International Conference on research into Yoga and Health
” Practicing yoga leads to a fitter and healthier body” is a statement uttered by many practitioners of yoga. Alas, many people seem to consider yoga too fanciful to be taken seriously. Of course it does not help that many GP’s advice in case of minor injuries is either immobility or prescription of painkillers. There is therefore a need to provide evidence that yoga is not only beneficial but preferable to use of drugs or surgery. Luckily numbers of scientists interested in the subject are growing. I will mention two such researchers:-
Dr Holger Cramer of Essen University is conducting research into therapeutic potential of yoga for chronic pain conditions and during his lecture he quite clearly demonstrated that regular yoga practice does provide lasting relief for lower back pain, neck pain and rheumatoid arthritis. Anybody wishing to check the statistics gathered should search “Yoga and Chronic Pain” on his website.
Mr Goran Boll is a pioneer in bringing yoga therapy into clinical settings. He succeeded bringing yoga into 80 hospitals in Sweden and believes that NHS should follow suit.
My interest as a yoga teacher lies in teaching the use one’s spine in a correct way. Our sedentary lifestyles combined with hunching over computers are causing an untold damage to postures of many people and consequently the inevitable rise in back pain. I would like to emphasize that yoga is not an exercise or a slimming aid but an overall tool for improving one’s life .