Yoga for You?

Yoga has long since been known as an effective, safe, and low-force strategy to increase your strength as well as your flexibility.  But an article in the Journal of Alternative Therapies posed the question, “Is there more to yoga than exercise?”

In the study, they took a group of students with mild to moderate anxiety and depression, split them into two groups and exposed them to two different styles of yoga.  The first group did what was called yoga as exercise where they went through all the poses mechanistically.  The second group underwent what was referred to as integrative yoga where the exercise was combined with meditation and deep breathing exercises.  Participants of both groups showed greater flexibility as well as a significant decrease in depression and stress and expressed what was referred to as an increased “hopefulness.”  However, only the participants in the integrated yoga group experienced decreased anxiety symptoms and decreased salivary cortisol (the stress hormone).  The researchers concluded that the meditation of the integrated yoga added a spiritual component and this spiritual aspect increased the sense of hopefulness that gave a greater reduction in stress and even showed greater academic performance and improved immune function.

While I cannot make claims to the “spiritual” aspect of this study because I believe that is a personal thing and difficult to quantify, I’m not certain that it matters.  It has long been proven that deep breathing exercises and the practice of meditation have been very effective to quiet the mind and alter the chemical and electrical activity of the brain.  This altered activity essentially down-shifts the brain and changes the activity of the hypothalamus which is the part of the brain that connects to the pituitary or master gland.  When the master gland activity is changed, all the hormones of the endocrine system are changed and a person can move out of what I so frequently call stress physiology.  A major part of stress physiology is increased cortisol and fight/flight activity.  Therefore it is no surprise to me at all that the integrative yoga group showed less anxiety and decreased salivary cortisol.  What does this mean to you?  If you’re doing yoga or considering it, look for a group practicing the integrative method.  Even if you never practice a yoga pose, take time to practice quieting your mind through meditation or simple deep breathing exercises where you attempt to think about nothing for at least ten minutes each day.