HEALTH + WELLNESS
did not have sophisticated medical
equipment to study the effects of yoga.
Instead, they used their own bodies to
experiment. They found that if yoga
was practiced regularly, they were
able to regulate their heart rate, body
temperature and nervous-system
functioning. Ancient yogis were not
using yoga as medicine but rather as a
means to reach a higher consciousness.
The health effects were merely a side
effect. Modern day physicians in India
regarded these “side effects” as potential therapies and began looking at the
practice of yoga as medicine.
Much of the early research originated
in India and focused on yoga and its
health benefits. Much of it was observational and rarely was “controlled.”
This means that the scientists were
merely studying the outcomes and not
making the experimental design the
same in each case.
The data, however, is intriguing. The
systems in place at many of the institutions all seem to be helping people to
manage a variety a of ailments—from
asthma to rheumatoid arthritis to Type
2 Diabetes and heart disease.
Western physicians have been slow to embrace the touted medical benefits of yoga
but some of the best medical institutions in America are now taking a closer look.
Though yoga still is considered a complementary form of medicine, many recent
studies might help legitimize its medical benefits for a variety of conditions.
ASTHMA
CHRONIC BACK PAIN
The American College of Sports Medicine recently published a study looking at the effect of yoga on asthma.
After only 10 weeks of yoga practice,
43 percent of the patients in the study
reported improvement in their asthma
symptoms. They believed that the
focus on breath, posture and alignment
improved lung capacity.
In a study carried out by West Virginia School of Medicine, researchers
looked at the effect of yoga on chronic
back pain. After a 12-week program,
70 percent of the participants reported
an overall decrease in back pain and
88 percent reduced or stopped taking
medications prescribed to help with
the pain. In addition, when compared
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