"I was 5 when I was diagnosed with a rare, cancerous tumor. It was 1967, the survival rate was below 20%. Laying in my hospital bed, my family around me, a priest came to perform last rites. Against the odds, I survived, & after a year of chemotherapy & radiation, I found remission"
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"I discovered yoga very young, & 'played' at it whenever I could. But at 13, I noticed a lump on my lower left tibia. The cancer was back—& was advanced. Within days, doctors amputated my left leg below the knee & started chemotherapy. I was terrified & traumatized
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With help from my yoga practice, I persisted. For the next 17 years. In those days, I had a clunky below-knee prosthetic leg; the design hadn’t changed since World War II. I adapted & invented poses to work with what I had at the time. Yoga teachers didn’t know what to do with me, yet I kept showing up
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When I was 33, the long-term effects of radiation, chemotherapy, & surgery took their toll. My kidneys failed, & I was placed on dialysis for the next 11 years
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Four years later, in 1999, I had a series of powerful visions. One figure told me I would become a teacher. In another, a yogi anointed me .
I decided to try out a new yoga studio I’d seen on a flyer. To my disbelief, I noticed a photo of the yogi who had anointed me in my dream. I also spotted a catalogue advertising a teacher training
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I received my certification later that year
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Before my kidney transplant in 2006, I spent 11 years having dialysis three times a week & it was yoga that gave me something to look forward to. Yoga has saved me so many times I’ve lost count. It kept me flexible—physically & mentally—when my instinct was to be rigid, fearing for my life
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I taught my first Yoga for Amputees workshop in 2008, & today my organization offers trainings & resources across the world. I also launched the Amputee Yoga Association, connecting amputee yoga teachers & recently published a book 'Yoga for amputees : The Essential Guide to Finding Wholeness After Limb Loss. My intention is to help people awaken to their own strength 🙏
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