Yoga reaches mainstream
Thursday August 25, 2011STOCKBRIDGE -- Proponents of yoga have long touted the practice’s health benefits, but government support for a research conference at Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health is the latest indication that yoga is also gaining traction in the world of evidence-based medicine.
The Symposium on Yoga Research, to be held in at Kripalu in September, is the first scientific conference on yoga to receive funding from the National Institutes of Health’s National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM), according to John Kepner, executive director of the International Association of Yoga Therapists.
"This grant is a recognition that yoga research is really coming into its own," said Kepner, whose organization is running the symposium. The symposium isn’t open to the general public.
While yoga shares many of its health benefits with a typical aerobic exercise regimen, what sets it apart are its relaxation component as well as the mind-body connection it fosters, Kepner said.
"It’s not like walking on a treadmill and watching the news," he said. "That explicit integration of your body, breath and mind is one of the hallmarks of yoga and has been known by yoga practitioners for centuries to help people on many levels."
The $30,000 NIH grant funds international yoga experts’ trips to the conference as well as scholarships for students who may enter into yoga research, Kepner said.
The goal of yoga research is to test hypotheses about the practice’s measurable effects on psychology and physiology, according to Dr. Sat Bir Khalsa, a research scientist at Harvard Medical School and a board member at Kripalu.
"One of the strongest virtues of yoga practice, and one of its greatest benefits, is its ability to reduce stress-induced problems," Khalsa said, pointing out that stress is often an underlying cause of conditions like hypertension, obesity and diabetes.
Health Benefits Of Yoga - News
Started in 2008 and designated a national observance by the Department of Health and Human Services, its organizers define it as "an awareness campaign to educate about the health benefits of yoga and to inspire a healthy lifestyle.
Yoga has become more popular across the world with more and more people seeing the benefits of this ancient practice. Here are some proven health benefits of yoga. Pranayama: Patanjali in his text of Yoga Sutras cited Pranayama as means of
STOCKBRIDGE -- Proponents of yoga have long touted the practice's health benefits, but government support for a research conference at Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health is the latest indication that yoga is also
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With several successes under her belt, Azita hopes to start her own class at home and eventually expand into a formal offering at the university gym to share Dahn Yoga benefits with others. About Dahn Yoga: Dahn Yoga is a dynamic mind-body practice
RT @: In our continuation of the 77 health benefits of yoga, here are two more:
1) Cancer patients who practice yoga... 
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Thanks for sharing! RT @: FYI I wrote a post on health benefits of #yoga last year that may be of interest 
Join me & @ Learn the secret health benefits of pleasure that will give you an “edge” in all areas of life 
@ FYI I wrote a post on health benefits of #yoga last year that may be of interest