE! I would recommend the DVD to MS patients and anyone who is interested in developing a practice of their own.
Go to www.MyMSYoga.com
If you order the video, look for me in the Transformations and Restorations programs. I’m the one in the back row to the left as you are watching.
I took a yoga class a few weeks ago that was warm and dark…two things I am often afraid of based on previous experiences.
Early in my MS diagnosis, I had extreme heat sensitivity and balance issues. I would fall over when my eyes were closed, and start losing sensation in my hands and feet when I got too warm.
In the yoga class, my eyes were closed for 99% of the two hours and the room was warm. This wasn’t “hot yoga” but it was a very warm room. I looked inward and let go of the fear of falling or overheating. I didn’t have to talk myself into anything or do anything special. I just changed the way I thought about things.
Three years into MS and my body is different. My mind is different, and for two hours, I let go of the fear and let the energy in class, my breath and my movement show me the way.
What are you afraid of?
Last week, I came down with a cold which turned into a sinus infection. Yesterday, I was concerned that this was all leading to an MS relapse. Today and for the rest of the weekend, I resolve to slow down and make sure my body is healing.
Yesterday, I was really dizzy and having some balance issues and it reminded me of when I first started taking Yoga classes three years ago. At the time, I had ongoing issues with balance and vertigo and Yoga helped me through that in so many ways. At first, I learned that focusing on my breath was not only relaxing but helped me to feel more stable. When I took early morning Yoga classes, I would use some of the balance poses as a gauge for the day. If I couldn’t stabilize in certain poses, I would try others. This reminded me that if something didn’t work for me during the day because of the way my body was responding, I didn’t have to push through it. I could try something else. On the days where it felt like I could hold a balance pose forever, I knew I could be strong for the day.
Yoga continues to remind me that even when I cannot “find the balance”, there is another solution until I can.
I mentioned in my last post that the past few months have been “up and down”. This was clearly explained in my neuro visit today. I have a tiny area of active MS showing up in the MRI of my brain. Tiny enough that, with my neurologist, I decided not to do a steriod treatment. I know that this is manageable without drug treatment. The great news is that my spinal cord lesion is stable and shows no changes from my last series of MRIs. Also, my actual neuro exam was great. So what do I need to do to stay well?
1. Stay on Tysabri – it is working for me.
2. Cut Dairy again and really dial in my diet.
3. Simplify things at work. Work smarter not harder.
4. Find my yoga.
My yoga practice has been so inconsistent lately and I need it, in some form, every day. It was an integral part of my healing and coping process when I was first diagnosed but I let it slip away a bit. I started working out striving for more cardio and strength training but needed to keep yoga as my first line of defense. I didn’t fully understand why until last week.
I woke up early one morning and went to the yoga room. I started to learn a new routine from an exercise book that I bought. After lighting candles and stepping onto the mat, I immediately went back to a very basic yoga practice that I was taught during some private lessons the first year of my diagnosis. I did what felt right. I did what my body asked me to do. I did what my mind asked me to do. My yoga practice may strengthen my body and my mind but more importantly it helps me start a conversation with God. I don’t do yoga for the exercise.
I realized during that morning practice that yoga is the way I pray.
In an effort to practice Yoga daily I thought I should find a regular time and space. My normal space is in my bedroom because of the hardwood floors. My new time is 5:15 a.m. I figure if I can make it to my class Monday mornings at 5:15, I can find my way to the floor every morning. The only problem with this time/space combination is that Mark is usually still sleeping at 5:15 a.m.
This morning, I practiced in the family room. It wasn’t the perfect space but it was space. Bailey was sleeping soundly, Mark was sleeping, Guinness (the dog) was sleeping. Who wasn’t sleeping? Wilbur and Ella! Who knew that cats liked Yoga mats??? So, until they got bored, I practiced Yoga with the cats. Once the cats took off and I was midway through my practice, Mark and Guinness came out to start their day. I relocated to the bedroom to finish up. Mark came in a couple of times getting ready for work. I went through the motions and finished up but realize that I need a new time or a new space.
Tomorrow, I will try starting at 5am but I am not willing to go much earlier. I thought maybe a shed in the backyard would work for space but as I thought it through it with Mark, it became much more complicated (and expensive) than I originally thought. Maybe a space heater in the garage? Or if I breath quietly, maybe I can stay in the bedroom while Mark is sleeping. I know, it’s a stretch, but I want to figure this out! Let me know if you have any suggestions!
Here was the cool thing about this weeks Yoga practice. When I first started to do Yoga, it was supposed to be a time to quiet my mind. Instead, all I could do was think. I thought about Yoga, I thought about the weather, I thought about MS, food, work, groceries, snow, family…I couldn’t stop thinking during that “quiet” time. While I haven’t reached that silence that makes you one with God and the Universe, I have started to streamline my thinking. Now, when I am breathing and resting in Yoga, I am thinking about the great energy I am creating through breath and movement. It is easier for me to stay in the moment. Next step, God and the Universe, oh and reversing MS!!
