After Ashley Myers’ daughter was born, like a lot of post-partum women, she had a lot of physical discomfort — mostly in her hip, pelvis and lower back. Her doctor said her issues were all normal, but Myers probed a little deeper and found a solution to her woes: yoga.
Through word of mouth, she heard about a yoga class specifically designed for new mothers, called Mothers on Mats. Myers’ six-week class finished Saturday, and she’d sign up for the class again in a heartbeat.
“I feel better about my body and how I’m caring for my daughter,” she said, adding “I have more energy.”
From physical therapy to yoga
Mothers on Mats is the brainchild of Virginia Beach physical therapist Becca Ellis, who owns her own studio called Restorative Therapy Co. Ellis’ background is physical therapy, a career that came naturally to her, having been an athlete throughout school.
“Since I can remember, I’ve been playing sports, and soccer became quickly one of my favorites. When I was 16, I suffered a big knee injury that I had to have surgery for,” she said. “I played soccer for Old Dominion and suffered more knee injuries.”
She had worked with physical therapists during her injuries, so it was a natural segue for her to pick physical therapy as a profession. She joined a clinic, but after some years of practicing, she started to have a lot of physical problems.
“My old injuries (including a snowboarding injury) were creeping up on me,” she said. “I was working full-time. I had just had a baby.”
Ellis turned to yoga, what she calls her “play space.”
“For so much of my life, I have been running; and very active and heavy on my body. When I started to take these more subtle, gentle classes, I realized I was off with myself,” she said. “[It] helped me to tap into meditation, and pay attention to my breathing patterns.”
She particularly enjoyed the strength and stability practices and thought that they might also benefit her spine patients, whom she was seeing more and more of.
She started incorporating the practices into her therapy sessions with them — classic poses such as those involving the tabletop position, or the child’s pose for patients with degenerative disc issues.
Starting a specialized practice
When Ellis got into yoga, she got the seven-year itch, having practiced physical therapy in an outpatient clinic for seven years. She decided to open her own private studio, which would be specialized to treat patients with both physical therapy and yoga.
This August, she will celebrate her one-year anniversary.
“It’s been really wonderful to be able to be one-on-one with patients, for a full hour,” she said. “We treat them from head to toe, in the way they should be treated.”
Some insurance policies cover Ellis’ services as an out-of-network provider, but she is not restricted by the time limits insurance companies can place on physical therapy practices. Initial evaluations are $125, and follow-ups are $75.
Ellis is the only physical therapist at her clinic, but she’s hired yoga instructors who teach courses throughout the week, such as mindful yoga therapy, which is a combination of talk therapy and yoga; or yoga for people living with cancer.
Mothers on Mats is one that Ellis came up with and helps teach. She started it last May, shortly after having her second child in February.
“It’s had a lot of buzz since it started,” she said, adding that the course has psychological benefits as well for new mothers. “Women who have kids — sometimes it gets isolating, and you kind of lose your sense of self. It’s nice to have a support group where you are doing something for yourself, too.”
Each class has focused on recovering a different part of the body, such as the core, shoulder and neck areas. Ellis also gives women mini home practices.
Yoga is especially good for post-natal women because it helps restore muscles and function, unlike exercises that are just designed to help women lose weight. “You may lose weight, but you aren’t really targeting the pelvic floor,” she said, adding that more precise, body-weight resistance exercises like yoga can help do that.
Also, post-pregnancy restorative yoga can help prevent the wear and tear of raising a child, she added. “It’s very stressful on a woman’s body, to carry the child and bend over constantly.”
“I have a very special love for pre- and post-natal women,” she continued. “I love helping moms feel worthy and in shape and good in their bodies.”
Her six-week group class series costs $120, and she offers a $55 monthly unlimited yoga class option, as well as a $15 drop-in rate.
In the future, she’d like to focus on using yoga and physical therapy on athletes as a form of preventative medicine.
Ellis’ studio is located in the Great Neck area of Virginia Beach, close to the bay and the ocean front. For more information on her courses and one-on-one sessions, visit her website at www.restorativetherapyco.com.
