A Yoga Practice for Traumatic Brain Injury

Recently I had the opportunity to teach yoga to a group of students with one common characteristic, Traumatic Brain Injury. Circumstances of their disability - car accidents, drug abuse, suicide attempts, illnesses- varied and were tragic in their reality and swiftness. What impressed me was the student’s willingness to participate. The students presented with a variety of physical conditions, some were ambulatory, others were not, most were stiff, some had difficulty communicating, used wheelchairs, had paralysis, but each student showed willingness to be fully present to this new experience. Yoga has shown to be beneficial for a variety of conditions and each person brings with them their own reasons for their willingness to participate. Here is an outline of our practice and the benefits for each practice:
We began with chanting, "Om Shante" translating to peace and calling upon the feeling of peace within. The positive effect of chanting:
• 0pens the throat which is the center of communicating and truth
• Improves breath function and use of abdominal muscles in order to sustain long held sounds
• Activates the parasympathetic response with soft pitch sounding
• Stimulates the sympathetic nervous system response to produce energy
• Improves hand eye coordination when adding hand gestures to the chant

Next we focused on Pranayama (Sanskrit word for breath). I taught them Simhasana (Lions Breath). The positive effects of this practice include:
• Relieving tension in the jaw, and face
• Helps to change to moot, encourages laughter
• Proper inhale and exhale ratios to bring balance

Then we launched into some mild chair poses and some asanas (name for physical poses) for strength:
• Virabradasana II (Warrior II)- encourages proper body mechanics with awareness ( knee over ankle, broad through upper back and chest, tailbone down, belly in). Holding this pose for several breaths encourages strength in quadriceps, abdominals, and upper arms and shoulders.
• Tadasana (mountain pose)- sometimes translated to equal standing, allowing all the muscles from the bottoms of the feet to the top of the head to work in combination and coordination with each other translating to a feeling of stability and strength while upright. Combining this with Anjuli Mudra (prayer hands) allows the student to connect with their own divinity through the posture of reverence.

Every yoga class ends in a period of relaxation in which the body is allowed to rest in stillness in order to allow the physical body to take in the effects of the practice at a cellular level.
• Savasana (Corpse Pose)- in complete physical stillness, I was able to observe a complete release as I went around to each student, laying hands on their shoulders to encourage grounding, bodies softened.
• Dhyana (Meditation)- yoga was originally developed to get the physical body to a point where it was appeased with movement so that it could rest in the stillness of meditation. Through the focus on the breath moving in and out through the nostrils I led the students through a guided meditation. We focused on the heart, visualizing a green light illuminating the heart space and growing from there. In the light of the heart space a feeling of compassion, kindness and love grows spreading to the entire body and beyond allowing the student to release pent up emotions of loss, grief, sadness for a life lost through tragic circumstances. A growing sense of compassion and kindness toward the self that is in the present moment of this experience develops strengthening and creating new brain pathways.

What I left with as a teacher and facilitator of the student experience was a sense of awe for the level of concentration of these students, whose lives had been wrangled away from them through tragic circumstances. Their willingness, even those that protested verbally or whose physical bodies seemed to protest so impressed me. One student smiled the entire time, another cursed often, but the body kept attempting the practice and single focused attention was paid to the practice. Following our final blessing: “Om Shante, Shante, Shante,(peace, peace, perfect peace)… Namaste” (traditional closing to yoga practice which translates to “the divine in me bows to the divine in you”) a student approached me to say, “Thank you for reminding me of my former self… I used to be an athlete and this practice reminded me of whom I once was… Thank you!” Tears welled in my eyes to have been able to bring this man such a gift, a gift to which I offer credit to a benevolent energy (call it God, Higher Power or universal kindness, the name is irrelevant to the power of the energy) which shows up in yoga practice when the student is open to experiencing it. This is the true power of yoga, that which cannot be explained, but must be experienced.

Lokah Samastah Sukhino Bhavantu

May all beings everywhere be happy and free, and may the thoughts, words, and actions of my own life contribute in some way to that happiness and to that freedom for all.

Join us for some rockin fun and movement through the practice of yoga this summer…

Allow your children to experience the many benefits yoga has to offer through this one week summer camp experience. What makes yoga different from stretching or working out is yoga’s unique ability to connect the body, spirit, and mind inward. Children now more than ever need the grounding offered from a strong yoga practice. Yoga offers a creative outlet to balance children’s overly structured often stressful routines. Yoga evens the playing field for many children. The yoga postures, or asanas, can be practiced by children of all ages regardless of age or physical ability. It doesn’t matter if your child is physically strong or has a physical disability, highly intelligent or struggling academically, able to behave or overly active, of average weight or struggling with obesity, yoga offers something for every child. The YOGA FOR ALL approach meets children where they are and offers something for everyone including children with special needs. Differences are welcome, inclusion is encouraged. Through yoga asanas (the name given to the physical poses of yoga) such as “warrior”, “lizard on a rock,” “cobra”, “shark,” “elephant breath,” and many others children learn valuable lessons of relaxation, support, openness, power, determination, expansion, grounding, and cooperation in a fun, friendly, supportive environment. Daily Camp Schedule:  This Amazing Body (an exploration of the systems of the body: muscular, nervous, skeletal…)  Fueling the Body (nutrition through food preparations, group games…)  Lets Practice (yoga poses, partner poses, games, breathing, singing, quiet time...) Following is my local schedule: June 13-15 (W-F) Steadfast and True, Nashville, Grades Rising K-5 1:45-4:45 To Register Contact: Gillian - http://www.steadfastandtrueyoga.com/ or Michele Priddy – mpcpartnership@gmail.com June 25-27 (M-W) First United Methodist Church, Hendersonville, Grades K-5 9:00-12:00pm To Register Contact: Michele Priddy mpcpartnership@gmail.com July 23-25 (M-W) Steadfast and True Yoga Studio, Nashville, Grades Rising K-5 July 9-12 and July 16-20: Down's Syndrome Association, Nashville Ages teen - young adult 1:30-2:45 Contact: Erin Kice erin_dsamt@bellsouth.net Program Director, Down Syndrome Association of Middle Tennessee, 615.386.9002 | www.dsamt.org

Finding Peace Within

Reposted from: DAILY OM May 10, 2012 by Madisyn Taylor If we are to have true peace in the world, we must first find it within ourselves. Most people agree that a more peaceful world would be an ideal situation for all living creatures. However, we often seem stumped as to how to bring this ideal situation into being. If we are to have true peace in this world, each one of us must find it in ourselves first. If we don’t like ourselves, for example, we probably won’t like those around us. If we are in a constant state of inner conflict, then we will probably manifest conflict in the world. If we have fighting within our families, there can be no peace in the world. We must shine the light of inquiry on our internal struggles, because this is the only place we can really create change. When we initiate the process of looking inside ourselves for the meaning of peace, we will begin to understand why it has always been so difficult to come by. This in itself will enable us to be compassionate toward the many people in the world who find themselves caught up in conflicts both personal and universal. We may have an experience of peace that we can call up in ourselves to remind us of what we want to create, but if we are human we will also feel the pull in the opposite direction—the desire to defend ourselves, to keep what we feel belongs to us, to protect our loved ones and our cherished ideals, and the anger we feel when threatened. This awareness is important because we cannot truly know peace until we understand the many tendencies and passions that threaten our ability to find it. Peace necessarily includes, even as it transcends, all of our primal energy, much of which has been expressed in ways that contradict peace. Being at peace with ourselves is not about denying or rejecting any part of ourselves. On the contrary, in order to be at peace we must be willing and able to hold ourselves, in all our complexity, in a full embrace that excludes nothing. This is perhaps the most difficult part for many of us, because we want so much to disown the negative aspects of our humanity. Ironically, though, true peace begins with a willingness to take responsibility for our humanity so that we might ultimately transform it in the light of our love.