Yoga should be on prescription

Yoga has an image of being light exercise to improve your flexibility and lower your stress levels. But in fact it is a whole lot more than this – it is beneficial in so many ways that we reckon it should be on prescription. Boris could save a pound or two on the NHS with some preventive yoga…

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Not only is yoga good for you in the most obvious ways: improving flexibility, strengthening muscles, promoting better posture and balance, protecting the spine, joints and cartilages, and engendering relaxation and calm. It is proven to be beneficial in so many ways that we reckon it should be on the NHS. I was astounded when I started looking into studies into its efficacy just how many illnesses can be alleviated or even cured with regular yoga.

Back pain

When researchers at the Group Health Research Institute in Seattle tested the benefits of viniyoga against stretching on 228 adults who had moderate back pain, they found sufferers could move more freely and experienced less pain. They even came off painkillers after three months of weekly classes, and were still off their meds three months later after stopping the yoga.

Stress & anxiety

Anecdotally we all acknowledge that yoga makes us feel less anxious and stressed. Unsurprisingly, studies confirm that the more regularly you practise, the more profound this effect. Now research has established one mechanism by which yoga achieves this: it raises levels of the neurotransmitter gamma-amino butyric acid (GABA), a natural tranquiliser responsible for calming nervous activity which gets shut off when we’re stressed.

Memory & focus

Yoga is better for your mental faculties than 20 minutes of pounding the treadmill; in fact, sweating it out at the gym doesn’t make any difference to your memory or ability to focus. In a study published in 2013 University of Illinois researchers put 30 female undergraduates through their paces, first with 20 minutes of hatha yoga, then 20 minutes jogging or walking on a treadmill (at 60-70% maximum heart rate). The result? The women’s memory, reaction times and cognitive ability were all improved after the yoga session, whereas no differences were recorded after the aerobic exercise.

Asthma & lung function

Medics at the Respiratory Medicine Unit of the City Hospital in Nottingham have endorsed the fact that yoga breathing can be of great benefit to asthma sufferers. Their study, involving 22 patients with mild asthma, found that two yoga breathing exercises not only lessened symptoms and improved all aspects of lung function, it enabled the asthmatics to reduce their histamine intake by close to 20%.

In another study, published in 1998 in the top medical journal The Lancet, people with lung problems due to congestive heart failure showed improved breathing capacity after being taught yogic breathing for just one month, their average respiratory rate decreasing from 13.4 breaths per minute to 7.6. Their exercise capacity also increased significantly, as did the oxygen saturation of their blood.

Plus it is widely documented that yoga improves various measures of lung function, including the maximum volume of breath we can take and efficiency of exhalation.

Depression

Sudarshan kriya – slow and calm breaths alternated by fast breaths, engendering a calmer, meditative state – has been shown to decrease depression. In a group of 25 people diagnosed with major depressive disorder (MDD), the half who were taught sudarshan kriya, plus some yoga positions, meditation and stress-coping skills, fared far better after two months of practising regularly at home than those who took antidepressants. The yoga group showed ‘significant’ improvements and halved their HDRS (Hamilton Depression Rating Scale) score, a common measure of depressive symptoms. Those just taking the drugs saw no improvement in their score.

Another study at the University of Wisconsin found that consistent yoga practice improved depression and led to a significant increase in serotonin levels and a decrease in the levels of monoamine oxidase (an enzyme that breaks down neurotransmitters) and cortisol (our stress hormone). Researchers discovered that the left prefrontal cortex showed heightened activity – in lay speak, it made people feel happier.

Inflammation

Inflammation is a modern-day health hazard, responsible for a whole host of serious illnesses – more on that in a future blog…

Regular yoga exercises, however, can lower compounds in the blood that lead to inflammation, research at the Ohio State University has found. Women who had practised yoga for at least two years had lower levels of inflammation-causing compounds in their blood, and the levels didn’t rise when they were put through stressful situations.

Carpal tunnel syndrome

Wrist twinge after too much computer mouse time? Anyone who does repetitive arm work would do well to take up yoga to prevent carpal tunnel syndrome, according to a study at Rush College of Medicine in Chicago. In a randomised, controlled trial sufferers were treated either with yoga exercises or splints, and after eight weeks grip strength was significantly better and pain reduction greater in the yoga group.

Food cravings & over-eating

Regular yoga, with its concomitant spiritual beliefs, has been shown to increase body satisfaction and improve disordered eating, according to a study published in the journal Eating Disorders.

Neuroscientists have also proved that a programme of yoga can help teenagers reduce food preoccupation, as it boosts a part of the front brain, the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPCF), that is responsible for quick-fix behaviour – like reaching for that packet of biscuits despite the New Year resolution to shed a few pounds. Low VMPFC levels prompt us to make snap choices (like going for a sugar hit) for instant reward, without considering the longterm consequences.

Heart health & blood pressure

Inverted yoga poses, such as headstand and shoulder stand, encourage the flow of blood from the legs and pelvis back to the heart, where it can be pumped to the lungs to be freshly oxygenated; this can help if you have swelling in your legs from heart or kidney problems. Yoga is also thought to boost levels of haemoglobin and red blood cells, which carry oxygen to the tissues, and thins the blood by making platelets less sticky and cutting the level of clot-promoting proteins – all recipes for reducing your chances of heart attack or stroke.

Shavasana, my favourite time at the end of a yoga class when you surrender to relaxation in ‘corpse pose’, can actually reduce your blood pressure, according to a report in The Lancet. When medics compared the effects of shavasana and just splashing out on a couch on people suffering from hypertension, they found that after three months of practice the yoga relaxation position was associated with a 26-point drop in systolic blood pressure and a 15-point drop in diastolic – in fact, the higher the person’s blood pressure, the bigger the drop.

Lymph drainage

As you contract and stretch muscles, move organs around, and come in and out of yoga postures, you gently increase the drainage of lymph cells – vital for fighting infection, destroying cancerous cells and disposomg of the toxic waste products of cellular functioning.

Sinus congestion

A study from Sweden’s Karolinska Institute suggests that humming sounds – such as chanting ‘om’ in yoga – open the sinuses and facilitate drainage.

Headaches & pain

Several studies have found that guided visualisation, often used by yoga teachers, reduces post-operative pain, decreases the frequency of headaches and improves the quality of life for people with cancer and HIV.

Fibromyalgia

Research at the Oregon Health & Science University has found that a course of yoga, comprising gentle poses, meditation and breathing exercises, can reduce the worst symptoms of fibromyalgia.

Researchers divided 53 fibromyalgia sufferers into one group who took part in an eight-week yoga programme and another who carried on with conventional medication and exercise. The yoga group showed huge improvements not only in pain, fatigue, stiffness and balance, but also poor sleep and memory, depression and anxiety. Pain levels were reduced by 24%, fatigue by 30% and depression by 42%.

Sue Leach, owner, The Natural Health Hub

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