A community of hope and strength created by Yoga Moves MS

CLINTON TWP.

Leading a class at Yoga Moves MS is the nonprofit’s creator, director and instructor Mindy Eisenberg, who started the group 20 years ago to improve the lives of individuals living with Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease and other neuromuscular conditions. PHOTOS COURTESY OF ELAYNE GROSS PHOTOGRAPHY

Renate Jaeger of Clinton Township, second from left, works to follow the move shown by Yoga Moves MS instructor and founder Mindy Eisenberg. The small classes feature additional instructors who work with students to adjust the moves to their needs.

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By Gina Joseph

gjoseph@medianewsgroup.com

One flyer has changed thousands of lives.

That’s how Renate Jaeger of Clinton Township discovered Yoga Moves MS, a nonprofit organization that provides free adaptive yoga classes for anyone with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) or Parkinson’s disease

“I saw it in my doctor’s office,” said Jaeger, whose battle with the disease began 18 years ago. “I had the flu and after I recovered I went back to work and noticed two of my fingers weren’t working.”

Many tests and doctor appointments later, she received a diagnosis of MS.

“It was scary,” she said, although the worst of her symptoms did not surface until several years later.

It’s also around that time Jaeger learned about Yoga Moves MS from a flier in her neurologist’s office.

The charitable organization was founded by Mindy Eisenberg, who grew up watching her mother struggle with the debilitating effects of MS at a time when movement of any kind was discouraged for fear that it would make things worse.

Now quite the opposite is true.

“Current empirical research has provided a large body of evidence illustrating the benefits and positive outcomes associated with the practice of yoga among individuals with MS, including reduced depression, decreased pain, reduced fatigue, increased lung capacity, improved bladder function, improved strength and flexibility, lower levels of stress, improved quality of life and muscle relaxation, and lower blood pressure,” according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Eisenberg created Yoga Moves MS after teaching a yoga class for the MS Society.

After seeing the benefits among the students she started working with a local support group at the Michigan Institute for Neurological Disorders in Farmington Hills and went on to start Yoga Moves MS.

“My first class was 15 years ago,” said Jaeger, who is among more than 70 other students participating in weekly classes. Thousands of others around the world also partake in virtual classes.

At first she wanted to take a private class.

But Eisenberg assured her that she didn’t need it, that she would be able to jump right in with everyone else. She did and has been attending a group class in Rochester Hills ever since.

“I was a little stiff and I had started to develop a limp when I went,” she said. “After the class I felt better, more limber. The limp was still there but maybe not as bad. I think the stretching really helped.”

Sean Zagato of Livonia is another regular at Yoga Moves MS.

“Ten-years ago, at 27, I was hit with the news of having MS,” Zagato said. “Before that, my life was a whirlwind of activity, construction work, rocking with my band, riding my Harley, and diving into sports.”

His MS diagnosis changed all of that.

“In the beginning it was tough to muster up the energy for anything, let alone yoga,” said Zagato. “It wasn’t until I heard about Yoga Moves MS from a support group that I even considered it. It took me a couple of years to finally step into the class, but once I did, I never looked back.”

“Everybody there, we’re like a family,” Jaeger said, who insists no matter how she feels at the start of the class she always feels better afterwards, both physically and emotionally.

Today the chant among MS patients is move it or lose it.

“I made a choice to move it,” Zagato said. “Yoga Moves MS became my sanctuary. The camaraderie among fellow MS warriors is invaluable. Finally, I was in a space where I didn’t have to explain symptoms like ‘foot drop.’ Since joining, my spasticity has eased up, and I’m not constantly at war with my body. Plus, my balance and strength have noticeably improved. Leaving class, I feel ready to take on the rest of the day with ease.”

All of the adaptive — as in whatever works for you — classes offered by Yoga Moves MS are small, with 12 to 14 participants working together, or with individual instructors who can address individual needs.

“That’s the real beauty of the classes,” Jaeger said. Be it someone with MS or Parkinson’s disease, even those with hip or knee replacements, instructors are able to modify the poses to suit the participant. “So, we all get the same benefit of the stretch. It’s fantastic.”

Yoga Moves MS encourages movement and hope through exercise and camaraderie.

Eisenberg said if you ask her students what they value most about Yoga Moves MS they will say it’s the sense of community and how it mitigates the isolation so many of them feel.

“The power of community is amazing,” said Eisenberg, whose Yoga Moves MS celebrated its 20 year milestone and will soon be part of the services available at the Kirk Gibson Center for Parkinson’s Wellness in Farmington Hills, “They’re so happy to be around other people who know how to understand how to navigate the symptoms.”