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| John is a retired anesthesiologist who spent his life caring for others and being a devoted husband and father of four. He now spends his time doing yoga and singing (with the Pittsburgh Swiss Singers, Three Rivers Barbershop Chorus and his church choir.) He has driven his 37-foot motor home into every state in the Union. (Of course they flew to Hawaii.) John is commemorated in Oakland’s Soldiers and Sailors Hall of Valor for his Distinguished Flying Cross medal awarded for his duty flying 600 combat hours during WWII. He was a C-47 crew chief aerial engineer with the 14th Air Force (Flying Tigers) hauling cargo and troops in China and over the Himalayan Mountains. John retired after 33 years practice in Anesthesiology at South Side Hospital. He has four adoring children and 9 grandchildren. |
| John started yoga at age 74 when his yoga teacher daughter (Sara Azarius Eichmiller) moved home to Pittsburgh to discover his deteriorating posture and increasing aches and pains. He started with three classes per week and a short supplemental home practice. |
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| Knees: |
| Before Yoga: |
John was given a “popliteal cyst” diagnosis for his right knee and was experiencing pain and chronic swelling in his lower right leg. His knee did not bend past 90 degrees at that time. Doctors wanted to do surgery, and they had him wearing a “stocking” to try to diminish the swelling in the leg. |
| After Yoga: |
| John dismissed the surgery approach. Instead, with three yoga classes per week and specific yoga positions tailored to his knee problem, he was able to get rid of the swelling within a few weeks and regained full flexion of his knee within three months. He is able to kneel and sit completely down onto his heels where that was previously impossible. |
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| Neck and Shoulders: |
| Before Yoga: |
His aches and pains included arthritis in the neck, which had caused years of neck and shoulder pain. At that time he had lost feeling in three fingers on one hand and two fingers on the other. Any time he would lie down he would have to prop up his head with three or four pillow to avoid immediate, irritating numbness in his arms and fingers. Lying flat on the floor his upper back was so arched forward that he could only bring his head about 12 inches near the floor. |
| After Yoga: |
Within two months of beginning his yoga practice John had the feeling back permanently in his fingers and his neck no longer was stiff and painful. It took just 9 months of supported backbends until he had straightened his upper back so he could lie flat on the floor with his head also on the floor. Consequently he reestablished about 4 inches of height he had lost from not being able to straighten up and was back up to his 6’ 3’’ stature. |
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Right Hip and Lower Back: |
| Before Yoga: |
John had had off-and-on back problems from the time he was a teen and underwent a lumbar laminectomy surgery at the age of 44. His back problems continued intermittently for years, and at 74 years old his right hip had developed arthritis so that every time he stood up from a chair his groin would pain him and his leg would give out. X-rays showed significant deterioration in the right hip socket. |
| After Yoga: |
| It took a full three years to completely eradicate the pain and weakness in the right groin and hip, but just after a few months of yoga the chronic “failing” of the hip was greatly diminished and John no longer had any sign of lower back pain. |
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| Click here to read a
recent Q & A interview with John. |
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