Beginner Strength Building and Stress Relieving Yoga?

suzy · 05-13-16, 10:43 AM

I've been away for a while. It's been a rough 18 months. The short version is I need something to rebuild strength slowly. My doctor says to take a year to build back up. She also said I need stress management techniques. So I thought what's better for both of those than yoga? I've been doing the gentlest Classical Stretch episodes. Now I have permission for some more weight bearing type work. So any suggestions for yoga I can grow with?

The long version is in December of 2014 my 30 year old son developed a lung infection that moved into his heart and he passed away very unexpectedly. Around the same time my mom, who was in the later stages of Alzheimer's had some unrelated complications and averaged one trip to the hospital every week for almost a year. During her final stay in the hospital last November my dad had a heart attack. So my 81 year old mom passed away in November and my 85 year old dad in January.

When everything settled I realized I just didn't feel quite right. I knew I had been under a lot of stress, but I had frozen shoulder, a very weak voice, and a whole list of other things. I found out I have a rare tumor in my head that was causing hormone issues and nerve damage which was slowly paralyzing my left side. The prognosis is good. I'm 57 with a 16 year old, so I still have a lot of living to do, and I'm ready to get back in shape so I can do that. I'll finish radiation by June.

I have to give a shout out to Classical Stretch. As soon as I noticed the frozen shoulder I started doing Miranda's frozen shoulder episodes with a few other gentle CS episodes mixed in. My doctor said there was no way the mobility in my shoulder should improve while the tumor was still large, but it did. By the time I started physical therapy I already had regained some mobility. My physical therapist told me to continue Classical Stretch in addition to what he gave me to do because it was working.

Pat58 · 05-13-16, 11:08 AM

Oh my goodness - you have been through so much.

Please accept my condolences onthe losses and health problems you have experienced.

Aside from Classical Stretch/Essentrics, I am discovering the joys of Mirabai Holland. A VF'er loaned me two of her DVDs - Ease-In Cardio and a level 1 cardio. I'm going to return them soon and start investing in her workouts, I love her that much. I deal with a host of problems - feet, joints, spine, you name it. On top of that I leave work fatigued and stressed. The two workouts I've borrowed start out easy and slowly build but do not become high impact or fast enough to stress the joints. Mirabai is a career aerobics instructor but has built an impressive resume and now specializes in medical exercise. A bonus for me is that she is always filmed in an outdoor location in front of a beautiful scene, with low key music.

Moving Free Flexibility Level 1 might be a good restart point for you. Here is a link to a preview for that: Flexibility Level I - and here is her website: http://www.mirabaiholland.com/ Maybe your library has these if you're lucky!

Another yoga one I love is Rodney Yee's AM Yoga For Your Week.

yogapam · 05-13-16, 11:17 AM

Sending you (((hugs))), condolences, and wishes for a speedy recovery. You sure have been through a long difficult ordeal!
Yoga in the Garden of Serenity is a beautiful relaxing practice, but not an easy one to find. Zyrka Landjwit's Yoga: Gentle Practice & Barbara Benagh's Yoga for Stress Relief are very nice also. They should be easy to find on Amazon.

JENILU · 05-13-16, 11:30 AM

Oh my goodness, my thoughts and prayers are with you. Sending much love

I just have no words, only love and prayers.

Any yoga, to me, that increases strength, may not be stress relieving in the beginning, depending on how weak you are. I have some of your same problems (won't go into detail), but for a DVD, I think Colleen Saidman's yoga for WL is nice. It is very gentle and relaxing to me, yet there are just enough Down Dogs, etc.. to be a little bit of beginning work.
http://smile.amazon.com/Colleen-Said...olleen+saidman

If you like youtube, I suggest Yoga with Adriene (I can also give 30 other suggestions if you want to go the youtube route, lol). Brett larkin and Bad Yogi also have some good, short, beginner practices. I have a huge playlist saved that I call yoga for healing that I can look on if you have specific types of practices you want. Oh, Yoga Upload also has several hands free practices if you ever need that.
***Lesley Fightmaster also has a very good 30 day beginner series that starts very gently and really does start slow and build up strength/awareness over the 30 days! She is very responsive if you have questions as well. (I should have mentioned this oe first, as it is very good for the low strength beginner!) https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...3zYDVkS53PlThW

sherry7899 · 05-13-16, 11:37 AM

I do not have any advice right now, but I wanted to send you some hugs

I am so sorry for your losses. I can't imagine so many losses so close together. I admire you very much for getting back to movement.

Please take care-
Sherry

Demeris · 05-13-16, 12:09 PM

Oh, Suzy--please know that you and your loved ones are in my prayers.

I can't recommend any yoga as yoga does bad things to my body, BUT I do want to second Mirabai Holland. I love her stuff and always turn to her after an illness or time away from exercise.

I also want to suggest Joel Harper's work. He has a number of body weight workouts that are short and designed for older folks or folks in physical recovery.

I will pray for your health and for your spirit.

suzy · 05-13-16, 01:44 PM

I'll be back to talk more later, but I wanted to say thank you all for your kind responses and your suggestions. I plan to check them out.

flowerpotcat · 05-13-16, 02:56 PM

((HUGS)) to you. I cannot imagine what you're going through, please accept my thoughts and prayers.

alisoncooks · 05-13-16, 04:35 PM

Wow, I am so sorry to hear what you've gone through!

Do you have Jane Adams Gentle Yoga dvd? I've found it has been very gentle and stress-reducing for me.

beyond.omega · 05-13-16, 07:16 PM

Oh Suzy, I'm so sorry for everything you had to go through.

Glad you are on a healing swing now, and wishing you the best in your healing journey.

For easy strengthening yoga, may I recommend Erich Schiffmann's Backyard Beginner? This DVD just meets me where I am. Would also like to second Barbara Benagh's YfSR for soothing routines.

But it also sounds like you have what you need with Classical Stretch. I don't know much about it (I have a few DVDs but have never done them

.) But I understand some are more strengthening than others, and many people say Sahra's DVDs are more challenging? It looks like her website store has a DVD selector guide, (on the left-hand side where you select your parameters.) Maybe you can check that out. Hopefully the CS fans will chime in...

ETA: When I put in the following parameters into the Essentrics Store selector: (Age:50s; Mobility:Limited; Exercise_Frequency:NeverExercise; Objectives:Toning/Strength; Medical_Purpose:SurgeryRecovery), it recommends CS Seasons 4, 7, and 9. If I change the Medical_Purpose to "Rehabilitation", it adds the Essentrics Barre Workout.

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05-13-16, 10:43 AM
suzy VF Supporter Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: TX	Beginner Strength Building and Stress Relieving Yoga? I've been away for a while. It's been a rough 18 months. The short version is I need something to rebuild strength slowly. My doctor says to take a year to build back up. She also said I need stress management techniques. So I thought what's better for both of those than yoga? I've been doing the gentlest Classical Stretch episodes. Now I have permission for some more weight bearing type work. So any suggestions for yoga I can grow with? The long version is in December of 2014 my 30 year old son developed a lung infection that moved into his heart and he passed away very unexpectedly. Around the same time my mom, who was in the later stages of Alzheimer's had some unrelated complications and averaged one trip to the hospital every week for almost a year. During her final stay in the hospital last November my dad had a heart attack. So my 81 year old mom passed away in November and my 85 year old dad in January. When everything settled I realized I just didn't feel quite right. I knew I had been under a lot of stress, but I had frozen shoulder, a very weak voice, and a whole list of other things. I found out I have a rare tumor in my head that was causing hormone issues and nerve damage which was slowly paralyzing my left side. The prognosis is good. I'm 57 with a 16 year old, so I still have a lot of living to do, and I'm ready to get back in shape so I can do that. I'll finish radiation by June. I have to give a shout out to Classical Stretch. As soon as I noticed the frozen shoulder I started doing Miranda's frozen shoulder episodes with a few other gentle CS episodes mixed in. My doctor said there was no way the mobility in my shoulder should improve while the tumor was still large, but it did. By the time I started physical therapy I already had regained some mobility. My physical therapist told me to continue Classical Stretch in addition to what he gave me to do because it was working.

05-13-16, 11:08 AM
Pat58 VF Supporter Join Date: May 2002 Location: Connecticut	Oh my goodness - you have been through so much. Please accept my condolences onthe losses and health problems you have experienced. Aside from Classical Stretch/Essentrics, I am discovering the joys of Mirabai Holland. A VF'er loaned me two of her DVDs - Ease-In Cardio and a level 1 cardio. I'm going to return them soon and start investing in her workouts, I love her that much. I deal with a host of problems - feet, joints, spine, you name it. On top of that I leave work fatigued and stressed. The two workouts I've borrowed start out easy and slowly build but do not become high impact or fast enough to stress the joints. Mirabai is a career aerobics instructor but has built an impressive resume and now specializes in medical exercise. A bonus for me is that she is always filmed in an outdoor location in front of a beautiful scene, with low key music. Moving Free Flexibility Level 1 might be a good restart point for you. Here is a link to a preview for that: Flexibility Level I - and here is her website: http://www.mirabaiholland.com/ Maybe your library has these if you're lucky! Another yoga one I love is Rodney Yee's AM Yoga For Your Week.

05-13-16, 11:17 AM
yogapam VF Supporter Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: West coast of Canada, eh. ;)	Sending you (((hugs))), condolences, and wishes for a speedy recovery. You sure have been through a long difficult ordeal! Yoga in the Garden of Serenity is a beautiful relaxing practice, but not an easy one to find. Zyrka Landjwit's Yoga: Gentle Practice & Barbara Benagh's Yoga for Stress Relief are very nice also. They should be easy to find on Amazon. __________________ **~Pam~** Certified Level 4 Essentrics Instructor - March 2021 Hatha YTT - 2011 Your body keeps an accurate journal regardless of what you write down..... "Take care of your body. It's the only place you have to live." Jim Rohn "It’s not what we do once in a while that shapes our lives, but what we do consistently.” - Tony Robbins Check out my Instagram account, @fitness.ficti0n.inspirati0n

05-13-16, 11:30 AM
JENILU Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: AL	Oh my goodness, my thoughts and prayers are with you. Sending much love I just have no words, only love and prayers. Any yoga, to me, that increases strength, may not be stress relieving in the beginning, depending on how weak you are. I have some of your same problems (won't go into detail), but for a DVD, I think Colleen Saidman's yoga for WL is nice. It is very gentle and relaxing to me, yet there are just enough Down Dogs, etc.. to be a little bit of beginning work. http://smile.amazon.com/Colleen-Said...olleen+saidman If you like youtube, I suggest Yoga with Adriene (I can also give 30 other suggestions if you want to go the youtube route, lol). Brett larkin and Bad Yogi also have some good, short, beginner practices. I have a huge playlist saved that I call yoga for healing that I can look on if you have specific types of practices you want. Oh, Yoga Upload also has several hands free practices if you ever need that. ***Lesley Fightmaster also has a very good 30 day beginner series that starts very gently and really does start slow and build up strength/awareness over the 30 days! She is very responsive if you have questions as well. (I should have mentioned this oe first, as it is very good for the low strength beginner!) https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...3zYDVkS53PlThW __________________ Romans 5:5-9 No Greater Love!! If You Argue for Your Limitations, You Get to Keep Them! "Accept responsibility for your life. Know it is you who will get you where you want to go, noone else." Les Brown

05-13-16, 11:37 AM
sherry7899 Join Date: Jun 2003	I do not have any advice right now, but I wanted to send you some hugs I am so sorry for your losses. I can't imagine so many losses so close together. I admire you very much for getting back to movement. Please take care- Sherry __________________ "Say you are tired and you will be. Believe you are strong and you are." (Sean O'Malley) The cat in my avatar is my sweetheart named Bonkers

05-13-16, 12:09 PM
Demeris Join Date: Dec 2006	Oh, Suzy--please know that you and your loved ones are in my prayers. I can't recommend any yoga as yoga does bad things to my body, BUT I do want to second Mirabai Holland. I love her stuff and always turn to her after an illness or time away from exercise. I also want to suggest Joel Harper's work. He has a number of body weight workouts that are short and designed for older folks or folks in physical recovery. I will pray for your health and for your spirit.

05-13-16, 01:44 PM
suzy VF Supporter Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: TX	I'll be back to talk more later, but I wanted to say thank you all for your kind responses and your suggestions. I plan to check them out.

05-13-16, 02:56 PM
flowerpotcat Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: DC	((HUGS)) to you. I cannot imagine what you're going through, please accept my thoughts and prayers.

05-13-16, 04:35 PM
alisoncooks Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: TarHeel country	Wow, I am so sorry to hear what you've gone through! Do you have Jane Adams Gentle Yoga dvd? I've found it has been very gentle and stress-reducing for me.

05-13-16, 07:16 PM
beyond.omega VF Supporter Join Date: Dec 2006	Oh Suzy, I'm so sorry for everything you had to go through. Glad you are on a healing swing now, and wishing you the best in your healing journey. For easy strengthening yoga, may I recommend Erich Schiffmann's Backyard Beginner? This DVD just meets me where I am. Would also like to second Barbara Benagh's YfSR for soothing routines. But it also sounds like you have what you need with Classical Stretch. I don't know much about it (I have a few DVDs but have never done them .) But I understand some are more strengthening than others, and many people say Sahra's DVDs are more challenging? It looks like her website store has a DVD selector guide, (on the left-hand side where you select your parameters.) Maybe you can check that out. Hopefully the CS fans will chime in... ETA: When I put in the following parameters into the Essentrics Store selector: (Age:50s; Mobility:Limited; Exercise_Frequency:NeverExercise; Objectives:Toning/Strength; Medical_Purpose:SurgeryRecovery), it recommends CS Seasons 4, 7, and 9. If I change the Medical_Purpose to "Rehabilitation", it adds the Essentrics Barre Workout.