Breathing For A Safer Spine: The Yogic TATD Breath The deeper stabilizers of the trunk are well supported in the literature, such as transversus abdominus (TvA), to be the major players of lumbopelvic force closure. They are responsible, as part of a global stabilizing system, in conjunction with the multifidi and other synergists such as the respiratory diaphragm and the…
Mothers Declaration of Rights Recently I wrote about the shameful state of women’s health care in America and how America’s broken health care system affects women. NAMC Advocacy Coordinator and mothers’ rights advocate, Valerie Young, is a bright light and constant champion for improving the status of women and caregiving in America. Valerie has guest posted for BITL many times, and…
Work Smarter Not Harder in the Shoulder…Use Yoga If you practice yoga or know much about it, you’ll have seen the yoga pose “chaturanga dandasana” or four limbed staff pose. You will also know it is not an easy pose to do. It requires significant global strength and motor control (aka finesse and body awareness). What…
Music is Powerful Medicine Parents’ Singing to Fetus and Newborn Enhances Their Well-being, Parent-Infant Attachment, & Soothability: Part One I’ve said for many years now that I am a mother’s biggest fan. Birth and mothering are not just dear to my heart – they determine the future of our world. I am a mother of…
Yoga as Integrative Medicine: Why Health Care Pros Should Offer It In a 2002 study of people with chronic heart disease, more than 80% of patients used integrative medicine. (1) Patients cited numerous benefits to the use of integrative medicine, including maintaining better health and sleep, boosting self-esteem, hope, and peaceful mind, and reducing anxiety,…
The Minimalist Physical Therapist: Using Yoga as Medicine? A minimalist pares away all unnecessary things “in order to expose the essence or identity of a subject.” Twelve years ago I decided to try that path. I had been raised with a “Depression Era” ethic, that is, collect and keep everything you can, because you “just never know what…
Cesarean Delivery and Fetal Monitoring: Help or Hurt? Fetal monitoring is used more than any other obstetrical intervention, reported to be used in more than 85% of hospitals in 2010 (ACOG Practice Bulletin 132). However, despite its high rate of use, fetal monitoring has not been proven effective in decreasing infant or maternal mortality or…
Lady Gaga’s Hip Labral Tear: Are You At Risk for One? Lady Gaga’s tour operators, Live Nation, announced February 14, 2013 that she would be cancelling the remainder of her tour due to a hip injury. You may not know one single song that Lady Gaga sings (I don’t), so why, you are thinking, should I…
Physical Therapy for Back Pain Improves Chances for Permanent Relief Apparently Dr. Oz may not know exactly what physical therapy is – even though it is good that he sought it out when discussing “cutting edge solutions for back pain” on a recent segment. The segment caught the attention of the American Physical Therapy Association,…
This guest post is written by Liz Gillem Duncanson MPT, ATC, PYT-C, of Body Temple Physical Therapy in Northern California. Visit Liz. The Yoga Couch When I returned to work after my first Professional Yoga Therapy studies course with Ginger Garner, I began to lay out a mysterious blanket configuration on the floor next to the…
Labor & Delivery Yoga: Better Birth is Only a Breath Away I have had the absolute joy of giving birth three times. Although I have other secret weapons for labor and delivery, I believe this one is the most important for managing pain, preventing panic or anxiety, and maintaining adequate oxygenation, no matter what type…
The idea of women’s empowerment is a touchy issue. It has been correlated with the myth of the “male decline” and other scare tactics put forth by those who may seek to sweep women’s issues under the proverbial rug. However, one fact stands very clear. Our current approach on women’s health care in the US…