Yoga for AMM

[Coslet]

Since being diagnosing AMN two years ago I have been wishing I started yoga 10 years before diagnosis. I didn’t have anything to back up my thinking it just seems like if I had been doing it regularly I might still have better mobility and an overall quality of life. My sister sent me this article this morning and I will be looking for a Yogi tomorrow.

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...

[COwithAMN Administrator AMN EASIER Volunteer]

Yes, absolutely, yoga is useful. I have been using it for maybe 30 years, on and off. I even went on a yoga retreat back in the '90s. The only downside was that I fell one morning when leaving the "greet the dawn" session (probably I was still asleep!). I broke the scaphoid bone at the base of the thumb as I fell stiffly forward. My hands caught me but the bone didn't survive - had to be replaced with a pin.




Back to yoga. The article is good and I liked the different poses and stretches it emphasises.




But - and this is not to denigrate the adherents to Buddhism - I eventually just incorporated many of the poses and stretches into what I now refer to as my morning stretch routine. I can no longer do anything like as much, but I keep up a few.




I did learn some key aspects of yoga that I still adhere to, and which may be helpful.




1. Slowness - always do the stretches or poses slowly

2. Breathing - always breath into the stretch - it really does help - you find that the muscle stretches that little bit more.

3. Focus on the big leg muscles when stretching - around the hips. So, hamstrings, adductors are key for me. Many muscles in each. Adductors (inner thing) seem to be an especial problem in AMN. We tend to tighten them without realising, to stop falling over. The result is they get shortened and our legs don't open easily. Then the walking suffers.

4. Poses - things like one leg stands etc are good - if you can do them. Those days are gone for me, but I can still do two-legged stands. Poses also help you develop strength in key areas.

5. Don't forget the lower back. With AMN our bodies are deploying muscles autonomously just to keep us upright. Lower back muscles and joints suffer. The article mentions this. I have got something extra for the back which I will post once I figure out how to do it.


With experience, you will develop your own set of things that work for you.

Good luck and keep us posted how your yoga sessions go.

Chris

[COwithAMN Administrator AMN EASIER Volunteer]

Back block

I found this thing years ago and have been doing this every morning in life at the end of every other stretch. It's a great thing to do - really invigorating. You need to buy two or three small yoga small yoga blocks - about 1 - 2 inch thick - that you can put one on top of the other. These go under your coccyx bone and you just need to let the stretch happened slowly. Eventually, you will find you can tolerate a thicker and thicker back block. Don't forget to do the counter-stretch - knees to chest roll.

I hope you can see this:

dropbox.com/s/z2ysi6huaypb5...

[Coslet]

Today was my first yoga session. It was a one-on-one session. It was tough to say the least. I do see where I will benefit from it if I can stay consistent with the sessions. To say it drained me is an understatement. In a good way.