Yoga Therapy for Parkinson’s Disease and Multiple Sclerosis

289 Pages·2016·2.799 MB·English

by  Jean Danford

Y
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oga is an extremely beneficial therapy for ameliorating physical symptoms
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of both Parkinson’s disease and multiple sclerosis (MS), and improving
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emotional wellbeing through breathing, asana, relaxation and meditation.

Written for yoga therapists and yoga teachers, this book outlines the conditions, their T
pathology, treatment and impact on the lives of those affected, and describes how h
yoga practice can be tailored to meet the specific needs of those with Parkinson’s and e
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MS by improving mobility, balance, strength and wellbeing.
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Postures are categorised by their useful application, such as joint mobilising, p Yoga
balance and stability, and stretching, and guidance is given on how to identify what is y
needed. Descriptions of yoga movements are accompanied by illustrations throughout,
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along with sample lesson plans and personal testimonies. o
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• • •
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‘Jean Danford not only shows that the challenges of movement and co-ordination need r
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to be well-accommodated, but more importantly that the possibilities of yoga practice
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n Therapy
extend far wider than postures, with the potential for profound benefit to the lives and s
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health of those using these yoga practices and following the intrinsic aim of yoga in n
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seeking to go beyond the restrictions of body and mind.’ s

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– Barbara Dancer, Former Chair, British Council for Yoga Therapy i
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‘[A] valuable resource for both yoga teachers/therapists and those dealing with these a
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conditions… Jean has found an ideal balance between providing the scientific, factual e for Parkinson’s Disease anD

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information and allowing the material to be accessible to those who are not versed in n
technical reading. Furthermore, the inclusion of a number of personal stories will help D MultiPle sclerosis

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readers better relate to those dealing with these conditions and the role yoga therapy u
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can play in their wellbeing.’ t
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–Leigh Blashki, Founder, Australian Institute of Yoga Therapy, International Association P
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of Yoga Therapists Council of Advisors and Past-President, Yoga Australia e

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JeAn DAnForD is a registered yoga therapist and Founder and e
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Principal of the Real Yoga training school. She is an accrediting o
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officer for British Council for Yoga Therapy and has diplomas in i
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Postural Integration, Healing and a Cert FE. She has worked with
client groups affected by Parkinson’s disease for approximately
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ten years, with the support of the Parkinson’s UK charity.
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Jessica Kingsley Publishers
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www.jkp.com
Jean Danford
Cover design: Tango Media
FullCOV_Danford_UK_FNL.indd 1 7/27/16 11:42 AM
Yoga Therapy for Parkinson’s
Disease and Multiple Sclerosis
of related interest
Yoga for a Happy Back
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Foreword by Aadil Palkhivala
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Chair Yoga
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Edeltraud Rohnfeld
Illustrated by Edeltraud Rohnfeld
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eISBN 978 0 85701 056 8
ISBN 978 1 84819 184 6 (DVD)
Mudras of Yoga
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eISBN 978 0 85701 143 5
ISBN 978 1 84819 176 1 (Cards)
The Supreme Art and Science of Raja and Kriya Yoga
The Ultimate Path to Self-Realisation
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ISBN 978 1 84819 261 4
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Qigong for Multiple Sclerosis
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ISBN 978 1 84819 019 1
eISBN 978 0 85701 029 2
Yoga
Therapy
FOR PARKINSON’S DISEASE AND
MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS
Jean Danford
LONDON AND PHILADELPHIA
First published in 2016
by Singing Dragon
an imprint of Jessica Kingsley Publishers
73 Collier Street
London N1 9BE, UK
and
400 Market Street, Suite 400
Philadelphia, PA 19106, USA
www.singingdragon.com
Copyright © Jean Danford 2016
Illustrations copyright © Jean Danford 2016
Front cover image source: Top left: Jean Danford, top middle: Paul Cooper, top right and large centre:
Shutterstock®. The cover image is for illustrative purposes only, and any person featuring is a model.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any material form (including
photocopying, storing in any medium by electronic means or transmitting) without the written
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for the copyright owner’s written permission to reproduce any part of this publication should be
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Warning: The doing of an unauthorised act in relation to a copyright work may result in both a civil
claim for damages and criminal prosecution.
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Names: Danford, Jean, author.
Title: Yoga therapy for Parkinson’s disease and multiple sclerosis / Jean
Danford.
Description: London ; Philadelphia, PA : Singing Dragon, 2016. | Includes
bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016007636 | ISBN 9781848192997 (alk. paper)
Subjects: | MESH: Parkinson Disease--therapy | Multiple Sclerosis--therapy |
Yoga
Classification: LCC RC382 | NLM WL 359 | DDC 616.8/330642--dc23 LC record available at
http://lccn.loc.gov/2016007636
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 978 1 84819 299 7
eISBN 978 0 85701 249 4
Contents
Contents
Disclaimer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Preface. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Disclaimer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Preface. . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 1. My Experience. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
What is Parkinson’s disease? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
1. My Experience. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Treatment of Parkinson’s disease. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
What is Parkinson’s disease? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 What is multiple sclerosis? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Treatment of Parkinson’s disease. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Comparing Parkinson’s disease and multiple sclerosis . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
What is multiple sclerosis? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Cautionary note . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Comparing Parkinson’s disease and multiple sclerosis . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 How yoga makes a difference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Cautionary note . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Research into the effects of yoga for Parkinson’s disease
and multiple sclerosis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
How yoga makes a difference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Research into the effects of yoga for Parkinson’s disease
2. An Exploration of the Holistic Yoga Approach and
and multiple sclerosis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
How It Can Help. . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Looking after the whole person . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
2. An Exploration of the Holistic Yoga Approach and
How It Can Help. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 How we might support and balance the koshas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Looking after the whole person . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis
and the chakra system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
How we might support and balance the koshas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Yoga Therapy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis
and the chakra system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 The case for creative experimental modification of asana. . . . . . . . . . . 30
Yoga Therapy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
3. Therapeutic Practices. . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . 32
The case for creative experimental modification of asana. . . . . .. . . . . 30
Planning yoga for Parkinson’s disease and multiple sclerosis . . . . . . . . . 32
3. Therapeutic Practices. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Considerations in planning for one-to-one or group work . . . . . . . . . . 33
Planning yoga for Parkinson’s disease and multiple sclerosis . . . . . . . . . 32 Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Considerations in planning for one-to-one or group work . . . . . . . . . . 33 Points for teachers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Safety and the environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Posture and the spine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Core strength and stability. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Points for teachers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Strength and stability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
Posture and the spine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Shoulders and upper back . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
Core strength and stability. . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Strength and stability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Shoulders and upper back . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Hips and pelvis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
Strengthening and mobilising the lower body . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
Balancing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
Superstretches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
Restorative practices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
Digestion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
Chair work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
Flow sequences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
Breathing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211
Relaxation and visualisation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225
Relaxation and the stress response . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225
Managing pain the yoga way . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240
Orthodox view of pain and its treatment. . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . 240
Pain gate theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241
Managing pain the yoga way. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243
Chakra practices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246
Meditation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257
4. Sample Lesson Plans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268
Sample lesson plan 1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268
Sample lesson plan 2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270
Sample lesson plan 3. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271
5. Class Experiences and Personal Stories . . . . . . . 273
Spring 2015: The group work their hips and knees . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273
Yoga Therapy group: floor work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275
A restorative session . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276
Personal stories. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277
Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 280
References. . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283
Disclaimer
This book is meant as a reference guide for yoga teachers and yoga therapists and is
not a replacement for medical treatment. If you are concerned for the health of your
student, you should advise them to seek medical help. If a student is experiencing
pain or pressure in the chest, dizziness, acute pain in the muscles or worsening of
symptoms, they should be referred to their doctor immediately.
» 7 «
Acknowledgements
My thanks go to Caroline Evans, specialist Parkinson’s nurse, Hereford; Heather
Blashki for her kind permission to use her work on hasta mudras; and to all of the
students in my specialist classes.
I would also like to thank friends and colleagues who have been patient enough
to read through the text, in particular, Carolyn Daniel, Sharon Gisbourne, Alexandra
Lyons, Sheila Simmons, Patricia Cronin, Viv Quillin and Richard Booth.
» 8 «
Preface
At a small conference for people with Parkinson’s in our local area, all of the
health professionals were in unison in promoting exercise as a way of maintaining
health and quality of life for people with Parkinson’s, and the importance of relaxation
and activities to help with stress levels and anxiety. Thus, at my ‘stall’ I had many
visitors asking about yoga. They were eager to join a group and to begin to practise.
Alas, my county is huge and mine is the only specialised class, miles away from
most of the population. However, most were aware that there may be a yoga class
nearby that they could join, and asked me whether that would that work for them.
I had to hesitate, knowing the wide range of different types of yoga on offer, and
questioning in my mind whether their particular yoga class in the village hall would
be okay, whether the teacher would have the skills to adapt postures for them and to
understand the condition enough to provide what they need.
I found myself saying ‘I would avoid Ashtanga, and Flow classes… Talk to the
teacher first. Make sure that your teacher has a good yoga training.’ But what does that
mean for the average member of the public, when there are so many training schools
out there? Many yoga teachers have only done a limited amount of training with very
little taught about modifying postures, or even safe practice.
There are many people out there longing to find out what yoga has to offer, and
for whom a suitably adapted practice could bring many benefits.
I hope that this book will help yoga teachers to feel that they can teach people
with Parkinson’s and welcome them into their groups. Many people with Parkinson’s
avoid classes because they feel embarrassed when they can’t manage the posture, or
they ‘freeze’ or shake, and yet with a little tact and sensitivity we can offer a different
way and give that person a sense of achievement and belonging with the added
benefit of increasing their quality of life. And it is a similar scenario for those with
multiple sclerosis (MS).
» 9 «