Yoga for amputees

Yoga Discussion General Yoga
#1

About three years ago I had my lower right leg amputated due to complications from Diabetes. Since then I have woken up and have steadily worked to improve my health. I’ve lost over 100 pounds and my doctors think I may actually be able to go off my insulin soon. I want to continue to improve my health, not only physically, but mentally as well considering that is what got me in this mess in the first place (depression).

As I’ve been searching for the best yoga for amputees, I came across chair yoga. Does anyone have any opinions of it? And does anyone feel there are better forms of yoga for someone missing one of their legs?

Namaste.

#2

Greetings and welcome. Wow, your story is very inspiring! Good for you :slight_smile: A few questions:

  1. What is your current state of mobility? Are you confined to a chair, able to walk around with crutches, have a prosthesis, or?

  2. Other than the diabetes, how is your health and how is your diet?

  3. Are you engaged in any other forms of exercise?

#3

[QUOTE=SomeYogi;61106]About three years ago I had my lower right leg amputated due to complications from Diabetes. Since then I have woken up and have steadily worked to improve my health. I’ve lost over 100 pounds and my doctors think I may actually be able to go off my insulin soon. I want to continue to improve my health, not only physically, but mentally as well considering that is what got me in this mess in the first place (depression).

As I’ve been searching for the best yoga for amputees, I came across chair yoga. Does anyone have any opinions of it? And does anyone feel there are better forms of yoga for someone missing one of their legs?

Namaste.[/QUOTE]

Dear Some YOgi, welcome to the forum!

sorry to hear about your loss…and happy to hear that you are on the right path!

I’ve been doing wrestling with the guy who is missing the arm…he seem just fine…

You should have no problem doing yoga. There are a lot of poses sitting in the chair, on the floor, and you maybe even can access some standing with modification.

I teach yoga for cancer survivals and most of them can not stand for a long time. So we do alot chair yoga, breathing, meditation, visualization, and it seem to be a great benefit for them.

Yoga involves some particular eating patterns (aka Sattvic Diet), mind practices, variety of breathing techniques… just to master this one need half life;) do not dwell on yoga poses too much, thought they are beneficial.

Look for a yoga theraphy teacher in the area. I do not know where you live, but most of places have yoga classes for people with special needs.

#4

Yoga in a chair might be very helpful and pleasant. It could even be transformational, depending on the approach of the student and the quality of the teacher. You may also want to look at Matthew Sanford’s work. I cannot speak directly to his work as I’ve never studied with him however he might have more profound answers to the questions you are posing.

gordon

#5

Welcome to the forum SomeYogi.

Life is full of challenges, I find my spirit grow when I am able to rise above them.

Yoga trains the body to become healthier, it trains the mind to set aside emotions, so we can look at situations objectively and experience situations as it is, not what we imagine them to be.

Chair yoga is excellent way to go, heh, now you have five legs, got to do better than the two-legged ?

Namaste, wishing you all the best healing in your journey!

#6

also, check out this guy… it is impressive http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_RkgErQ7iU&feature=fvwrel