Re: Balance Therapy

[Guest guest]

Yoga is great for balance!

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

humm I have a yoga DVD and when I watch it so much is done standing up, and I

can't do yoga stands like that.  How do you do it ?  I really appreciate the

input.

Elaine

[Guest guest]

EdH from NH,

I would describe yoga more to be concentration and focus, relaxing into a

pose, and then holding it for as long as you are comfortable. I was

pleasantly surprised how tone by body got when I was doing regular yoga

exercises. Just stretching a muscle/tendon makes it stronger and more

linber.

I was never much good at balance poses, but every once in a while something

would kick in and I would feel the power and just assume the pose. It was

really wonderful when it happened.

O

[Guest guest]

I had a physical therapist once who intuited that one of the major reasons for

all of my injuries was my balance. (This was before my diagnosis with CMT and

pretty insightful) He did a lot of excercises on half foam rolls and full rolls.

The full rolls were really scary because I couldn't stay on them at all. He

finally had me put the roll about 6 inches from a wall, stand on it while facing

and leaning on the wall, then gradually let go. We did that until I could do it

pretty well with my eyes open, then we went for eyes closed. Wow! that never got

very good.

I have wanted to try yoga or tai chi but have never been able to find a (very,

very basic) beginners class that I could work into my schedule . But, I did

recently get the Wii Fit with the balance board. There is a whole section on

posture and balance in there. It is pretty easy and non-strenuous and very

little danger of falling. I feel like my balance has improved a lot with that. I

recently stepped in a hole unexpectedly and managed to right myself fairly

easily. I thought, that is exactly how I would have broken an ankle in the past,

yay for me! Wii Fit also has a yoga section. I can't do any but the most basic

poses, but it's interesting.

Holli

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[Guest guest]

Ed,

I had started Yoga and they had a Yoga for disabled class in my area. The

difference was a smaller class size, they had chairs for those of us that could

not stand during a pose or I just sometimes leaned on it to get the pose. The

leader would also quietly come over to me and help move my leg into position as

she could see what was difficult for me. Others in the class was a lady who had

a stroke and a girl maybe with cerebral palsy. It was a wonderful experience and

you see results pretty quickly in your flexibility.

I think I would be frustrated in a " regular " class as I would be able to see all

I could not do (not that I need another reminder of that!)

Jackie

[Guest guest]

Hello Elaine,

The answer is that my yoga trainer and I did away with most if not all standing

poses. We simply went ahead with the stuff on the floor, modifying the standard

standing positions which we did use so that they were on the floor.

The biggest problem with me is that my ankles and wrists are my weakest points.

We determined it was very very difficult if not impossible for me to direct

large amounts of extra energy toward my feet in standing poses, just simply

because the ankle is still unstable that it doesn't work. I have some very good

specially made orthotics inside my shoes, but my yoga trainer and I have for the

most part discarded standing poses.

Nevertheless, all of the things that I have shared in terms of improvement

occurred including the loss of 35 pounds. I'm now a trim 510 170. When I was

less than I could be, like I am now, I was somewhere between 195 and 215 given

the year. From 2007 we started at about 209 down to 170 but the muscle mass that

has been gained in my core and shoulders and back and neck is immense, I don't

know how to calculate how much I would have lost if it were only weight-loss and

not muscle gain.

I can say that my waist is a comfortably loose 32, down from a difficult to

close 36 or 38. This change in my waist size I have been able to maintain, to my

immense delight. And my shirt size has been reduced from extra-large where it

has been since I was 17 and 18.

And I have also, through repositioning of my head and lengthening of my spine

through the reduction in kyphosis, grown one-inch. I have always like to say I'm

5 foot 10, but the scale at the doctor's office gives me only 5 feet nine. Now

it's 5 10 :-)

Jill can be located at www.yogatuneup.com ( for the group moderator: as I

do mention her website frequently I will tell you that I am a mere customer of

hers. I have no commercial affiliation with her. I pay her to train me two hours

a week.) With that said, Jill has been asked to write about working with me for

I'm not sure which publication, but I think it's a big one for her program has

been featured in Self magazine and another big woman's magazine whose name I

can't remember right now.

So that's how I did it... all on the floor.

On Jan 13, 2010, at 5:42 PM, Elaine L wrote:

> Hi ,

>

> humm I have a yoga DVD and when I watch it so much is done standing up, and I

can't do yoga stands like that. How do you do it ? I really appreciate the

input.

>

> Elaine

>

>