Yoga
Yoga
What is Yoga?
Yoga is a mind-body practice that combines physical postures, breathing techniques, meditation, relaxation, and support for applying these practices to daily living.
Yoga helps improve the body, mind, and spirit. It teaches self-awareness, patience, gratitude, and inner peace. Practicing yoga can also help you feel more connected to yourself, to nature, and to the world around you.
Yoga is not a religion and is practiced by people of all backgrounds for fitness, stress relief, and personal growth. While some styles focus more on movement and stretching, others emphasize meditation and breathing exercises.
Yoga can be done seated or standing. It is sometimes offered in person or virtually through telehealth.
How do I get started?
Ask your healthcare provider if yoga is right for you.
You can also reach out to your local Whole Health Point of Contact to learn more about complementary and integrative health care options availability.
How can yoga help you?
Yoga has been shown to be helpful for managing low back pain, depression, anxiety, and trouble sleeping. It supports both physical and emotional well-being and can be adapted for people with various levels of mobility and health conditions.
What can I expect during a session?
During a yoga session, a trained instructor will guide you through different movements and exercises. These movements can be done standing, seated, or even using a walker or wheelchair. In addition to physical movement, the session may include meditation, breathing exercises, and relaxation practices.
After working with a trained instructor and becoming familiar with the practice, you may be able to continue yoga on your own.
Is yoga safe and effective?
An evidence map of yoga for high-impact conditions affecting Veterans was developed by the VA’s Health Services Research & Development office. Conditions with evidence of positive effect include nonspecific chronic low back pain. Conditions with evidence of potentially positive effect include depressive disorders, anxiety, and insomnia.
Yoga has been recommended as a first line treatment for acute and chronic low back pain in the clinical practice guidelines developed by the American College of Physicians
Policy and Research
Background and Policy on in VA
Yoga is one of the evidence-based complementary and integrative health (CIH) approaches within the VHA Whole Health System of care included in the Veteran’s medical benefits package when deemed clinically necessary by their care team per VA Directive 1137 — Provision of Complementary and Integrative Health (recertified December 2022). Based on literature review these approaches were found to be safe and have sufficient evidence of benefit to be recommended as appropriate components of care for the Veteran population.
Highlighted Publications
Citation: Moosburner, A., Cramer, H., Bilc, M., Triana, J., & Anheyer, D. (2024). Yoga for Depressive Disorder: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Depression and anxiety, 2024, 6071055.
Summary: This study looked into how yoga can help those fighting depression, particularly when standard treatments aren't enough. Researchers reviewed 24 studies with 1,395 participants who practiced yoga. The results showed that yoga significantly reduced the severity of depression and increased the chances of overcoming it compared to doing nothing (passive control) and other active treatments. Yoga was found to be a safe therapy with no major side effects. While the quality of evidence varied, the findings suggest that incorporating yoga could be a helpful addition to traditional treatments for depression, especially for those with major depressive disorder (MDD). If you're struggling with depression, consider talking to your healthcare provider about trying yoga as part of your treatment plan.
Citation: Wieland, L. S., Skoetz, N., Pilkington, K., Harbin, S., Vempati, R., & Berman, B. M. (2022). Yoga for chronic non-specific low back pain. The Cochrane database of systematic reviews, 11(11), CD010671.
Summary: Yoga is often used for chronic non-specific low back pain, which is a common and sometimes disabling condition. Current guidelines recommend exercise therapy for this type of pain, and yoga is one such exercise. This summary reviews the evidence on the benefits and harms of yoga for treating chronic non-specific low back pain. The review included 21 studies with 2223 participants from various countries, mostly women in their 40s or 50s. The studies compared yoga to no exercise and other exercise treatments. The findings showed that yoga probably provides small improvements in back function and pain compared to no exercise, but these improvements are not clinically significant. Yoga may slightly enhance quality of life and does not seem to have more adverse effects than other exercises, but it had more adverse effects than doing no exercise at all. In conclusion, yoga might offer small benefits for back function and pain, but it may not be more effective than other exercise forms for treating chronic non-specific low back pain.
Citation: Groessl, E. J., Liu, L., Chang, D. G., Wetherell, J. L., Bormann, J. E., Atkinson, J. H., Baxi, S., & Schmalzl, L. (2017). Yoga for Military Veterans with Chronic Low Back Pain: A Randomized Clinical Trial. American journal of preventive medicine, 53(5), 599–608.
Summary: A clinical study on yoga for veterans with chronic low back pain compared 150 participants who practiced yoga with those who did not. Over six months, veterans doing yoga had better pain reduction and daily functioning than those who delayed it. Yoga classes included physical poses, movements, and breathing techniques twice a week for 12 weeks, guided by a certified instructor. Though initial results at 12 weeks showed no significant difference, by six months, yoga participants experienced less pain and improved disability scores. The study supports using yoga as a non-drug treatment for chronic low back pain in veterans, promoting better health outcomes while reducing reliance on opioid medications.
Citation: Tankha, H., Gaskins, D., Shallcross, A., Rothberg, M., Hu, B., Guo, N., Roseen, E. J., Dombrowski, S., Bar, J., Warren, R., Wilgus, H., Tate, P., Goldfarb, J., Drago, V. G., & Saper, R. (2024). Effectiveness of Virtual Yoga for Chronic Low Back Pain: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA network open, 7(11), e2442339.
Summary: This study evaluated the effectiveness of virtual yoga for treating chronic low back pain in health system employees. Participants were split into two groups: one attended 12 weeks of virtual yoga classes, while the other was on a wait-list. Results showed that those who participated in virtual yoga experienced significant improvements in back pain intensity and function compared to the wait-list group, with benefits lasting up to 24 weeks. There were no serious adverse effects. This suggests that virtual yoga can be a safe, effective, and accessible option for managing chronic low back pain, especially for those with busy schedules or who prefer home-based interventions.
Learn more
Learn more about other complementary and integrative health care options by visiting the Complementary and Integrative Health overview page or clicking the links below.
