Notes on Research on Yoga and Healing*

Selected Bibliography on Yoga and Healing

Here are just a few examples of the research available on yoga therapy. Please see the Links page for additional sources of information.

 Arthritis
  • A ten-week program of yoga, practiced three times a week for 75 minutes, by women with rheumatoid arthritis resulted in decreased perception of pain and depression, improved balance, and decreased sense of disability. See PR Bosch et al, “Functional and physiological effects of yoga in women with rheumatoid arthritis: a pilot study,” Alternative therapies in health and medicine 2009 Jul-Aug; 15(4): 24-31.
 Back Pain
  • Researchers found that a program of yoga for veterans with chronic low back pain improved the health of participants and that the number of sessions attended and frequency of home practice were associated with improved outcomes. See EJ Groessel et al., “Yoga for veterans with chronic low-back pain,” Journal of alternative and complementary medicine 2008 Nov; 14(9):1123-9.
  • A comparison of a short-term intensive residential yoga program with physical exercise showed that seven days of a yoga-based lifestyle program “reduced pain-related disability and improved spinal flexibility better than a physical exercise regimen.” See P Tekur et al, J Altern Complement Med 2008 Jul; 14(6): 637-44.
 Cancer
  • A preliminary study found an association between meditation and the levels of melatonin associated with breast and prostate cancers among practitioners. See KH Coker, “Meditation and prostate cancer: integrating a mind/body intervention with traditional therapies,” Seminars in urologic oncology 1999 May: 17(2):111-18.
  • This study found that DNA damage as well as perceived stress and anxiety following radiation treatment for breast cancer was less among a group who practiced yoga, compared to a control group who did not. See B Banerjee et al, “Effects of an integrated yoga program in modulating psychological stress and radiation-induced genotoxic stress in breast cancer patients undergoing radiotherapy,” Integrative cancer therapies 2007 Sep; 6(3): 242-50.
  • A study of the effect of breathing techniques, or pranayama, on smokers concluded that “the inexpensive and easy to learn and practice breathing processes…demonstrated an increase in NK cells [“natural killer”] and a reduction in tobacco consumption.” See V Kochupillai et al, “Effect of rhythmic breathing (Sudarshan Kriya and Pranayam) on immune functions and tobacco addiction,” Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 2005 Nov: 1056: 242-52.
Depression and Anxiety
  • Participation in a two-month yoga class resulted in “significant reduction in perceived levels of anxiety in women who suffer from anxiety disorders.” See M Javnbakht et al, “Effects of yoga on depression and anxiety of women,” Complementary therapies in clinical practice 2009 May; 15(2): 102-04.
  • Examining the use of yoga therapy in the treatment of patients with schizophrenia, researchers found that participants in the yoga therapy program had “significantly less psychopathology” and “significantly greater social and occupational functioning and quality of life” than subjects in a control group doing physical exercise therapy. See G Duraiswamy et al, “Yoga therapy as an add-on treatment in the management of patients with schizophrenia – a randomized controlled trial,” Acta psychiatra Scandinavica 2007 Sep; 116(3): 226-32.
 Infertility:
  • Women who participated in a mind/body program which included yoga and relaxation had a 55% rate of conception in the year following the study, compared to a 22% rate for the control group.  See Alice Domar et al, in Sterility and Fertility [Vol. 73, No. 4] and Domar, Dr. Alice Domar’s  Mind/Body Guide to Enhancing Fertility and Coping with Infertility, NY: Viking, 2002, rev. 2004.
  • Couples participating in a mind/body program based on the work of Herbert Benson experienced a statistically higher rate of conception than the control group, regardless of the diagnosis of the cause of infertility. See discussion of Rahul Sachdev in Judith Hanson Lasater, “When You Want to have a Baby…,But Can’t,” Yoga Journal online.
 
*Source: Medline on FirstSearch

 

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