Re: Ellen is having a workshop

[Guest guest]

Sounds heavenly! And the live oak tree in the pic is breathtaking!

Peggy

[ ] Ellen is having a workshop

Any of you at the last retreat may remember Ellen and the fun yoga workshops she did for us, not to mention the great one-on-one myofascial work. I just got this in the mail and thought some of you might be interested:http://www.scoliyogi.com/Scoliyoga/Workshops.htmlLooks like fun...I may even sneak down there if my schedule opens up!Take Care, Cam

[Guest guest]

Ruth,

I have know Ellen for about 5 years. I came across her through a friend who had

also had revision surgery about the same time as me. We were well into our

second year of healing and looking to build on our strengths to see if we could

do more. I read all that I could find about her on her website

(http://scoliyogi.com/Scoliyoga/Home_Page.html) and then started a conversation

with her via email to see if her workshop would be beneficial to me.

After learning what the weekend for that particular workshop would entail, I

went ahead and got my surgeons permission to join in and with expectations that

it " might help, cant hurt " I spent a wonderful weekend. I learned a lot about my

own body, and I learned new ways to be more comfortable and how to achieve more

stretch. I think the biggest thing I took away from the weekend was seeing how

Ellens determination to continue to push back against the limitations of the

" scoli monster " had served her, and I became convinced that at that early stage

in recovering (~18 mos) I had a lot more to regain. No, I never took up yoga as

a daily pursuit and I probably will never be able to place my palms on the floor

or grab my ankles...but I can do lots more today than I could then....because I

have slowly pushed my stretching limits in other ways.

Ellen also did myofascial work on my hip flexors and on my psoas and I can only

tell you that I stood up off her table and felt as good as a 5 year old. I was

shocked. Apparently there was just tons of scar tissue/damage embedded in this

area that must have gotten shorter and shorter due to the encroaching flatback

posture. When I stood up the first time after surgery this was the most painful

area to me....and had continued to make it painful to walk. I admit I had been

very skeptical of the " healing arts " before this experience....but I now firmly

believe that in the right hands, and for the right problems, alternative

therapies can support and improve functioning and help manage pain levels. I do

believe I may have gotten lucky, your milage may vary based on the practitioner

you choose to work with or your condition, but if you feel you can safely say

yes to the statement " might help, cant hurt " , then what do you really have to

lose?

As you read Ellens story I think you will find that you have two surgeons in

common (Keim and Boachie), and with that as a starting point I would encourage

you to send Ellen an email and try to determine where your current situation

might fit with her workshops and your needs and goals. She is ordinarily very

accessible and responsive.

My experience with Ellen is that she is an amazing bodyworker...and I would

guess this stems from her training in yoga and massage....and naturally her

intimate understanding of living in a long fusion. I think you could do a lot

worse than spending a weekend with her seeing if she can help in some way,

physically or mentally. I say mentally because I know that there were huge

benefits for me in sitting in a room for several days with women who had walked

in my shoes. Thats a rare circumstance for us scolis and it really was a very

healing experience for me.

Let me know what you do, and if you attend, please share your experiences.

Take Care, Cam