NAF Wheelchair Yoga Podcast
March 28, 2008 · Print This Article
This weekend was the 51st annual Ataxia Conference for the National Ataxia Foundation (NAF) in Las Vegas, Nevada. Ralph and Jennifer Miller presented a segment on wheelchair yoga. The audio for this segment can be found at the end of this post.
Hightlights of the 2008 National Ataxia Foundation Wheelchair Yoga Session
Preparations
- When starting your practice of wheelchair Yoga, choose one Yoga pose and do it daily. Add on new poses as time and interest allows
- Yoga is a celebration of the expression of the pose in your body in a completely unique way. No two poses will be the same. Do your best to express the pose uniquely and fully in your own body
- Stretch only to where you feel a mild discomfort. If you feel pain, ease up on the stretch or come out of it completely
Precautions
- Take it easy, take it slow
- If you have rods along your spine, consult with a physician. In general, follow the natural movements of your body. I.e. if you do a movement normally as part of your everyday life, then you may do it, but be sure to be mindful of your range of motion.
Benefits of Wheelchair Yoga
- Wheelchair Yoga can be used to control pain by helping you to control your experience of pain
- Wheelchair Yoga can be used to help improve breathing, especially for those with asthma, and may reduce dependence on inhalers
- To see improvements, you need to have a daily practice of Yoga for several months
Breathing
- The breath is your connection to your energy
- No matter what you’re body is doing, focus on your breath.
- Become centered in your breath
Belly Breathing
- Breathe into your low belly, the sides of your belly and your low back
- Practice lying down
- A steady breath means a steady mind
- Come back to an awareness of the breath whenever you can throughout your day
Spine Health
- Spine flexibility is connected to your health
- Three directions of flexibility for your spine
a. Forward and back
b. Side-to-side
c. Twisting
I enjoyed the session on wheelchair yoga in Las Vegas. I am determined to do it daily now that I have something to folllow (I printed the material from your web site). I wanted to do yoga for sometime & now I have some direction. Thank you
Hi, I am the trainer for our company who looks after people with spinal cord & brain injuries in their own homes.
I am also currently training to be a yoga teacher and would like to bring disability yoga into New Zealand as it does not seem to occur here.
Many thanks, Claire
i cant believe i trekked all the way to indonesia when i could have googled wheelchair yoga. ah well, it wasnt a wasted journey.
i practice kundalini yoga weekly and ill incorporate this into my life aswell,
ta very much.
I'm so excited to have found your site! I've been in a wheelchair for a few years now, and have searched everywhere (or so I thought) for some guidance and/or instruction in wheelchair yoga. Do you, by any chance, have a video available that I could use for daily practice? Alternatively, could you refer me to any person/site that might have something similar? I'm in Canada, and have not found anything locally. Using the internet would be the next best thing! Thanks!
Hello, I am so glad to find this. I am a certified yoga instructor who is training to be an occupational therapist at SUNY Orange. My aim is to use my yoga experience with people with disabilities and I see you are doing it! We are having a conference on Assitive Technologies at the college next weekend and I've just been asked to lead a few chair yoga/wheelchair yoga 20 minute sessions throughout the day. What I had in mind was similar to what you had outlined in your NAF session. How did you get involved with the Mational Ataxia Foundation? I would like to correspond with you. Anyway, Would you mind if I printed one or two of your pictures to put on a poster for Wheelchair yoga? Thanks.
Namaste, Carol