MyYogaTeacher Welcomes Dr. Loren Fishman and Dr. Savitha Elam-Kootil to Advisory Board

MyYogaTeacher welcomes two distinguished health experts to its advisory board, Dr. Loren Fishman and Dr. Savitha Elam-Kootil, effective immediately.

“We are thrilled to diversify our board with esteemed health experts who have firsthand experience with practicing yoga and strongly believe in its therapeutic value,” says Jitendra Gupta, CEO of MyYogaTeacher. “Because a large percentage of our students seek yoga to help with a range of physical ailments, in addition to relieving stress, anxiety, and improving mental health, it’s extremely beneficial to have the guidance of medical professionals in developing our courses, workshops and other offerings so our students can get the most out of their yoga practice.”

Dr. Loren Fishman is internationally recognized for his pioneering use of yoga to treat diverse medical conditions, notably back pain and osteoporosis, in addition to other medical and orthopedic disorders. He is Medical Director of Manhattan Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation in New York and Assistant Clinical Professor at Columbia University Medical School. He is currently examining the effects of botulinum (aka Botox), combined with yoga, in an FDA-approved and free study treating scoliosis in 14 to 18-year-olds.

His interest in yoga began during a post-graduate sojourn in India in 1973. After reading Light on Yoga, he sought out its author–the legendary B.K.S. Iyengar–and studied directly under the master for one year. This life-changing experience influenced his decision to enroll in medical school and subsequently incorporate Iyengar yoga practices into his treatments.

Says Dr. Fishman, “I wasn’t in practice long when I realized yoga was a powerful yet innocuous therapeutic modality, and focused my research on actual clinical trials using it. Currently, I’ve published more than 100 peer-reviewed papers, including 12 books demonstrating its therapeutic value in treating low back pain, shoulder, hip and knee problems, sleep and weight management, osteoporosis and scoliosis. Yoga has shown its efficacy.”

On June 23, Dr. Fishman will be presenting a special session titled “Yoga Therapy Makes the Grade–and the Grade is A+,” part of MyYogaTeacher’s International Yoga Day program, taking place June 21 to 24 on its platform. He will discuss the treatment of scoliosis, rotator cuff, osteoporosis and weight management through yoga, and his team will demonstrate asanas for these issues, with a Q&A at the end. For information about his session and others, visit here.

Board-certified in internal medicine, Dr. Elam-Kootil practices at Kaiser Permanente in Atlanta where she executes primary care, chronic disease management, and elder care, since 2002. She takes a holistic approach towards health, which means examining all aspects of each patient: mental, physical, emotional, social and spiritual. A recipient of Kaiser’s Golden Stethoscope award, she is currently the physician lead for depression care management, a primary care initiative to improve patient behavioral health. She is certified as a clinical hypertension specialist from the American Society of Hypertension, in addition to being board-certified in sleep medicine by the American Society of Sleep Medicine. She has mentored numerous medical students and nurse practitioners from Atlanta-area schools.

Raised in Southern India, Dr. Elam-Kootil wanted to be a doctor from a young age and completed her medical degree (MBBS) in India, then came to the U.S. to do her internship and residency in internal medicine. Her awareness of yoga began as a young girl when she was encouraged to practice asanas (physical poses) during summer programs, but her awareness of yoga’s transformative effects on mental and physical health only began after she moved to this country. Through her ongoing practice of yoga, she became more cognizant of yoga’s powerful mind-body relationship. After starting her medical practice, she began recommending it to patients of all ages experiencing a wide range of issues–hypertension, diabetes, obesity, sleep apnea, insomnia, depression, anxiety, chronic low back pain, and chronic addictions.

She has witnessed yoga’s beneficial effects and says, “Most chronic disease is inflammation-based, and treating the mind affects markers of inflammation. For example, I have seen blood sugar levels come down in diabetic patients and similar positive effects in hypertension patients. For people with low back pain, other physical pains, and those struggling with obesity, I generally recommend an asana practice, and for people suffering from anxiety and depression, I will often suggest controlled breathing and meditation exercises.”

Dr. Elam-Kootil says, “I tell patients that yoga is not just a physical practice with difficult poses, but also a mental practice that can help with breathing, posture, and feeling better emotionally. I also teach them affirmations, which are the core of yoga, which is to be present–here and now.”

For more information about these doctors or MyYoga Teacher, visit the website.

About MyYogaTeacher
MyYogaTeacher is reconnecting yoga to its roots and sharing it through live lessons taught by the world’s foremost teachers who studied yoga at India’s most elite universities and schools. With over 180,000 registered U.S. students, it offers over 40 group classes daily, and provides private sessions, along with over one million minutes of live interactions each month. The Cupertino-based company was co-founded in 2018 by entrepreneurs Jitendra Gupta and Will Allen. For more information, visit MyYogaTeacher.com.

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Carolyn Kamii

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Carolyn Kamii PR

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