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Yoga is often misunderstood by many, with the thought that you have to be flexible and be able to contort your body into crazy positions while standing on one toe. This simply couldn’t be further from the truth.
Yoga is amazing for the body, spirit, and mind. It is about bringing your awareness to your breath (similar to meditation) and your movement coordinates with your breath. It is truly an individual activity and you only do what you’re able to do, at the pace you’re able to do it.
After my accident, I had a lot of physical injuries in addition to my TBI. I knew yoga would help me get my balance and flexibility back, but I just couldn’t figure out how to do poses without feeling dizzy or falling over. My yoga instructor helped me figure out how to modify my poses with a chair, for example, so that I had something to hold onto for extra reassurance. ALL poses can be modified. Many can be done from a chair, and some can even be done lying on the floor — or bed!
Within several weeks of doing FIVE simple poses every single day (about 10 minutes per day) I noticed my balance and flexibility were slowly but surely coming back.
I do NOT recommend a group yoga class for anyone who has sustained a TBI …. unless it is specifically for individuals with disabilities (also called “adaptive yoga”). I DO encourage you to find an instructor who is very informed of adaptive yoga and disabilities who can help you create an individualized flow that you can do from the comfort of your own home.
Yoga has an amazing way of helping calm the central nervous system, therefore helping with anxiety. It is a great way to get some physical movement back into your body, as well as oxygen flowing to the brain.
Namaste.
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photo credit: Shutterstock