This chapter reviews the evidence supporting the efficacy of yoga therapy for wellness, and as an adjunct to standard care for a number of chronic conditions. The underlying mechanisms are explored, including the physiological and biochemical changes that have been observed in yoga practitioners. Yoga has been found to activate the relaxation response—a physiological state which reduces stress on bodily systems. Yoga leads to changes in gene expression, including decreases in the expression of genes involved in stress and inflammation. The positive effects of yoga therapy are interpreted through the lens of the biopsychosocial-spiritual model, which cultivates eudaimonic well-being and salutogenesis. Researchers attribute a wide range of yoga's therapeutic benefits largely to its whole-person approach to well-being.
TopMusculoskeletal And Neurological Health
It is well-accepted that physical exercise greatly benefits health, including improved range of motion, flexibility, strength, and balance - all of which improve outcomes in therapeutic populations. Although yoga asana offers a form of physical exercise, the whole practice of yoga differentiates from other commonly recommended exercises due to additional tools including breath regulation, moment-to-moment awareness, and the integration of philosophical teachings. This whole-person approach to well-being makes yoga particularly well-suited for complex musculoskeletal and neurological-based chronic diseases.
Yoga asana seems to have positive effects on joint and skeletal health. A meta-analysis of 10 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) with 967 participants concluded that yoga may be effective for improving pain, function, and stiffness for those with osteoarthritis of the knee (Lauche et al., 2019). Yoga shows promise for other musculoskeletal and neurological concerns and conditions. A systematic review found that yoga improved balance in healthy individuals (Jeter et al., 2014), and smaller studies demonstrated improvements for those in stroke recovery (Schmid et al., 2012), older adults with a history of falling (Ni et al., 2014), and individuals with Parkinson’s disease (Van Puymbroeck et al., 2018). Other studies showed outcome improvements with yoga for specific conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis (Moonaz et al., 2015), osteoporosis (Lu et al., 2016), rotator cuff dysfunction (Fishman et al., 2011), sciatica and disc herniation (Monro et al., 2015), scoliosis (Fishman et al., 2014), hyperkyphosis (Greendale et al., 2009), fibromyalgia (Carson et al., 2010) and headaches (Bhatia et al., 2007; Kim, 2015; Vasudha et al., 2018). However, these studies are small and more research and systematic reviews are needed in all of these areas.