Yoga Tapes Preview

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I have to admit an interest in the three yoga videos Sue has produced. I have been attending classes that she conducts for the last two years and have found that regular yoga practice has had a real impact upon the way I move. Sue has worked out an approach to yoga that means it can all be conducted from the lying or sitting position. No more uncomfortable classes spent anxiously wobbling on a leg that you know won't hold you up, no more sitting at the back of the class wondering why you bother as none of the exercises work when you're in a wheelchair. Sue has extensive experience of both yoga - she was doing headstands behind the door practically as soon as she could walk - and of MS, which her husband has.

The 3 videos are a distillation of the yoga classes that Sue teaches all over the north west. They are each based upon a theme: Stretching; Twisting; and Relaxing, the first two tapes containing exercises to be performed on the floor and the third offering a series of exercises from the chair. This is 'real' yoga, not a toned down version, with a focus on relaxation, breathing, correct positioning, careful movement, and the direction of energy to different parts of the body. The bringing together of the body and the mind is developed gradually through four different stages integrated withinin the movements Sue demonstrates on the videos. But the asanas that are such an obstacle course in standard yoga classes have been translated by Sue so that they can be conducted from sitting or lying. The muscle stretches and holds produce similar results, the same concentration to detail is required , but the fear of falling is removed. Sue shows each of the moves clearly, but throughout is careful to offer warnings against overstretching, against inflicting pain on yourself. The moves are to be built up gradually, positions achieved over a period of time, rather than to be forced upon oneself. Sue is also a great believer in the will towards movement. She says that even if you can't actually move a muscle, simply trying to send the messages through the nerves will be beneficial. And she stresses that while 'people only move anything within its own range of comfort,.. the weaker side must not be ignored as this would simply lead to the imbalance being increased and the stronger side increasing in strength whilst the weaker side becomes increasingly useless with the result of pain in the hips, shoulders, knees and back.' These are tapes that can be used widely, in the home, lying on the lounge floor or sitting on a dining room chair. But as Sue herself warns, 'People with multiple sclerosis can gain great benefits from yoga but it is important to ensure that they are well supported at all times in order to ensure that they are not too tense and worried about balance and so get the best possible results from a session'.

The combination of her detailed knowledge of MS and its vagaries, together with long years of yoga practice, are brought together in Sue's teaching with PwMS. Translated onto video, this makes for a valuable, enjoyable and relaxing set of yoga exercises that, if used on a regular, even weekly, basis could start to have noticeable benefits for people's health. The tapes are supplemented by a website. This provides details of how they can be purchased, but also has details of classes and is continually unpdated with new suggestions for exercises and general coping strategies. The Tapes cost £10.50 each and a percentage of this is donated by Sue to the MS Society, specifically for research into rehabilitation.

Additional Information

Volume One

This covers gently stretching out all the limbs and the back, easing out tensions that may have been within the body for months and relaxing the mind. It is done lying on the floor or bed with enough room to stretch out the arms.

Volume Two

This video shows the use of simple stretches to put length back into bodies that shorten due to gravity, long periods of time seated and lack of mobility and also shows a technique for focussing and quietening the mind. The exercises are done by lying on the floor or bed with enough room to roll the bent legs from side to side.

Volume Three

This contains a series of movements to lengthen out legs and backs shortened by gravity, longs periods of inactivity and poor mobility. It shows techniques for getting the best out of the body even when seated and also includes a method of relaxing so that even as a passenger in a car or airplane you can arrive relaxed, with fewer aches and less fatigue. This routine is done using two dining or kitchen chairs or a wheelchair with a second chair of the same height. Yoga Stages

1. Relaxing and relieving tension in the body which restricts breathing and blocks the free flow of energy.
2. Learning to breath deeply using the full lung area.
3. Targeting energy to specific areas using the yoga postures.
4. Relaxing and quietening the mind and training it to work with the body we have rather than the body we wish we had.

Yoga is a particularly good regime for people with multiple sclerosis as it is gentle, will not make fatigue worse and is done slowly to ease length back into tendons which have shortened due to extended periods of time sitting

Spasm

Deep relaxation techniques can help and, oddly, I have found that a series of routines done lying on the floor with the legs up on a chair with the knees over the hips and as much of the calves as possible supported by the seat of the chair also helps a lot of people who also report fewer spasms especially if done at night just before going to bed.