What is yoga and how does it work?
Yoga is an ancient and complex practice, rooted in Indian philosophy. It began as a spiritual practice but has become popular as a way of promoting physical and mental well-being.
Classical yoga also includes other elements, however, yoga as generally practiced emphasizes physical postures (asanas), breathing techniques (pranayama), and meditation (dyana).
There are many different yoga styles, ranging from gentle practices to physically demanding ones. Differences in the types of yoga used in research studies may affect study results. This makes it challenging to evaluate research on the health effects of yoga.
Yoga and two practices of Chinese origin—tai chi and qigong—are often called “meditative movement” practices. All three practices include both meditative elements and physical ones.
What are the health benefits of yoga?
Research suggests that yoga may:
- Help improve general wellness by relieving stress, supporting good health habits, and improving mental/emotional health, sleep, and balance.
- Relieve neck pain, migraine or tension-type headaches, and pain associated with knee osteoarthritis. It may also have a small benefit for low-back pain.
- Help people with overweight or obesity lose weight.
- Help people quit smoking.
- Help people manage anxiety symptoms or depression.
- Relieve menopause symptoms.
- Be a helpful addition to treatment programs for substance use disorders.
- Help people with chronic diseases manage their symptoms and improve their quality of life.
What does research show about yoga for wellness?
Studies have suggested possible benefits of yoga for several aspects of wellness, including stress management, mental/emotional health, promoting healthy eating/activity habits, sleep, and balance.
Can yoga help with pain management?
Research has been done on yoga for several conditions that involve pain, including low-back pain, neck pain, headaches, and knee osteoarthritis. For low-back pain, a large amount of research has been done, and the evidence suggests a slight benefit. For the other conditions, the evidence looks promising, but the amount of research is relatively small.
Is practicing yoga a good way to lose weight?
There’s evidence that yoga may help people lose weight.
How does yoga affect mental health?
Yoga can be a helpful addition to treatment for depression. It may also be helpful for anxiety symptoms in a variety of populations, but there’s little evidence of a benefit for people with anxiety disorders. Yoga might have benefits for people with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Is yoga helpful for people with chronic diseases?
There’s promising evidence that yoga may help people with some chronic diseases manage their symptoms and improve their quality of life. Thus, yoga could be a helpful addition to treatment programs.
What are the risks of yoga?
Yoga is generally considered a safe form of physical activity for healthy people when performed properly, under the guidance of a qualified instructor. However, as with other forms of physical activity, injuries can occur. The most common injuries are sprains and strains, and the parts of the body most commonly injured are the knee or lower leg. Serious injuries are rare. The risk of injury associated with yoga is lower than that for higher impact physical activities.
Older adults may need to be particularly cautious when practicing yoga. The rate of yoga-related injuries treated in emergency departments is higher in people age 65 and older than in younger adults.
To reduce your chances of getting hurt while doing yoga:
Practice yoga under the guidance of a qualified instructor. Learning yoga on your own without supervision has been associated with increased risks.
If you’re new to yoga, avoid extreme practices such as headstands, shoulder stands, the lotus position, and forceful breathing.
Be aware that hot yoga has special risks related to overheating and dehydration.
Pregnant women, older adults, and people with health conditions should talk with their health care providers and the yoga instructor about their individual needs. They may need to avoid or modify some yoga poses and practices. Some of the health conditions that may call for modifications in yoga include preexisting injuries, such as knee or hip injuries, lumbar spine disease, severe high blood pressure, balance issues, and glaucoma.
How popular is yoga?
Canada, United States, Australia, Singapore, Ireland, and India are the most popular yoga places in the world. About one in seven U.S. adults practiced yoga in the past 12 months, according to a national survey.
Among children age 4 to 17 years, it was about 1 in 12. The percentage of people who practice yoga grew from 2007 to 2017. This was true for both adults and children.
Why is practicing yoga popular?
National survey data showed that 94 percent of adults who practiced yoga did it for wellness-related reasons, while 17.5 percent did it to treat a specific health condition. Some people reported doing both.
Key references:
The National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health.
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