Yoga Therapy for ME, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Chronic Illness with Fiona Agombar Date: Saturday 9 and Sunday 10 June 2012 Cost: £160 Venue: Special Yoga Centre, London Date: 17th and 18th November 2012 Venue: Hebden Bridge, Calderdale Yoga Centre, 1st Floor, 38 Hangingroyd Lane, Hebden Bridge, W.Yorks, HX7 7DD

ME is a serious illness affecting more than 250,000 people in the UK. Many come to yoga after having found little relief from allopathic medicine. Other illnesses can also cause chronic fatigue including MS, depression, arthritis and cancer. This training is designed to give you the knowledge to work with, and to assist students with all these conditions. Many yoga teachers come across students with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) but have no idea how to give the correct advice. If applied with the right understanding however, yoga can make a major difference to illnesses such as ME and may lead towards recovery.

By the end of the course you will have a good understanding of ME and Chronic Fatigue, what causes these conditions and how to recognise them. You will understand how to teach yoga in a way which is effective, gentle and appropriate to the individual and which will promote healing, energy and change. At the most practical level, you will have learnt at least two remedial routines, including some chair work, which you can use with students. You will also have advice on how to set up special groups for those with chronic conditions in your area.

What you will cover during the course:

• An explanation of what ME really is and how the immune system is affected. What can cause this condition. Symptoms and how to deal with them. The difference between ME CFS and CF and what these labels mean.
• Examination of hyperventilation and its role in anxiety, disease and fatigue. Problems with chronic flight and fight states.
• A review of other illnesses which may lead to Chronic Fatigue.
• A look at why cardio-vascular exercise is usually inappropriate in the acute stage and what level of physical activity yoga should offer the individual.
• A ‘toolbox’ for healing, including pranayama, relaxation, visualisation, mantra and gentle stretching.
• Why ME is a rajasic condition. The importance of identity – how the teacher can help the student not attach to the identity of suffering in chronic illnesses.
• Guidance for teachers on how to direct students in understanding the spiritual relevance of yoga and their illness.
• Examination of personality types, how this can work against recovery and how yoga can help. Why this illness has a stigma.
• The different levels of ME and development of skills to listen and ‘read’ students.
• How to prevent relapse.
• An overview of prana and what can help bring energy to the body.
• How to teach students ‘pacing’ and the ‘doing less-is-more’ approach. Why we need to ‘be’ and not ‘do.’
• Two simple but effective therapeutic regimes for those with Chronic Fatigue and ME.
• Pranayama and asana that specifically help with these conditions, including chair work.
• Yoga nidra and cyclic meditation – and how deep relaxation and visualisation promote healing.
• Working from the heart with empathy and with an individual approach to each case.
• Learning how to treat those who are severely affected.
• How to integrate students into a class, if appropriate.
• How to set up a therapy class, with ideas for getting started.

Related video: Watch a clip from Fiona Agombar's DVD 'Beat Fatigue with Yoga'

Fiona Agombar is an experienced yoga teacher who herself had M.E. for 15 years as a consequence of stress combined with a viral infection whilst running a large public relations agency. Initially she was in a wheelchair but she recovered by following a yoga lifestyle and with the help of her mentors Angela Stevens and Bill Feeney. Read Fiona Agombar's full biography.