Wheelchair Yoga (December 2005)

ORIGINAL QUESTION:

From Kimberly Borin

I have a student at the high school who is in a wheelchair and has only use of the top part of her body – from hips up with limited range of motion – (due also to lack of exercise) I would like to offer some yoga poses and pranayama for her – any good sources of information that you have found helpful?

ANSWERS:

From Lisa Powers, Former AYTT Instructor

Without going into a lot of detail, sit in a chair yourself and do all of the upper body positions for the asanas that you teach. Remember any modification for arm positions if she tires and offer those. We had a student in YTT several years ago who was paralyzed from the mid thoracic to her toes. She would reach down and place her legs in positions imitating those who were standing or sitting, such as crossing her ankle over her thigh for Vrikasana. Remember the Modifying Asanas class during your fourth week of YTT?  Experiment yourself and you’ll feel confident in offering her postures. She’s a good case in point for the other students that asana isn’t only about body position, it’s about inner awareness, energy flows, states of consciousness and how it changes your response to life for the better. She can do the deeper work without getting caught up in physical asana! Go deep with the affirmations. Example: she can hold the upper body position for Virabhadrasana. She doesn’t need to try to get her legs to do anything, but use the affirmation, feel the joyful power you have within you to be strong in who you are, to overcome attitudes that hold you back from becoming who you want to be, smile with your mouth and eyes and become the spiritual warrior with a courageous heart willing to meet all of life’s circumstances that come to you.

Pranayama would be very good for her. She can place her hand(s) on her rib cage to feel the breath expanding her lungs. This may help her breathe more consciously. And during asana and pranayama practice, use visualization. She can really tune in to visualizing energy flows, the breath as energy and light, feeling the temperature differences.

Good Luck, she’s going to do Great. And so are you!

From Jacqui Farless

I started teaching yoga at a senior citizens' center where we initially did everything in chairs.   Moving the arms with a full yogic breath, concentrating on lifting the heart on the inhalation and keeping the heart up while sliding the shoulder blades down the rib cage on exhalation.  Ardha Chandrasana is another pose that adapts to a chair quite well.  Forward bends with a neutral spine, the heart leading and backward bends can follow.  Ardha Matsyendrasana can be done with one hand on the opposite knee and the other on the back of the chair seat, or varying it by sitting sideways on the chair with both hands on the back of the chair.  Camel pose and child pose are also easy.  In the beginning I simply tried every pose I knew while seated and lots of breathing exercises.  Good luck.  Working with folks with limitations is still the most rewarding teaching there is for me.  You'll love it.

Namaste,
Jacqui

From Stuart Moody, AYT Nov '03

Dear Kimberly:

Everything that we learned at AYT should be of value to you.  In a recent AYT, Lisa Powers devoted an afternoon to adapting poses for people with limited mobility, and in the sections on anatomy Barbara Bingham shared lots of important considerations, too.  Gyandev would emphasize as clearly as anyone that the purpose of sadhana is to awaken and direct the flow of energy.  With this in mind, any piece of an asana that can be done with integrity (that is, with comfort and safety) will have a positive effect.

If the student is asking for your help, one way to start is by asking what her goals are.  More flexibility in her trunk or shoulders?  Less tension or pain?  Improved mood?  Increased concentration abilities?  Keying your suggestions to her goals should increase the chances of her actually using the techniques.

You may also want to ask her what she already does, or has tried in the past.  (A psychology professor warned his graduate students of a "mine field" in counseling:  advising people to do things that they have already tried.)  How much time is she willing to put into exercise?  Her answers will guide what you suggest.

Exercises that you might have ready to offer:  moves that take the spine through its normal range of motion, arm-lifting poses, massage, exercises for the eyes (there are many!), pranayama, and meditation.

Specific exercises could include:

ASANAS

Seated cat-cow (for spinal flexibility and increased energy), slow motion forward bend, Parvatanasana, seated Chandrasana, seated twist, Trikonasana.

PRANAYAMA

Pranayama is a rich field of possibilities, and the full yogic breath flow (at once asana and pranayama) is without peer if done with sensitivity and within one's comfort zone.

ENERGIZATION

Don't forget the Energization Exercises.  Introduced gently and done in slower motion, all of these that involve movement above the waist could be key to waking up energy and motivation, while gradually improving range and ease of motion.  Possibly more important than asanas.

SELF-MASSAGE

One of the lesser-known areas in somatic research is the field of massage therapy.  Significant effects have been documented for therapeutic massage -- reducing stress hormones, improving mood, increasing alertness and cognitive performance, raising energy.  Self-massage is less-researched, but a hallowed tradition in Ayurveda.  Yogananda and Kriyananda have brought out a few techniques (as in the Energization and Superconscious Living Exercises).  The Tibetan style of yoga called Kum Nye is very strong on self-massage.   In "Tibetan Relaxation" (Dharma Publishing, Berkeley, CA, 2003), Tarthang Tulku devotes 30 pages to specific techniques for hands, feet, face, head, stomach, etc.  But for starters, he recommends just doing 45 minutes a day of "random" self-massage.

VISION

A number of moves exercise the extra-ocular muscles, the ciliary muscle of the lens, even the radial and concentric muscles of the pupil:  mudras (up-down, right-left, diagonal right-left and left-right, around and around), tracking (tracing points or outlines of objects 18" from the eyes), near-far (shifting focus from something very close to something distant), sunning (eyes closed, letting sunlight fall on eyelids for 10-30" while turning head back and forth), blinking, palming, and closer-and-closer (drawing bead on hand or thumb as it slowly moves alternately closer and farther away from eyes).  All eye exercises are purported to improve concentration and memory as well as vision.

MEDITATION

We know how powerful this can be.  If you can sit, you can meditate.  This could be one of the most important exercises that you teach.

Best of luck,
Stuart

From Susan Hayes

Dear Kimberly:

The Northern California branch of the Multiple Sclerosis Society trained yoga teachers to teach yoga to people with MS a couple of years ago.  The trainer was Iyengar-based.  We got a manual that I could send you a copy of, if that would help?  Also, I teach chair yoga twice a week at a Sun City near Sacramento, CA, so I could also give you some pointers based on my own teaching experience.  Please let me know if I can send you anything...

Susan Hayes, AYTT 1999

From Priya Rogers

DIAPHRAGMATIC BREATHING WILL HELP CALM THE NERVOUS SYSTEM AND HELP THE PERSON TO RELAX THE MIND ESPECIALLY PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES.

PRIYA

From Beth Howard

Hello Kimberly,

I would recommend the book The Healing Path of Yoga by Nischala Devi.  She has a nice illustration for a sun salutation on a chair, which I'm sure you could modify easily to make it appropriate for your student.  There is a lot of good information in the book and I am sure you'd find other practices which could be beneficial to your student.  Blessings to you and your student!