The Mountain Pose Medicine and Yoga Symposium is comprised of 3 days of yoga classes and speakers. Below is a list of our featured talent for the weekend.
Yoga Instructors:
Keisha Wixom, Rebecca Woods, YogaWoman
Speakers:
Joe Alcock, MD, Brian Austill, MDiv, PhD, Siegfried Bleher, Ph.D, Ginger Garner, MPT, ATC, Sara Gottfried, MD, Satkirin Khalsa, MD, Mary Mitchell, C.L. "Doc PJ" Perrinjaquet, MD, MPH, David "Yeah Dave" Romanelli, Glenn Sabin, James K. Weber, MD, Kimberly Williams, Ph.D
Keisha Wixom
Keisha Wixom became enchanted with the subtle connections between the breath, body and mind in 1997. With extensive study of various yoga traditions she weaves together the common threads of Iyengar, Anusara and Ashtanga in her classes. Keisha blends challenging vinyasa sequences with emphasis on proper alignment and breath awareness.
With over 10 years of teaching experience, her classes are designed to help people of all ages and abilities create a greater sense of balance and overall awareness in their everyday life with humor and compassion.
Rebecca Woods
Rebecca grew up in Boulder, Colorado. She moved to New York in 1996 and for the past 14 years has been working as a yoga therapist and teacher. She started her teaching path by accepting the classes given by her mentors. Wanting to know more, she received her first certification in Kundalini Yoga. In 2008, Rebecca traveled to Coonoor, India where she began deepening her knowledge of the therapeutic and Ayurvedic aspects of yoga. Recently, she finished her fourth certification with Lisa and Charles Matkin, fine tuning the art of assessing physical ailments within the body. In the spring of 2010, she was invited by Mountain Yoga Beijing to teach a 3-day workshop concentrating on meditations of the seven Chakras. Rebecca teaches group classes, works privately with clients in Manhattan, and is certified in Acu-yoga, Pre-natal, and Pilates.
YogaWoman
A quiet revolution brews in yoga studios, hospitals, and living rooms around the globe: In record numbers, women are discovering their own strength, vitality, peace, and power through yoga. Reclaiming this ancient spiritual path from its traditionally male form, the result is a radical transformation of modern yoga, as we know it.
Led by a new generation of dynamic female teachers, this "new" yoga replaces the male-centered, rigid style with a distinctly feminine practice that honors intuition, family, flow, connection, community, activism, and the cyclical nature of women's lives.
YOGAWOMAN is a groundbreaking film that captures this fascinating time of awakening female power.
Joe Alcock, MD
Joe Alcock, MD, MS is the Chief of the Emergency Medicine Service at the New Mexico VA Health Care System and an Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine at the UNM Department of Emergency Medicine. Dr. Alcock is also an Adjunct Professor at the UNM Department of Biology where he teaches the course Evolutionary Medicine. He received his MD from UCLA School of Medicine in 1997 and finished his Residency in Emergency Medicine at the University of New Mexico in 2000. Dr. Alcock teaches Wilderness Medicine and Diving Medicine at UNM and has organized CME courses worldwide. His current research interests lie in the intersection of medicine and evolutionary biology.
Siegfried Bleher, Ph.D & Kimberly Williams, Ph.D
Kimberly Williams & Siegfried Bleher are partners in life & yoga. They have been teaching Iyengar yogar since 1995 in Morgantown and nearby towns, and are both certified Iyengar Yoga teachers. Their training includes two trips to India to study with the Iyengars, ongoing training with Senior Iyengar Yoga teachers in the US and Canada, and several ten-day meditation retreats.
Siegfried has a Ph.D. in physics and teaches physics on occasion at WVU. He has taught a course on Yoga Philosophy through the Department of Philosophy and the Program for Religious Studies at WVU in Spring 2007. Siegfried is an Intermediate Junior III certified Iyengar yoga teacher. Recent publications: Transformative Nature of Yoga (published in Yoga Rahasya, the quarterly publication of the Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Yoga Institute in Pune, India; vol. 12, no. 3, 2005); The Hidden Importance of Linking (published in Yoga Rahasya, vol.16, no. 2, 2009 ); Yoga as Science (published in Yoga Rahasya, vol. 17, no. 1, 2010); The Art and Science of Yoga (published in Yoga Samachar, Fall 2009/Winter 2010) See Articles for complete list. 
Kimberly has a Ph.D. in Medical Science and is Assistant Research Professor at WVU Health Sciences Center. She has recently completed an NIH sponsored research study addressing the effectiveness of yoga therapy on low back pain. Kimberly is a certified Intermediate Junior I Iyengar Yoga teacher. She has published results of a pilot study on this work (in International Journal of Yoga Therapy), as well as research on the effectiveness of mindfulness based meditation on stress.
Bryan Austill, MDiv, PhD
Bryan is an ordained United Methodist minister with a PhD in Counseling Psychology. He is a Licensed Psychologist in Colorado and a Fellow in the American Association of Pastoral Counselors. Bryan's areas of specialization include couple's relationships, mood disorders, end-of-life issues, and integration of mental health and spirituality. His background includes social work, hospital and hospice chaplaincy, and parish ministry. He has also worked in a university counseling center, juvenile court system, and with Samaritan Centers in Albuquerque and Honolulu. Recently he has been in private practice in Breckenridge from 1996 to 2009.
Ginger Garner, MPT, ATC
Founder of a Grassroots Movement to Improve Health Care in America
During her graduate studies in physical therapy and public health at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, almost 20 years ago, Ginger developed her original mission for the first education program in medical yoga, out of what she perceived as a great disconnect in American health care. Professional Yoga Therapy (PYT) was born out of the vision to see eastern and western medicine yoked to offer more comprehensive health care for both the healthy and complex American patient. Today, PYT offers a working model for educational standards in medical yoga education and integrative health care delivery in the US.
Ginger has written more than 30 programs and a 4 volume text standardizing the use of yoga as an evidence based medical therapy. Her post-graduate programs are a first of its type, including her most recent project, developing the first US based distance education program in medical therapeutic yoga now offered in partnership with the National Athletic Trainers’ Association.
Sara Gottfried, MD
I’m a mother suspicious of processed sugar and a yogini hotly pursuing lithe, lean lusciousness. I’m committed to deep green, organic living. I’m a scholar and a seeker: of truth, vitality, hormonal balance, sacred balance, spirituality and divine self-actualization.
And, oh yes, I’m a Harvard-trained MD with 20+ years of experience. I’m the author of the forthcoming book, The Hormone Cure.
Satkirin Khalsa, MD
Dr. Khalsa is the Medical Director/Scientific Program Chair of the 2nd Annual Mountain Pose Yoga & Medicine Symposium. As a life long yoga practitioner, certified to teach at age 21, she began teaching yoga to her peers while in medical school. She attended the University of New Mexico School of Medicine, completed residency training at The Mayo Clinic, and has been trained in medical acupuncture and biopuncture. Dr. Khalsa lectures internationally and has created multiple CME conferences that educate medical professionals about yoga and wellness.
In addition to running a private integrative medical practice in Albuquerque, NM, she is currently implementing the first yoga and mindful-based wellness program for a national airport, at the Albuquerque International Sunport.
Mary Mitchell
Mary Mitchell delivers one consistent message: Social, presentation and communications skills are the keys to personal and professional success. This she has done through: seven acclaimed books, published in seven languages; newspaper columns, such as her nationally syndicated newspaper column, "Ms. Demeanor", as well as her "Nice Matters" column for The Seattle Times; and online forums, through ivillage.com,
In addition to her publishing accomplishments, MMM is an experienced, professional on-camera and live radio personality. She was co-host of "Nice Matters", a weekly commentary on manners broadcast by the Comcast network for two years, as well as three hour-long programs about business and social etiquette for major PBS affiliates. She has appeared numerous times on the major network morning shows. Ms. Mitchell has also brought her message and skills to the public as a speaker and keynoter.
C.L. "Doc PJ" Perrinjaquet, MD, MPH
“Doc pj” is well known throughout Summit County for his compassionate care for local residents and visitors, his passion for providing volunteer medical care in third-world countries, and for helping start High Country Healthcare in the early 1990’s.
Doc pj received his medical degree from the University of Iowa and he completed his Family Practice Residency at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. He earned his Masters in Public Health (M.P.H.) from Harvard University. He is a Founding Diplomat of the American Board of Holistic Medicine, he also has a Certificate of Added Qualification in Sports Medicine, and a Diploma in Tropical Medicine and Hygiene from the University of London.
David Romanelli
David Romanelli places great emphasis on creating and understanding "The Moment,” those instances where mind, spirit, body, and senses converge to reveal incredible clarity and beauty. At the podium, David defines three ancient forms of strength necessary to ward off distraction and live fully in the moment. One with access to the present moment is a healthier, more productive professional, a more attentive parent, and a more loving partner.
One need not commit to yoga, become a vegetarian, or toss the TV in order to discover the power of now. David teaches how everyday passions (exotic chocolate, fine wine, and great music) are accessible gateways to the present moment.
Glenn Sabin
One Man’s Journey with Cancer:
Informing the Science and Business of Integrative Healthcare
A story of illness, hope and tenacity: How one man created an integrative oncology program to manage his malignant disease—and his personal quest to advance the clinical, business and research models for integrative care.
Glenn Sabin was diagnosed 21 years ago with chronic lymphocytic leukemia and embarked on a journey to self-create an evidence-based integrative approach to address his malignancy. When his CLL became acute, he achieved a clinical remission without conventional intervention of any kind, all documented by a Harvard dean—today’s largest NIH funded researcher for cancer and HIV/AIDS. This changed the arc of Sabin’s life.
After a 25-year career running a media and content marketing company, Sabin today runs FON Therapeutics, a consultancy that positions evidence-based integrative medicine/oncology centers for sustainable growth. In addition to its clinic/business development endeavors, FON is an integrative oncology research incubator and co-founder of the Block Integrative Oncology Project (BIOP). The BIOP partners with leading integrative oncology stakeholders on the design and implementation of comprehensive, innovative, whole systems human trials, under the clinical setting of academia.
James K. Weber, MD
"When it comes to peak emotional and physical fitness, health care communications and stress management, no one is better versed than Dr. James Weber. A distinguished surgeon for nearly three decades, Dr. Weber closed his practice in 2008, and is now a yoga instructor, a yoga therapist, and an Ayuvedic counselor. He continues to serve as an Associate Clinical Professor of Surgery at the University of Washington.
Dr. Weber graduated from Yale University with a degree in English literature and received his medical degree from Columbia University. His surgery training was done at the University of Washington. He is board certified in general surgery, a fellow of the American College of Surgeons, and a member of the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery. His yoga teacher training was through YogaWorks and his Ayurvedic training via Kerala Ayurveda.
He has been teaching high school, college and graduate students as well as resident doctors for his entire career. He has been honored for his teaching skills on three occasions. He is a poet, a gardener, and an avid fan of baseball, opera, classical music, and Theodore Roosevelt.
Dr. Weber's Webpage, www.prescriptionyoga.com, a work in progress, contains a great deal of useful information. Be sure to have a look."