Overview

Yoga is a key part of traditional Ayurvedic medicine. It involves controlled breathing, meditation exercises, and physical body movements or postures.

The purpose of yoga is to achieve self-realization or enlightenment. Like other forms of exercise and meditation, yoga appears to have many potentially beneficial effects. It can affect blood pressure, blood sugar levels, stress levels, and anxiety, and can affect brain chemicals related to mood.

People commonly use yoga to improve general health, fitness, and quality of life. It is also used for stress, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, obesity, pain, and many other conditions, but there is no good scientific evidence to support many of these other uses.

Don't confuse yoga with Ayurveda. Yoga is only one part of the Ayurvedic system of medicine.



Uses & Effectiveness

Possibly Effective for

  • Asthma. Yoga seems to slightly improve symptoms and quality of life in people with asthma. But it's not clear if specific yoga breathing exercises help.
  • Back pain. Yoga seems to help relieve chronic low back pain.
  • Breast cancer. Yoga seems to improve quality of life, pain, and stomach symptoms in people with breast cancer.
  • Tiredness in people with cancer. Yoga seems to help reduce tiredness in people with cancer.
  • Heart disease. Yoga, alone or used together with other lifestyle changes, seems to improve certain risk factors for heart disease.
  • Depression. Yoga might help lessen depression symptoms in the short term. It seems to work best in people with mild or new onset depression. Yoga also seems to help when used together with conventional therapies.
  • Diabetes. Yoga seems to somewhat improve blood sugar control in people with diabetes.
  • High blood pressure. Yoga seems to somewhat reduce blood pressure in people with high blood pressure.
  • Symptoms of menopause. Yoga seems to improve hot flashes, sleep, and other symptoms of menopause. It seems to be just as helpful as other types of exercise.
  • Neck pain. Yoga seems to help reduce neck pain and disability from neck pain.
  • Schizophrenia. Yoga seems to improve symptoms, quality of life, and social functioning in people with schizophrenia.
  • Stress. Yoga seems to reduce stress and anxiety in people experiencing mild to moderate levels of stress. It seems to work about as well as relaxation therapy or cognitive behavioral therapy.
  • Tuberculosis. Yoga seems to decrease symptoms, increase weight, and improve lung function in people with tuberculosis who are also taking anti-tuberculosis drugs.

There is interest in using yoga for a number of other purposes, but there isn't enough reliable information to say whether it might be helpful.

Side Effects



Special Precautions and Warnings



Yoga is likely safe for most people when used appropriately. Like other forms of exercise, yoga might cause soreness in some people. Some aggressive forms of yoga exercises might be unsafe, especially for beginners and when practiced without a licensed teacher. In rare cases, hot yoga might cause heat stroke.

Pregnancy and breast-feeding: Yoga is possibly safe when used during pregnancy and breast-feeding. It doesn't seem to harm the baby when practiced during pregnancy. But some aggressive forms and poses might not be safe during pregnancy.

Children: Yoga is possibly safe when used appropriately by children under the supervision of a yoga teacher.

Abdominal surgery: Some aggressive breathing techniques, such as "Kapalabhati pranayama," might place too much pressure on the stomach area and harm people who have recently had abdominal surgery.

High blood pressure: Some aggressive breathing techniques, such as "Kapalabhati pranayama," might temporarily increase blood pressure and harm people with uncontrolled high blood pressure.

Eye lens implant: Sometimes a lens implant can move and cause rubbing and pain in the eye. Some positions in yoga might make this movement worse.

Muscles, bones, and joints. Like other types of physical exercise, yoga could cause or worsen pain or physical injuries.

Interactions

We currently have no information for Yoga overview.

Dosing

There are eight limbs of yoga: pranayama (breathing), asana (physical postures), yama (moral behavior), niyama (healthy habit), dharana (concentration), prathyahara (sensory withdrawal), dhyana (contemplation), and samadhi (higher consciousness). Yoga is often learned through classes or self-study.

There are many different styles of yoga, including Hatha, Ashtanga, Yin, Iyengar, and Kundalini. Most involve controlled breathing, meditation, and body posturing. Some forms are more physically demanding than others. There is no standardized certification for yoga teachers. Many schools and teachers register with the Yoga Alliance. Registered teachers typically indicate the level of training they've received with RYT 200 (200 hours) or RYT 500 (500 hours).
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CONDITIONS OF USE AND IMPORTANT INFORMATION: This information is meant to supplement, not replace advice from your doctor or healthcare provider and is not meant to cover all possible uses, precautions, interactions or adverse effects. This information may not fit your specific health circumstances. Never delay or disregard seeking professional medical advice from your doctor or other qualified health care provider because of something you have read on WebMD. You should always speak with your doctor or health care professional before you start, stop, or change any prescribed part of your health care plan or treatment and to determine what course of therapy is right for you.

This copyrighted material is licensed from Therapeutic Research Center, LLC. Information from this source is evidence-based and objective, and without commercial influence. For professional medical information on natural medicines, see Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database Professional Version.
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