b'MS Focus ActivitiesPat Salner By Kimani HendricksAfter becoming a mother of two, lifelongIn 2022, Paula Scopino of Sacred Rivers New Englander Pat Salner struggled to balanceYoga asked me if Id consider leading a yoga her domestic and professional obligations.group for MS Focus: the Multiple Sclerosis She transitioned from corporate banking andFoundation, Pat said. At the time, I had no insurance to a fund developer for a nonprot.experience with it; however, one of my colleagues Because of the limited availability of tnessfrom Yoga Alliance, Hannah, who has MS, platforms at the time, the extent of Pats physicalwrote a paper on how the practice benetted activity existed between home and the office.those who lived with the disease. Between Occasionally, I swam, hiked, and cycled, buther research and the information I received not enough because of my lack of time andattending an adaptive yoga course, I felt energy, Pat said.comfortable enough to teach a class specically As years passed, she discovered enjoymentdesigned for persons with multiple sclerosis. and convenience through yoga. It was aTypically, Pats classes commence with a wonderful, relaxing way to end my day, notwelcoming introduction and encouraging all to mention that when the children got older,in attendance to nd relaxing seating positions. the only mouths I had to feed in the eveningAfterward, she guides her group in breathing were mine and my husbands, so I couldntwhile practicing upper and lower body, spine have begun practicing at a better time. Afterrotation, and core exercises. She nishes the resigning from her full-time job, Pat immersedclass with softer movements that decrease herself in extra classeswhere an instructorheart rate and closes the class with a joyful encouraged her to pursue teaching.thought or poem.I never considered leading yoga before,Throughout the class, I remind everyone Pat admitted. I wasnt sure I wanted to committhat this time belongs to them, meaning to the responsibility but, after further thought,they do only what is comfortable. I provide I saw it as something I could t into my lifestyle.modications in case a motion is not easy to Through Yoga Alliance, an organizationcomplete. For example, if one cant extend their facilitating safe and accessible yoga, Pat learnedarms all the way, they can either place them mindfulness, meditation, the philosophy ofbehind their head, hands on their waist, or yoga, and more before earning her teachingevenkeepthemtotheside whileholding certicationin2013.Sincethen,shehasonto their chairs.taught seniors and individuals with cancer, autism, and multiple sclerosis. Yoga, while often assumed to be elaborate, msfocusmagazine.org 38'