Yoga
Tom’s Story and Yoga
In 1999 Tom was assaulted and received a penetrating blow to his head. He had emergency surgery. Over the following years he had further surgery, treatments and rehabilitation sessions. He started attending Headway in 2001 and has been practising yoga since January this year.
Member receiving one to one yoga therapy
In a yoga session we work with physical postures to create strength and flexibility in the body. A common consequence of brain injury is a diminished sense of balance. Tom works with postures that give him an awareness of his posture, core muscles and alignment.
Ailments such has back ache are also taken into account in Tom’s yoga sessions as are his frequent head aches, another consequence of brain injury. In Tom’s case this is accompanied by tinnitus.
Though the yoga sessions are very physical, we also bring awareness to our breath. It is observed that in stressful situations and in people with depression, anxiety and those who suffer from panic attacks, our breath becomes very shallow and short. Breathing deeply not only improves the exchange of waste and fresh oxygen but effectively reduces stress, anxiety and panic attacks. It is thought that the breath is the bridge between our body and mind.
“When I was originally asked I was not sure whether Yoga was something I would enjoy but said I would give it a try for a month and then if I didn’t like it I would stop. Not only do I like it but I also find it beneficial. The benefits include a greater sense of balance - something that has suffered greatly since my head injury. For example on a recent canoe trip organised by Headway I was able to find my balance both standing and sitting because of the sessions with Anja despite the movements of the canoe on the water…
Outdoor yoga session
… I find that it is easy to incorporate my yoga programme into my daily life. Sometimes I do a specific sequence of postures that we have worked on in the sessions and other times I may do a certain stretch or posture during the day e.g. whilst waiting for the kettle to boil I can do a back stretch that helps to ease my back ache. Or roll my shoulders and do head turns to ease neck tension while watching television. This year has given me more purpose and reason to come in and I am really enjoying coming to headway a lot more this year because of the new activities. I seem to be a lot happier, I am joking again and am a lot jollier.“
Headway UK