Yoga for Sciatica

In this 3-part recorded webinar, Dr. Loren Fishman and yoga therapist Ellen Saltonstall explores sciatica and the use of yoga therapy to alleviate symptoms. Sciatica is a painful condition named after the longest and largest nerve in the body. The sciatic nerve starts in the pelvis, exits the lower spine, and travels the entire length of each leg, branching into smaller nerves. The onset of sciatica may be gradual or sudden, and its symptoms can range from mild numbness and tingling to excruciating pain that makes movement difficult. Sciatica may affect anyone at any age, though it is more common after 40.

Dr. Loren Fishman and Ellen Saltonstall explore the anatomy, the causes, and strategies for sciatica treatment, with particular attention to the use of yoga asanas for both prevention and treatment.

Lecture One

• What it is, and isn’t
• Breakdown of causes: radiculopathy, spinal stenosis, piriformis syndrome
• First set of asanas for radiculopathy with explanations (flexion, abdominal strengthening, extension, coordination, strengthening, and agility)

Lecture Two

• Brief review alternative and complementary medicine
• Second set of asanas for spinal stenosis with explanations

Lecture Three

• Pros and cons of treating with medicine and yoga
• Review of anatomy
• Piriformis syndrome: diagnosis, theory and practice
• Sacroiliac joint derangement that is not sciatica: diagnosis and treatment.

This Course Also Includes These Bonuses!

Loren Fishman, MD

After graduating from Christ Church, Oxford, spending the year 1973 with Mr. Iyengar in Pune, attending every class, public and private, and taking daily instruction, Loren M. Fishman, M.D., was told “You can teach my yoga.” Dr. Fishman then went to medical school, and at Rush, in a Tufts-Harvard Residency program, and as Chief Resident at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, did indeed teach patients, health professionals, and also learned more about yoga and medicine himself. He has been practicing yoga daily since the year he spent with Mr. Iyengar, has written and edited more than 65 academic articles, chapters and books in the philosophy of science, and Rehabilitation Medicine, his field. His work has been reviewed in articles by Jane Brody, Spine, and a number of international periodicals. He is past President of the New York Society of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, currently Associate Editor of Topics in Geriatric Rehabilitation, on the staff at Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons, Treasurer of the Manhattan Institute for Cancer Research, and has a private practice on Park Avenue in Manhattan.

Loren has published two books: Yoga for Osteoporosis with Ellen Saltonstall (for W.W. Norton) and Yoga and Multiple Sclerosiswith Eric Small. For more information about Loren, visit: www.sciatica.org
 

Ellen Saltonstall 

Ellen Saltonstall (E-RYT 500) is a yoga instructor and body therapist based in New York with extensive training in the Iyengar and Anusara methods. She has been a practitioner of yoga and meditation for over 40 years. She teaches Bodymind Ballwork, a method of self-massage using rubber balls which she developed, and she co-authored Yoga for Arthritis, 2008, and Yoga for Osteoporosis, 2010 with Dr. Loren Fishman. Her book Anatomy & Yoga: A Guide for Teachers and Students will be released in December 2016. She offers yoga therapy webinars through YogaOnlineU.com, and she teaches nationally and internationally with a specialty in anatomy and therapeutics. She is known for her clarity and depth of knowledge, and her enthusiasm in encouraging students of all levels to find freedom and joy through yoga. Please visit her website at www.ellensaltonstall.com.