Pain, Addiction and Yoga

Shelly is a physiotherapist, yoga therapist, educator and pioneer of PhysioYoga with over 20 years of experience integrating yoga into rehabilitation with a focus on helping people suffering from chronic or persistent pain, pelvic health conditions and professional burnout. She guest lectures at yoga and physiotherapy programs, presents at yoga therapy and medical conferences globally, provides mentorship to health providers, offers onsite and online continuing education courses for yoga and health professionals and is a Pain Care U Yoga Trainer. She maintains a clinical practice in Sylvan Lake, Canada and believes that cultivating meaningful connections, compassion and joy can be powerful contributors to recovery and well-being. Shelly is co-editor of the book Yoga and Science in Pain Care: Treating the Person in Pain. 

Please visit www.physioyoga.ca to learn more

Neil is a physical therapist, yoga therapist, author, researcher, Clinical Associate Professor at the University of British Columbia, faculty in three IAYT-accredited yoga therapy programs, board member for the International Association of Yoga Therapists and pain care advocate. He conducts research into the effects of yoga on veterans with chronic pain and people with osteoarthritis. Neil is the recipient of awards honouring his work in pain care, patient education and physiotherapy by Queen’s University, the Canadian Pain Society and both provincial and national physiotherapy associations, including the Canadian 2021 Medal of Distinction.

Neil is a consultant to Partners in Canadian Veterans Rehabilitation Services, and to Lifemark’s 300+ clinics in Canada. Neil is a past board member for Pain BC, Canada’s premier non-profit transforming the way pain is understood and treated. He co-authored – Yoga and Science in Pain Care 2019, authored the patient education ebook, Understand Pain Live Well Again in 2008, and is lead contributor to many free patient resources offer by Pain BC.

For more information and course offerings, see www.paincareaware.com

Tracey Sondik is a licensed clinical psychologist, E-RYT 500 hour yoga teacher, certified C- IAYT yoga therapist, certified MBSR and iRest teacher. Tracey loves teaching therapeutic yoga including Yin, Restorative, and Yoga Nidra for groups and individuals. She leads nationally recognized mindfulness programs and retreats, and Yin Yoga Teacher Training Immersions for yoga teachers, yoga therapists, and mental health professionals. Tracey has a strong background in brain/behavior, working as a neuropsychologist with an expertise in neuropsychological assessment, trauma-informed therapies, and integrative medicine. She has spent most of her professional career working in inpatient and outpatient behavioral health settings with clients that have a wide-range of brain-based disorders including traumatic brain injury, stroke, neurocognitive disorders, depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorders, PTSD, and schizophrenia.

Tracey has authored several publications book chapters around holistic behavioral treatment for different mental health conditions, yoga for addiction, and is currently writing a book on yin yoga and mental health that is set to be published in 2021. She created and co-chairs the State of Connecticut State-Wide Integrative Medicine Collaborative dedicated to the use of holistic treatments for behavioral services throughout the state of Connecticut. Tracey is an Assistant Clinical Professor at Yale University Department of Psychiatry, and adjunct faculty member at University of Hartford Graduate School of Professional Psychology in Hartford, CT and Maryland University of Integrative Health Master’s of Science Yoga Therapy program in Laurel, Maryland.

Marlysa is a physiotherapist and yoga therapist with over 15 years of experience working with people suffering with chronic pain conditions. She is an Assistant Professor in Yoga Therapy and Integrative Health Sciences at Maryland University of Integrative Health and holds an adjunct position at Emory University, where she teaches the integration of yoga and mindfulness into physical therapy practice in the DPT program. She is also the author of Understanding Yoga Therapy: Applied Philosophy and Science for Well-being and co-editor of Yoga and Science in Pain Care: Treating the Person in Pain as well as several peer-reviewed articles.

Marlysa has been involved in the professionalization of the field of yoga therapy through the educational standards committee of IAYT, which helped to define the competencies for the field, and in characterizing the yoga therapy workforce through research. Her research interests focus on defining the framework and explanatory model for yoga therapy based on philosophical and neurophysiological perspectives.