Center for the Study of Yoga and Health
Evidence-Based Yoga
Researching the Intersection
Between Yoga and Health
Basic Overview
Evidence-Based Yoga
The academic research literature contains over 200 scientific articles on Yoga covering its effects on a wide range of health conditions, with new ones appearing all the time.
Many of these studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of specific Yoga postures and series. Evidence-based Yoga...
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New Research
Older Adults
January, 2011
Author Summary:
Posttest differences were found for yoga participants in balance scores and fast walking speed. Improvements in postural control as measured by the Berg Balance Scale and gait as measured by fast gait speed indicate that research subjects benefited from the yoga intervention. Subjects perform activities during yoga that can improve postural control, mobility, and gait speed.
Type II Diabetes
January, 2011
Author Summary:
Participants assigned to the yoga intervention expressed high satisfaction with the program.The yoga group experienced improvements in weight, blood pressure, insulin, triglycerides and exercise self-efficacy. Indicates that a yoga program would be a possible risk reduction option for adults at high risk for type 2 diabetes. In addition, yoga holds promise as an approach to reducing cardiometabolic risk factors.
Effects on Employees
January, 2011
Author Summary:
Study sought to determine whether a comprehensive, yoga-based wellness program could positively affect multiple markers of health and wellness in an employee population.
Improvements were observed in weight, diastolic blood pressure, flexibility score, body fat percentage, and overall quality of life .
Eating Disorders
April, 2010
Author Summary:
The Yoga group demonstrated greater decreases in eating disorder symptoms. Specifically, the EDE scores decreased over time in the Yoga group, whereas the No Yoga group showed some initial decline but then returned to baseline EDE levels at week 12. Food preoccupation was measured before and after each yoga session, and decreased significantly after all sessions. Results suggest that individualized yoga therapy holds promise as adjunctive therapy to standard care.
Depression and
PTSD
April, 2010
Author Summary:
Three groups: yoga breath intervention, yoga breath intervention followed by 3–8 hours of trauma reduction exposure technique and a 6-week wait list. The effect of treatment vs. control was significant at 6, 12 and 24 weeks for both Post-traumatic stress disorder (PCL-17) and depression (BDI-21) for both yoga groups.
Yoga vs. Exercise
January, 2010
Author Summary:
A growing body of evidence supports the belief that yoga benefits physical and mental health via down-regulation of the hypothalamic– pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis and the sympathetic nervous system (SNS). In the studies reviewed, yoga interventions appeared to be equal or superior to exercise in nearly every outcome measured except those involving physical fitness.