Yoga For Managing Chronic Ailments
How often have you heard this from your friends and family while you uncomfortably deal with the symptoms and the aftereffects of a chronic condition?
“Why don’t you try yoga?”
First practiced in India more than 5000 years ago, yoga is considered to be the most ancient and effective mind-body system that supports mental and physical health through meditation, breathing techniques, and different body postures.
From decreasing stress, anxiety, and fatigue associated with chronic conditions, enhancing immunity, and stimulating the parasympathetic nervous system which helps in recovery and healing to increasing the gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) levels in the body which calms the brain and helps you relax, yoga does it all. However, this is just the tip of the iceberg. Let’s delve a little deeper to understand the significant role yoga plays in managing chronic conditions.
Yoga and the Heart
The American Heart Association says that traditional yoga involves stretching the body into a variety of poses while simultaneously focusing on breathing and meditation.
According to M. Mala Cunningham, Ph.D., counseling psychologist and founder of Cardiac Yoga, in an article published by Michigan State University, yoga helps prevent or reverse heart diseases, not completely but one can see the results.
‘Yoga can be a tremendous benefit to manage stress. Stress has an adverse reaction on blood pressure and heart disease. For most individuals, yoga offers a calming effect.’ mentions the website.
Yoga and Joint Pain
According to Johns Hopkins Arthritis Center, physical activity is a very important aspect of the treatment of osteoarthritis (OA) and rheumatoid arthritis. Yoga exercises are safe and don’t increase the pain or worsen the condition in people with arthritis. They may promote joint health.
Research has also revealed that yoga can improve symptoms of headaches, osteoarthritis, neck pain, and lower back pain. The American College of Physicians recommends yoga as one of the options for initial nonpharmaceutical treatment for chronic low-back pain.
Yoga helps a person improve their strength and flexibility. A study that involved untrained volunteers indicated that yoga enhanced muscular strength in the elbow and knee by 10-30% and flexibility in the ankle, shoulder, and hip joints by 13-188%.
Yoga and the brain
Yoga as a physical exercise builds fitness. Multiple studies show that the physical activities in yoga have similar benefits to the other various forms of exercise such as weightlifting and running.
However, yoga goes a step ahead and initiates mindfulness too by letting a person focus on breathing, maintaining postures, and being attentive to their body sensations and the present moment. This is one advantage that is missing in other physical exercises.
Studies have found that mindfulness improves a person’s self-awareness, with the ability to recognize and respond appropriately to emotional stress. It empowers a person with greater control over long-term behavior. Another study reveals that mindfulness from yoga can help people better recognize and respond to feelings of being full when eating, decrease binge eating, and deal with concerns about their body appearance.
Research has also found that practicing yoga over eight to 12 weeks can reduce anxiety and depressive symptoms as well as help with stress management.
The other health benefits of Yoga include reduced blood pressure, cholesterol, and obesity. Older people have shown better balance, mobility, and cognitive abilities.
People with Type 2 diabetes are reported to focus more on their diet by less snacking and eating healthier after doing yoga twice a week for around three months according to a pilot study published by the Economic Times.
What to Keep in Mind Before Starting Yoga
Here are some quick pointers
1- Yoga should not be started without consulting the doctor as all health conditions are managed with this practice.
2- You must choose an experienced and good instructor to avoid injuries and other complications. There are specialized trainers for chronic conditions.
3- Pay attention to how you feel during the session. Any kind of discomfort should be reported to the instructor immediately. If certain symptoms or pain increase then discontinuing may be an option after consultation with experts.
4-Power and intense yoga may not be a good option for people with certain medical conditions and should not be practiced without a doctor’s advice or a skilled instructor.
5- Yoga takes time and it may take a couple of weeks to see the benefits.
BY: Sukino
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