Background

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.

Safety Safety definitions

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.

Special Precautions & Warnings:

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.

Effectiveness

Dosing & administration

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).

Interactions with pharmaceuticals

It is not known if this treatment interacts with any medicines. Before using this treatment, talk with your health professional if you take any medications.

Interactions with herbs & supplements

There are no known interactions with herbs and supplements.

Interactions with foods

There are no known interactions with foods.