Yoga Research: Immunity & General Health

Stress Relief, Resilience, Well-Being

---

Decreased cortisol in people new to yoga (2007)  link

• 16 healthy participants new to yoga
• 50-minute yoga class every day for 7 days
• Compared to a quiet sitting period of reading and writing for 50 minutes
• Significant decrease in cortisol after yoga; no appreciable difference after sitting period
• “Often, people who take up yoga report that they feel more relaxed almost immediately. And science now says there’s a physiological explanation for that: Yoga can reduce levels of cortisol, the so-called stress hormone.”
• “The findings suggest that practicing yoga — even for the very first time — can normalize cortisol levels that are either too high or too low, says Vijayendra Pratap, Ph.D., president of the Yoga Research Society in Philadelphia.
• Conducted by Thomas Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia and the Yoga Research Society
• The study confirms results from a 1995 study by George Brainard MD, a professor of neurology at Thomas Jefferson Medical College “which also showed a significant drop in cortisol levels of subjects following asana practice…When I did the first study, I was very surprised that a single set of yoga poses could make a significant change in cortisol. Now that we have repeated it, we have seen enough promise to consider studying it in challenging situations like chronically ill patients who have abnormally high levels of cortisol, such as those who suffer from depression, type 2 diabetes, Cushing’s disease, and high blood pressure.”

Randomized controlled trial: Improved physical capabilities and quality of life measures in healthy seniors (2006)  link

• Randomized, controlled, six-month trial of yoga in 135 healthy seniors; 17 did not finish
• Improvements in one-legged standing and in flexibility measure.
• Also improvements in quality-of-life measures related to sense of well-being, energy and fatigue.
• “Those in the yoga group showed significant improvement in quality-of-life and physical measures compared to exercise and wait-list control groups.”

Interoceptive awareness linked to stress resilience (2017)  link

• According to a study published in Biological Psychology, those with poor interoceptive awareness may be less able to adapt to stressful situations.
• Yoga, which emphasizes the integration of mind and body, may help to cultivate greater interoceptive ability and increase stress resilience.

Compilation of various studies showing improvements in well-being (2017)  link

• A study found decreased inflammation in those practicing mind-body exercises. It’s believed that yoga helps to reduce stress, improve mood and emotional regulation, recognized effects of reductions in cortisol.
• Deep breathing and meditation may impact the hypothalamus, pituitary and adrenals, helping to balance the nervous system. Possible outcomes include reduced blood pressure and heart rate and a state of being both calm and alert.
• A study in the Journal International Psychogeriatrics reported Kundalini Yoga practitioners saw improvement in executive function and emotional resilience markers. The chanting in Kundalini yoga was considered a possible boost to verbal and visual skills.
• Meditation studies showing increased gray matter density in the brain led researchers to infer that learning and memory also improve with yoga.
• Greater proprioception was also attributed to impacting stress reactions in yogis who were found to have less reactivity.

See Also

• Nervous System & Stress
• Why Yoga Works: Yoga’s Impact on the Nervous System & Stress
• Grounding, Interoception & Proprioception

Cardiovascular & General Health

---

Review of 37 randomized control trials: Effective for cardiovascular health, reduced BMI, reduced cholesterol (2014) link

• A review of 37 randomized controlled trials which included 2,768 people, measuring the benefits of yoga compared with exercise and no physical activity
• “More rigorous” styles of yoga
• Eva Norlyk Smith PhD reports here on the report, noting that it “offers some of the strongest evidence so far that yoga as a stand-alone practice may indeed be effective therapy for cardiovascular health… The cumulative evidence across these studies indicated that yoga may be as effective in reducing risk factors for heart disease as traditional physical activities such as biking or brisk walking.”
• When compared to no exercise, yoga was found to reduce BMI (Body Mass Index), lower blood pressure and reduce cholesterol.
• The research report also noted yoga’s impact on stress, “which in turn leads to improvements in neuroendocrine, metabolic and cardio-vagal functions, and related inflammatory responses.” (source)
• Published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology

Improved balance, regulated blood pressure & improved cardiovascular health (2014) link

• Three studies reported in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine show that yoga can improve balance and reduce fear of falling, helps to reduce and regulate blood pressure and can improve important aspects of cardiovascular health.

Reduced need for healthcare services by 43% (2015)  link

• The study is titled “Relaxation Response and Resiliency Training and Its Effect on Healthcare Resource Utilization” by James E. Stahl, published in the journal PLOS one.
• Results found that practicing relaxation response techniques, such as meditation and yoga, could reduce the need for health care services by 43 per cent.

See Also

• Cardiovascular System & Yoga + High Blood Pressure
• Asana Category: Balancing Poses
• Balance (as a Theme)