The Benefits Of Yoga Therapy - Essay Example

Running head: YOGA THERAPY On the Benefits of Yoga Therapy Yoga is a spiritual practice essential in religions such as Buddhism, Jainism and Hinduism that is originally rooted in India. Today, it remains an existing custom in India although in some parts of the world, especially in western countries, it has become a form of work out and a relaxation technique. It has also has become a source of industry on its own. Although yoga has existed for hundreds of years, its popularity gained larger domain in this last few decades. This is largely caused by the growing trend of healthy living especially in urban places and to the undeniable benefits that yoga advocates get when practicing it. Recently, there is a growing market for those who seek alternative remedy or aid to sicknesses that medical treatment cannot provide. Yoga therapy is one of those emerging alternative treatments or supplementary treatments with medical treatment. While there is a growing market on its stake as a therapeutic treatment, concrete evidence as to its capability is yet to be studied further. This paper then will attempt to review some existing studies on the benefit of yoga as a complementary therapy to explore the extent of its uses in sicknesses that medical treatment cannot offer. According to Life Positive (2000), "The most important benefit of yoga is physical and mental therapy". Following the practices of yogasanas, pranayama and meditation, one will be able to get the maximum benefit of yoga. As to any exercise, yoga also has the capability of slowing down the natural process of aging. Yoga has the goal of achieving health and wellness at all levels of a person; physical, mental and spiritual. One is able to maintain a flexible and well circulated body system, therefore enforcing the body in a cleaner state and minimizing cell deterioration. Life Positive (2000) further stresses that yoga creates a balance in the nervous and endocrine systems that directly affect all the other systems and organs in the body. Osteoporosis is one of those old-age degenerative diseases that are seen as unending and persistent. In a study done by Taylor (2005), possibilities of using yoga therapy in giving relief to patients with osteoporosis were examined to give yoga therapist views on the possibilities and challenges of treating yoga patients with osteoporosis. Medical risk factors along with physical risk factors of osteoporosis were discussed thoroughly to further understand why osteoporosis was treated as a dead-end bone disease especially to the aged people. Existing yoga services and its limitations were also discussed. To demonstrate the authors point in the potentiality of yoga therapy in this type of ailment, a case study of an 81-year old man was presented. He was suffering from osteoporosis along with other various ailments common to old people. The patient was instructed to do adapted asanas yoga initially for 30 minutes. Thereafter, significant developments were already present after the initial yoga exercise; decreased forward head, kyphosis (spinal disorder) was improved and his arm posture changed. Through this example, the author also stresses the need for yoga design specialization for such cases and to address the patients' social support, psycho/social/spiritual issues, a means to keep the patient motivated to be active yet safe and changes in the patient's diet. Taylor then made recommendations and possible practice development concepts for yoga therapists to aid them in applying yoga for patients with osteoporosis and low density bone mass. Yoga therapists are still venturing on their practice since yoga therapy as a complementary treatment is still a maturing profession. This study then is bound to be useful to those yoga therapists that are interested in specializing in aiding numerous people who have osteoporosis or are at risk of having the disease. In another study, the effects of a yoga based intervention were studied on patients with arthritis. In this particular study, Garfinkel et al. (as cited in Yoga, n.d.) evaluated a yoga based regimen for treatment of osteoarthritis of the hands. Here the researchers opted to take down controlled observations on the effect of yoga on the hands of the patients. Controlled observations were based on the variables that represented pain, strength, motion, joint circumference, tenderness, and hand function using the Stanford Hand Assessment questionnaire. To get the results for their study, selected osteoarthritis patients were randomly assigned to undergo the yoga program and others received no therapy. The test was done in 8 weeks with a once a week yoga program for the patients who were selected to have the program. After the test period, results were favorable to the yoga treated group where they were compared to the control group who were in pain during a joint activity. This study therefore encourages other studies on other forms of treatment on osteoarthritis patients for comparison and on long term effects of yoga programs on the afflicted patients. For those who are performing assembly line work, the carpal tunnel syndrome is most common among them. This is a progressive condition wherein the inflicted feels pain because of a compression of a significant nerve in the wrist. To determine the effectiveness of a yoga-based program for people with carpal tunnel syndrome, Garfinkel M. et al. (1998) performed a randomized trial on forty two individuals with carpal tunnel syndrome. They were grouped into two groups where one group received a yoga-based program consisting of 11 yoga postures and the other group was given wrist splints which are usually used in patients having this syndrome. Variables of comparison were based on grip strength, sleep disturbance, Phalen sign and Tinel sign, and in median nerve motor and sensory conduction time. In comparing the variables after eight weeks of test period, the yoga-based subjects had significant improvement in grip strength and the pain intensity also decreased. There was no significant development in the control group however. This preliminary study shows that in comparison to wrist splints and no treatment, a yoga-based routine is more effective in relieving the symptoms of the carpal tunnel syndrome. Another problem for most working people is the lower back pains that often go away but sometimes become chronic. Sherman K.J. et al. (as cited by Annals of Internal Medicine (2005)) conducted a study to prove the effectiveness of yoga in patients having chronic back pains. The study was conducted on 101 subjects with ages ranging from 20 to 64 years. The subjects were grouped into three groups where one group had yoga, the other group had therapeutic exercises and the third group was given self-help books. All lower back pains symptoms had improved for the three groups but the yoga-practicing group continued to improve in comparison to the other two groups after their consultancy of another 14 weeks past the 12 week test period. The researchers then found out that at the long term, yoga is far more effective in relieving and preventing chronic back pains. The results of the study were viable to assume that yoga would be a commendable but the study was done in only a period of 6 months. Long term studies are then needed since chronic back pains are intermittent. Meditation is a crucial part of the yoga practice. According to a preliminary study by Lazar S. et al (2005), the practice of meditation results to an increased cortical thickness of the brain. This part of the brain constitutes many complex functions that are highly affected with age related mental decline because the cerebral cortex of the brain thins with age. In this study, 20 adults practicing a type of Buddhist meditation were compared to 15 other adults who did not experience meditation or yoga. To assess the results on the meditating group after the test period, magnetic resonance imaging was used to examine the differences in their cerebral cortexes. The facilitators of the study found out that the cortical regions of the meditating group were comparably thicker than that of the control group's. Among the meditating group's participants, the most impressive results were that of the older participants; the cortical thickness was more prominent. The result of the study implies a correlation of practicing meditation and a possibility of an offset in age-related cortical thinning. Reference List Life Positive (2000). Yoga Benefits. Life Positive Your Complete Guide to Holistic Living. Retrieved August 20, 2006 from http://www.lifepositive.com/Body/yoga/yoga-benefits.asp. Taylor, M.J. MPT, RYT (2005). Osteoporosis: An Opportunity to Serve. International Journal of Yoga Therapy No. 15. Retrieved August 19, 2006 from http://www.iayt.org/site/publications/osteoporosis_taylor.pdf Yoga. Yoga Research. Retrieved August 19, 2006 from http://www.studioorlando.com/News/yoga_research.htm Garfinkel, M. S. EdD, Singhal, A. MD, Katz, W.A. MD, Allan, D.A MD PhD, Resheatr, R. EdD, Schumacher, H. R. Jr. MD (1998). Yoga-Based Intervention for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, A Randomized Trial. The Journal of the American Medical Association. Vol. 280, 1601-1603. American College of Physicians. Summaries for Patients; Comparison of Yoga, Exercise, and Education for the Treatment of Chronic Low Back Pain. Anals of Internal Medicine. Retriwved August 18, 2006 from http://www.annals.org/cgi/content/full/143/12/I-18maxtoshow=&HITS=10&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&fulltext=yoga+&searchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=0&resourcetype=HWCIT Read More