Yoga Therapy Yields Unlikely Bond

Rhoda Flowers plants her bare left foot and with a slight wobble lifts her right leg behind her, configuring her body into a near 90-degree angle.

Eyes closed and leaning forward far enough to topple over, she slowly exhales and maintains perfect balance. Across from Flowers, barely six inches from her face, Lynn Medow is effortlessly striking the same pose, grinning from ear to ear.

Their hands clasped together, this unlikely duo again shows a level of trust and support that goes beyond the typical instructor and patient dynamic.

"What she's been able to accomplish in the last few months, let alone since she walked in here, is amazing," said Medow, beaming with pride during a recent session at .

Though similar in age, the 59-year-old Medow, a certified yoga therapist from Bloomfield Township, and Flowers, a Detroit native recuperating from a devastating car crash, are very different people with very different backgrounds. Yet they found a common zest for life and mutual inspiration in an unexpected place: the yoga mat.

Fatefully merged by a psychologist who firmly believes in the physical and mental benefits of yoga, they became fast friends through their weekly sessions that started as a mandatory form of physical therapy, but are now simply considered a way of life.

Learning how to heal

When Flowers first showed up for help more than two years ago, she was broken.

A violent, head-on collision on a one-way street in Detroit in 2005 left her with a shattered pelvis, jaw and arm that required a handful of surgeries and three months of hospitalization to stabilize. She was confined to a wheelchair, unable to eat or speak regularly without pain, and despised physical therapy.

"I hated the treadmill, the water exercises, everything," said Flowers, 50. "It just hurt too much."

In addition to the visible physical scars that stretch nearly the length of her forearm and the width of her neck, Flowers said she also had mental scars that hadn't and still haven't fully recovered. Her best friend, who was driving the vehicle, wasn't wearing a seat belt and died on impact. So did the three youths in the other vehicle that headed up the wrong direction of a one-way street, apparently to avoid police, she said.

"I'm still dealing with all of that and it's hard because there's a lot I don't remember," the Clinton Township woman said. "But when I start to get upset, I breathe. It's a big part of my healing right now."

And it's probably the most important part for anyone recuperating from traumatic injury or battling disease, said Medow, who became a certified yoga therapist in 2007.

"One has a lot more control and the ability to realize and address what's going on in their bodies than what they imagine, and with a balanced body and balanced breathing you can really maximize the healing potential," said Medow, owner of Yoga By Design.

Because of Flowers' injuries, Medow said they started in a chair and worked their way to the mat at her comfort level.

Skeptical of yoga's usefulness at first, Flowers said Medow's technique and unquestioned care fostered immediate results.
"There was a chance for me to relax and the warmth and quietness that I felt just set it apart," she recalled. “This yoga is a calming-down program for me."

The sessions not only improved her flexibility, range of motion and recuperatatioin of her muscles, but Flowers said she's also psychologically much better equipped to handle everyday stress.

Never too late

Like Flowers, Medow said she didn't discover yoga until later in her life. She tried it for the first time at 40 and said she was hooked.

She began looking deeper into the principles behind the ancient practice and wanted to share her discoveries with others, but that wasn't always easy.

Medow said that when she first studied yoga, most people generally made a religious association with its meditative qualities. Many shunned the practice as a result, she explained, but through awareness and celebrity endorsements, yoga gained enormous popularity. The medical profession has come around, she said, and recognized the multiple ways yoga can impact patient's health.

"Initially, MDs looked at me askance, but now the doctors come to me, I think, because they see the benefits in medical treatment can through a more holistic approach," she said. "What I do complements physical therapy. I'm looking at the whole person's body, mind, and breathing."

Yoga's increased popularity also meant more potential for injuries if people practiced techniques improperly. Back injuries, like one she suffered eight years into practice, and other pain can all be avoided by learning to build up to yoga poses strategically, Medow said.

Upon identifying a market, she started helping clients develop a program of their own that they could follow and gained enough notoriety to consistently work with local high school and collegiate athletic programs to help stem severe injuries.

"They understand that what doesn't bend breaks, so flexibility and strength training are crucial pieces to the whole picture," she said of her work with athletes.

She also developed a style that balances how to push one's body just to the brink of pain, but at the same time far enough to achieve the results.

Reaching a goal

As a black woman growing up in Detroit, Flowers said she was never exposed to yoga and had a hard time ever picturing how it could help her overcome her physical challenges.

"There just aren't a lot of women like me that get a chance to do this and it's been a mind-blowing experience, for real," Flowers said. "I realize I could have had any yoga instructor in the world, but the Lord sent me Ms. Medow and she's helping me. It's really getting so much better."

The admiration flows both ways, insists Medow, who said she feels inspired by seeing Flowers walking without having to use her cane, which she carries emergencies.

"We feel we came together for a reason and I've learned as much from Rhoda as she says she's gotten from me," Medow said. "And I also believe in paying it forward, so I'm offering something to her that she'll be able to offer to others in her life."

As the only girl among seven brothers growing up, Flowers said she knew she was tough enough to overcome her injuries. But she admits mastering yoga to teach it is a big leap from where she is now.

Still, she said she won't be giving it up anytime soon, not without reaching her  goal.

"I want to run and be able to catch my grandchildren (ages 6 and 4)," she said with a broad smile. "I'm not where I want to be yet, and I'm still maybe six months away, but I'm getting my boogie on, OK!"