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Adaptive Yoga

“A twig with a fresh, green living core. When twisted out of shape, such a twig bends,
but does not break; instead, it springs back and continues growing.”

- George Valliant, Harvard University Psychologist

Adaptive Yoga

The benefits of yoga on cognition, stress, and healing in brain injury is well known.  However, patients with visual problems after brain injury often experience hypersensitivity to sound, motion, and light, making yoga studios inaccessible to them.

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Brain injury adaptive yoga is a specialized form of yoga designed to support individuals recovering from brain injuries.  Performed via remote video (Zoom), you can practice guided yoga with Dr Sheard, from the comfort of your own home. It focuses on gentle movements, breathwork, and mindfulness techniques tailored to accommodate various physical and cognitive challenges common to patients with brain injury. This practice aims to enhance physical strength, improve balance, and promote mental well-being fostering a sense of empowerment and connection to the body. Through adaptive yoga, participants can find a space to heal and regain confidence in their abilities.

NOTE: Adaptive YOGA is available through Eye-Brain Academy, LLC and is not considered as occupational or vision therapy services.  Thus, this service is open to the public and you do not have to be a patient of Virginia Neuro-Optometry or Concussion Care Centre of Virginia to participate

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If interested in participating, please fill out the form below and we will send you more information (dates, times, etc)

*You do not need to be a member of our practice to participate - all patients with brain injury and their caregivers are welcome

Thanks for submitting!

Strength in Resilience

A brain injury changes the thought processes, actions, personality, and, sometimes, the physical abilities of an individual. These changes can be lifelong and affect daily functioning to varying degrees. Both the person with the brain injury and her/his caregivers are impacted. Because it isn’t realistic to anticipate that all the effects of a brain injury will completely resolve, it is important for both the brain injury survivor and the caregiver(s) to develop resilience. Resilience allows an individual to acknowledge the changes that have occurred and choose to move forward into the unknown future with a positive mindset. One way to build resilience is through the practice of yoga and mindfulness.

Yoga and Brain Injury

Brain injury, including concussion, can cause:

  • Anxiety

  • Poor emotional control

  • Stress

  • Difficulty with memory and learning

  • Executive dysfunction (difficulty with decision making)

  • Problems with balance and coordination

  • Hypersensitivity to sounds

  • Hypersensitivity to visual patterns and visual motion

  • Negative thoughts

  • Loss of social skills

Yoga by the Ocean

One of the beauties of the human brain—beyond its complex, yet integrated, systems and networks of neurons—is something that we call neuroplasticity. Neuroplasticity is the ability of one area or network of neurons within the brain to assume some new responsibilities for brain functioning when a neighboring area of the brain has been
injured. This is a critical part of the brain injury rehab process. It is also why yoga and
mindfulness are an important part of a wholistic approach to post-brain injury care.

 

Neuroplasticity relies on:

  • Repetition

  • Emotional arousal

  • Novelty

  • Attention/Awareness

  • Challenge

 

Yoga and mindfulness provide each of these components for the participant and, so,
have the potential to facilitate positive functional changes within the brain following brain
injury.

What is Adaptive Yoga?

For the brain injury survivor, certain head and neck positions can trigger symptoms like dizziness or pain. Additionally, brain injury can cause sensitivity to light—especially flickering light from candles—sounds, and scents. For these reasons, a traditional yoga class is often not an option for someone who has sustained a brain injury.

 

Adaptive yoga is performed with the specific needs of the brain injury community in
mind:

  • No music

  • No candles

  • Accessible to participants of all abilities—all poses and transitions can be performed from either chair level or floor level

  • Modifications for poses and transitions to accommodate all levels of ability

  • All movements and transitions are performed slowly

  • Instructions are provided using a variety of cues (verbal, visual, etc.)

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Most importantly, adaptive yoga is an invitation for you to gently move your body within your own comfort level and individual limitations, while celebrating your own unique strengths. No movement or pose will ever be forced. Adaptive yoga does not focus on having you perform a pose accurately. Rather, it empowers you to take charge of your own journey to wholeness by mindfully moving your body through a yoga flow that is personalized to your needs.

What do I Need?

You can invest as little or as much into your Yoga practice as you would like.  You can hover on the images for links to recommended products - in general we recommend calm, cool colors like blue or gray, to promote the parasympathetic system, and to avoid any bold colors or patterns which can exacerbate dizziness for patients with post-traumatic vestibular-oculomotor dysfunction

*Chair should be without armrests or wheels.  Participants in wheel chairs will be offered appropriate modifications for chair level-participation.

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