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This content is for informational purposes only and is not intended to provide medical advice.
According to an article by Harvard Medical School, doing yoga has long-term implications on our quality of life, overall health, and even the amount of money that we are likely to spend on healthcare. In part, these results are based on the series of healthy habits and lifestyle changes that are often associated with the practice of yoga. For instance, when a person takes the time to integrate a mindful yoga routine into their life, they may as well apply the practice of mindfulness into what they eat and how they deal with day-to-day stress. Research into alternative therapies like mindfulness meditation and yoga has gained traction in past decades. Nevertheless, Harvard’s findings from 2021 are focused primarily on heart disease because of the high death rates related to poor cardiovascular health in Western populations. Along with other alternatives to traditional treatments like prescription drugs, Yoga has steadily gained legitimacy in the scientific study of serious conditions such as poor heart health. This fact appears to be based in part on the relative ease of teaching yoga to people without any prior experience or interest and because of the large amounts of money devoted to the study of such conditions. Although it is often viewed as a mind-body therapy in the realm of abstract spiritual practices, yoga, as it turns out, can be very good for your heart as well.
Yoga and heart disease
In 2021, the science journal Complementary Therapies in Medicine published literature evaluating more than 300 studies related to yoga and health. The results may come as a surprise to anyone who has not personally experienced the benefits of yoga: Researchers linked yoga to “improvements in blood pressure, cholesterol and triglyceride levels, body mass index, and quality of life”, according to the journal. When speaking of “quality of life”, researchers are referring to physical and mental health, along with things like social belonging, recreation and a sense of freedom. Within this context, yoga has been shown to improve mental health. In part due to its meditative nature, yoga’s ability to help mitigate and decrease anxiety has long been documented by researchers.
The peer-reviewed journal Holistic Nursing Practice wrote the following in a 2020 review titled “A Narrative Review of Movement-Based Mind-Body Interventions”: Yoga provided “positive outcomes” in terms of the “psychological distress” (such as depression and anxiety) associated with back pain. Those suffering from chronic lower back pain (CLBP) know that their aches and pains may be contributing to a decrease in mental well-being. Furthermore, chronic pains in the body often make us exaggerate the limitations of our physical abilities. In a cascade of side effects, consistent pain may be making us depressed, anxious and less likely to attempt physical activities – all of which work in tandem to decrease our quality of life.
The above-mentioned literature from 2021 also states that yoga can “help reduce [heart] palpitations” and the number of atrial fibrillation episodes – a disorder that causes a rapid and irregular heartbeat. Typically, however, yoga is just a part of your medical intervention rather than a substitute for it. Yoga is sometimes thought of as an “add-on” therapy or a form of treatment under Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM). We should note here that although the results of yoga practice may be “effective” in improving heart health, there is no substitute for expert medical advice provided by your doctor.
Benefits of yoga, according to Harvard Health
Interestingly, the meditative aspects of yoga appear to delay the onset of Alzheimer’s disease and other cognitive declines as the body ages. In fact, yoga research shows that “people who do yoga use 43% fewer medical services… [saving] anywhere from $640 to more than $25,000”. See the Harvard Health Reports publication titled Introduction to Yoga (available at health.harvard.edu) for more references and additional facts and figures.
Conclusions
Yoga as a spiritual and mind-body practice has been around for thousands of years. In recent decades, the scientific community has increased funding into researching alternative therapies (such as yoga) as a way to mitigate or prevent certain ailments. In 2021, Harvard Medical School published findings indicating that yoga offers a myriad of possible benefits, including improvements to our heart health. While these findings are promising, additional research into the topic of yoga and other complementary therapies is ongoing and will continue to make headlines.
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