Our mission at Living Well Institute is a simple but tall order: To revolutionize healthcare and its delivery. We are attempting to contribute our part in healthcare reform and improving the quality of healthcare delivery by educating as many people as we can about the benefits of Integrative & Lifestyle Medicine. We teach professional continuing education classes as well as virtual public fitness and wellness classes. Our vision is to improve healthcare through education – one individual at a time. Here’s how we have done our part. 2020 Scholar Spotlight: Our Impact on Healthcare:
2020 Healthcare & Self-Care in Numbers
This year was the most trying for our world that most of us will experience in our lifetime. So I’d like to celebrate a few positive numbers for the year.
In 2020 here’s how many people’s lives we’ve been able to impact at Living Well Institute:
- 100+ hours of new continuing education filmed
- 409 students enrolled across 39 cities
- 48 Level I Graduates
- 13 Professional Yoga Therapist graduates
- 3 courses launched
- 3 children in 3 different schools all homeschooling in 3 different ways
- 2 new websites
- 1 New Institute launch (from PYTI® to Living Well Institute)
- 1 New Integrative Lifestyle Medicine Certificate program
- 1 Grand Reopening of my PT practice with its new trademarked name EudeMOMia®
- 1 new book chapter submitted on Physical Activity for Women’s Health Across the Lifespan for an upcoming textbook on Lifestyle Medicine in Women’s Health
- 1 marriage that is surviving all of this
- AND
- 365 days of gratitude for surviving the toughest year of my life so far!
2020 Scholar Spotlight: Celebrating our Graduates
I want to take a moment to celebrate all of the graduates from 2020! Our Integrative Lifestyle Medicine graduates are too numerous to list, but see the testimonial from Dr. Amanda Wold about her experience in the Integrative Lifestyle Medicine Certificate program!
If you are a PT, OT, or ATC and are interested in a more sustainable career with better patient outcomes and improved self-care, then visit our Institute!
2020 Scholar Spotlight: Professional Yoga Therapist Graduates
These graduates have earned the designation of Certified Professional Yoga Therapist, which means they have completed all 3 levels of the Medical Therapeutic Yoga training and completed their Community Karma Yoga project (CCC).
This designation takes on average 2 years to earn, and we are proud to celebrate the following PT’s and OT’s:
- Dr. Rachel Gorman
- Dr. Jenna Weitzman
- Dr. Tara Pandiscia
- Brandis Gunderson
- Dr. Lisa Niethamer
- Joy McKinney
- Dr. Sarah Avery
- Dr. Stephanie Muntzer
- Jamie Delaine
- Dr. Kassandra Prutsman
- Dr. Meghan Nelson
- Dr. Katie Goroncy
2020 Scholar Spotlight: Level I Certification Graduates
These candidates have completed the first level of Medical Therapeutic Yoga training, which is a 51 hour program. This program became an entirely ONLINE training in June after we made a fast shift from in-person to online learning after the pandemic struck. We were able to run 3 cohorts who all gave glowing reviews of the new online learning experience!
- Melinda Halford
- Teresa Dawson
- Ann Nolan
- Stacy Hite
- Susan Berres
- Jayme Siet
- Tatsiana Whitlock
- Daniele Berres
- Catherine Maxwell-Palmer
- Taryn Cadez-Schmidt
- Linda Roberts
- Staisha Grosch
- Vidhi Vyas-Desai
- Whitley Williams
- Rachel Gmach
- Tricia Venditti
- Katherine Buckley
- Lisa Vanderbloomer
- Ann Marie Simko
- Sarah Dominguez
- Ben Poehlmann
- Denitza Minev
- Stephanie House
- Leigh Sato
- Helen Gatling-Austin
- Lisa Minn
- Michel Vita
- Pamela Boeschler
- Jessica Nutter
- Teri McGovern-Nintzel
- Lily Gasway
- Meaghan Powell
- Emily Sannan
- Penny Fleming
- Yelena Joy
- Dr. Kelsey Coles
- Laura Lentz
- Jessica Anderson
- Michelle Walendowski
- Roxi Zilmer
- Maggie Edwards
- Valerie Brown
- Kristin Biggins
- Judith Reposo
- Jackie DeNio
2020 Scholar Spotlight: Level II Certification Graduates
Due to COVID all of our Level II in-person trainings were cancelled in 2020. But tenacity and grit allowed us to launch a completely ONLINE version just before the end of 2020. These candidates have completed Level I and Level II of the Medical Therapeutic Yoga training, which totals 79 hours.
- Vidhi Vyas-Desai
- Susan Berres
- Michelle Walendowski
- Ann Nolan
- Meaghan Powell
- Katherine Buckley
- Grace Abruzzo
- Penny Fleming
- Ann Marie Simko
- Rachel Gmach
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Learn more about Living Well Institute
Did you know we have professional continuing education programs as well as virtual fitness, wellness, and health classes at the Institute? Choose the track that fits you best below:
- Professional Continuing Education for PT, OT, ATC
- Fitness & Wellness Classes in Medical Therapeutic Yoga, Pilates, Kombucha making, and more
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.
Learn more about how Integrative Lifestyle Medicine can help you during the pandemic and beyond
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About the Author
Ginger is a passionate, unapologetic advocate of improving access to healthcare, a mother to 3 sons, & a 20+ year veteran in Integrative & Lifestyle Medicine in women’s health physical therapy & athletic training. She is the author of Medical Therapeutic Yoga, founder of Living Well Institute, owner of EudeMOMIa Integrative PT & Lifestyle Medicine, and most recently uprooted to Greensboro, NC with her family after 21 years of beach living, where they and their rescue pup Scout are wildly joyous about their new hometown.
