122: How John Used Man Flow Yoga to Recover from a Stroke

Mar 6, 2025

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Can yoga help you recover from a stroke?

Well, it was a massive help to today’s guest, John…

About two years ago, John suffered a mini-stroke due to a hole in his heart that never completely closed. While John’s been overweight for most of his adult life, he was still active: Lifting and doing yoga. And so the mini-stroke shocked him—especially because it happened at the ripe age of 37.

But his recovery was even more shocking. At least it was to his NHS doctors. About a week after his stroke, he picked up his yoga habit again, keeping it light by following the Absolute Beginners Challenge. And when he went back for his follow-up check-up, his doctors told him that he didn’t need physical rehab because of his yoga practice.

While this is the most impressive benefit John unlocked with Man Flow Yoga, it’s far from the only one.

In this episode, John shares:

Why yoga is the perfect complement to weight lifting
How yoga protects him from aches and pains and even strokes
The importance of family and community for staying motivated

And more, like these highlights:

How yoga can make even overweight men flexible enough to do an “almost split” (5:06)
John’s secret for getting through an 8 or 9 hour kitchen shift in a pub without any aches and pains in his muscles or joints (6:20)
Why “active stretching” can help you set new PRs in deadlift, bench press, and squat (9:12)
How John shocked his medical team to the point that they didn’t recommend physical rehab while he was recovering from a mini-stroke because he did this… (13:29)
Why your mirror might be a better barometer for weight loss than your scale (30:25)

Listen now!

Quotes from this episode’s guest:

(5:06) Man Flow Yoga is not just stretching. It's also training. I quite enjoy that it’s also building muscle and being more flexible than I’ve ever been in my life. I’ve never been flexible. And being flexible and overweight isn’t something that you ever think you would be.
(6:20) Yoga affects everything. I haven't had a bad back in months. I work at a kitchen now, in a pub, and even though I'm bending over and it's on my feet all day, I haven't had any problems muscle-wise or joints-wise.
(9:12) I realised that the added flexibility rather than just the normal passive stretching made me stronger. I was lifting heavier.
(13:29) The yoga actually helped me with the physical side of recovering from a mini-stroke. It was the point where the NHS doctors said you don't need any physical rehab because you've already got the yoga.