For more than 15 years, Dahn Yoga has incorporated yoga breathing techniques into many of its relaxing and self healing sessions. Felicitously, scientists around the globe are increasingly finding that such yoga breathing exercises may reduce aches and impart symptom relief for a number of conditions, whether they are mental or physical.
Take a study lately published in the journal Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine. Researchers from A.T. Still University's Department of Physical Therapy conducted an experiment to determine the effects of yoga on the health and wellness of women with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).
Approximately one in five U.S. adults has been diagnosed with some form of arthritis, including an estimated 1.5 million with RA, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The agency states that RA is a disease of the lining of the body's joints, called the synovium. Its erosion causes pain, swelling and immobility of the joint.
In the study, scientists asked postmenopausal women with RA to engage in a 10-week yoga and meditation regimen. The team found that these participants experienced improvements in mobility and balance, as well as reductions in their perceived pain and depression levels.
Is that all yoga is good for? Not by a long shot, if other studies are any indication. A report appearing in the International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics found that guided yoga classes helped pregnant women moderate their heart rate variability and reduce stress.
Another study, this one published in the journal Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, determined that 12 weeks of yoga exercises may help individuals with hypertension reduce their 24-hour systolic and diastolic blood pressure.
Finally, a recently published book, titled How to Use Herbs, Nutrients and Yoga in Mental Healthcare, described the inclusion of yoga and deep breathing in therapies for anxiety, depression or drug abuse.
