For 17 years, Rosie Lazroe has been healing through yoga. It began in the spring of 2001, when she found herself laying in a hospital emergency room with a resting heart rate over 150 bpm. As the ER nurse was about to inject medication to reboot her heart rhythm, Rosie felt a cold rush flow through her body and then faintly heard her dad tell her to open her eyes. After receiving a second injection, her heart rate slowed down.

Her visit to the emergency room was not a surprise. Months prior, she had been diagnosed with sinus tachycardia, a condition in which the heart rate elevates higher than 100 beats per minute. To keep her heart beating normally, she was prescribed Inderal, a heart medication that, unfortunately, caused a severe adverse reaction. She didn’t want to continue taking the medicine, but she did not know an alternative. After her ER experience, though, she decided to change doctors and found a cardiologist who would change her life forever. After a series of examinations, echo cardiograms and discussions, he asked: “Have you tried yoga?”

“I did have a passing interest in yoga, but I knew almost nothing about it,” states Rosie. “I began to research and found Rodney Yee and Patricia Walden’s AM/PM Yoga on VHS. With a beach towel and the belt from my bathrobe—I didn’t have any yoga props at the time—I dedicated 20 minutes each morning and evening to stretch, breathe and be still. Sometimes I wondered if I were ‘doing it right,’ but the effects on my health were profound.” Over the next few months, Rosie discovered she could keep her heart healthy with minimal medication, and eventually stopped taking medication entirely.

Seventeen years later, she continues to explore a home practice, in addition to taking and teaching public yoga classes. Today, many healthcare professionals incorporate yoga into their treatments. Through her story, Rosie hopes to inspire people to ask their doctors how yoga might benefit them.

Rosie Lazroe is a certified yoga teacher and master reiki practitioner. She is coordinator of our Natural Awakenings Local Yoga Directory. For more information, you can contact her at 732-596-7384, [email protected], [email protected] or visit RosieLazroe.com. April 2018