In creating Beyond Wellness Aljezur, Eileen M. Lafer, PhD, C-IAYT, E-RYT500, integrated her experiences as a research scientist, university professor, and professional yoga therapist to create evidence-based practices that empower her clients towards better health and wellness.
Eileen enjoyed a 35-year career as a research scientist and professor, leading an NIH funded research program in Neuroscience at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio where she currently holds the title of Professor Emeritus. She contributed over 100 research papers to the peer reviewed scientific literature, and developed an award winning therapeutic nutrition curriculum for medical students.
Eileen discovered yoga while recuperating from a serious bicycling accident that happened more than 20 years ago, but changed her body forever. She was so impressed with the healing power of yoga that she decided to pursue training as a yoga teacher and therapist in order to first heal her own body, and then to share this powerful practice with others. She is certified as a C-IAYT Professional Yoga Therapist by the International Association of Yoga Therapists and the Kripalu School of Integrative Yoga Therapy, and registered as an E-RYT500, RPYT, and YACEP with Yoga Alliance. She also holds credentials as a teacher of iREST yoga nidra meditation, restorative yoga, trauma sensitive yoga, and prenatal and postpartum yoga.
Before moving to Portugal she taught yoga to cancer patients at UT Health/MD Anderson Cancer Center, yoga to young medical professionals, and the science of yoga to yoga teacher trainees. She is recognized as an expert in the science of yoga, having written a chapter for a textbook for medical students reviewing the evidence-based literature supporting yoga therapy.
