Yoga is an ancient practice for physical, mental, and spiritual wellbeing.
In the West, yoga is treated as a physical and mental health exercise. The spiritual dimension has largely been dropped.
For us with multiple sclerosis, yoga offers several benefits. Here are some of the key areas where research backs me up.
Yoga helps reduce fatigue
- Fatigue affects 80 percent of those of us with MS. Studies have shown that yoga can help alleviate fatigue.
Yoga improves mood
- Yoga incorporates mindfulness and relaxation techniques that can help reduce stress and anxiety, which are often associated with MS. Ever felt bad after a mindfulness session? Didn’t think so.
Yoga increases strength and flexibility
- Gentle yoga poses can help improve muscle strength, flexibility, and range of motion, which can be beneficial for people with MS who experience muscle weakness or stiffness.
- It’s also just a case of just getting older. Muscles dwindle without use and if you don’t use it, you lose it. Whether you have MS or not.
Yoga helps develop better balance and coordination
- Certain yoga poses can help enhance balance and coordination, which can be particularly helpful for people with MS who experience difficulties with gait and stability. I still find myself a bit wobbly sometimes. No shame!
Yoga helps reduce MS pain
- Yoga may help reduce pain associated with MS, such as muscle spasms, spasticity, stiffness, and joint pain.
- Personally, when I have had a flare-up, guided meditations have helped me ‘escape’ my body. The gentle stretches and yoga nidra were my path through the acute discomfort.
Yoga helps improve MS quality of life
- Overall, yoga can contribute to an improved quality of life for people with MS by addressing both physical and mental wellbeing. This meta-analysis showed yoga really outperformed typical care.
- Five or ten minutes of easy, gentle yoga asana and daily guided meditation is exactly what relaxes my mind and body and helps me feel centred.
How to do yoga safely
It’s always best to seek expert health advice before starting yoga. I’m forever a beginner, but that’s okay too.
Start by doing easy poses and slowly work up to more challenging ones. Most yoga poses are adjustable. Modify your routines based on how you feel.
You may perform poses standing up, lying down, or sitting in a chair.
It can be fabulous watching someone on YouTube who goes slowly and shows you exactly what to do. I recommend Laura Lemon Tree (below) from MS Society UK who does exactly that!
Make sure you’re comfortable and safe before you start. All you need is a chair.
With benefits to energy, mood, strength, reduced pain, and a better quality of life, what’s not to love about yoga?
It may even teach you about yourself.
Yoga is good for everybody, but people with MS have so much to gain. Tell me what you practice.
