Your power.
I’m fortunate that I can still walk around the house, go on short walks to the grocery store, or around the mall with my granddaughter. But the distance I can walk is getting shorter. I was diagnosed 24 years ago and in the beginning I had two attacks which affected the function of both legs but especially my left leg, it dragged.
Over the 24 years there have been ups and downs with MS and my legs have always been my major concern. It’s the most visible application of this disease and I have often thought about what would have happened if I had a third, forth, or fifth attack. How would those attacks have affected my legs; would my ability to walk have been affected.
But I did not have a third, forth, or fifth attack and I attribute this to Bataseron. I’ve had many flare ups but no attacks. I define an attack as a long lasting event that takes a while to get back to where it started and maybe even not getting all the way back. I’m pretty sure that’s not a medical definition it’s just how I look at it. A flare up for me can last from hours to days and I pretty much return back to where it started.
I know from my own experience there are many more medication options today for people with MS than when I was first diagnosed. They don’t cure; but Bataseron and now Avonex have delayed the progress of MS for me. And I believe I’m still walking because of those medications.
But this does not discount how yoga has helped on this journey. I’ve been practicing yoga for about 7 1/2 years and the physical, mental, and general health benefits have been and continue to be instrumental in providing those benefits that medications can’t.
But I can’t help wondering if I had been practicing Ashtanga let’s say thirty years ago, before diagnosis. What would have been my life’s journey. Would I have even got MS – I’m not sure.
Just follow me here…
Stress has quite an impact on your health and I believe it was, in part, responsible for me getting MS. Ya I know that’s quite a leap but I believe it to be true. I had been under significant stress for several years before diagnosis. There are other contributing factors for sure but there is no known cause of MS and I don’t want this blog to delve into some unscientific whacky theories about MS causes. But I do believe, due to my experience that stress was at least a contributing factor.
I have blogged about how my practice calms me but this is not just during practice; yoga has calmed how I lead my life. How I deal with problems, how I react, and how I live on a much more even keel. I know this sounds kinda out there and I would have been the first person to say that person is smoking too much ganja. But that is, in part, why this blog exists. These are my experiences. It’s my proof.
So to follow on with this thought my practice for the most part puts me on a calmer plane. I could have dealt with those stresses in a more understanding way. The knowledge I have now about where practice allows or motivates peace would have informed me of how to deal with the stresses at that time. The stress would not have got a hold and caused the damage it caused.
For me this is a reality, a real part of what exists within my spirit or soul. I believe in the parts that can’t be proven about my own capabilities. I have always, as far back as I can remember, believed in my power to change what’s not considered changeable. I believe that yoga bears that out and I firmly believe that yoga can provide assistance to those of you with MS.
And if I did start yoga thirty years ago; I’d still be struggling to do a proper backbend – ha.