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PRISM YOGA & HEALING

Patti spreads awareness how yoga, meditation & mindfulness have helped her navigate living with YOPD since 2011.

Sharing our wins increases hope and happiness.
🩵🌈💎 Patti Johnson is a Yoga and Meditation Teacher living with the symptoms of Young Onset Parkinson's Disease since 2006. Patti attended Yoga Training and Immersion in Rishikesh, India in 2016. She is a Certified Mindfulness Coach and is happy to share and help others learn to cope well and live happily despite a diagnosis of Parkinson's Disease or other chronic health condition. As a person living with YOPD, Patti feels strongly that an at home yoga practice is the best way to enjoy the benefits of yoga. She preaches what she practices, which is prioritizing getting to the mat everyday for at least 5 minutes to listen to the body and mind. When that attainable goal is the plan, the profound benefits of listening to one's body and reveling in well-being will follow. Continuously furthering her education, Patti is now a Certified Trauma Informed Yoga Teacher and is currently in pursuit of her C-IAYT so that she may assist others as a Yoga Therapist.

04/10/2025

Sadly, I know a lot of guys named John who have Parkinson’s disease. John D. Pepper had Parkinson’s. Diagnosed in 1992, John made it to 90 years old, 32 of which he had Parkinson’s Disease hanging over his head. He lived well with a brutal disease and he gave me hope. At a time when my YOPD Dx was so overwhelming, John gave me hope by saying ‘Hey look what I can do, this is how I do it, and maybe you can too’. It’s one reason I share the kooky ways I cope and some of the tough kms I clock, because maybe I can offer some hope or inspiration to keep moving to someone who needs it. I believe that sharing our wins and helping each other creates an ever expanding cumulative healing and happiness. John’s story is amazing and while we know that the doctors say that there’s no cure for Parkinson’s, John’s story proves that it can be reversed, for years even. He gave so many hope. Much gratitude to John for sharing his Parkinson’s journey. 🙏

04/01/2025

I’ve been living with a Young Onset Parkinson’s Diagnosis for 5195 days. It’s just over 14 years and I can’t say getting the diagnosis was quick and easy, that took some years too! I’ve watched this YOPD/PD community grow over the years. I have seen people and myself make lifestyle changes, fight back and I have witnessed how varied our outcomes can be. I’ve heard the horror stories and the inspirational feel good winner epics. There are so many of us it’s overwhelming. We cope with progression through acceptance, gratitude, optimism and hope. These are not come by easily. It’s hard! But together we are stronger, louder and we will not be ignored, forgotten, misunderstood or defunded. This month we unite to raise awareness of this dastardly disease for so many reasons! I’ll start a list in the comments. Please add your own opinion… what do we need to spread awareness about and why? I encourage everyone who has an inkling about the suffering this disease can cause, to advocate loudly and proudly. Here we go April.

05/13/2024

🔱I m going to open up about some of the spiritual side of yoga. I started this ig account in 2017 after my trip to India as a gratitude journal of sorts because I thought a physical journal was annoying and childish. 😳 But this damn diagnosis of YOPD made me a little desperate for something (!) to work towards my healing. I knew I was so lucky to have already been a bit of a gym rat and power/Vinyasa yoga practitioner prior to diagnosis. But there was more to the healing journey than the physical practice and I wasn’t grasping it! I’d read some Joe Dispenza, I’d meditated, chanted and danced in India, I had seen beautiful images of my 3rd eye and felt the chakra system in my body quite profoundly. But I was a die hard atheist and the many spiritual concepts continued to elude me. I had built a brick wall around even though I had convinced myself I was open minded, to be fair, I dismissed many aspects of spirituality as harmless nice ideas not anything that would be tangible and actually work for me even though I could see my trusted teachers were devoted. Now, skip forward to today… I have come across research on the glymphatic system being associated with detoxification and where misfolded proteins are cleared from the cerebrospinal fluid. But after some research, seemingly science has yet to prove at least succinctly enough for my attention span, how the processes and healing powers of yoga, meditation and breathing actually work. When the ancient wisdom I have learned to trust aligns with science as it has proven many times, it is so supportive to my dedication. I have to remember that science doesn’t know everything and I will trust. I think I have finally got my full woo-woo on and I’m excited! I will share some of the glymphatic system info in my story. Photo from Hardiwar India; the Trident or Trishula represents the three aspects of consciousness - waking, dreaming and sleeping and is a symbol for the removal of ignorance.

04/23/2024

Not a surprise to you that screen time directly effects our sleep patterns? Well, I’m not going to go on but I’ll tell you how I sleep. (Surprise!) I’m not saying I’m super strict about it but l strive to: 1. Turn off screens and news after dark. 😱 If it’s the Canucks in the playoffs or a relaxing movie in the Family Room that’s ok but phones and news are no nos at night for me. Also, when I don’t sleep well I don’t just write it off to PD. 2. Pay attention to what actually wakes you up. If it was your dream and you can remember it… try looking into what it means to you. You may find it’s an unresolved issue of real life not just nonsense dreams. 3. If you wake up stay as sleepy as possible. I try to stay off the screens. I am usually pretty good at this but it’s much easier said than done. 😊

04/13/2024

Parkinson’s disease feels like a Poor Me diagnosis. Parkinson’s disease can look like an ‘all about me’ mentality or obsessive behaviour. But we can consciously choose our focus in life to be not despair and disease but about our healthy plans and choices. Putting any practice of people pleasing in the past and setting boundaries to prioritize your health can be what Parkinson’s disease is if you choose to plan it.

04/10/2024

PWP are more likely to have a higher IQ & education (according to study link in story). If they show signs of executive dysfunction or cognitive decline they are still just as intelligent as before but their thoughts won’t always be organized. Please remember and treat PWP with patience and compassion. Thank you! 🙏

04/03/2024

How can mindfulness help you deal with a movement disorder?

1) Be mindful and meticulous about your foundation. Your feet are your foundation and when you bring awareness to your base you increase stability. Firmly plant feet and avoid a narrow stance when standing.

2) Posture. After your feet are firmly planted you can examine your alignment from ground up. Posture changes often occur because the brain stops sending the automatic cues to stand up straight. Make it a mindful habit to check if you are slouching or stooping and make any adjustments needed so that you are standing up straight.

3) Now that you are upright and have a solid foundation you can use mindfulness to connect with the breath. Observe without changing anything for a few moments, paying attention to the pace and depth of breath. Continue to be mindful about your foundation and posture while you allow your breath to slow and deepen. Paying close attention to any sensations your breath creates in your body without judgement. After enjoying the slower pace a few moments you can notice the space between the breaths and find peace there. If the mind wanders, bring it back to the breath.

4) Once you have settled into connection with your breath, you can add a mindful movement, coordinating the motion WITH your breath. Inhale slowly as you raise your arms up overhead (like 1 slow motion jumping jack) timing your arms to meet overhead when your lungs are full. Exhale slowly and steadily as you bring your arms down timing the exhale so the arms meet at your sides when your lungs are empty. You can take another mindful breath before you decide to repeat or move on.

5) You can work toward retraining (or perfecting) your gait and stride on the mat too. I worked with a Parkinson’s gait specialist and learned to focus on heel to toe and practice until perfect, then practice more. Watch out for my upcoming video on the top mindful walking exercise that can be done on your mat. You can retrain your body to walk properly.

04/02/2024

How can mindfulness help you fight PD?

1) Mindfulness can bring awareness to your Nervous System responses, giving you a chance to respond not react. You can respond by giving your body what it needs instead of reacting in a habitual way.

2) Can be used to become more aware of health choices and when and why you choose a healthy behaviour over an unhealthy behaviour.

3) Can bring awareness to one’s internalized thoughts to symptoms so that we may break negative associations (like the misunderstanding that tremor means you’re anxious or stressed- it happens when you’re happy too and that is helpful to remember).

4) When you practice mindfulness you systematically work towards removing judgement from your life. This allows you to free yourself from the stigma of living with chronic illness as well as one’s own judgement of perceived limitations.

5) If you become mindful about practicing compassion or gratitude you reduce negative thoughts and feelings and make room for joy in your life.

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