Category: Adaptive Chair Yoga for MS in Nederland Texas

How to see Veterans Yoga Project Online Studio on my big TV Screen

How to see Veterans Yoga Project Online Studio on my big TV Screen

I often get asked how I setup for teaching online yoga classes. I’ll just briefly give you an outline of what equipment I use, etc.

My teaching online Chair Tai Chi, Yoga and taking classes setup.

A quick photo of my setup for teaching online, and for taking classes online. Left to Right. Ipad, Adapter Lightening Cord, Laptop, Surge protector with my PC, and Apple Charging cord connected, HDMI cord connecting to the back of my TV, Roku device plugged into the other HDMI port, and my older not so smart (ha ha) TV, with the VYP app displayed from my ipad onto the tv.

I teach from my PC and attached camera.  Then I have a second screen, where I can do gallery view, to watch the students on my somewhat bigger TV Screen.

A little background, about nine years ago, when I was teaching some educational classes in my home, I would use the apple adapter cord into my ipad/pc, and my televisions’s hdmi cord to view onto my TV.  I had a different type of adaptor that I would use for my PC/Mac.  

Since then I use the same cord to use as a connection, to display larger onto my Smart TV.

  1. One needs a Smart TV.  You use the Roku app on the Smart TV to connect to an iphone/ipad device app.  This might be a bit difficult to figure out, as one needs to look at the “streaming store” and find the appropriate “app” for the HDMI hooking up service.
  2. Roku device hooked up to the back of their TV, or a Smart TV that has Roku integrated within the system. ~ $45
  3. A HDMI cord – which plugs into the Apple adaptor cord and into the HDMI port on the smart tv. ~ $10
  4. An Apple cord https://www.apple.com/shop/product/MW2P3AM/A/lightning-digital-av-adapter  $49
  5. An apple charging cord dedicated to this system.  
  6. I use a surge protector strip to plug in for power to the apple charging cord.

When I started teaching online for VYP almost five years ago, I just used the same cord system.

There are other methods to connect to a smart tv, depending if you are using a PC, an android.  I’ve used Chromecast, but it was rather cludgy.

When I teach in person at a gym, I sometimes play indoor walking workouts for my clients, prior to the tai chi or yoga class.  The facility has an overhead projector system.  I’m able to use the cord again, and “cast” onto the large theatre display, using their bluetooth connection technology.   

Apple Adapter cord. 

Apple Lightening Adapter cord

Apple adapter into my ipad, with the hdmi cord, and my apple charger cord coming out.  

My cord connection from my Ipad

My setup for teaching and taking online classes.

My Online Teaching Setup.

Left to Right.  Ipad/Apple adaptor cord, PC, Camera, surge protector strip cord.  My PC, Apple Charger cord in the strip cord.  Smart TV with a Roku in the back plugged in (it is an older Smart TV), then on the screen I have the VYP app on screen, as it shows up on the Ipad.

One must turn off the audio on the Ipad, or you’ll have reverb/echo noise.  I also turn off the volume on the TV, and only use the volume from the PC.  Their setup may be different as they will not have the PC or the Ipad both running at the same time.  So the sound could either be from their Ipad/Iphone or PC or the Smart TV.  It takes a bit to figure this stuff out.

Questions? Complaints? Comments? Complements? Let me know!

Gail

My Roku Streaming Services

Yoga brings unlikely yogis – article from the Port Arthur Newspaper

September 8, 2011

Port Arthur News article about…..Yoga brings unlikely yogis

Brandon Janes The Port Arthur News

NEDERLAND — At the end her class, Nederland yoga instructor Gail Pickens-Barger asks her students to mediate on how they are unique and “there is nobody like you in the universe.”

Her students suffer from multiple sclerosis, a chronic, unpredictable disease that effects the central nervous system, and none of their symptoms are exactly the same.

Some of her students experience episodes extreme numbness in their limbs.

“It is as if you put a giant foam block around your leg or foot,” Pickens-Barger said.

For some, the disease effects their balance or, in Crystal Chauvin’s case, a day-long jolt of electric pain down her cheek.

All of the students seem to share in one thing: The relief and relaxation of yoga.

“It helps me move better, helps me balance,” said Becky Dry, who has dealt with the disease for much of her life.

“The class helps us get through the day,” added Dry. “I’m ok now but tomorrow I may not.”

Approximately 400,000 Americans suffer from multiple sclerosis and every week 200 more people are diagnosed with the disease, according to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.

There is no known cause or cure for MS. It is only fatal in extreme cases.

MS adaptive yoga is done in chairs for safety but, as Pickens-Barger points out, it can still make you sweat.

“Keep it between easy and ouch,” Pickens-Barger said during one of the stretches. “Far, far away from ouch.”

Pickens-Barger just got back from a two week long chair-yoga training in New York City, where she learned new techniques to allow her students to access the benefits of yoga without completely exhausting their bodies.

One of the biggest problems for people who suffer from MS is balance. Most of the students use a cane or a walker to get from one place to another.

The yoga techniques are designed to strengthen a person’s core muscles which help them balance whether they are sitting down or standing up.

Just as important as the benefits of the exercise and strength-building, is the sense of community and friendship the class brings to each other’s lives.

“It’s a support group also,” said Pickens-Barger.

 

Yoga for Multiple Sclerosis for the National MS Society. Local teacher, Gail Pickens-Barger, teaches adaptive yoga for NMMS
Yoga for Multiple Sclerosis for the National MS Society. Local teacher, Gail Pickens-Barger, teaches adaptive yoga for NMMS

Lonestar National MS society sponsors the class as well as a 180-mile bike ride from Houston to Austin for cyclists living with multiple sclerosis.

The yoga classes take place online through Gail’s Youtube channel for the Wesley United Methodist Church in Nederland.  The local branch of the Multiple Sclerosis society meets the first Saturday of every month at 11 a.m. at the Medical Center in Port Arthur.

bjanes@panews.com

 

Yoga for Multiple Sclerosis for the National MS Society. Local teacher, Gail Pickens-Barger, teaches adaptive yoga for NMMS
Yoga for Multiple Sclerosis for the National MS Society. Local teacher, Gail Pickens-Barger, teaches adaptive yoga for NMMS