Many people have never heard of MSA , so I thought it a good idea to do this blog to raise awareness and maybe inspire teachers to work with students with complex neurological disorders. This is an example of a session we did today. It was very successful.

I’m blessed with Debbie as a student, she was first diagnosed with Parkinson’s and came to me for 1 on 1 training, this diagnosis was changed to MSA - a much rarer and trickier neurological disorder.

Please note I am not a medic or physio - I am a yoga and pilates teacher. I have a good eye and a good instinct and some experience, I also really love and care for Debbie and anything that helps her and helps us to raise awareness around MSA is a good thing.

If you would like to donate to Declan’s go fund me page for research into MSA here is the link. https://gofund.me/5dfc1f37

So today we worked with a solid bar on the wall with 2 loop stretch bands - medium strength - link is here https://physiosupplies.ie/products/allcare-power-loops-exercise-bands. These bands are brilliant and cheap.

Obviously use common sense , do this with someone, make sure your bar is properly installed. Mind yourself and your clients.

All exercises are in the carousel above.

Ok - our first goal was to get Debbie up to standing - her balance system is very challenged so the bar is a no brainer. Just being able to get up and out of the chair to standing is massive - this was a great success today. Repeat a good few times.

Then we think about head position, her head likes to drop so having a nice picture in front reminds her to lift up her head and put it between the shoulders. This is hard and has to be constantly cued. This is mostly due to the fear of falling.

Now I ask her to turn her head to the left, then to the right, then look up. We do a good few reps of this. Check in with dizzy levels. With MSA blood pressure is a massive factor. Just standing can cause shifts in blood pressure so always check in when you go from standing to sitting, and between every exercise.

I could see she was very sturdy on the legs so I asked her to hold the bar with one hand and then the other, this was no bother to her and she was very confident to do this. Building confidence in standing all the time. She does feel when she takes the left arm off that she is going to the left, I observed no weight shift so we took it as a feeling but not a reality.

Then we went to an exercise for the ankles , with 2 hands on the bar , lift heels and lower them. 7 times, repeat 3 times.

Then we did half squats 7 reps , 3 times.

Sit down take a break

Then we went for a deep squat. She loves this feeling of lengthening and stretching. Big input here for the nervous system. She gives deep satisfied breaths and happy sounds emanate. I’m wondering if she will get up unassisted - she does. She then decides it would be better with her feet wider and knees wider. I love this as it shows her brain working out “ how can this feel better?” , basically proprioception is on. Brilliant. All so important and let your client be intuitive, you have to watch and listen, step in when necessary but step back whenever you can.

Now she sits in the chair with her back to the bar. With a band in one hand, playing with the tension , she stretches the band, holds for 7, then releases with control. This looks like an arm exercise but it’s a core exercise. The core engages immediately. I ask her “ can you feel your tummy?” She says “ yes” , bingo happy days. Her left side struggles a lot more, so we lower the tension on the band a little and same exercise, checking in , is the core working this side ? Yes it is, Brillo pads. This means her core activation is good. More points for Debbie.

Facing the bar we put the band around her ankle. Reverse the chair to where the tension feels right. Then bend your knee and pullback the foot under the chair. This activates the hamstring , and whole back line of the leg , keeping the muscles of walking well exercised. Do 9 repeat 3 times. We lessen the tension on the left side , move closer to the wall and maybe lower the reps and repeats. Again use your intuition. If your client is holding their breath or using other muscles to do the exercise you’ve got to change something.

This was enough for one day. Debbie is very strong and very focused on maintaining her fitness and muscles. She is also passionate about raising awareness around MSA. If you would like to donate to Declan’s go fund me page here it is - he’s running the Dublin Marathon in aid of MSA research. If you found this helpful message me and I’ll do another.