These W.O.W. Chats are candid, clear, and concise Words of Wisdom gathered from people I respect and admire: professionals and friends I have connected with throughout my travels across the globe. This compilation is Part 6 of 7 of the 2018 interview collection of brilliant and binge-worthy tidbits of insight, information, life lessons, and more.
Hope you enjoy!
These W.O.W. Chats are candid, clear, and concise Words of Wisdom gathered from people I respect and admire: professionals and friends I have connected with throughout my travels across the globe. This compilation is Part 5 of 7 of the 2018 interview collection of brilliant and binge-worthy tidbits of insight, information, life lessons, and more.
Hope you enjoy!
Copyright Ray Long, MD Used with Permission
Integrating Pelvic Floor Cueing into Your Yoga Classes
Shelly Prosko, PT, PYT, C-IAYT
It is wonderful to see the pelvic floor (PF) gain more media attention these days! As a yoga professional, you are well positioned to address PF wellness in your classes for both men and women. Unfortunately, accurate information about the PF is not always conveyed. What is the first thing that comes to mind when you think of practices to promote PF health? Kegel exercises? Mula bandha? If so, you may want to read on. Read more →
Well folks, I get up close and personal with Diane Lee, one of the world’s most influential physiotherapy educators. In this W.O.W. Chat episode, I ask Diane a personal question and she graciously accepts the invite and shares her story of struggle and how yoga (including the meditation aspect of yoga) has been instrumental on her healing journey and helped her reconnect with her Essence. She realized that she could still be well, even with a physical injury. She discusses the irony of a physiotherapist such as herself experiencing what it’s like to have unexplained pain and how it helped her be more empathetic towards her patients. This was a great chat filled with insights and inspiration.
Watch the 10 minute W.O.W. Chat HERE or read the full transcript below: Read more →
In this WOW Chat episode, Shelly sits down with Professor Lorimer Moseley, one of the world’s leading and most respected pain researchers and co-author of the ground breaking books “Explain Pain” + “Explain Pain Supercharged” with David Butler.
In this WOW Chat, Lorimer talks about the difference between ‘pain science education’ and understanding pain and how he is somewhat apprehensive about the way ‘pain science education’ is becoming a stand alone modality. So much wisdom to unpack in this chat!
He also shares his perspective on passion vs clarity for clinicians and all humanity and cautions Shelly and everyone to be open to challenging our own biases and not always surrounding ourselves with people who only agree with us.
Enjoy this delightfully light hearted, inspirational, informative and value-packed 13 minute WOW Chat video OR read the full transcript below:
Shelly: Welcome to my WOW Chats! Words Of Wisdom with people I admire and respect and whose work is in line with making this world a better place.
Lorimer: Thanks – well, was that a compliment to me just then?
Shelly: Yes, because you’re my Wowser. Read more →
Dustienne Miller. At risk of sounding a bit creepy, I will admit that I have a huge “girl-crush” on this phenomenal woman. I remember about 5 years ago I came across her brilliant work as I was starting to travel around to teach PhysioYoga workshops for optimizing pelvic health.
Dustienne is a board certified women’s health physical therapist, Kripalu-certified yoga teacher, AND a professional dancer. She integrates her love of movement with physical therapy and yoga to help men and women who suffer from pelvic floor pain and dysfunctions.
Dustienne is the creator of a video series that uses yoga postures and breathing techniques to navigate pelvic pain and incontinence: Your Pace Yoga: Relieving Pelvic Pain and Your Pace Yoga: Optimizing Bladder Control. I have been tremendously inspired by these videos and I recommend them to my patients and students regularly.
Dustienne and I had the opportunity to dig deep into the inspiration behind her videos, their impact and if she’d do anything different:
Me: Let’s start with your inspiration. What prompted you to create these videos?
Dustienne: The videos were really born out of a true need for my patients. In 2011 I was working in NYC at Beyond Basics Physical Therapy, and I found myself giving my clients yoga home programs in stick figure form. I realized there was a massive void in video programming available and recognized the need for something to work with at home. Carryover between sessions and after discharge from physical therapy is sometimes a missing link in rehab. Yoga can be an important aspect of the patient’s home program and used for maintenance. I created a program my patients could use at their own pace, in their own space. Read more →
Case Report: Physio + Therapeutic Yoga for an Individual with Persistent Pain
When I was invited to write a patient case report for the International Association of Yoga Therapists’ Spring 2016 special In Focus issue of Yoga Therapy Today magazine on Yoga Therapy in Pain Care, I was honoured, but knew it would be challenging to include all aspects and details of an individual’s assessment, planning, treatment, and outcomes within a word count limit.
I have been working with people suffering from persistent (chronic) pain for over over 18 years, using a combination of my skills, knowledge and experience as a physical therapist and medical yoga therapist. I am pleased to share this concise and brief review of a case report in hopes that it gives the reader a sense of how and why therapeutic yoga in conjunction with physiotherapy can be a safe and effective approach to helping an individual who is suffering from persistent pain.
The article outlines the individual’s assessment (history, subjective interview, physical observations, goals), treatment plan and outcome. There are some specific examples of techniques and methods used, as well as the patient’s testimony in his own words.
I hope you find this valuable and worth sharing with health care professionals, colleagues, patients, family, friends, and anyone suffering from persistent pain. Part of my mission is to help healthcare professionals understand the profound efficacy and value that yoga has to offer when combined with rehabilitation in an evidence informed manner.
Enjoy the article and please feel free to comment below with any questions or comments that you think would serve or add to the reader’s experience! Access to the article is below:
Case Report: Yoga Therapy for an Individual with Persistent Pain
This entire Spring 2016 YTT issue focuses on pain rehabilitation through yoga therapy. Contributors to this issue include a variety of yoga therapists and healthcare professionals that have studied and teach about pain, pain science and that have trained and worked with people suffering from persistent pain for decades. It is a solid issue that explores a variety of options (and consequently, offers HOPE) for people in pain. You can access the full issue HERE
Other resources related to this topic:
“The Truth About Back Pain: A Biopsychosocial Approach to Treatment”
“Overcome Pain with Gentle Yoga Videos Now Available”
“Yoga, Neuroplasticity & Pain: New Hope for Self Empowerment + Healing” Webinar
“Neil Pearson: Blending Optimism + Scientific Research” by Sunlight in Winter
“Yoga for Pain” Blissology Talks interview
Well, I am finally dedicating an entire post to all these pelvic floor health Physio Yoga resources I’ve been creating and accumulating over the years: writing, filming, interviewing, sharing!
I will keep this post updated and current, and add any resources I find valuable to share. This information is targeted towards people like you who are interested in learning more about and optimizing pelvic floor health through yoga: the general public, the yoga teacher, yoga therapist, health care professional, or anyone simply looking for more quality information and resources on creating pelvic floor health for both men and women through Physio + Yoga.
The first resource is a great place to start: an article I wrote in the Winter 2016 Issue of the International Association of Yoga Therapists “Yoga Therapy Today” publication. It’s a concise summary of roles of the pelvic floor, factors influencing pelvic floor function, and how yoga fits in: Read more →
I recently wrote an article that was published in the International Association of Yoga Therapists Winter 2016 Issue of “Yoga Therapy Today” publication titled:
“Optimizing Pelvic Floor Health Through Yoga Therapy.”
The purpose was to review the role that a yoga therapist has in helping people create and optimize their pelvic floor health. The article is also valuable for yoga teachers, health care professionals, or anyone interested in or requiring more knowledge about the pelvic floor. Pelvic health physical therapists have provided me with positive feedback, stating that the article is an accurate and valuable resource for their clients and also for educating other physical therapists who may want to learn more about the pelvic floor:
“Excellent article. Well written and one of the most accurate I’ve read. So needed.” Diane Lee, PT
In this article, I explain specifically what ‘is’ pelvic health and the pelvic floor, the many roles of the pelvic floor, the numerous factors that influence the healthy functioning of the pelvic floor muscles, and the role that yoga therapists may have in working with people with pelvic floor dysfunctions, with examples of some techniques they may use. I also discuss what some of the research is saying about yoga and certain pelvic health conditions.
There are 27 citations included in this evidence-informed article.
**Above Photo credit: Raymond Long www.bandhayoga.com
You can find the article here: “Optimizing Pelvic Floor Health Through Yoga Therapy”
Please also review the 4 min trailer of the videos, “Creating Pelvic Floor Health with PhysioYoga” that I created for you to download that include many of the techniques discussed in the article!
**This article and video is not meant to diagnose, treat or act as medical advice. Please consult your health care provider for clearance and guidance before following or participating in these activities**
Overcome Pain with Gentle Yoga Videos Available!
Resources created by Neil Pearson & Shelly Prosko, Physical Therapists & Yoga Therapists
It is known that pain is a complex biopsychosocial phenomenon that consists of many factors that influence the ability to move with ease, including capability of the physical body, breath pattern, psychological and emotional factors, and spiritual or social interactions. In the treatment of chronic or persistent pain, we know that the best long-term improvements occur when people can recover movement and participate in more activities of their daily lives.
Research supports that yoga can be used to address both physical & psychological aspects of persistent pain (Wren et al, 2011). “There is evidence that yoga may be useful for several pain-associated disorders” (Bussing et al, 2012) and growing evidence that specifically suggests different aspects of yoga can help not only reduce and manage pain, but also help people move & function better, and improve health-related quality of life (Ware et al 2013, Holtzman et al 2013, Moonaz et al 2015).
In Yoga for Healthy Aging’s blogpost, “Yoga for Pain Management”, Dr. Baxter Bell explains how different yoga techniques can help calm breathing, decrease muscle tension and improve body awareness, which are essential foundations and skills to learn if people want to move with more ease. He recommends two valuable books on yoga for pain and shares another useful post, “Techniques for Pain Management” outlining why certain yoga practises can be effective management for chronic or persistent pain.
Although we have evidence to support the benefits of yoga for management of persistent pain and many yoga practitioners are using yoga to help their students/clients in pain, there are actually very few resources available for people in pain to practice yoga in a way that safely and appropriately addresses the complex issues of persisting pain and helps people progressively increase movement with ease.
Neil Pearson, physical therapist, yoga therapist, UBC professor, and myself, wanted to create an accessible and safe resource that included more specific guidance to help people in pain. We developed “Overcome Pain with Gentle Yoga”, a series of 7 video sessions consisting of a variety of different practises, each with a different theme that addresses unique challenges that people with chronic pain face.
We chose 7 different themes based on qualities that we knew people with persistent pain often times have difficulty with and can influence pain experience.
The following 7 themes that we have chosen to address in the videos are:
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