Pathways of Care
Referrals from Clinicians and How We Help
How it Works
Each of us has our own journey toward pelvic health, and a tailored yoga practice is a wonderful travel partner.
Part of the reason yoga is so complementary to our pelvic health journey is that it provides a great bounty of material: philosophy, movement, breath work, embodiment practices. We show up just as we are, right where we are, and yoga meets us there. We might find ourselves living with cancer, or pelvic reconstruction; perhaps we have trauma work to do, or we’re living in pain. The skillful application of yoga partners with the care for each of these conditions, and I commonly work with care providers in these areas in order to enrich, diversify, heighten, and clarify the healing experience.
Clinicians: What Happens When You Refer?
I welcome referrals from clinicians in many different areas: physical therapy, oncology, reconstructive surgery, uro-gynecology, persistent pain care, sex therapy, mental health, as well as chiropractic, acupuncture, and dental care (yes, dental care).
When you refer to me, I will reach out to a client shortly thereafter (their journey has been long enough).
I briefly help them understand what this kind of yoga is, and respond to any of their immediate questions. If they request a brief phone call, I make sure that happens within a short period of time. From there, I am usually able to discern whether yoga is the next right step; for some clients, they will need to see a pelvic PT (if they haven’t yet), before it is appropriate to embark upon their yoga, or will need further medical consultation before we can work effectively. I will communicate this to the client, and with their permission, to you.
Once I begin to work with a student, and with their permission, I will provide summary updates about our work together.
If you have questions about how this kind of yoga can complement your practice and your care provision, please reach out to me for further information. I’m always happy to come speak to your practice.
For Pelvic PTs
Most commonly, I work in conjunction with pelvic physical therapists.
For me, this represents a best practice model, and demonstrates what I have come to believe over many years now is the most effective way to treat pelvic dysfunction, disease and pain conditions. By the time a student/client has reached your care, they may also be in need of working more specifically with their breath, of integrating their movement more thoroughly into daily life and movement practices, and they may also be demonstrating needs that don’t quite fit into the realm of what you offer as a pelvic PT. Please get in touch to find out more about how I work with pelvic PTs, in particular, and you can check out my work with Dr. Jessica Reale (DPT) below.
Yoga for Pelvic Floor Health Parts 1 and 2
with Jessica Reale and Patricia Schmidt
YogaUOnline
"I was eager to add yoga to my post-double knee replacement rehab. Working with Patricia, I felt like I achieved more than I thought possible. Her strong, gentle and positive .guidance and encouragement accompany a remarkable insight into subtleties of body movement and mechanics. Patricia is a great communicator and added a lasting and unique dimension that helps me daily with a sometimes frustrating recovery/reconciliation process."
– DD
How does yoga complement your other care?
Tailored yoga can complement your other care pathways. Sometimes, I hear from clients that it’s been the ‘missing link’, helping to integrate their different care modalities into daily life and body-mind.
Care Alignment: Everyone on the same page
Enrich: Yoga can enrich our wellness process. A tailored yoga practice can add elements of yoga philosophy and practice that help to integrate mental health care provision and wellness practices (e.g., resting in our true nature; loving-kindness; compassion).
Diversify: Yoga can help diversify movement practices, adding important elements of breath-movement alignment, and providing the body-mind with the kind of nourishment that results in lasting healing.
Heighten: Yoga can heighten our proprioceptive and interoceptive experience (our felt sense of ourselves and ourselves in space). Practiced with discernment, yoga can help alleviate and heal dissociative experiences, feelings of body-mind disconnection, and disregulated breath.
Clarify: Yoga can clarify our decision-making and our next steps along our path. It can help us know what is next right action, and help us sit into our own purpose and embodied experience.
