Favorites
I am often asked who I recommend for X, Y and Z. Mainly because once I find a good practitioner, class, book, I don’t shut up about it.
I see a lot in yoga classes. I also hear a lot from students in my yoga classes. Aches, pains, what is going on with my body as I age, all of it. I am a yoga instructor and that is it. Well, I am more than a yoga instructor, but in the yoga practice space I am just a yoga instructor. I am not a physician, physical therapist, massage therapist, nutritionist, mental health provider, naturopath, chiropractor, acupuncturist, etc.
But I can give you a referral if you don’t have an arsenal of care givers at your fingertips.
PHYSICAL THERAPIST
Allison Harney, PT, DPT Therapeutic Associates Oak Grove 503-653-5763
https://www.therapeuticassociates.com/locations/oregon/portland-metro/oak-grove/
Hands down, the best PT I have ever experienced. My healthy spine slant with yoga is all because of her (and all the things that happen in my body).
MASSAGE THERAPIST
Richelle Ricard
https://yogaengineer.com/massage
I don’t even know how to put words to what she does, but it is amazing. She also wrote my favorite anatomy book for yoga. She is an anatomy master.
YOU HAVE TO BUILD BACK BODY STRENGTH AND THIS IS IT
If you are doing just yoga, well, OK. But over time, with all that stretching and lengthening, and our current daily lifestyle of rolled shoulders, sitting at a desk or hunched over the phone are going to work a number on you. I can and do sneak in back body strength work in yoga poses (oh hi Locust and Cobra), but you need more than that.
https://live.backbodyproject.com/catalog
If you are going to a gym YAY! If you are like me and really don’t enjoy the gym, Back Body Project is for you.
In person classes are available, but recorded classes fill my soul as I can do them any time. This is a WORKOUT. Start slow. The Groundwork series is where I hang out most of the time, but I also get in some of her classics which has a lot of jumping. All instructors are great, but Meegan gets me. Or I get her. It may be her fabulous cueing and sequencing or her kick ass playlists. Whatever it is, do this.
CHIROPRACTOR
I found a great one years ago, pre-Covid when my back was at it’s worst. I was down and out and dying. My old chiropractor moved out of state, and I was desperate to get in. I just Googled and started dialing. How lucky was I to land on Shireesh Bhalerao at Equilibrium.
https://www.eqpdx.com/shireesh-1
He was the first person who told me I needed to build strength and encouraged me to go to physical therapy. He worked on me and I followed his advice, which led me down my path of strength work several times a week thanks to Allison Harney and Back Body Project.
NATUROPATH
Perimenopause messed up my sleep. I was a wreck. Marsha Hamilton is a Sellwood Yoga fave, and I am so glad I checked her out. She got me through Perimenopause which made Menopause easier.
http://www.flownaturalhealthcare.com/practitioners/dr-marsha-hamilton-nd/
NEXT LEVEL BOOK
Perimenopausal? Menopausal? READ THIS BOOK. Next Level-Your Guide to Kicking Ass, Feeling Great, and Crushing Goals through Menopause and Beyond by Stacy Sims, Ph.D.
https://www.drstacysims.com/booksandmore
Just read it and do what she says.