Customer Reviews

Yoga and Multiple Sclerosis: A Journey to Health and Healing

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
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2 star:		(2)
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As a longtime yoga practitioner who was diagnosed with MS several years ago, I heartily recommend this book and agree with Ms. Francina's comments, whose own books have been so important to my practice.

This book is fully illustrated with photographs taken from a variety of angles, demonstrating optimal use of props. The tone of the book is as positive as it is realistic. A variety of modifications are given for each asana, so that people at most levels of mobility can access yoga's benefits. The authors' approach is intelligent, reasoned and multifaceted.

I would also like to share a few observations and suggestions which I think might make future editions of this fine work even more useful.

The book assumes full range of motion of the arms. Many people with MS experience brachial nerve pathology as part of their MS symptom complex and cannot raise their arms above the shoulders or extend them forward or backward without exacerbating nerve issues; so it would be great to see arm modifications for some of the poses.

MS is often complicated by associated, though not necessarily causally related, issues such as osteoarthritis, disc degeneration and herniation, spinal stenosis, stiffly rounded posture, musculoskeletal overcompensation, etc., which bring their own problems. Some poses -- even generally safe modifications of classical asanas -- are contraindicated for people dealing with particular conditions, and it would be helpful to see a sentence or two with that sort of distinguishing information alongside each pose. To be sure, the authors frequently and correctly urge the reader to work with a qualified yoga instructor, but in many locations one is hard-pressed to find experienced teachers trained in the use of therapeutic yoga.

While each pose is well illustrated with photographs, it is sometimes difficult to know which photograph accompanies which text description; it would be very helpful for the photographs to be assigned figure numbers, so that they could be specifically referenced in the text.

Lastly, I hope that in the future a section can be included that will describe how to actually structure and sequence a yoga practice, especially in light of the variability of MS symptoms.

Eric Small's dedicated, compassionate service to his fellow beings, born out of personal experience, is well known, and he and Dr. Fishman have produced a long-anticipated and much-needed contribution to the field of therapeutic yoga. I am very grateful for their work.

As one of hundreds of yoga teachers across the US who has experienced workshops with Eric Small, I am thrilled at the publication of his and Dr. Loren Fishman's long-awaited book.

Diagnosed with multiple sclerosis 55 years ago at age 22, Eric holds a senior intermediate level certificate from BKS Iyengar. A master in making accessible the art of yoga to those with individual needs, limited mobility and neurological conditions, including MS, Eric teaches how to adapt and practice classical postures, using wheelchairs or chairs.

Loren is an Assistant Clinical Professor in Rehabilitation at the Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons. A longtime student of BKS Iyengar, he has used yoga in his medical practice for more than 25 years, adapting yoga to all sorts of patients and analyzing the physiological means by which yoga is helpful.

To have their 80+ years of experience and mastery distilled between the covers of a single book is an exceptional educational opportunity.

Eric writes: "In the mid-1960's I began to hear of BKS Iyengar and his unique approach to yoga. I obtained his book, Light On Yoga, and was fascinated with the application of his vast knowledge to various symptoms and diseases. I became Iyengar's student, followed his recommendations, and was thrilled to notice the improvements in the symptoms I was displaying at that time. After 10 years of study, I became certified to be one of his teachers. It was then that he suggested I begin to teach others like myself. I took up the challenge and my life unfolded to its true potential."

He adds, "I am not cured. Iyengar yoga has become the tool with which I handle the day-to-day contingencies of living with MS."

Yoga and Multiple Sclerosis addresses the needs of people experiencing symptoms, from mild to severe, across the MS spectrum, describing how yoga works in terms that novice practitioners - and their doctors --can easily understand. This book is fully illustrated with photographs taken from various angles, demonstrating optimal use of props. A variety of modifications are given for each asana, so that people at most levels of mobility can safely access yoga's benefits. Photographs and descriptions clearly show and explain the effects, advantages, and contraindications of each pose. A preface introduces the reader to yoga philosophy, placing the practice of yoga for MS within the larger context of yoga as a whole. The purpose of this book is how to experience a full and joyful yoga practice.

The cause of MS is not known, nor is there any known cure. The authors state: "It is impossible to say whether yoga directly addresses MS's pathogenic factors or the process of the illness. Yet there are many examples and some valid studies demonstrating that yoga can be of salutary benefit in each type of MS. It appears that the practice of yoga sets up an antagonistic process that is often more powerful than the degenerative effects of the disease."

They continue: "Yoga is valuable to people with MS for three reasons. First, the practice of yoga reduces functional deficits. Second, it increases self-reliance and fosters independence and can be carried out independently. And third, it is one of the principal aims, in fact the principle aim of yoga, to steady and quiet the mind."

While this book serves as the definitive guide for people with MS, the poses and techniques described here apply to numerous other conditions which limit mobility, such as cerebral palsy, stroke, Parkinson's, head trauma or spinal cord injury.

With this book, chair poses and prop set-ups hastily scribbled in my notebooks from Eric's workshops, are made readily available. Even more importantly, the presentation reflects the deep feeling Eric shows in teaching and in practice. The book, like Eric, sparkles with the joy of yoga.

Of special value are what the authors call "entry level" poses, which enable the physically challenged novice to safely practice and experience the benefit of a yoga posture. Coverage of the infinite potential of yoga shown in Chapter 2, "Wheelchair Series" and 3, "Chair Series," is far more ingenious and comprehensive than in any other book I have seen.

I highly recommend this book not only to practitioners, but to yoga teachers, health professionals, parents of children with MS, and those with aging parents. Yoga and Multiple Sclerosis definitely belongs at the top of the list of required reading for Yoga Teacher Training programs worldwide.

I wholeheartedly agree with other reviewers that Yoga and Multiple Sclerosis is destined to be a classic!

Note: The book contains a 20% off coupon code for Eric Small's Yoga video/dvd. For more information visit www.yogams.com.

Suza Francina is author of The New Yoga for People Over 50; Yoga and the Wisdom of Menopause; and The New Yoga for Healthy Aging.


(This new review appears in the Fall/Winter 2007 issue of YOGA VIDYA, Journal of the B.K.S. Iyengar Yoga Association of Southern California.)

For those with MS, Loren Fishman and Eric Small's well-illustrated book offers substantial help in coping with this illness in both its relapsing-remitting and progressive forms through the practice of Yoga, the benefits of which are grounded in solid research and long experience. Eric Small is a living testament to the power of Yoga. Loren Fishman has practiced Yoga for decades as well and is also featured in the book along with Eric Small and other Yoga practitioners.

Yoga Therapy is one of the fastest growing forms of Yoga in the US, and with it comes more specialization and focus. BKS Iyengar has been at the forefront of this specialization for decades and Eric Small acknowledges this great master's work at the outset. Students unfamiliar with the use of props typical of Iyengar Yoga are charmingly encouraged to use whatever is at hand, including a bag of flour or rice if a sandbag is unavailable.

The reader will come away with a clear idea of how to begin a practice appropriate to the student's physical capacity, with illustrations for each level. Loren Fishman's sweeping and lyrical introduction helps set this focused practice within the larger context of Yoga as a whole. Indeed, it is the nature of Yoga Therapy to place the whole person at the center of a whole practice, inviting the student to participate not only as someone with a problem, but as someone with a full life interested in exploring Yoga in all its facets. In other words, this book doesn't show a student just how to use Yoga for MS, but how to have a full Yoga practice with MS.

I agree with B. Wells that the photographs in the first section could be numbered and related to the text. I would also welcome explanations in the Benefits section for each pose of how the poses actually affect the body. One takes on faith that a pose will help with urinary disorders, for example, but for the interested and curious student, how or why that is would be welcome information.

This book is accessible and valuable to all, from beginning student to teacher wanting to help a student with MS or a student having suffered stroke or other trauma to the nervous or muscular system. Eric Small's own trajectory through MS and Yoga is inspiring.

Alison West, Ph.D., Co-Director, Yoga Union Center for Backcare and Scoliosis, NY NY

Congratulations to Eric Small and Loren Fishman on this fine book that will help thousands learn and teach yoga postures. I highly recommend this book to MS patients, the disabled, the elderly, and anyone else who is interested in starting the opening and deeping that yoga offers to us all. Superb incites and brilliant photographs showing the ways that Iyengar yoga can be adapted and made available to everyone. This book is a gift. Thanks to Mr. Small and Mr. Fishman for sharing their light with us all. And thanks to their teachers, the teachers before them, and their teachings.

As an acupuncturist/bodyworker working with clients with early MS, I was hoping to find a resource that I could recommend to someone new to yoga. This book contains a lot of good material, but it assumes too much familiarity with yoga to be useful to the general MS sufferer who is looking for complimentary ways to work with the effects of their illness. The section on chair/wheelchair yoga is good, but anyone new to yoga would need a teacher to guide them into it.

The book is not well organized; it actually seems like parts of 2 articles spliced together. The material about why/how yoga is helpful for someone with MS, which I expected at the opening of the book, is not mentioned until later on and then is not clearly presented. Actually, Loren Fishman's other book on "Yoga and Arthritis" is much more helpful to yoga teacher and potential practitioner - with arthritis or or any other structural issues or those hoping to avoid future problems.

The collaborative work of Loren M. Fishman (Assistant Clinical Professor in Rehabilitation at the Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons) and Eric L. Small (an expert yoga instructor who was diagnosed with MS at the age of 22), "Yoga And Multiple Sclerosis" is specifically designed to instruct MS patients in the benefits of yoga exercises which can be tangible beneficial for those afflicted with this neurologic disease. Ideal for the non-specialist general reader, "Yoga And Multiple Sclerosis" describes how yoga works. The text is enhanced with photographs and descriptions of each yoga pose and clearly explains their effects, advantages, and contraindications. Of special value the yoga novice are the 'starter poses' that enable the uninitiated or physically challenged to gently achieve a yoga posture. An important acquisition for personal and community library Health & Medicine instructional reference collections, "Yoga And Multiple Sclerosis" is especially recommended for those who are experiencing symptoms across the MS spectrum (including anyone in a wheelchair or who has limited mobility) and seek to raise their functional abilities and thereby foster both their physical independence and their psychological morale.

This book gives detailed illustrations and directions, but it is helpful to get a DVD of the exercises (available from the Northern & Southern California Chapters of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society at a reduced price if you purchase the book). I am unable to use most of these exercises detailed in the book as I do not have access to a certified yoga instructor (that also has certification to work with people with Multiple Sclerosis)to assist me in doing them. The book it better suited to individuals who live in larger population areas with an expert yoga instructor.

This is an invaluable resource for anyone suffering with Multiple Sclerosis or other forms of disability that can benefit from yoga. It provides multiple ways in which classic yoga poses can be achieved by the disabled with the use of props and adaptations. In this way the benefits of the poses can be attained by those who might otherwise be excluded by their disabilities. This would include seniors who have lost the flexibility they enjoyed in youth.

I have been studying with Eric Small for going on 2 years now. His personal journey of decades with MS, his remarkable adjustment to life with this troubling condition, his work in bringing the benefits of Iyengar yoga to others, his years of teaching, his dedication to the true principles of yoga and to the teachings of Mr Iyengar inform this book with a clarity and directness that make the instructions very specific and easy to follow as you progress step by step. Eric himself demonstrates many of the poses and their adaptations.

I am an MS patient and this book provides great detailed photos and descriptions for workouts of all types.

Great book; I've had a good case diagnosis for 11 years but this has been the first book that put it all together. Made a great deal of sense as I do a lot of similar things (natural diet and yoga) and my ms has never gotten worse.
Everyone should receive this when they are diagnosed. It brings hope instead of the depressing future most reading gives in regard to ms.