Rachel Bekelja, co-owner of Salt Power Yoga, is one of four instructors who lead LoveYourBrain Yoga sessions in Seven Fields for people with traumatic brain injuries. Gentle breaths and movements, like the simple seated twist Bekelja demonstrates here, help patients with traumatic brain injuries to recover strength, motion and mood stability long-term. Poses are adapted to patient needs and can be used outside of class.

SEVEN FIELDS — Kevin Pearce is a former professional snowboarder who sustained a traumatic brain injury after crashing while training for the 2010 Winter Olympics.

His traumatic brain injury (TBI) was near-fatal. It was 721 days before he was back to riding his snowboard. Medical professionals and a steady support network helped the New England man do that. So did yoga.

“After Kevin's accident, he found yoga and meditation were paramount to his healing,” said Kyla Pearce, Kevin's sister-in-law and senior director of the LoveYourBrain Yoga program. “But access to yoga specifically designed for the TBI community was lacking.”

Kevin's brother, Adam, helped him develop the LoveYourBrain Foundation, a group focused on using yoga to help people with traumatic brain injuries.

Kyla Pearce — who is also a post-doctoral research scholar at Dartmouth College — said the research behind LoveYourBrain is significant.

The foundation was developed after a Dartmouth College pilot study measured the effects of “gentle yoga” on patients with traumatic brain injuries.

“This study showed that people experienced improvements in their quality of life,” Kyla Pearce said. “Including their emotional regulation and positive outlook.”

LoveYourBrain is the first program of its kind, she said. It's yoga developed specifically to heal people with traumatic brain injuries through breathing, movement, meditation and community support.

Because of donations and fundraising, it's also free for patients and their caregivers.

Rachel Bekelja co-owns Salt Power Yoga in Seven Fields, which began offering LoveYourBrain sessions three years ago. Bekelja chose to be trained after watching “The Crash Reel,” a documentary about Kevin Pearce's recovery.

“Years ago I came across 'The Crash Reel,'” Bekelja said. “That's when I became aware of LoveYourBrain, their trainings for yoga teachers and the opportunity they were offering for studios like ours to support people who have had traumatic brain injuries.”

Salt Power Yoga offers a number of classes, but LoveYourBrain is special. While it adapts poses to TBI symptoms and helps to retrain the brain post-TBI, its most important aspect is community. Clients are given opportunities to share their stories.

“They exchange emails,” Bekelja said. “They meet outside of group.”

Practicing LoveYourBrain Yoga in a group can shatter the feeling of isolation that can accompany traumatic brain injuries. The result of the “intimate” class setting — Bekelja has about 12 students in LoveYourBrain — is a community centered on healing.

“That community almost supercedes the yoga,” Bekelja said. “It does.”

Bekelja is one of four instructors who run LoveYourBrain sessions at Salt Power Yoga. The six-week class runs four times a year and incorporates different themes each week. Adapted poses help clients in areas of attention, balance, mood and strength.

“All poses have been carefully adapted for those in the TBI community,” Kyla Pearce said.

Unlike traditional therapy covered by insurance, LoveYourBrain Yoga doesn't have to end. Clients can be part of as many series as they need until they feel ready to step out on their own.

“Once you have a traumatic brain injury, that's going to be part of your life-long journey,” Bekelja said. “It's all in benefit.”

The goal is long-term, according to Bekelja. She hopes clients who practice LoveYourBrain Yoga use it for the rest of their lives. The poses are, after all, adaptable to home life.

LoveYourBrain has programs in 38 states and six Canadian provinces and says it has assisted 3,364 TBI students and caregivers. Through efforts and local connections like Salt Power Yoga, LoveYourBrain is growing every day.

“Our hope is that students ... feel welcomed, safe and seen,” Bekelja said. “I think the most impacting thing ... is bearing witness.”

Potential clients do need to meet certain requirements to participate in LoveYourBrain Yoga. These requirements and other information are available at www.loveyourbrain.com.

To register for a series, visit www.loveyourbrain.com/yoga/practice.