Recommended Exercise Videos and Books
and LifeDesign Videos
Available Through Betty's House

Quick Order Links:
      LifeDesign Videos are available for a donation of $25
      Gentle Fitness DVD
      Tai Chi/Qi Gong for Seniors DVD
      Four Steps to Overcoming MS e-book
      From MS to Wellness - bound book
     
      →    YOU MAY WATCH A BRIEF SAMPLE LIFE-DESIGN VIDEO HERE    ←

My first experience with an exercise video that really helped me was when a friend called to tell me that she had bought me a copy of Tai Chi for Seniors.  For seniors?  I wasn't a senior!!  But I quickly learned that the simple Qi Gong (pronounced chi kung) healing exercises featured on this video are very powerful.  That was about twelve years ago.  Then a couple of years later I found the Yoga for MS video.  It made a profound difference for me and I combined the two disciplines, QiGong and adapted yoga.  Then I discovered Gentle Fitness a year or so later, and added some of its variety to my exercise program. 

Later I discovered Dr. Roger Jahnke's book, The Healer Within.  It offers some incredibly powerful, effective and very simple self-healing techniques from ancient Chinese medicine.

~o~ 

YOGA FOR MS and Related Conditions (DVD) by Shoosh Crotzer.  (PLEASE NOTE:  Shoosh is also author of the book, "Yoga for Fibromyalgia: Move, Breathe and Relax to Improve Your Quality of Life,"  published by Rodmell Press.

Formerly known as Pathways: Exercise for People With Limited Mobility, this video is very powerful, and very effective for relieving the spasticity that effects people with MS.  It is highly recommended for relieving the low back pain which plagues many of us.  It is also effective in helping strengthen the hamstring muscles which are so important for those of us with leg weakness.  This video is based totally on Hatha yoga, which has been adapted and modified for limited mobility, and is mostly a floor or seated routine.  Instructions are given for an assistant when one is needed.  I cannot recommend this routine too highly.  To order:

~o~

Gentle Fitness (DVD) by Catherine MacRae: 

Quite a few years ago I was first introduced to Catherine's Gentle Fitness.  Catherine herself has lived with MS for 40 years, and she is a great role model for all of us.  I had an opportunity to have Catherine as a guest in my home when she visited San Diego several years ago, and she is just as delightful in person as she is on the video. 

In Gentle Fitness she seamlessly blends the wisdom of Yoga, Tai Chi & Feldenkrais with today's state-of-the-art Exercise Sciences.  She leads viewers through stretches, exercises, self-massage and breathing techniques that are easy, natural and therapeutic.  Gentle fitness, 80% sitting, is great for strength, flexibility and balance.  It will help your spirits rise and it just plain feels good!  I use Gentle Fitness to alternate occasionally with the Pathways video, and insert parts of it into the Pathways routine each day.   

Both these videos stress the importance of proper deep breathing.  I am convinced that deep breathing, practiced several times each day, is a key to staving off progression of MS.  Many cultures in the world teach that the life force is in the breath, and I believe that to be the case.  To order:

Tai Chi for Seniors (DVD) —Self Healing Through Movement (Qi Gong Report)
by Mark Johnson, Tai Chi and Qi Gong Master

Mark has taught Qi Gong (chee kung) and Tai Chi, integrating them creatively for over 25 years.  Mark was trained in China and Taiwan and is a Tao master and healer as well.

This program is divided into four segments.  First, warm-up (simple loosening of the joints and gentle stretching) exercises, second are specific and very simple QiGong healing movements.  Third the video features acupressure and self-massage, with specific simple techniques for strengthening the immune system, for arthritis, headaches and high blood pressure, for stimulating the entire neurological system, increasing memory etc.  The fourth section of the video is a 4-minute simple QiGong Tai Chi "form," which uses only 10 easy movements.

A friend purchased for me my first copy of this program, about 14 years ago, and by learning to work with Mark's simple, easy-to-learn QiGong movements I first made the connection between simple deep breathing and stretching exercises and halting the progression of MS.

Even though initially designed for those 60 years and older, this program is ideal for anyone, especially those with limited mobility. To order:

~o~

The Healer Within (book)
by Roger Jahnke, Doctor of Oriental Medicine

All the techniques taught in The Healer Within are drawn from the ancient Chinese healing system of Qi Gong (Chi Kung). Each technique is accompanied by how-to sketches, and all may be done either sitting, standing or lying down, so there is no one who cannot do them, whatever your level of disability.  And each simple exercise is accompanied by easy-to-follow sketches.  The best part is the very first few minutes you will experience a rush of energy and you will know without doubt that they are having a beneficial effect on your body.

Right now, as you read this, with open palms, vigorously massage your entire head and ears for a couple of minutes. Come on...please don’t read on until you do this little exercise. For at least a full minute vigorously massage your entire head and especially your ears. Feel the rush of energy throughout your body. This is just a tiny preview of how the self-massage makes your entire body feel alive and energized.

Trust me and order The Healer Within today through this link to Amazon.com.   I promise you will not be disappointed. 

~o~

This easy-to-follow guide includes complete details of everything I have learned in my own journey to overcome the tendency of MS to  progress.  I do not believe disability progression has to be the ultimate outcome of an MS diagnosis.  I believe in taking charge of my own health.  While I am not intrinsically opposed to allopathic medicine, I truly do believe that my and your body were designed to be self-healing.  And that by using the four easy-to-follow steps this new book recommends we can provide the healing environment our body needs in order to prevent MS from progressing. 

The Four Steps to Overcoming Multiple Sclerosis e-book includes a complete easy-to-follow 3-stage guide to the so-called Best Bet for MS Diet (BBD), including categorized recipes, very extensive how-to tips, substitutions, etc.  It even includes shopping lists and how to stock your cupboards.

Four Steps to Overcoming Multiple Sclerosis also includes complete guides to :
Exercise Programs, Recommended Supplements, a complete Meditation guide and Breathing Exercises.

FOUR STEPS TO OVERCOMING MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS
is available for $21.50 and is available for
IMMEDIATE DELIVERY INTO YOUR E-MAIL BOX

(Order below)

   FROM MS TO WELLNESS
     MY PERSONAL STORY OF
     OVERCOMING PRIMARY PROGRESSIVE MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS

      By Betty Iams

      THIS BOUND BOOK, WRITTEN IN 1997, HAS BECOME A CLASSIC SELF-HELP
     GUIDE TO HEALING AND TRANSFORMATION OF BODY, MIND AND SPIRIT.

$21.50 + $4.00 shipping

                  
TAI CHI FOR SENIORS                                           $21.50 + $4.00 shipping

GENTLE FITNESS                                                

$21.50 + $4.00 shipping

FROM MS TO WELLNESS - A bound book              $10.00 (includes shipping)

UPDATED 3RD EDITION
FOUR STEPS TO OVERCOMING MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS
(E-book), delivered by e-mail                              $21.50

DONATION TO NEWSLETTER                                $25.00