Yoga teacher and stroke survivor Abigail Atkinson transformed her personal rehabilitation journey into a powerful model of recovery, resilience, and heart health. Through adaptive yoga and mindful movement, she now helps others rebuild strength, confidence, and trust in their bodies after illness and injury.
In this heartfelt conversation, she shares how listening to her body saved her life—and how yoga became her path back to strength.
Namita Nayyar:
Can you take us back to the moment you realised you were having a stroke?
Abigail Atkinson:
I was in the middle of teaching a yoga class when suddenly the right side of my body went numb. I felt terrible pain in my neck and became dizzy and woozy. I assumed I might be sick, so I guided the class into savasana and sat down against the wall to wait for it to pass. It didn’t.
The pain became excruciating, and I realised I couldn’t get up. As quietly as possible, I crawled to someone in the front row and asked for help. He supported me out of the room and called 911. I couldn’t sit upright and began vomiting. My right arm and leg weren’t functioning properly. My vision was spinning, my body wouldn’t respond, and the pain in my neck was unlike anything I had ever felt before. I truly believed I was about to die.
When the EMT arrived, he examined me and said, “You have vertigo. My wife had vertigo a couple of weeks ago. You can rest and see your doctor later if it doesn’t pass.”
In that moment, I had to choose: trust medical authority or trust my body. And my body was telling me something was seriously wrong. I made him take me to the hospital.
As I lay there staring at the ceiling of the ambulance, I thought, Even if I’m wrong, at least I didn’t betray my self-trust.
At the emergency room, the neurologist immediately recognised I was having a stroke and gave me life-saving treatment. I’m grateful I trusted my body and took the risk of being wrong—because that decision saved my life and reduced the long-term damage.
Namita Nayyar:
What was the biggest fear you faced during your recovery?
Abigail Atkinson:
In the ICU, I felt so grateful to be alive that there was no room for fear. The fear arrived when the physical therapists helped me take my first walk.
They lifted me out of bed, one on each side, guiding me down the hallway while I was still attached to tubes and wires. But my right leg wouldn’t respond. That’s when it hit me: Have I lost my ability to walk? Am I permanently disabled?
I shuffled about ten feet, dragging my leg and spinning with dizziness, before collapsing from exhaustion. That moment marked the beginning of a long recovery—not just of my body, but from the fear that my physical abilities might never return.
Namita Nayyar:
When did yoga first become part of your rehabilitation?
Abigail Atkinson:
Fortunately, I had a strong yoga practice before my stroke, and returning to it became a major motivator during rehab. I spent a month in inpatient rehabilitation, and my mom brought my yoga mat to the hospital.
Because I couldn’t stand or balance, nurses helped me get down onto the floor. I started with poses I could do lying on my back or belly—like cobra and gentle twists. Alongside physical therapy, occupational therapy, vision therapy, and vestibular therapy, yoga was there from the very beginning.
Full Interview is Continued on Next Page
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