Welcome! I’m Alyson.
I believe that everyone has the power to positively affect their own health.
I hope to share information, resources, and some of my own personal thoughts to empower you with ideas for how to optimize your own health. That doesn’t mean you’re taking care of yourself incorrectly if you still need medications, procedures, and professional assistance managing your health – but why not optimize the things YOU can control for your overall quality of life? Mind-Body Interventions like Yoga and Meditation are meant to be complementary therapies, so they might enhance any other health interventions, and start some great conversations with your medical team about your health goals and treatment interests. These can be great tools to personalize any treatment and maintenance of your health. The way that we move, breathe, rest or restore and nourish ourselves has profound effects on our overall health and well-being – down to the way our system processes and responds, down to the markers on our cells and DNA.
I started my professional health care journey in the US Army as a Primary Care Medicine Physician Assistant (NOTE: Though I am still a certified Physician Assistant, the information on this website is NOT medical advice, but as mentioned, my own thoughts, opinions, and sharing any information or resources I find interesting or helpful). After undergoing life-changing leg and foot fractures (with permanent hardware) during my duties as a Paratrooper, I turned to Yoga and realized it gave me so much more than just low-impact movement benefits (though I appreciated improved flexibility, strength, stability and balance). I felt the benefits of the Meditative aspects of the practice: improved mood, improved rest, more resilience, stress management, tools for clarity of mind, more capacity for calm or even joy. Bonus – meditation is anti-aging for the brain!
I appreciated this approach because it wasn’t just about the physical limitations and pain associated with my injury – I felt angry, scared, sad, uncertain, and many other things about what had happened, and what that meant in each moment after. Yoga helped me feel like myself again. Even though I technically have some permanent restrictions/considerations for how my right leg and foot function, I don’t feel limited. That is the power of Mind-Body healing. I underwent Yoga Teacher Training, and incorporated some of what I learned from Yoga into my treatment plans offered in Primary Care, then Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation clinical practice, but I felt constrained in what and how much I was able to offer. I studied additional training such as Healing Relationships Yoga Therapy Training with Nischala Joy Devi, Yoga for Low Back Pain with Dr. Fishman, Warriors at Ease (to offer adaptive plans, and tools for working with military and veteran populations), and Integrative Restoration (iRest) Yoga Nidra Level I to offer trauma sensitive mindfulness based techniques for meditation and restorative rest. I am ongoing training towards Certification through the International Association of Yoga Therapists (C-IAYT) with Inner Peace Yoga Therapy.
Melding my medical background with my Yoga Teacher training and experience, I worked full time in a Yoga Therapist position through the Intrepid Spirit Center on Fort Bragg, NC with groups and individuals managing chronic pain, history of traumatic brain injury, or both. I love sharing ways to make yoga an adaptive practice, especially after learning the hard way how to adjust for my own injuries, how to set aside what I thought or had been told I “should” do, and learn and practice what feels best for me. I truly believe there is a yoga technique for anyone. As the saying goes, “If you can breathe, you can do Yoga.” It is some of the most rewarding work I’ve ever done, partly because I believe in the practice itself – and there’s a lot of exciting research ongoing for Yoga and Mind-Body techniques starting to shed light on why and how it helps, so it’s not just me saying it : ) Also, I love that this work empowers people to care for themselves – I guide and teach techniques, but you do the work for yourself; any benefits are created by yourself, for yourself. We are more powerful than we often realize.
I’ll update this site with any thoughts or resources I hope to share through posts, and opportunities to access any offerings or chances to work with me.
Thank you for reading, and I’m glad you’re here. I wish you well.