In Loving Memory of our Friend, Colin Silverthorne, PhD

Hi Everyone,

We lost an important member of our community a few days ago.  Dr Colin Silverthorne was a yoga student with me for 20+ years – but he was so much more to our company, SMC.

When we began training teachers in 2009, we started participating more in the Yoga Therapy Movement.  The idea was to elevate Yoga as a therapy for various ailments and away from just “exercise”.  To do this, we needed American research that proved our protocols were helpful.

I had been trained in Dr Dean Ornish’s JAMA-published protocol to reverse Heart Disease, so I knew the power of proving a protocol worked. I was excited about doing research, but mindful that professional research is usually expensive and only accessible through universities.

At the same time this was happening, the founder of the Schurig Center for Brain Injury Recovery asked me a simple question:  “Robin, why are our participants in your yoga class so much healthier than the rest of our participants?”  We decided to try and prove that our specific Yoga protocol improved respiratory health.  We got some advice from our friend Sat Bir Khalsa (Harvard) on how to measure these things, and the next step was raising money to pay for access to this level of research measures.

So I brought it up in Sunday yoga, that we wanted to do this and we were going to start raising money.  After class, Colin quietly said, “Send me your data and I’ll handle it.”  That’s when I learned our quiet student was also Professor of Statistics and a Dean at USF!

Colin helped us publish our first study in 2011 “Respiratory, Physical, and Psychological Benefits of Breath-Focused Yoga for Adults with Severe Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)”.  After that, we wanted to prove a different protocol could help Veterans, and with Dr. Silverthorne’s help, we were able to scientifically prove that Veterans who practiced with us slept better and drank less alcohol.  The third study was of Physicians.  Kaiser Permanente asked me to design a 6 week course to improve stress management and resilience for MD’s.  Again, with Dr Silverthorne’s guidance, we were able to prove that our protocols improved sleep and helped doctors feel better able to manage the constant change they face.

Three IRB-approved studies for our small organization at no cost is unheard of and due entirely to Dr Silverthorne. IRB (Institutional Review Board) approval is the mandatory ethical and regulatory authorization required before starting research with human subjects.  It is a professional level of research that requires scientific measures, replicable protocols, consent forms and, to be published, peer review of the research itself.  Dr Silverthorne walked us through all of that.  Giving us experience that was truly professional advancement in the field.  It gave me such confidence as a Yoga Therapist to have our specific protocols proven scientifically sound. 

When Colin was diagnosed with Parkinson’s, he continued practicing.  He allowed me to develop some protocols for him that eased the tremor of Parkinson’s.  Dr Khalsa of Harvard asked me to write up that protocol as a Case Study – so others can build on it.  Colin also had other aspects of his Parkinson’s that he encouraged me to research.  So even then, he was helping us learn.

He was in class with me a few days before his death.  Still practicing his breathing, meditation, and movement.  His great faith in the practices and his confidence in me will remain my inspiration. 

I wanted all of you to know what a generous, brilliant and kind man he was.  Thank you, Colin.  We send you so much love. 

2 Memorials to Dr. Silverthorne are listed below:

1. This tribute was written by his family and published in the Marin IJ.

2. Read the USF memorial for Dr. Silverthorne here.