What are the health benefits of yoga? Answer Dear Reader, The word yoga means "to bring together or merge" ? as in joining the mind and body into a single harmonious unit. The general purpose is to create physical and spiritual strength and awareness. However, more than one hundred different types, or schools, of yoga exist and each form provides its own unique cocktail of health benefits. Most...

Objectives: Chronic musculoskeletal pain is a common problem in the elderly. Yoga exercise can be considered a non-pharmacological and complementary method for pain control. The present study was conducted to investigate the effect of yoga on chronic musculoskeletal pain in elderly females referring to selected health centers in Rafsanjan, Iran. Methods: In this clinical trial, 60 females over...

BACKGROUND Aging and age-related health problems are major issues of concern for community health services. Yoga is an exercise with both physiological and psychological effects on aging. Although many studies have assessed the effectiveness of yoga in the elderly, little information is available in the literature to support empirical conclusions. PURPOSE This review synthesizes and character...

Yoga is being used by a growing number of youth and adults as a means of improving overall health and fitness. There is also a progressive trend toward use of yoga as a mind-body complementary and alternative medicine intervention to improve specific physical and mental health conditions. To provide clinicians with therapeutically useful information about yoga, the evidence evaluating yoga as a...

BACKGROUND Yoga and meditation have been shown to be effective in alleviating symptoms of depression and anxiety in healthy volunteers and psychiatric populations. Recent work has also indicated that yoga can improve cognitive-behavioural performance and control. Although there have been no controlled studies of the effects of yoga in a prison population, we reasoned that yoga could have benefi...

Background It has been suggested that yoga may be effective in the management of mental health disorders including addictions. Objective To critically evaluate the evidence of effectiveness of yoga as a treatment for addictions. Methods Fourteen electronic databases were searched from inception to January 2013. Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) that evaluated any type of yoga against any type...

BACKGROUND Recent studies suggest that yoga practice may improve cognitive functioning. Although preliminary data indicate that yoga improves working memory (WM), high-resolution information about the type of WM subconstructs, namely maintenance and manipulation, is not available. Furthermore, the association between cognitive enhancement and improved mindfulness as a result of yoga practice re...

We aimed to determine the effects of an 8 wk Hatha yoga training on blood glucose, insulin, lipid profiles, endothelial microparticles (EMPs), and inflammatory status in healthy, lean, and female Chinese subjects. A total of 30 healthy, female Chinese subjects were recruited and randomized into control or yoga practice group. The yoga practice included 8 wks of yoga practice (2 times/wk) for a ...

BACKGROUND Yoga, an ancient Indian system of exercise and therapy is an art of good living or an integrated system for the benefit of the body, mind, and inner spirit. Regular practice of yoga can help to increase blood flow to the brain, reduce stress, have a calming effect on the nervous system, and greatly help in reducing hypertension. AIM Aim of the present study is to evaluate the effec...

OBJECTIVE To study the efficacy of yoga on pregnancy outcomes. DESIGN AND SETTING Three hundred thirty five (335) women attending the antenatal clinic at Gunasheela Surgical and Maternity Hospital in Bangalore, India, were enrolled between 18 and 20 weeks of pregnancy in a prospective, matched, observational study; 169 women in the yoga group and 166 women in the control group. METHODS Wome...