Yoga as therapy
Systematic reviews have found beneficial effects of yoga on low back pain[2] and depression,[3] but despite much investigation, little or no evidence of benefit for specific medical conditions.
These emphasise different aspects including aerobic exercise, precision in the asanas, and spirituality in the haṭha yoga tradition.
Iyengar Yoga emphasises correct alignment in the postures, working slowly, if necessary with props, and ending with relaxation.
Sivananda Yoga focuses more on spiritual practice, with 12 basic poses, chanting in Sanskrit, pranayama breathing exercises, meditation, and relaxation in each class, and importance is placed on a vegetarian diet.
[10][11] Medieval authors asserted that Haṭha yoga brought physical (as well as spiritual) benefits, and provided magical powers, including of healing.
"[16] The yoga teacher Bernie Gourley notes that the book neither describes contraindications systematically, nor provides evidence for the claimed benefits.
"[16] For example, in the book, Iyengar claims that the asanas of the Eka Pada Sirsasana cycle[18] ...tone up the muscular, nervous and circulatory systems of the entire body.
Broad argues that while the health claims for yoga began as Hindu nationalist posturing, it turns out that there is ironically[11] "a wealth of real benefits".
[24] She contributed "Remedial Programs" for conditions such as arthritis, backache, knee cartilage problems, pregnancy, sciatica, scoliosis and varicose veins in the Mehtas' 1990 book Yoga the Iyengar Way.
[31] Newcombe notes that a third organisation, the Yoga Biomedical Trust, was founded in Cambridge in 1983 by a biologist, Robin Monro, to research complementary therapies.
[33] Much of the research on the therapeutic use of yoga has been in the form of preliminary studies or clinical trials of low methodological quality, including small sample sizes, inadequate control and blinding, lack of randomization, and high risk of bias.
"[4] A 2015 systematic review on the effect of yoga on mood and the brain recommended that future clinical trials should apply more methodological rigour.
[3] The practice of asanas has been claimed to improve flexibility, strength, and balance; to alleviate stress and anxiety, and to reduce the symptoms of lower back pain, without necessarily demonstrating the precise mechanisms involved.
[39] Trauma-sensitive yoga has been developed by David Emerson and others of the Trauma Center at the Justice Resource Institute in Brookline, Massachusetts.
The center uses yoga alongside other treatments to support recovery from traumatic episodes and to enable healing from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Workers including Bessel van der Kolk and Richard Miller have studied how clients can "regain comfort in their bodies, counteract rumination, and improve self-regulation through yoga.
[46] Other systematic reviews postulate that designing the style and instructions to the needs of the veterans leads to better results and a larger impact on PTSD symptoms.
