How Yoga can Help those with MS
Fiona Agombar October 2009
“My yoga practice helps me with many things – the most being the compassion I’ve learned to give my body to listen to it, even when I don’t wanna hear what it’s saying. Most aren’t aware that yoga involves more than the physical poses including meditation and breath work... my yoga practise has taken me from being upset at my body that has a mind of its own, to a place of empowerment.” So says yoga teacher Suzanne Stephens from Seattle in the USA, on Face Book chat room: Yoga 4 MS that has been set up by Karen Mascoll here in the UK. Karen, who has MS, and who is now training to teach yoga simply adds: “It gave me my life back when I discovered the joy and peace of yoga.”
So what is MS and how can yoga help? First identified about 100 years ago, the medical profession are still unsure what triggers Multiple Sclerosis. MS is an auto-immune disease of the central nervous system which affects around 100,000 people in the UK. The immune system that normally fights infection attacks the myelin sheath around the nerve fibres. This interrupts messages to the brain from the spinal cord and the complex system of nerves that connect to muscles and other body parts, so that messages become distorted, slow down, fail to get through completely or short-circuit. This can then cause problems with movement, senses, emotions and thinking. The myelin sheath can heal if inflammation from an attack reduces. If not, scarring can occur, which leads to long-term damage. MS can be a difficult illness to understand and it may take an array of tests including an MRI and a slow elimination of other conditions before a diagnosis is confirmed.
MS affects individuals in different ways. Some may only ever have one attack. Others may have a few relapses but no major problems. The majority will have what is known as a relapsing and remitting MS. After each attack, most in this category will fail to recover to the level they were at before the relapse, so there is a slow deterioration. A small number, usually diagnosed when they are older, experience disability and a steady worsening of symptoms. Their MS is progressive with no remissions or relapses. This is known as Primary Progressive MS and may end in death. MS is more common in women (apart from Primary MS), with the majority being diagnosed between the ages of 20 to 40. Interestingly, MS is more prevalent in the Northern hemisphere and there is some research to show that lack of vitamin D from sunshine has a role to play in worsening symptoms. There is also evidence to show that diet, (such as excluding meat and dairy products), an adequate vitamin D supply and the ability to deal with stress using a system like yoga may be helpful in slowing down or preventing attacks.
Symptoms of MS include numbness and loss of feeling in limbs, tingling, loss of muscle strength, balance problems, walking difficulties, problems with co-ordination, spasm, stiffness, pain, weakness, incontinence, speech problems, visual problems and chronic hyper-ventilation. Not surprisingly all this may be accompanied by anxiety, mood swings, depression, frustration anger and fear. Severe fatigue is experienced by many. Difficulty in controlling body temperature is also common – frequently those with MS find that they cannot tolerate weather that is too hot or too cold. These symptoms vary – there will be no two people who have the same experience of this very difficult disease. One person may be only mildly affected and another may be extremely disabled.
Bill Feeney, a yoga teacher who worked with those with MS for over twenty years says: “Yoga offers a great deal to people with MS. In this condition there is often tension, blockages to the energy flow and an inability to breathe properly. Many yoga sessions for those with MS will be spent on breathing alone before postures are attempted.” He continues: “One of the most difficult symptoms of MS is the occurrence of muscular spasms which are the basic cause of much pain. We found this to be an area where the use of the breath can be a really effective tool to help release the rigidity of locked muscles. In extreme cases a long period of slow breathing to release both mental and physical tension is needed before any movement can be achieved. The whole of the session should be grounded in relaxation as one of the most common symptoms is fatigue.”
Karen Mascoll, who has the mobility to do stronger asana work, adds to this: “In 2003 I discovered and soon was a passionate advocate of yoga. My practice of yoga has reversed some of my symptoms. The Warrior pose gives strength to my legs, the Tree pose has improved my balance, the Downward Dog invigorates and energises, while Shoulder Stands aids my core stability and my thyroid function.” Karen now attends classes regularly at The Special Yoga Centre – a yoga centre in London dedicated to helping children and adults with health challenges. She adds: “On entering the Special Yoga Centre I felt as though I had come arrived home. I was welcomed into this peaceful calm place and felt I had begun a long-term friendship with the centre and the yoga teachers who taught in a more appropriate way to my MS challenge.” Karen’s own yoga training is being sponsored by Yoga Aid, an Australian charity which helps support those in the yoga community who need financial help.
More than 5,000 people with MS took part in yoga courses and retreats at The Yoga for Health Foundation in the 1980s and 1990s; a yoga residential centre in Bedfordshire, which also ran teacher training courses in remedial yoga. Sadly the Foundation closed in 2006. Bill Feeney, who was the Director of the Foundation is now setting up an MS Teacher Training intensive with myself, which we are running at the Special Yoga Centre in March 2010, as it is clear that more teachers are needed to work in this area; either by helping those with MS to integrate in to a general class, or by setting up specialist groups. (See the end of this feature for websites which list teachers already trained to teach yoga for MS).
People with MS who regularly practise yoga are emphatic: yoga helps them tremendously . Yoga can help provide a way to cope with and diminish stress, which may mean that symptoms and relapses are either reduced or prevented. Working with the breath plays a huge role in correcting hyper-ventilation and reducing the fight and flight response. Learning to still the mind and become present can bring enormous relief and help to diminish emotional problems including fear and depression. Asanas can also help to maintain flexibility, co-ordination and muscle tone without allowing the system to tire as a good yoga teacher will encourage the student to work by listening to their body – unlike traditional aerobic exercise which may exhaust the system.
As Suzanne says: “I can and do have my own personal practise which lifts my heart and make me feel capable in a loving way.” She concludes; “my yoga practise has taken me from being upset at my body....to a place of empowerment...yes I can and yes I will!”
Very many thanks to June Skeggs, Bill Feeney, Jo Manuel, Karen Mascoll and Suzanne Stephens.
Ends.
For further help and information: www.mssociety.org.uk
You can contact Karen, join the MS chat room and access her blog via Face Book: Karen Mascoll.
Yoga teachers who trained at The Yoga for Health Foundation and who still work with MS may be found listed via www.yoga4het.co.uk or www.yogaforhealthfoundation.co.uk websites. The Yoga for Health and Education Trust (YHET) runs regular retreats and holidays for those with MS which are listed on these sites. Fiona Agombar runs retreats in the UK and abroad for those with ME which are also suitable for those with MS: www.fionaagombar.co.uk
Teaching Yoga to those with MS – a teaching intensive for yoga teachers and health practitioners is on the 6th and 7th March 2010. Details and bookings from: info@specialyoga.org.uk www.specialyoga.org.uk
People with MS who would like to have a free class with Bill Feeney and don’t mind being observed by teaching students are very welcome to The Special Yoga centre at 3pm on Saturday 6th March. All abilities welcome.
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