Meet Martha Patt

 After interviewing my sister for our case study report, I was curious and felt compelled to look a little deeper into multiple sclerosis.  Particularly people living with MS and what methods they used to continue being healthy, ease tightness, ease fatigue, work with balance, mental focus, as well as keeping a positive outlook on life.  Since I have already explored horses and dance - well those of you who know me really well - would only guess that this time I would go about searching for ways to find how yoga could be worked into the mix. I have to say I really love the fact that occupational therapy allows for me, and all of us who are about to be practicing or who already are, to use what we love and add that to our OT tool belt. It really is just a wonderful thing! Ok so on with it….

In my investigation I stumbled upon an article from Yoga International, a well known yoga magazine that once was available in print but like so many publications, is now only available online. The title of the article is - A Life Worth Living: Yoga & MS.

This article is a story about Martha Patt and how yoga gave her, as Martha puts it, the courage, nobility, and strength to help drive her life forward. When Martha was 21, she noticed a blind spot in her eye that just seemed to come out of nowhere. She thought she was losing her eye but in about two weeks it went away. A year later her right hand went limp for about two months, she could drive but not write, and again just like before it went away.  A couple years later she woke up with trouble and weakness in her left arm, loss of sensation in her diaphragm and feet, and a terrible severe pain in her legs that went from her knees to her toes. When Martha was 26 years old, she was diagnosed with MS. That same year her partner left her, she was laid off from work and was advised to get on welfare. Martha being the “mighty” person that she is knew she had to make a plan. Martha had been taking yoga off and on for about three years,she noticed that one pose in particular was very helpful for her, Hero Pose. In hero pose she felt relief from the pain in her legs that was always with her. She also found great relief form rocking chair, and forward bends. Martha decided she would begin to practice yoga as well as practice meditation every day. She also met with the California Department of Rehabilitation and was able to go back to school and work towards a degree in business. It was then that Martha “gave herself three years to decide if life with MS was worth living” (Sexton). Staying committed to her yoga and meditation practice, Martha did in fact decide life was worth living. She also received her degree in business and met her now husband Bill.

            Martha is very dedicated to her yoga and meditation practice even now, many years after her diagnosis. Every morning she practices for 20 minutes and every evening after work she practices for 45 minutes. The symptoms that she experiences the most that yoga helps to minimize are, loss of sensation, spasticity, and chronic pain in her legs. Martha studies and practices Iyengar yoga, which is a type of yoga that focuses on alignment of the pose for each individual. It is a slow and methodical practice that requires a lot of focus bringing about a quiet calmer mind and body. Iyengar yoga will incorporate the use of props such as blankets, blocks, straps, chairs, and walls. The purpose is to help each student find the most helpful and effective way for the pose to work for each individual and their specific needs.

Martha not only is a student she also became a teacher and now teaches yoga specializing in teaching to people who have MS. She is a great motivator and loves to introduce yoga to people who did not know yoga was even out there and that it can offer such healing potential. Through the years Martha has also helped to organize many yoga workshops with well known teachers who specialize in teaching yoga to people with MS. Martha is passionate about spreading the positive possibilities that come from yoga. I am very inspired by Martha's story. Her drive and determination seem to be contagious. And her respect and gratitude for the calming stillness that comes from practicing yoga are insightful. I will definitely be passing this article on to my sister.

 

Sexton, S. A life worth living: yoga & ms. Yoga International. https://yogainternational.com