Russel was 27-years-old when his systolic blood pressure peaked at almost 300 points. He sustained a 'major stroke' and was incontinent and unable to walk or talk. This coincided with the death of his father from esophageal cancer in September 2002. The doctors at the hospital treating Russel told his mother he had a year or less to live. The primary case neurologist suggested Russel be 'put in a home.' After two-weeks in the hospital, he was transferred to a long-term care facility suffering with a paralyzed left side and only a rudimentary ability to speak. The facility provided Russel with both occupational and physical therapy for a period of three months. Neither worked---nothing worked. Occupational and physical therapy sessions ended.
Prior to Russel's stroke, he was running two-miles daily and willingly and cheerfully helped out around the house,
LISA: "After his stroke, Russel, experienced long periods of depression during which he was very quiet and cried easily and frequently."
Russel was able to communicate to his mother. 'Mom, I don't want to be a vegetable,' and he asked God to please help him.
LISA: "I felt helpless and nobody was giving me any hope for Russel."
Lisa felt she had reached a total dead end, and she was open to any possibility to improve the condition and quality of her son's life. That help came in the form of a phone call from Russel's case manager. He suggested Lisa try yoga therapy with a local well-known speech pathologist in Tucson, Arizona, USA, Nancy Williams. Nancy experienced a parallel life situation when her mother was diagnosed with terminal cancer.
NANCY WILLIAMS: "I had deep levels of compassion for what Lisa and Russel were experiencing. I wished to support them in every way that I could during this difficult time in their lives. The mutual unconditional love and extraordinary bonding between Russel and his mother were two prognostic factors I deemed crucial for Russel's improvement."
RUSSEL: "I remember walking into my first yoga therapy session (February 2002) with the help of a cane. I was scared and confused. After I took yoga, my talking got better because I started breathing better. I could blow bigger bubbles and chant louder and a lot longer. My leg got stronger, and I could walk without using a cane."
At four-years-old, Russel fell off his tricycle and incurred a severe head injury resulting in brain swelling and the emergence of a learning disability.
LISA: "His mental state is that of a six or seven-year-old."
RUSSEL: "Yoga helped me with my arm. Now, it is not so tight, and I can put weight on it like when I do downward dog. I had a hard time getting down on the yoga mat when I first started yoga, and Nancy had to help me. Now, I can do it all alone."
LISA: "Yoga therapy has restored much of Russel's confidence as he has regained much of his strength and freedom and is able to interact with his world with only minimal assistance."
LISA: "I have seen a son who was given no hope transform into a young man with self-confidence and strength. He now is enjoying all of his favorite activities and is capable of walking long-distances."
RUSSEL: "My hero is my mom---and Miss Nancy, of course.'
LISA: "Yoga helped me reopen my heart and believe there is healing taking place. I tell everybody with special needs children to try yoga therapy. Yoga therapy is more than just therapy---it is trusting in something bigger than us. Russel is surely a miracle and a gift from heaven."
I chose Russel and his mother Lisa for this blog entry because of the demonstrative nature of the results of yoga therapy and the willingness of each to express their heartfelt feelings with poingnancy, candor and openness. The outcome, while dramatic, really is not that different from other results achieved with the special children served by Nancy Williams.
There are myriad yoga books 'out there,' unread and unused sitting on dusty shelves, boxed in garages or tucked in the dark corners of closets. Some even address yoga for the special needs population. What differentiates 'Yoga Therapy for Every Special Child---Meeting Needs in a Natural Setting' are the credentials of the author.(about the author, www.yogatherapy4children.com.) Her program is imaginative, creative, fun and, most of all, effective. There is no book on the market that comes close to paralleling her training, education, experience, creativity and imagination. The book is clear and concise and its scope offers the special child, his parents, educators and therapists the key to unlocking the ever-emerging power of yoga therapy. At the risk of sounding trite, I both am honored and grateful to be asked to write this entry for 'Yoga Therapy for Every Special---Meeting Needs in a Natural Setting.'
Nancy Williams truly is an extraordinary human being and yoga therapy practitioner---and this is an equally extraordinary book.
Thomas (Tom) P. Cyr
PS Both Russel's systolic and diastolic blood pressure readings now are in the normal range.
(The contents for the preparation of this blog entry was gathered by interviews with the author, Russel and his mother during the period April 27-May 9, 2009.)
Prior to Russel's stroke, he was running two-miles daily and willingly and cheerfully helped out around the house,
LISA: "After his stroke, Russel, experienced long periods of depression during which he was very quiet and cried easily and frequently."
Russel was able to communicate to his mother. 'Mom, I don't want to be a vegetable,' and he asked God to please help him.
LISA: "I felt helpless and nobody was giving me any hope for Russel."
Lisa felt she had reached a total dead end, and she was open to any possibility to improve the condition and quality of her son's life. That help came in the form of a phone call from Russel's case manager. He suggested Lisa try yoga therapy with a local well-known speech pathologist in Tucson, Arizona, USA, Nancy Williams. Nancy experienced a parallel life situation when her mother was diagnosed with terminal cancer.
NANCY WILLIAMS: "I had deep levels of compassion for what Lisa and Russel were experiencing. I wished to support them in every way that I could during this difficult time in their lives. The mutual unconditional love and extraordinary bonding between Russel and his mother were two prognostic factors I deemed crucial for Russel's improvement."
RUSSEL: "I remember walking into my first yoga therapy session (February 2002) with the help of a cane. I was scared and confused. After I took yoga, my talking got better because I started breathing better. I could blow bigger bubbles and chant louder and a lot longer. My leg got stronger, and I could walk without using a cane."
At four-years-old, Russel fell off his tricycle and incurred a severe head injury resulting in brain swelling and the emergence of a learning disability.
LISA: "His mental state is that of a six or seven-year-old."
RUSSEL: "Yoga helped me with my arm. Now, it is not so tight, and I can put weight on it like when I do downward dog. I had a hard time getting down on the yoga mat when I first started yoga, and Nancy had to help me. Now, I can do it all alone."
LISA: "Yoga therapy has restored much of Russel's confidence as he has regained much of his strength and freedom and is able to interact with his world with only minimal assistance."
LISA: "I have seen a son who was given no hope transform into a young man with self-confidence and strength. He now is enjoying all of his favorite activities and is capable of walking long-distances."
RUSSEL: "My hero is my mom---and Miss Nancy, of course.'
LISA: "Yoga helped me reopen my heart and believe there is healing taking place. I tell everybody with special needs children to try yoga therapy. Yoga therapy is more than just therapy---it is trusting in something bigger than us. Russel is surely a miracle and a gift from heaven."
I chose Russel and his mother Lisa for this blog entry because of the demonstrative nature of the results of yoga therapy and the willingness of each to express their heartfelt feelings with poingnancy, candor and openness. The outcome, while dramatic, really is not that different from other results achieved with the special children served by Nancy Williams.
There are myriad yoga books 'out there,' unread and unused sitting on dusty shelves, boxed in garages or tucked in the dark corners of closets. Some even address yoga for the special needs population. What differentiates 'Yoga Therapy for Every Special Child---Meeting Needs in a Natural Setting' are the credentials of the author.(about the author, www.yogatherapy4children.com.) Her program is imaginative, creative, fun and, most of all, effective. There is no book on the market that comes close to paralleling her training, education, experience, creativity and imagination. The book is clear and concise and its scope offers the special child, his parents, educators and therapists the key to unlocking the ever-emerging power of yoga therapy. At the risk of sounding trite, I both am honored and grateful to be asked to write this entry for 'Yoga Therapy for Every Special---Meeting Needs in a Natural Setting.'
Nancy Williams truly is an extraordinary human being and yoga therapy practitioner---and this is an equally extraordinary book.
Thomas (Tom) P. Cyr
PS Both Russel's systolic and diastolic blood pressure readings now are in the normal range.
(The contents for the preparation of this blog entry was gathered by interviews with the author, Russel and his mother during the period April 27-May 9, 2009.)
