March is Multiple Sclerosis Awareness Month, a time to spotlight the people and programs helping patients live with greater strength, connection and hope. In Southeast Michigan, one nonprofit has been quietly changing lives for more than two decades — one carefully supported pose, stretch and breath at a time.
Yoga Moves MS (yogamovesms.org) recently celebrated its 20th anniversary of providing free, pain-reducing adaptive yoga and holistic health education for people living with MS, Parkinson’s Disease and other neuromuscular conditions. Founded by yoga therapist and longtime instructor Mindy Eisenberg (MHSA, C-IAYT), the organization has grown from a single volunteer class into a multi-location community that blends movement with emotional support — something Eisenberg believes is just as essential as physical relief.
“It really holds true for many neuromuscular conditions,” the Franklin resident says. “Movement is like medicine.”
A former University of Michigan Medical Center administrator, Eisenberg founded the annual Virtual Holistic Health & Wellness Forum for MS and is a sought-after speaker and adaptive yoga trainer. But for Eisenberg, powering opportunities for movement is deeply personal: Her mother lived with MS at a time when people were often told not to move at all.
“Back then, they said, ‘Don't move, you’ll make it worse,’” she says.
Treatments were limited, and movement wasn’t yet embraced as therapy. Those early experiences watching her mother navigate the progressive disease shaped Eisenberg’s conviction that patients deserved better tools and more dignity.
Yoga Moves MS began when Eisenberg agreed to teach a yoga class for an MS group. Participants immediately wanted more.
“People were so excited, they asked me to do that class weekly,” she says. “That's what's been going on for, I can’t believe it, 21 years.”
Today, Yoga Moves MS offers small, supportive classes in multiple locations, including Franklin, Troy, Livonia, Grosse Pointe and Farmington Hills, with additional programming connected to the Kirk Gibson Parkinson’s Wellness Center in West Bloomfield. Sessions are intentionally resource-intensive, with assistants in the room to help students feel safe, steady and capable.
“We have people who are spotting people, helping them get into poses — we never take over, but we’re there to assist and facilitate,” Eisenberg says.
One student described the program as “boutique yoga,” a term Eisenberg appreciates as it captures the individualized attention participants receive. While physical benefits can be dramatic, many transformations are quieter and just as powerful.
In a recent fundraiser video, one participant shared that the classes helped her accept her diagnosis after years of denial.
“This gave her a place of acceptance,” Eisenberg says. “It's more like emotional, whole psychosocial support. There's a sense of belonging.”
That sense of belonging drew Marni Cherrin of Huntington Woods, who was honored at the 2025 Yoga Moves MS Gratitude Gala for MS advocacy and community leadership in November. Diagnosed in 2007 at age 30, with three children under three and a full-time job, Cherrin refused to retreat.
“Different people drove me to work. I don’t think I missed a day,” she says. “I didn't want to sit home and wallow.”
Over time, her outlook shifted.
“It changes the way you see life,” Cherrin says. “You start to notice and appreciate the little things — life really becomes a gift.”
A friend introduced her to Yoga Moves MS, and the connection stuck.
“Mindy is the kindest and most compassionate person,” Cherrin says. “She makes everyone feel seen, capable and valued.”
When Cherrin missed a class, she felt the difference immediately: “People were asking, ‘Where's Marni?’ I felt I had a community.”
A key element of building that community is hosting fundraising events. In May, Michigan-native and MS advocate Selma Blair hosted the Yoga Moves MS Fundraiser Luncheon, where she was honored with the Beacon of Hope Award and the Key to the City of Southfield.
“We worked and hoped and wished to have her as our guest of honor in her own hometown,” Eisenberg says. “The luncheon with Selma was a dream come true.”
As MS Awareness Month encourages education and visibility, Yoga Moves MS offers something equally important: a reminder that living with MS isn’t only about loss. It’s also about adaptation, support and learning what your body can do today.
As Eisenberg puts it, the goal is simple and profound: “Empower people, reduce fear and help them keep moving forward.”