Kevin Guen, 47, |
“I feel like I’m doing something positive for myself when I try the poses, and it helps my outlook to be with others coping with the same problems,” she says. Kevin Gunn, 47, of Maryland Heights, considers Small a mentor. Diagnosed six years ago, Gunn’s MS has left his dependent on a scooter for negotiating distances and has affected his short-term memory. And though he says he doesn’t know whether his practice of yoga will slow the progression of his disease – he takes therapeutic classes and uses Small’s videotape at home – he says it definitely has left his “more serene.” “Meeting Eric Small has been a real inspiration for me; I truly believe that the more you use you mind and body – which yoga does – the better off you will be,” says Gunn. It’s precisely those sorts of sentiments that keep Eric Small going. “When people are told they have a chronic disease like MS, they often go through a disassociative phase – “This can’t be happening to me” – and depression,” he says. “Because yoga is noncompetitive and empowering, it can give them back what they think they’ve lost.” “I’m not a healing psychic; I have no connection to Lourdes,” he said. “I just practice what I preach, and it must work. What I want to give others is the opportunity to improve themselves as well.” Reporter Renee Stovsky |
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