Bio: Paul Zeiger, 73, spent 45 years in electrical engineering and computer science. He was chairman of the computer science department at the University of Colorado at Boulder and a director at U S West.
Zeiger and his wife, Carolyn, a psychologist, retired to Tucson, where they helped develop a “retirement community for people who prefer concerts and lectures and courses to golf,” says Zeiger, a longtime yoga practitioner and teacher. “I had found myself developing a specialty in the aging body, 65- to 85-year-olds.”
The challenge: Five years ago, the mysterious mix of motor and autonomic nervous system problems that had troubled Zeiger for six months was diagnosed as Parkinson’s disease, a degenerative neurological disorder. Symptoms include tremors, slowness of movement, arm stiffness and balance problems.
The couple’s retirement plans changed dramatically. They moved back to Denver, to be closer to family and connections in the medical community, and found a calling in teaching yoga to Parkinson’s patients.
The yoga: Zeiger’s approach is informed by his own practice of many years of a style of hatha yoga called Anusara, which means “flowing with grace and nature.” This school of yoga gives priority to revealing the student’s own inner beauty (while maintaining safe and beneficial pose alignments). The approach dovetails nicely with the challenges presented by Parkinson’s.
“For starters, there’s balance,” says Zeiger. “Working with seniors, balance is trainable. Any exercise discipline that trains balance is a good idea. Parkinson’s tends to get in the way of your range of motion, and yoga works specifically against that.”
Yoga helps with body awareness and breathing as well — both challenges to the Parkinson’s patient. “You have to be very aware of where in space the various parts of your body are,” says Zeiger. “There’s a lot of emphasis on breath and conscious breathing. Parkinson’s stiffens up your breathing apparatus.”
For his weekly class at the Scheitler Recreation Center in Denver’s Berkeley Park, Zeiger adapted the yoga poses as he learned what worked for him, and for others’ varying symptoms. The class is sponsored by the Parkinson Association of the Rockies, which offers support groups and other classes around Denver.
“You have to have some way of dealing with the fact that some people have terrible balance problems, or strength problems, or coordination. It falls to the instructors to cover the differences,” says Zeiger, whose wife and another volunteer help conduct the class.
“People with Parkinson’s tend to be go-getters. You have to kind of encourage them not to overdo it,” says Zeiger. He has to tell himself the same thing. “It’s not easy to do, and it’s not easy for me either.”
While he’s a teacher and practitioner, Zeiger is also a scientist. He acknowledges that much more research has yet to be done into how exercise — and which exercises — help with Parkinson’s.
“At the moment, all that’s known is exercise seems to help. Since yoga is what I know, that’s what I went with. I’m not trying to sell yoga in competition with other forms of exercise.”
Zeiger says the subtleties of yoga contribute to a finer awareness of his physical and emotional responses to the disease.
He finds that “mini-practices” throughout the day are more manageable than a full one- or two-hour session.
His neurologist concurs. “All of my patients in yoga therapy enjoy it. I cannot state from a scientifically verified standpoint that they are happier or less likely to fall, but from a purely subjective observation, they do appear more confident and sure-footed,” wrote Dr. Adam Wolff of Denver in Yoga Therapy Today.
The emotional toll: Facing a debilitating diagnosis can be an emotional challenge, as well as a physical one. “You don’t want to suppress the anger. You don’t want to beat yourself up,” says Zeiger. “You don’t want to put yourself down for what you can’t do. It ain’t your fault, it’s those neurons.”
Zeiger has found a way to speak positively about his altered retirement. “It’s an opportune moment for me. Ten, 15 years ago people would roll over and turn into statues. I think that there’s a revolution going on in the management of Parkinson’s.”
As one of three yoga teachers with Parkinson’s in the country, Zeiger is doing his part, one pose at a time.
Kristen Browning-Blas: 303-954-1440 or kbrowning@denverpost.com
Classes in yoga, balance, tai chi
Paul Zeiger teaches yoga for Parkinson’s patients 11 a.m.-noon Wednesdays at the Scheitler Recreation Center in Berkeley Park, 5031 W. 46th Ave. Sponsored by the Parkinson Association of the Rockies, the free class requires a doctor’s permission and a liability release form. Contact the association for more details, 303-830-1839.
The Parkinson Association of the Rockies sponsors support groups and classes in yoga, balance and tai chi. More at .
For more on Paul and Carolyn Zeiger, go to .
