Many people exercise for looks. They want to be thin. They want to have big muscles.
Others exercise as a form of training. Either they’re an athlete or maybe they’re going to run a 5k or marathon.
But then there are some who exercise in hopes of regaining what they’ve lost. Therapeutic exercise can help many people to regain mobility, or in some cases, develop movement that they never had. One particularly popular form of exercise among people who suffer from a disability issue is yoga.
Yoga increases both flexibility and strength, often working muscles that simply aren’t worked out in typical day to day movement. Through exercise such as yoga, people have gained mobility that they were told they would never have.
The Story of Arthur Boorman
This story is actually about a year old, but it’s so good, we can’t help but bring it up.
Arthur Boorman was a paratrooper during the Gulf War. After hundreds of jumps, his knees and back were permanently damaged. Countless doctors told him he would never be able to walk without the assistance of knee braces and crutches.
Between the loss of mobility and the depression that followed, Arthur began to put on a significant amount of weight. Finally, after 15 years of struggling to move around, he decided he had had enough.
Arthur decided to do yoga.
Finding an instructor that would accept him proved difficult. Just like so many doctors told him he wouldn’t be able to walk, many yoga instructors told him he would be unable to perform the necessary moves. Then he found an ad for Diamond Dallas Yoga.
He began doing it through instructional videos, videotaping himself as he attempted to do it. Things got off to a rough start. Time and again he fell over. He fought to do even the most basic of moves. But Arthur was determined.
“Just because you’re not good at something now, doesn’t mean you can’t be good at it one day” he said.
Arthur’s words proved true. Today, not only can Arthur walk without crutches and braces, but he can run and perform handstands. Arthur Boorman shattered every doctor’s expectation through determination.
That is the power of physical therapy and the human spirit. Even if you don’t deal with a disability, exercise can keep you fit and able, acting as preventative maintenance for the human body. If Arthur can do it, maybe you can do it too.