NOTE: This article was written by Kay Sharp and previously published by the British Wheel of Yoga

As reported in the Spring issue of “Beyond the Mat”, BWY-SE provided short-term funding for venue costs to ensure the continuation of a weekly ‘Yoga for ME/CFS’ class at the Cornerstone Community Centre in Hove.

Thanks to increased attendance after the easing of Covid restrictions, and a further grant from the Sussex Community Foundation, the class is now sustainable and should be self- funding in future. The support from BWY-SE came at a critical moment and really helped the class survive.

What is Chronic Fatigue?

ME/CFS (myalgic encephalomyelitis, or chronic fatigue syndrome) is a long-term condition with a wide range of symptoms, including extreme tiredness which is not solved by resting or sleeping. Symptoms can be made worse by exercise (“post-activity exhaustion”). There is as yet no cure for ME/CFS, so treatments focus on managing symptoms.

Chronic fatigue – a feeling of tiredness and low energy that persists over months – can also have many other causes including viral infections, arthritis, depression and cancer treatment, and is increasingly recognised as a symptom of ‘Long Covid’. The Cornerstone classes are open to anyone who might benefit from them, with or without an ME/CFS diagnosis.

How can Yoga Help?

Gentle, slow, mindful yoga adapted to the energy level of the individual appears to help people with chronic fatigue and low energy to feel better, be more comfortable in their bodies, and improve their strength, flexibility and balance.

When I was asked to teach this class I read Fiona Agombar’s book “Yoga Therapy for Stress, Burnout and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome”, and took her online introductory course. Both were extremely helpful, and I learned a great deal from them and from Fiona’s online classes. However, I was unsure how to reconcile her framework of prana and chakras with my own very different yoga background.

As I started to teach the class, observing and adapting the yoga to the students, I found that the basic principles from my Scaravelli-inspired training – “breathe, ground, release” – fitted perfectly with the needs of the group and were also, in practice, very compatible with Fiona’s teaching. Rather than adding complexity to my teaching, I found I was going back to basics, to the essence of yoga practice. Here are some things I found particularly important for this group:

Resting: Learning to really rest, by becoming aware of and letting go of tensions, is a core skill of yoga and is key to managing fatigue. Every class starts and ends with relaxation. Importantly, students are also encouraged to rest whenever they want to during the class.

Breathing: Simple breath-awareness practices can be very helpful. For example, there is a ticking clock in the room where the class is held, which gets louder as we settle into relaxation. Students were asked to count the ticks for their own comfortable in-breath, and then make the out-breath one tick longer, continuing with this rhythm. This enabled students to set their own breathing speed, lengthening the out-breath and letting go of anxious thoughts by focusing on the sound of the clock.

Listening to your body: Paying attention to how our body feels in this moment and responding to what it needs to do (or not do), is particularly important for people with low and fluctuating energy. Through attentive asana and movement, students learn not to “push through” tiredness or discomfort, but always to work within their own comfortable range (whatever that happens to be today). A key skill not only for yoga, but also for life off the mat.