PRINCEVILLE — Yogis know the healing powers and benefits yoga has to offer. But how do you share yoga with someone who is visually impaired? Environmental biologist turned yoga instructor, Tracy Curley of Princeville was inspired by one of her
PRINCEVILLE — Yogis know the healing powers and benefits yoga has to offer. But how do you share yoga with someone who is visually impaired?
Environmental biologist turned yoga instructor, Tracy Curley of Princeville was inspired by one of her students to design a mat that would help him practice the art of yoga.
“In 2006, I had a blind student come to my class,” Curley said. “He had such a joyful spirit, I just really wanted him to keep coming to my class.”
Curley realized she took many visual cues for granted while teaching and practicing yoga. She wanted to create a yoga mat that would allow a visually impaired user to practice yoga safely and confidently.
“I went home and said ‘How can I make it easier?,’” Curley said. “I started adding tactile cues on my own yoga mat.”
The end result is a three-dimensional yoga mat, which she named Rousettus.
“Originally my name was Bat Mat, and I trademarked it, and then DC Comics gave me a cease and desist for Batman,” she said. “I changed the name to Rousettus, which is the Egyptian fruit bat.”
Why the bat?
“Part of it is my environmental background,” Curley said. “The bat signifies facing your fears, change, rebirth. And bats are not blind. They echolocate and they have clear hearing.”
The Rousettus includes raised lettering and Braille, which communicates to the user which way is left and right. The mat also has foot and hand depressions, along with a raised line running down the center of the mat that allows users to align their spines.
In 2009, Curley took the mat and piloted it at two different schools — Indiana School for the Blind and Visually Impaired and Illinois School for the Visually Impaired.
“One school had been practicing yoga,” she said. “The P.E. instructor was like ‘I can’t believe they just practiced so many postures in such a short period of time. I was trying to teach that for weeks!’
“The other school hadn’t done yoga before. The first trial was getting used to having a yoga class, and by the second class it was like they were practicing for years.”
While Curley intended her yoga mat to be utilized by those who are blind or visually impaired, she found that other user groups started using her mats.
“I have people with ADD or ADHD, people with dyslexia, seniors and beginners buying the mat.”
Curley created two DVDs, which she tried to make as detailed as possible to “take all the guess work out where your arms and feet should be.”
The yoga Curley is certified to teach is easy to moderate, she said. The yoga sequences she includes in her DVDs are designed for beginners.
“I really tried to think about safety,” she said. “With detached retinas, you’re not supposed to do inversions. There’s no downward dog, its just a real, basic routine that covers all the body parts.”
Curley will be traveling to Pittsburgh June 14-17 to demonstrate her mat at INPEX, a trade show.
The yoga mat costs $75 and DVDs cost $12 each. Visit www.Rousettus.com for more information.
• Andrea Frainier, lifestyle writer, can be reached at 245-3681, ext. 257 or afrainier@ thegardenisland.com.
