Individual Private Sessions

 

An Affordable Yoga and Jin Shin Jyutsu Program for people with Parkinson’s Disease

 

with H. Paul Zeiger, Ph.D. and

Carolyn Allen Zeiger, Ph.D.

 

Both researchers and clinical practitioners have discovered that movement therapy can help people with Parkinson’s Disease (PD) maintain and even regain some function. Some go so far as to say that such approaches can slow the progression of the disorder, or at least the emergence of symptoms.

 

When Paul was diagnosed with PD, we immediately began to draw on yoga and energy work to improve his function and comfort. Three months later, friends and family, as well as his neurologist, were impressed by the marked reduction in his symptoms. The neurologist was pleased to delay putting him on medication for several more months, and encouraged us to continue what we were doing as an adjunct to medical treatment.

 

We use a combination of Jin Shin Jyutsu® flows and yoga poses that we and others have found help PD patients continue their normal life and keep their independence as much, and for as long, as possible. In addition to the individual sessions, there are simple, easy exercises that patients and their family members/caregivers can learn to do to support this goal.  This program is pleasant, non-threatening and even fun!

 

What:   Individual sessions

When:  By appointment, morning or afternoon

Where: Private studio in NW Denver

Fee:      $40 per 1 ½  hour session with two practitioners

 

The disciplines used in the program:

Yoga: Paul’s is a heartfelt approach, drawn from numerous trainings and long experience, much of it with ageing bodies. It emphasizes respect for the student’s individual characteristics and needs. Competition is avoided—in terms of either comparisons to one’s former level of functioning or to an imagined ideal. Instead, the student focuses on simply opening the heart while gaining the greatest benefit from each pose as it is available to him or her in the present moment.

Benefits of yoga:

• Improves flexibility and range of motion
• Enhances strength and endurance
• Improves balance and stability
• Quiets and focuses the mind
• Increases physical and mental energy

 

Jin Shin Jyutsu® (JSJ) is an ancient Japanese approach to releasing stagnant energy that accumulates along various pathways throughout the body. The practitioner uses a light touch, applied through clothing, while the recipient is lying in a comfortable position.

In JSJ, life challenges are viewed as projects to engage with rather than problems that burden us.

Benefits of Jin Shin Jyutsu:

• Promotes a positive, can-do attitude
• Removes blocks to the natural flow of energy
• Restores harmony to the body, mind and spirit
• Eases tension in muscles and joints to enhance the student’s yoga poses

 

The instructors:

Paul Zeiger is recently retired as an Anusara-inspired™  teacher. Paul has over 300 hours of training as a yoga teacher, including therapeutic yoga, and is fortunate to have studied intensively with John Friend, the originator of Anusara® Yoga. As both a senior and Parkinson’s patient himself, Paul is especially attuned to the challenges of both PD and the ageing body. Paul brings a mind honed by the discipline and precision of a Ph.D. in engineering and a long career in academia and industry, plus a gentle heart expanded by 35 years of meditation practice. He has been teaching yoga for 19 years. For the past 10 years, he has taught yoga to seniors and others with significant physical challenges.

 

Carolyn Zeiger is a certified practitioner of Jin Shin Jyutsu, which she has studied for 16 years. She has a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology, and brings to this work the sensitivity and compassion developed through doing psychotherapy and teaching for over 40 years.  She too has 35 years of meditation practice. Carolyn works with Paul demonstrating the yoga poses and supporting the student’s efforts, while Paul joins her in enhancing the power of the JSJ treatments.

 

The student leaves the individual session with written directions for continuing this work on their own at home. Family members/caregivers are welcome to join in learning the self-help exercises to support the student’s continuing efforts.

 

Please note: This is neither a medical nor a psychological treatment, and therefore, is not eligible for insurance reimbursement.  To make the program affordable, however, we charge a low fee.

 

Call for more information and to make appointments:  303-954-8595.

 

Endorsement of Paul’s teaching from Darren Rhodes, a senior Anusara yoga teacher and teacher-trainer, and the owner of Yoga Oasis in Tucson, AZ where Paul was both a student and teacher for several years:

 

Dear Paul,

 

Thank you for the inspiration, devotion and dedication your presence brought to Yoga Oasis. You became a powerful example of what is possible—for both students and teachers.  I am sure that the way you face this major obstacle of Parkinson’s will continue to inspire others and reveal what’s possible, and that you will become a remover of obstacles for many.  I am honored to support your teaching. 

 

Blessings, Darren    2/2007