Yoga Happiness

Yoga Happiness  by Anna Evans

In addition to our regular communication focused programming, we believe that it is important to address and support the other challenges our members face on a daily basis.  One of these areas of difficulty is mobility and balance.  In order to meet this need, we have partnered with Burgundie (Burg) Miceli, a local yoga instructor at Happiness Yoga Studio.

Burg initially became involved with our group after making a donation to our Open House Raffle and subsequently offering to teach yoga classes to our members.  Burg has a personal connection to our mission and cause since her mother has also experienced aphasia.  Since then, Burg has been working with our clients for almost a year and has taught 2 classes per month each semester.  We have been so lucky to have her as part of our team and enjoy every session with her.  Burg explains that “We have fun doing it! Even those that grumbled about doing yoga (you know who you are, wink wink!) still did what they could and enjoyed some aspect of it!”  Additionally, Burg reflects that she has seen significant improvement in the balance of our members.  “Overall, just being able to move their bodies and work on both left and right sides was good for everyone!”  Lastly, in addition to balance and strength training, Burg has also shared specific breathing techniques to help cope during stressful situations.

Just like many of our members, Burg is in a transition of her own.  In the next month, she will be moving to Missoula, Montana to work with aphasia clients full time at the Big Sky Aphasia Program at the University of Montana.  We are sincerely grateful for Burg and her contributions to the OSU Aphasia Initiative and wish her the best of luck in her next endeavor!

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