Education
DPT – Doctor of Physical Therapy 2016
MPT – Master of Physical Therapy 1998
BA – Exercise Science & Athletic Training 1995
Yoga & Ayurveda Studies – 1992 to present
Credentials
PT – Physical Therapist
ATC/LAT – Athletic Trainer
PYT – Professional Yoga Therapist
ALC – Ayurvedic Lifestyle Counselor
ERYT500 -Yoga Alliance Registration
CPI – Certified Pilates Instructor
Dr. Garner has been a trailblazer for transformative practice in rehabilitation and wellness, using a yogic biopsychosocial approach through the lens of interdisciplinary partnership, since 1995. She earned both Master and Doctor of Physical Therapy degrees from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she pursues interdisciplinary research in the use of yoga in healthcare.
Read Ginger’s personal story: My Yoga Journey through Physical Therapy
Overview
- Founded Professional Yoga Therapy Institute (2000), the first interdisciplinary, medical yoga program in the world.
- Established the first doctoral level medical yoga curricula, now adopted by medical schools throughout the US and Canada.
- Author of Medical Therapeutic Yoga: Biopsychosocial Rehabilitation and Wellness Care, due out from Handspring Publishing, Ltd., UK, June 2016.
- Author of contributing chapter, Fostering Creativity in Rehabilitation, published in December 2014, titled The Role of Partnership in Creativity. She is also currently pursuing research in maternal pelvic health outcomes, as well as the efficacy of medical therapeutic yoga in military populations with PTSD and mTBI.
- Owner and clinician – Crystal Coast Integrative Medicine & Physiotherapy
- Faculty member – Herman and Wallace Pelvic Rehabilitation Institute, her coursework in Hip Labral Injury Differential Diagnosis and Management, Yoga as Medicine for Pregnancy, Yoga as Medicine for Labor, Delivery, and Postpartum, and Nutritional Considerations for Rehab Pros, speaks to her clinical passion and expertise.
- Adjunct faculty and consultant – universities throughout North America
- Blogger – Ginger is an outspoken advocate for maternal health, and has written for international groups that advocate for social justice and policy, including Caring Economy and Center for Partnership Studies, National Association for Mothers Centers (now MOM-Mentum), and American Mothers,
Read Ginger’s personal story: Every American Mother – Work is Work No Matter What
Her clinical practice and post-graduate medical yoga program is regularly featured as an “uncommon,” highly effective, and fiscally responsible approach to interdisciplinary medical practice, especially for those people with chronic disease in underserved and low-income areas.
Current Projects
- Ginger has a multi-media platform that includes an upcoming book, Medical Therapeutic Yoga, over 30 hours of distance online education, and an over 800 hour Medical Therapeutic Yoga certification program for licensed health care professionals and their assistants. Her medical textbook on yoga prescription in rehab is based on her mission statement:
…To transform healthcare through interdisciplinary partnership, community empowerment, and transformative dialogue; and to decrease global barriers to integrative medicine through a culturally sensitive lens.
Ginger is a mother of three energetic boys, all born naturally using medical therapeutic yoga. She considers her children to be her most important “current project”. Ginger lives in Emerald Isle, NC with her family.
Ginger is a member of the Caring Economy Coalition, National Athletic Trainers’ Association, International Pelvic Pain Society, National Association of Mothers Centers (now MOM-mentum), International Association of Yoga Therapists, and Yoga Alliance.
Mentors & Teachers
Dr. Riane Eisler stands as Ginger’s most influential teacher in changing the conversation to value caregiving in the US and abroad. Her work in economics, and Ginger’s involvement as a Caring Economics Campaign member and Certified Conversation Leader in Caring Economics, has inspired Ginger to continue her mission in influencing health care policy and change in the US. Visit Caring Economy
Dr. David Frawley (Ayurvedic expert Pandit Vamadeva Shastri), Aadil Palkhivala, Sarita Shrestha (mother of Ayurveda in the west and Nepal’s first female Ayurvedic physician, female OB/GYN), and countless yoga teachers have directed Ginger’s path since 1992; however, the most influential would probably be Dr. Shrestha, because of her powerful testament to breaking the glass ceiling and empowering women in India.
“I have learned the most about living my yoga, not from my education or experience, but from my mission/karma yoga projects, which include raising my own children They are my gurus.“
