Treating Health Conditions with Yoga Poses

Certain yoga poses provide relief for various health conditions

We all know that yoga is a form of alternative medicine and provides numerous health benefits. However, did you know that certain poses can help aide certain health issues.

Dr. Loren Fishman, rehabilitative medicine specialist at Columbia University’s New York-Presbyterian Hospital located in Manhattan, prescribes yoga for patients. Dr. Fishman notes that yoga decreases tension, relaxes the basic tone of muscle, not to mention that it boosts confidence levels in people that they can help themselves.

Dr. Fishman along with other medical practitioners have conducted studies on the benefits of yoga demonstrating it can aide a variety of health conditions.

Dr. Dean Ornish, clinical professor of medicine at the University of California San Francisco and President of the Preventive Medicine Research Institute along with conducting studies on yoga notes that yoga decreases stress levels which provides relaxation to everything in your body.

Just what can yoga help the body with? Here are just a few conditions that yoga can provide benefits:

Asthma

There have been several studies that have demonstrated the benefits of yoga on asthma.

One study conducted by the American College of Sports Medicine, had demonstrated that just ten weeks of yoga decreased asthma symptoms nearly in half. In the study participants did yoga classes twice weekly and one thirty minute session each week at home. All participants had asthma and ages ranged from 20 to 65 years old and never had any yoga before the study.

Overall, the participant’s asthma had improved by 43%. The important part in the improvement came from the deep breathing however, the development of greater breath awareness was just as beneficial.

Menstrual pain

A randomized clinical trail evaluated the clinical efficiency of three yoga poses; cobra, cat and fish, in young adolescents. Participant’s ages ranged from 18 to 22 years old.

The conclusion had shown that yoga did decrease the severity and length of menstrual pain. The findings advocated that yoga poses are safe and effective treatment.

Fibromylagia

The “Yoga of Awareness” program had demonstrated that patients who stretch and meditate just once a week demonstrated remarked improvements in symptoms associated with the disease. The improvement on symptoms had include pain, fatigue and depression.

Osteoporosis

Dr. Fishman also published a study on the effects of yoga for osteoporosis. Yoga had built bone mineral density after menopause. The poses used in the study included triangle pose, upward/downward dog, bridge and rainbow.

Strokes in seniors

A study from the Indian University had demonstrated that yoga does aide senior stroke victims manage increased risk for painful and deadly falls.

Yoga poses were done at the start by sitting in chairs and later on in the study moved on to poses which consisted of sitting and standing. Participants had demonstrated a remarkable gain in confidence of balance.

The scoring was done on the Berg Balance Scale, a score of 46 or less indicates risk for falls. At the start of the study participants averaged a score of forty and at the end had averaged a score of forty-seven, that score surpassed the fall risk percent.

Yoga can be modified to suite everyone so all can participate in yoga and its rewarding benefits.