For Health Care Professionals
Implementation of Yoga Therapy into U.S. Healthcare Systems
In 2016, I joined the editorial board of the International Journal of Yoga Therapy. IJYT is a peer-reviewed publication dedicated to "scholarly and research-based submissions related to any tradition or aspect of yoga therapy." For the 2017 issue, my fellow board member, Matthew Taylor, PT and I, wrote this article summarizing what happening with efforts to incorporate yoga therapy into US health care.
The Language of Healing
This article, published in Yoga+ (now called Yoga International), lays out the crucial difference between holism and reductionism. Failing to understand this distinction leads many well-meaning people to embrace sometimes dubious alternative treatments, which I lump into a category I call "alternative reductionism." I hope you'll find it both provocative and full of practical implications for how to keep yourself healthy.
Western Science vs. Eastern Wisdom
This was the very first, and still my favorite, of my Yoga Journal articles. It describes my first trip to India, and my efforts to reconcile what I’d learned in medical school with what I was experiencing in my yoga practice. This is a slightly different version than the one which appeared in the magazine, correcting a couple of small errors that happened during editing.
50 Ways to Heal a Yogi
This is a version of the article published in Yoga Journal under the name “38 Ways Yoga Keeps You Fit.” It's much more complete than the article that appeared in the magazine; it also groups the ways yoga improves health into categories like “Musculoskeletal,” Circulatory” and “Organ Function,” which makes it a little more user-friendly.
Yoga Therapy Referral Guidelines for Healthcare Practitioners
This featured article from the Winter 2016 edition of Yoga Therapy Today, a publication of the International Association of Yoga Therapists (IAYT), is an excerpt from the yoga therapy medical textbook I've been working on the last couple of years, The Principles and Practice of Yoga and Health Care.
Yoga Therapy: Informed Consent and Shared Decision Making
An article I coauthored with several yoga therapists, intended to provide some guidelines for safety and well-being in the practice of yoga therapy, and to encourage pretreatment discussions between therapist and practictioner.
Interview with IJYT
In this interview conducted by Kelly McGonigal, Editor-in-Chief ofthe International Journal of Yoga Therapy, I discuss what Western medicine can learn from Yoga and Ayurveda, the risks, challenges, and rewards of conducting research on yoga therapy, etc.
The Scientific Basis of Yoga Therapy
An introduction to the research documenting yoga therapy's effectiveness and suggesting some explanations of how it works.
Yoga and Cancer Care
Written specifically for physicians; originally published in Oncology International. Guiding your patients down the right path: while yoga's adaptability makes it appropriate for most cancer patients, not all classes will be right for all patients.
A Significant Stretch
A profile of me which appeared in the University of Wisconsin's Medical School Alumni Quarterly in 2008. PDF format.
Yoga vs. Yoga Therapy
A brief overview of the difference between yoga therapy and yoga classes.
Interview in San Francisco Medicine (published by the San Francisco Medical Society)
Focuses on my path to yoga and my desire to reach out to physicians and other health care professionals about yoga's health benefits.
117 Conditions Benefited by Yoga (as Shown in Scientific Studies)
My 2019 update of “Health Conditions Helped by Yoga (as Shown in Scientific Studies)” was released recently. The PDF contains over 40 pages of references, listing the scientific studies by condition. Embedded hyperlinks will take you to the study's abstract, or if available, to a free, full-text version of the study. For printable posters (including A4 versions), click here. I compile this bibliography of research as a service, and hereby give permission to print out, post and/or share this PDF. The printable posters may also be shared.
In 2016, I joined the editorial board of the International Journal of Yoga Therapy. IJYT is a peer-reviewed publication dedicated to "scholarly and research-based submissions related to any tradition or aspect of yoga therapy." For the 2017 issue, my fellow board member, Matthew Taylor, PT and I, wrote this article summarizing what happening with efforts to incorporate yoga therapy into US health care.
The Language of Healing
This article, published in Yoga+ (now called Yoga International), lays out the crucial difference between holism and reductionism. Failing to understand this distinction leads many well-meaning people to embrace sometimes dubious alternative treatments, which I lump into a category I call "alternative reductionism." I hope you'll find it both provocative and full of practical implications for how to keep yourself healthy.
Western Science vs. Eastern Wisdom
This was the very first, and still my favorite, of my Yoga Journal articles. It describes my first trip to India, and my efforts to reconcile what I’d learned in medical school with what I was experiencing in my yoga practice. This is a slightly different version than the one which appeared in the magazine, correcting a couple of small errors that happened during editing.
50 Ways to Heal a Yogi
This is a version of the article published in Yoga Journal under the name “38 Ways Yoga Keeps You Fit.” It's much more complete than the article that appeared in the magazine; it also groups the ways yoga improves health into categories like “Musculoskeletal,” Circulatory” and “Organ Function,” which makes it a little more user-friendly.
Yoga Therapy Referral Guidelines for Healthcare Practitioners
This featured article from the Winter 2016 edition of Yoga Therapy Today, a publication of the International Association of Yoga Therapists (IAYT), is an excerpt from the yoga therapy medical textbook I've been working on the last couple of years, The Principles and Practice of Yoga and Health Care.
Yoga Therapy: Informed Consent and Shared Decision Making
An article I coauthored with several yoga therapists, intended to provide some guidelines for safety and well-being in the practice of yoga therapy, and to encourage pretreatment discussions between therapist and practictioner.
Interview with IJYT
In this interview conducted by Kelly McGonigal, Editor-in-Chief ofthe International Journal of Yoga Therapy, I discuss what Western medicine can learn from Yoga and Ayurveda, the risks, challenges, and rewards of conducting research on yoga therapy, etc.
The Scientific Basis of Yoga Therapy
An introduction to the research documenting yoga therapy's effectiveness and suggesting some explanations of how it works.
Yoga and Cancer Care
Written specifically for physicians; originally published in Oncology International. Guiding your patients down the right path: while yoga's adaptability makes it appropriate for most cancer patients, not all classes will be right for all patients.
A Significant Stretch
A profile of me which appeared in the University of Wisconsin's Medical School Alumni Quarterly in 2008. PDF format.
Yoga vs. Yoga Therapy
A brief overview of the difference between yoga therapy and yoga classes.
Interview in San Francisco Medicine (published by the San Francisco Medical Society)
Focuses on my path to yoga and my desire to reach out to physicians and other health care professionals about yoga's health benefits.
117 Conditions Benefited by Yoga (as Shown in Scientific Studies)
My 2019 update of “Health Conditions Helped by Yoga (as Shown in Scientific Studies)” was released recently. The PDF contains over 40 pages of references, listing the scientific studies by condition. Embedded hyperlinks will take you to the study's abstract, or if available, to a free, full-text version of the study. For printable posters (including A4 versions), click here. I compile this bibliography of research as a service, and hereby give permission to print out, post and/or share this PDF. The printable posters may also be shared.