Yoga, meditation and other holistic health services offered through the partnership

TINTON FALLS, N.J., August 9, 2021 – Encompass Health Rehabilitation Hospital of Tinton Falls is excited to partner with the LoveYourBrain Foundation, a non-profit based in the United States, to offer a research-backed gentle yoga and meditation program for patients healing from brain injury. Encompass Health of Tinton Falls is becoming one of LoveYourBrain Foundation’s Clinical Affiliates, a network of the premier rehabilitation facilities committed to offering evidence-based holistic health services to augment healing among patients with brain injury. LoveYourBrain believes in the holistic and dynamic nature of yoga to meet the individual needs of each person with brain injury, from wanting to rebuild strength and balance, to manage stress, and to find comfort in a community of people with shared experiences.

“We are excited to partner with the LoveYourBrain Foundation, as their mission to improve the quality of an individual’s life following traumatic brain injury aligns with Encompass Health’s goals of helping our patients return to normal daily activities at their highest level of independence,” said James Juliano, Director of Therapy Operations. “I am confident this partnership will bring incredible life changing benefits to many of the patients we have the privilege to serve.”

Encompass Health of Tinton Falls will integrate LoveYourBrain Yoga as a therapeutic service to benefit patients beginning this fall. Encompass Health of Tinton Falls is an inpatient rehabilitation hospital for patients recovering from a serious injury or illness. The hospital uses an interdisciplinary team approach, including physical speech and occupational therapy, and individualized treatment plans to help patients return to their community as independently as possible. Patients receive at least three hours of therapy five days per week while in the care of registered nurses and receive frequent physician visits.

Research-backed yoga and meditation for traumatic brain injury

Yoga and meditation had never been activities that Kevin Pearce, former professional snowboarder, considered worth his time. However, all that changed in the blink of an eye when Kevin went from being an Olympic gold medal hopeful to suffering a near-fatal traumatic brain injury (TBI). Post-injury, Kevin began practicing yoga and meditation to explore how mindful movement could rebuild his strength, balance, and concentration and support him to feel more relaxed. He quickly felt the benefits of these practices, and, in particular, experienced a renewed sense of empowerment from being able to choose how to compassionately attend to his own physical and emotional needs.

Kevin’s realization that yoga and meditation have the potential to transform his own and others’ healing catalyzed the LoveYourBrain Foundation – the non-profit organization that he founded with his brother, Adam, in 2014 – to launch a gentle yoga program for people affected by traumatic brain injury. The LoveYourBrain mission is to improve the quality of life of people affected by traumatic brain injury – from concussion to severe injury – through programs that foster resilience and build community. Since researchers have not extensively explored the benefits of yoga for TBI, LoveYourBrain partnered with Dartmouth College to conduct a study evaluating a yoga pilot program for this population. Based on the positive results on participants’ quality of life, LoveYourBrain officially launched the LoveYourBrain Yoga program in November 2015, which comprises a six-week series that includes breathing exercises, yoga, guided meditation, and facilitated discussion. LoveYourBrain Yoga has since been evaluated in a qualitative study and in study of over 1,500 people with TBI, which found significant improvement in quality of life, resilience, cognition, and positive affect from participating in our program. This study is the largest evaluation of yoga for TBI to be published in a scientific journal. LoveYourBrain Yoga adapts yoga poses to prevent dizziness and headaches, use soft lighting and minimal noise to address hypersensitivity, incorporate strategies to focus attention, and use empowering themes to guide the group discussion. LoveYourBrain has been working to expand access to its program, which is currently being offered in a majority of states in the United States and Canada.

“I've improved massively in nearly every way since beginning LYB yoga—increased cognitive ability, increased attention, increased stamina, better memory, better and faster word-retrieval, ability to read longer before my brain shuts off, beginning to recover my analytical abilities, more patience, more positive thinking, less frequent and less severe symptoms (ringing in the ears, auditory sensitivity, problems with balance, inability to sleep, headaches, brain-fog (that strange feeling of being separated from the world that occurs after a TBI), depression, etc.” - LYB Yoga program participant in Denver, CO

About Encompass Health

As a national leader in integrated healthcare services, Encompass Health (NYSE: EHC) offers both facility‑based and home‑based patient care through its network of inpatient rehabilitation hospitals, home health agencies and hospice agencies. With a national footprint that includes 143 hospitals, 249 home health locations, and 94 hospice locations in 42 states and Puerto Rico, the Company provides high‑quality, cost-effective integrated healthcare. Encompass Health is ranked as one of Fortune's 100 Best Companies to Work For. For more information, visit encompasshealth.com, or follow us on our newsroom, Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

About LoveYourBrain Foundation

More information about the LoveYourBrain Foundation can be found on the website loveyourbrain.com. To learn more about the LoveYourBrain Yoga program and partnering with LoveYourBrain, please contact Jackie Farrell, Manager of the LoveYourBrain Clinical Affiliate program, jackie@loveyourbrain.com.