By JERRY WOLFFE
A Yoga teacher is working with people with multiple
sclerosis to help them try and find a way to live more pain-free and productive
lives.
Mindy Eisenberg, of Franklin, says she has been a Yoga
instructor for a decade and trained others in adaptive Yoga for those with
multiple sclerosis, a progressive disease of the central nervous system.
Eisenberg, who has been a Yoga practioner for 20 years, said
she got the idea to teach Yoga to those with multiple sclerosis because her
late mother, Linda Weingarten, had the debilitating disability.
Yoga is said by Eisenberg and some physicians to help
improve the balance of those with multiple sclerosis, reduce spasticity and
rigidity and ease anxiety as well as strengthening muscles.
Free classes to those with the disability are taught weekly
in St. Clair Shores in Macomb County, and Novi, Rochester, Southfield and
Bloomfield Township in Oakland County, said Eisenberg.
“People get excited when they are able to do something they
were unable to do before” the onset of the disability, she said.
She said Yoga therapy “looks at the whole body” and “one’s
attitude” is key in battling multiple sclerosis. Eisenberg said she sets the
pace of the class “on the energy of (those students in) the room.”
At 7 p.m. on Nov. 15, a 6th annual fundraiser and
leadership recognition dinner, “Party with a Purpose,” will be held at the
Shriners Silver Garden Events Center, 24350 Southfield Road. The event is
sponsored by the Multiple Sclerosis Foundation. Tickets are $100. The evening
features dinner, silent auction and a 50-50 raffle.
Contact yogaspiritwellness@gmail.com
for more information.
Jerry Wolffe is the
writer-in-residence, advocate-at-large for the Macomb-Oakland Regional Center.
He can be reached at 586 263-8950.
