Yoga Helps To Recover From Illness

In the last two years, hundreds of scientific studies have been published on the benefits of yoga as a therapy for a wide range of disorders. Yoga is a tool for healthy people, to keep fit physically and mentally, but it is also an effective complementary therapy for a number of disorders.

However, often the image that the media and social networks transmit about yoga does not help the agent to approach this ancient discipline. Many people and especially those who are suffering from a disease may not feel capable of reproducing the postures that young girls adopt, very fit and with a lot of practice.

Yoga is for sick people too

The reality is that yoga can be practiced by anyone, even people with physical difficulties, because the exercises can be selected and adapted to the capacities and needs of each one.

Yoga is for everyone and especially for people who are going through a disease and can benefit especially from its effects on body and mind. Studies indicate which are the most prominent therapeutic properties.

Yoga to reduce anxiety

A systematic review of 24 studies compared yoga with conventional aerobic or strength-type exercise and found that yoga is more effective in reducing anxiety, so much so that in many cases it could be an alternative to medications that are not free of side effects .

Yoga can reduce the production of cortisol, the hormone associated with the stress response, and increase levels of endorphins, hormone-like substances that produce feelings of well-being and some analgesia.

To ease the side effects of cancer treatment

Yoga is a useful complementary therapy to reduce the physical and psychological side effects derived from cancer treatment. It can help relieve symptoms such as fatigue, chronic pain, anxiety, and depression.

Specifically, one study evaluated the effects of eight weeks of yoga in 41 breast and gynecological cancer survivors with pain caused by peripheral neuropathy. The yoga, which was carried out in group classes and at home with the help of videos, focused on exercises for breathing, strength, balance and musculoskeletal flexibility, and managed to reduce pain and reduce the risk of falling.

Another study proved that yoga was able to improve the quality of life of 100 women with breast cancer undergoing chemotherapy. The patients improved their physical and emotional state. The ability of yoga to reduce fatigue and depression was confirmed in another study with 173 patients with different types of cancer.

Yoga to treat rheumatoid arthritis

Research conducted at Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine shows that yoga can also benefit people with rheumatoid arthritis. The review of studies evaluated the action of yoga on 840 patients with rheumatoid arthritis and concluded that it cannot relieve pain or inflammation in most cases, but it significantly improves joint mobility, reduces fatigue and improves the state of cheer up.

In contrast, yoga did decrease pain in patients with Gulf War syndrome, a disorder similar to chronic fatigue.

Help with mild traumatic brain injury

Traumatic brain injury can occur from a blow or a shake of the head. Symptoms can be mild, moderate, or severe. The concussions are a type of mild traumatic brain injury can be recovered completely.

Yoga can help make this recovery faster. A review of 20 studies with a total of 539 participants with mild traumatic brain injury, who practiced yoga, meditation, and other mindfulness-based activities, significantly improved general symptoms, cognitive performance, quality of life, and above. all the tiredness and depression.

Yoga in other disturbances

Other research has tested the benefits of yoga in relation to other conditions such as multiple sclerosis, schizophrenia, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, immunodeficiency caused by the HIV virus, post-traumatic stress disorder, or chronic pain.