Holism Health

Adaptive Yoga SA

Holism Health offers Adaptive yoga (also known as wheelchair yoga, universal yoga or yoga for non-traditional students) to persons in Johannesburg, South Africa. Adaptive yoga is an approach that teaches universal principles inherent to yoga poses that are accessible to all students, regardless of their level of ability. However, for many people (especially those who live their lives from a wheelchair), gaining the many benefits of yoga may seem impossible. This is because modern society portrays yoga as the ability to twist your body into challenging position that most people could never dream of. Like Matthew Sanford (Adaptive Yoga Pioneer) states "the principles of yoga do not discriminate. Yoga poses do!". Yoga is actually less about the poses themselves and more about the breathing, connection and meditative aspects of the practice. Yoga should emphasis the mind-body connection rather than the final physical product. With this principle in the fore-front, yoga can be customized for every individual to suit their needs and limitations. The bad news is that a traditional yoga class might not be the best option.

Dale Guthrie, an Occupational Therapist (MSc: Neurology) passionate about neurological and spinal cord injury rehabilitation, aims to make yoga accessible to all persons, despite (dis)ability, in South Africa (SA). In this way she hopes to improve physical impairments, enhance functional ability, facilitate community participation and ultimately increase the quality of life of persons living with disability. She conceptualised this idea when traveling through india, while on a journey of gaining a deeper understanding of yoga philosphy and her own personal practice. Upon return, Dale knew that her medical background gave her the edge to take yoga further than the asana (physical practice) and change the lives of those living with neurological injury. She traveled to Minnesota in April 2017 to train with Matthew Sanford himself and bring his approach back to SA.