Lunchtime yoga comes to the Pelvic Health Center

Yoga, which has been shown to help tone and strengthen the pelvic floor, is being offered Mondays and Thursdays from 12:15-12:50 p.m. in Pavilion D of the Stanford Medicine Outpatient Center.

Elizabeth Shelton, a research coordinator for the colorectal section in the Division of General Surgery, leads a yoga class in the “Zen Den” at the Stanford Medicine Outpatient Center in Redwood City. 
Rachel Baker

The Stanford Pelvic Health Center, located on the third floor of Pavilion D at the Stanford Medicine Outpatient Center in Redwood City, contains a sliver of space that some may have considered a design flaw. But Ray Kim, MD,  professor of medicine, saw possibilities in it.

“When we were designing the Pelvic Health Center, we wanted to create an ambience not of an impersonal hospital, but a well-being-oriented nurturing environment,” said Kim, who specializes in hepatology. “We saw that awkward room, and I came up with the concept of a space where patients and employees can come to find inner peace.” 

Brooke Gurland, MD, clinical professor of surgery, jumped on the idea, outfitting the "Zen Den" with blocks and mats for yoga. “The medical literature on yoga and the impact on health and well-being was too profound to ignore,” said Gurland, a colorectal surgeon.

Free lunchtime yoga sessions are held  Mondays and Thursdays from 12:15-12:50 p.m. and are open to Stanford patients, staff and faculty.

About Stanford Medicine

Stanford Medicine is an integrated academic health system comprising the Stanford School of Medicine and adult and pediatric health care delivery systems. Together, they harness the full potential of biomedicine through collaborative research, education and clinical care for patients. For more information, please visit med.stanford.edu.

2023 ISSUE 3

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