What is Integrative Lifestyle Medicine (ILM)?
ILM is the practice of Integrative & Lifestyle Medicine together in rehab and wellness practice. The five facets of Lifestyle Medicine are found in the graphics below and include:
- Sleep
- Nutrition
- Stress Management
- Movement
- Environmental Influences
Integrative Medicine at Living Well Institute is defined through the lens of Yoga philosophy, and is practicing through a method known as Medical Therapeutic Yoga.
What is Medical Therapeutic Yoga (MTY)?
MTY is a form of Integrative Medicine that is used by healthcare and yoga professionals to deliver yoga in a safer, more effective way by combining it with facets of physical therapy, occupational therapy, and athletic training. This makes MTY more effective than yoga alone, because it draws on the latest science from each of these fields, which includes pain science and neuroscience, as well as the evidence-based practice of Lifestyle Medicine.
What kind of healthcare providers use ILM & MTY?
Healthcare providers who use these approaches, simply termed as Integrative & Lifestyle Medicine, have advanced training in both types of medicine and are also licensed in their respective field of medicine or rehabilitation. Most therapists who train at Living Well Institute are physical therapists, the vast majority of those holding doctoral degrees. We also have occupational therapists, mental health therapists, athletic trainers, nurses, and some medical doctors as graduates. Yoga teachers and therapists also have the ability to incorporate tenets of the MTY method into their practice too, to make yoga safer and more effective for their students.
We believe ILM is important because a person is MORE than a diagnosis or illness. They deserve to receive care that goes beyond just “sick-care.” Healthcare should include preventive and curative care, and should also include dignified end-of-life care.
What is Health? Now includes the challenge of living in pandemic times
In 1948 the World Health Organization defined health as “more than merely an absence of disease.” Since that time, our healthcare system has yet to evolve from sick-care to true healthcare. What’s worse is COVID-19 has greatly impacted the way we live and work. No doubt you have been touched by COVID-19 financially, emotionally, or physically. Our therapists are here for you, both in-person and via telehealth, to help you get comprehensive integrative care.
Now, more than ever, physical activity, breathwork, and mind-body exercise that targets lung power, immunity, and resilience are needed. Integrative & Lifestyle Medicine are the perfect power duo to accomplish all of these things, whether you have COVID-19 or whether you are struggling from the stress and fallout of COVID-19.
What do ILM-Trained Therapists and Doctors Do?
We help you optimize physical activity, sleep, diet, stress management, & avoidance of environmental influences (i.e. smoking, pollutants, toxins).
Living Well Institute trains therapists and doctors like Physical Therapists, Occupational Therapists, Athletic Trainers, and in some cases, MD’s, nurses, and mental health professionals. They are trained to use Integrative & Lifestyle Medicine (ILM), through the lens of Medical Therapeutic Yoga, to identify and prevent underlying causes of disease & injury, rather than just treating the superficial symptoms.
Learn How Integrative Lifestyle Medicine Can Help
