“I believe that we all have the capacity to overcome adversity. However, this requires that we have compassionate support and intelligent guidance.”

Welcome to Atlas Yoga Studio and School. We are glad that you are here. You are on the right page if you or someone you love has Parkinson’s Disease or is a Caregiver for someone who has Parkinson’s Disease or other similar conditions. Yoga is an effective way for Parkinson’s sufferers and their Caregivers to increase flexibility and ward off the rigidity associated with PD and reduce the physical, mental, spiritual and emotional challenges of caring for someone who has PD. Muscle spasms, atrophy and rigidity associated with movement disorders often restrict balance, range of motion and sleep. Research shows that the benefits of yoga for movement disorders and the stress of caring for those who have this condition, include improved strength, flexibility, balance, overall fitness and quality of life. Doing something fun together improves the quality of our relationships.

Program at a Glance

Are you ready to transform your life with community, movement and renewed energy and stamina?

Then we wholeheartedly invite you to the Yoga for People with Parkinson’s Disease and their Caregivers. In this program you will be supported by Expert Yoga Teachers, Elisabeth Kolenko, Crystal Thagard, Michele Hopkins and Senior Yoga Therapist, Denise Davis-Gains. Each week you can attend yoga classes, if you are unable to attend a recording will be sent to you so that you do not miss your class. We will be offering individual intake sessions so that we can support you where you are and understand your individual concerns and goals of the program.

In this Yoga for Parkinson’s Program you will have access to

Three yoga classes per week that support where you are and where you would like to be. One of the issues with Parkinson’s is that we stop moving and become more sedentary and often our level of wellness declines not as much due to the condition as to how we manage the condition. Remember the resistance to exercise is part of the condition and the overwhelm that goes with it.
- Chair Yoga - Mondays at 1pm live online
- Sing-a-long Voice Work - Tuesdays at 1pm live online
- Chair Yoga - Wednesdays at 1pm live online
- Yoga Trance Dance - Thursdays at 1pm live online (no dance skills required)
- Samasa Yoga - Fridays at 1pm live online (must be able to get to the floor and back up for this practice class)
- Anytime use the recordings to practice - chair yoga, samasa yoga, yoga nidra, yoga trance dance, meditation and more.
- The Fall 2024 Session includes a 1 x Month Health Coach (this is an experimental program and may not be included in the future - you can still access the service but there may be an additional charge).
- Anytime check in with Parkinson’s Yoga Teachers who can answer questions and provide some coaching for folks who are interested in staying fit and well.
- Access to our Slack Community space for communication, recording links, chat with others and our teachers.
A weekly reminder to practice Yoga Nidra recording (a relaxing meditation) and link to a recording delivered into your email or text inbox, specifically designed for people with Parkinson’s and their Caregivers. Yoga Nidra has been known to improve sleep quality and take the mind into a similar state to deep REM sleep - this is where important brain functions can take place.
Regularly receive newsletters jam packed with tools to improve quality of life. Spotify play lists for listening and using to get simple chores done at home. Dancing is one of the best forms of daily quality physical activity according to many research studies, especially for those with Parkinson’s Disease. So dance the blues away. Other goodies and opportunities to contribute to the newsletter for those who would like to share their art, poetry, prose or stories.
You will have a private intake session and the opportunity to be a case study for Elisabeth Kolenko’s research if you so choose.
You will have access to the community through a Slack Group. A free app that we use to create deep community connection, reassuring access to resources and links to all the materials that are included in your experience.

These classes are held live online and are recorded. After class, We will email all registered students a link to the recording whether you attend or not. Use them as many times or in any amount you find useful until the link expires.

Yoga’s Impact on People with Parkinson’s Disease

Elisabeth Kolenko

In early 2006, my life changed. I was involved in an accident which resulted in severe back, spine, and shoulder pain. I tried physiotherapy, acupuncture, massage therapy, and lots of pre-scriptions for pain management. I thought I was stuck, that this would be my life forever.
After searching for the “answer” in many different places, I found yoga. Shortly
thereafter, I noticed that I had less pain, was moving better, gained back some of my previous strength, and improved my range of motion. It was at that point that I realized how impactful Yoga was for me and could be for others as well. So I dedicated the next 10 years to learning, practicing, and eventually teaching people how to feel stronger in their body through the use of yoga.
My passion is to help you feel
stronger in your body, move in a way that feels good, and maximize your potential for living an active, healthy, and fulfilled lifestyle.
I am a M.A., RYT 550 Yoga Teacher and a Certified Holistic Health and Wellness
Coach and currently enrolled in the 1000hr Yoga Therapy Program with Atlas Yoga School

Discovering that you or a loved one has Parkinson’s Disease can be Traumatizing.

Here at Atlas Yoga Studio we want you to feel supported and help you to learn to live with this very challenging condition.

Trauma can occur when:

There is too much too soon
There is too much for too long
There is not enough for too long
Power and agency have been taken away from the person or collective
The stressors outweigh the resources available to navigate them
When our primal protective instincts, intuitions, and responses are thwarted
There is not enough time, space, or permission to heal

It is essential that we consider social, developmental, and cultural factors when reflecting on a our trauma history.

The symptoms of trauma may occur immediately or emerge over time from the compounding stress and challenges of processing and adapting to the experiences of life. Symptoms of trauma emerge as the body and mind attempt to cope with and resolve the stressors.

The effects of trauma may include:

Physical symptoms such as headaches, dizziness, tightness in the body, muscle tension, digestion challenges, and constrictions around the breath.
Emotional symptoms such as flatness / inability to feel fear, anxiety, panic, overwhelm, loss of choice, difficulty feeling comforted, anger, and shame.
Psychological symptoms such as dissociation, mental rumination, low self worth, negative self talk, self blame, memory challenges, depression, and loss of interest in activities.
Relational / Social symptoms such as isolation, loneliness, relational and attachment reenactments.

Trauma can lead to feelings of powerlessness, helplessness, and groundlessness. It interferes with our ability to feel real in body and mind, it disrupts our very sense of existence, and takes us away from the present moment. However, as Dr. Peter Levine, creator of Somatic Experiencing says “Trauma is a fact of life. It does not have to be a life sentence.” You may have to live with Parkinson’s but you do not have to live with the traumatic symptoms that go with this diagnosis.

Symptoms are the gateway to healing trauma. Our job as practitioners and educators is to listen and hear the messages and wisdom encoded in the body and provide tools to manage and release those symptoms.

Director,
Denise Davis-Gains

This course is a culmination of a life-time of work on bringing the tools of yoga, meditation and mindfulness to the public in a way that does no harm and/or less damage. We often start with an idealized vision of what it is to be a yoga teacher, a yoga therapist, a trainer of yoga teachers. And then the clients, the students show up and this is when real learning takes place. One day I was teaching yoga and everyone had relaxed for a nice long Yoga Nidra session and with a little book in my hand, a few thoughts collided in my mind and I began to wonder about Yoga Nidra and Parkinson’s Disease. That was over 10 years ago now, after many years of studying the condition, the treatments, the neurobiology of the condition, assisting in programming at the Kripalu Centre and working with folk who have the condition and their caregivers we have developed our signature program to support people with Parkinson’s and their Caregivers. We hope that you enjoy the program and that we can make life just a little sweeter for you and your families. Welcome to our community. We look forward to serving you.

Who is this program for?

This program is an experiential yoga practice program, you are lead each week in a series of yoga postures, gestures, mantras and somatic movements as well as somatic sensing exercises. It is a great program for …

People who have just been diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease, Lewy Bodies Disease and other musculoskeletal and dementia conditions
People who have been dealing with their diagnosis for any length of time
People who care for them
People who are interested in how to care for themselves as the learn how to care for a loved one with these conditions
Yoga teachers or other movement therapists who would like to work with people who have PD

Yoga Journey with Parkinson's Disease — The Journey to Wholeness

It is your road. Others may walk it with you but no one can walk it for you. Rumi

What to Expect

We had fun creating a curriculum improving range of motion movement, balance, gait regulation and dexterity.

The Program starts with understanding some of the basics of yoga.
Each class will build on skills learned in previous class.
There is a little bit different language in yoga and can take a couple of classes to get used to anatomical, directional and traditional yoga names of poses.
You should feel a little calmer, more relaxed and a little less stressed after the first session.
The more often that you practice the better you can feel. Practicing yoga 1-2 x week up to once a day for 6 days a week is adequate to make life long changes in quality of life.
If you try one or two things from class one or two times day your progress will be faster and you will improve muscle memory, the recruitment of neural pathways to easier movement.
You may enjoy the community aspect of the program as well. Being Live Online makes this program accessible and inclusive and you may find that you make friends with other folks who have the same or similar challenges that you do.

Register Now

Be a Part of the Evolution of
Yoga for People with Parkinson’s and Their Caregivers

Research on Yoga for special population is on the rise and for good reason. More and more researchers, movement exercise specialists, doctors, nurses, physiotherapists and kinesiologists are finding that the practices of yoga, across the board, are offering a non-invasive, drug-free, add-on therapy that improves quality of life and overall wellness of both the person with Parkinson’s and their Caregiver.

In a recent study, home-based mindfulness yoga training were delivered via video-conferencing software (Zoom) in eight bi-weekly 90-min sessions. This study measured functional balance, motor symptoms, perceived balance confidence, perceived freezing of gait symptoms, anxiety and depression, mindfulness and HRQOL using a tele-assessment approach at baseline and 1-week post-intervention. All participants were invited to attend qualitative individual interviews to explore their experience of using online mindfulness yoga program as a lifestyle intervention for PD rehabilitation.

All participants were able to learn and practice mindfulness yoga following the eight bi-weekly online mindfulness yoga training sessions, without any significant adverse events. Tele-assessment of outcomes were feasible and uneventful. Qualitative feedback revealed participants had a high preference of using the tele-rehabilitation approach to stay mindful and being active, both physically and socially, while confronting the changes brought by COVID-19 pandemic. (https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12906-022-03519-y)

Help us to continue to improve our program by filling out our preprogram survey, click on the link below…

Take the Survey

Testimonials … what people are saying about Yoga & Parkison’s

Gerry P., attending since 2020: “I have never been a person who enjoyed exercising but I have done yoga regularly because it really helps me feel and function better. The math is easy to figure out—an hour of yoga and I’ll feel better for the rest of the day about 12 to 14 hours. For reasons I don’t understand, it makes my meds work longer; so less off time.”

John and Mary 2023: John was diagnosed with Lewey Bodies Disease in December 2022 and his health was deteriorating, he was using a walker and losing his speech, falling and having trouble swallowing and with general cognition. Within 2 weeks of doing land and aqua based yoga, following a complimentary medicine routine recommended by Denise, John was walking without his walker, speaker clearly so that others could and had an overall reduction in pain (foot neuropathy) of about 40%. Within 4 weeks an an increase sex drive and participation in household chores, family decision making and overall increase in enjoyment of life by about 50%. John and Mary continue to have group and private sessions weekly as they find John regresses if he does not do the yoga routinely and Mary finds it easier to motivate John if he has a meeting with the instructor to support him.

Mark S.., attending since 2015: “Since attending, my flexibility, balance and outlook have improved. My neurologist has been amazed by my progress. Denise, the instructor, says the challenge is within, emphasizing effort, but not risking injury or strain. The group offers support, humor and kinship for those with Parkinson’s Disease.”

Kim B., attending since 2019: “Yoga has helped me tremendously. I quickly discovered many unexpected benefits. My voice is stronger, I sleep better, I move better and I feel more relaxed. I found myself wishing I had begun sooner in life. One would be well advised to stay with it, though, because the benefits increase with time, practice and commitment. The best part is that yoga is fun.”

Olga and Reggie, attended since 2010: “Yoga Nidra is our favourite. For Reggie the symptoms disappear during the session and we both come away feeling refreshed and just a little more patient with teach other. Also everyday tasks just done seem as challenging on the days when we practice.”

Healing hands — Angels

“Healing is never complete until we have been truly heard. May the universe send you someone who will sincerely care to listen.”
- Anthon St. Maarten

F A Q’s

Do I need special equipment and clothes to practice Yoga …You can wear any comfortable clothing, and all you need is a chair and a little space around you to practice.

When … the next session November 4th, 1pm EST

Format … All classes will be live online through a zoom link.
There are recorded sessions that are available for asynchronistic use any time during the session you are registered in.

Tuition …
The regular price 150.00 for 10 weeks for one class. Parkinson’s Canada is providing support so that we can offer a deeply discounted experience to help People with Parkinson’s and their Care-givers access quality health programming.
Special Parkinson’s Society Discounted Rate 100.00 for the program plus all the bonus material and recordings of the sessions.

Length of Course and time commitment …The course will be 9 weeks long - 4 sessions per week.

STUDENT ORIENTATION
Book your personal assessment with and see if this program is right for you here …

Denise Davis-Gains
[email protected]

WEEKLY CLASSES

Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays & Fridays 1pm.
or use the recordings to practice any time of day.

COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS
A Slack group will be set up so that you can connect and share experiences, wins and challenges with other participants. The research demonstrates that community connection can be essential to improved quality of life.

Registration … you can pre-register now to ensure your space. Registration is open.

Do I need to attend live or am I am able to watch the recordings?
There are live online sessions and pre-recorded classes available. Please note, captioning is only available during live sessions.

How can I interact with the instructors? Will I receive guidance?
During each of the live sessions, the instructor will have a Q&A period where you may ask questions. If you choose to keep your camera on the instructor is able to provide feedback on alignment and safety. If you prefer not to be on camera we trust you to listen to your body and not do anything that does not feel right for you at this time. You will also be invited to Slack (a free app that can be downloaded to your phone, ipad or computer - our community space for resources and connection.

How to Register:

https://app.acuityscheduling.com/catalog.php?action=addCart&clear=1&id=1534237&owner=18613794

Who is this course designed for?
People with Parkinson’s Disease or other movement and cognitive disorders and their Caregivers.

Is there a deadline for registration?
You can register anytime. If the program has started you will have access to the videos of past classes or can pay for just the live sessions that you attend.

Do you offer refunds?
We offer a Registration Guarantee which means that if you register but decide the course isn’t right for you, we’ll refund your course fee - no questions asked - up to 48 hours before the course start date.

How can I access the online course and recordings?
ZOOM FOR LIVE SESSIONS: The live portion of the program will be offered online using the video conferencing platform Zoom, in meeting format, to allow instructors and students to interact, ask questions and participate in breakout sessions.

ACCESSIBILITY | Video / Audio: Live classes online and pre-recorded video to use as often as you like.

ACCESSIBILITY | Live Captioning / Transcripts: Captioning during live online sessions and transcripts can be saved.

Chair Yoga Parkinson's Disease — Go in and in

Transform at the speed of your breath.

WHAT YOU’LL LEARN

You don’t have to be flexible to do yoga. Yoga is for people who want, among other things, to become more flexible. Much of the Yoga for People with Parkinson’s practice is done from a seated position (chair or mobility device), or standing, using a chair back for balance.
Yoga is not just for women. Yoga for People with Parkinson’s classes average equal numbers of men and women and when you add in the care givers it becomes a pretty balanced class in most sessions.
Yoga for People with Parkinson’s classes focus on delivering a well-rounded regimen of stretching, strengthening, and balance exercises. Even students who have practiced yoga before are surprised by the workout they get and at the same time how accessible the teacher makes the poses.
To increased flexibility, balance better, improve strength, reduce muscle cramps, sleep better, easier breathing and greater sense of well-being.
Routines that can help to make everyday life a little easier and calmer.

“Immobilization without fear is what we call intimacy. All our defences are gone when we hold each other and are near each other. We don’t need words because our bodies conform and feel safe with each other. ”

— Stephen W. Porges

Program Intentions

“The goal in this class is to help students experience greater physical, mental, spiritual and emotional freedom. We work to increase flexibility, strength, and balance, which leads to greater ease in daily life and improved overall well-being. As a result of doing yoga, daily activities can be more fluid and the things you care about more accessible.”