I dont talk about yoga too often, but I came across some incredible information regarding its medicinal properties I just had to share it with you. The idea that an activity could be used as medicine really struck me, so I did a little bit of my own research so I could teach you the 7 different ways yoga can be medicinal.
So far, yoga has been used to help relieve people from the physical and mental pain brought on by cancer, autism, PTSD, victims of trauma and domestic violence, cognitive impairment, and even people going through substance abuse and rehabilitation.
The following list will further explain the impact that yoga can have on specific health conditions and ailments.
Yoga as Medicine
1. Cancer
Studies that monitored the benefits of yoga for cancer patients showed that those who partook in a 12-week yoga program were more energetic and showed more vitality than those who did not participate in yoga programs.
The participants who took yoga classes also had decreased levels of inflammation because yoga has been known to increase circulation of blood and lymphatic fluids. Yoga is largely focused on breathing practices, which can also help bring more oxygen to your blood and aid in flushing toxins from the body.
2. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
Recently, yoga has been recognized to help relieve anxiety, depression and insomnia. Most of these positive impacts are caused by yogas focus on perfecting breathing. Breathing allows people with PTSD to focus on the situation at hand, which can disrupt traumatic visions and ruminations.
3. Autism
In this day and age it seems like every child has some form of autism, ADD or ADHD. Some yoga programs have shown to help children deal with the short and long term hurdles that these conditions cause.
Specifically, yoga has helped children with autism adjust to changing situations and rank better on maladaptive behaviour scales with teachers.
4. Dementia and Other Cognitive Impairments
In some elderly homes around the world, yoga is used to help improve the cognitive function of their residents. In a study, elderly people who participated in a yoga program for 6 months displayed a stronger memory, attention span, and processing speed.
As well, yoga is excellent for improving overall mobility in all people. Because of its gentle movements and slow stretches, its an incredible means of exercise for the elderly.
5. Substance Abuse and Rehabilitation
Those who are overcoming addiction can use yoga to improve their mood and quality of life. Yoga helps people with both mental and physical obstructions that withdrawal and rehabilitation can cause.
6. Chronic Back Pain
An alarmingly high number of American citizens deal with chronic back pain and recently, yoga has been considered a source of relief. By both stretching and practicing a healthy state of mind, people are finding their back pain to be significantly decreased.
The different types of yoga and the wide variety of positions and stretches will allow you to customize your yoga routine to better benefit your unique back pain. When youre able to target the pain at the source, you can not only relieve the pain but also learn the inner workings of your body so you can prevent pain in the future.
7. Caregivers
The emotional stress of being a caregiver is often superseded by the priority of taking care of the patient. When a caregiver needs an escape from the constant physical and emotional demands of being someones support, yoga has been shown to help in more ways than one.
A study showed that after only 1 month of yoga, caregivers were experiencing less anxiety, depression, insomnia and they commented that the quality of their life increase dramatically as they were more mentally capable of dealing with the stresses at hand.
Sources:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2014/10/16/yoga-helps-war-veterans-with-post-traumatic-stress-disorder/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/20/yoga-older-adults_n_3268482.html
http://breakingmuscle.com/yoga/heal-your-lower-back-pain-with-these-5-yoga-poses
