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Study Finds Yoga Works As Well As Physical Therapy For Back Pain (time.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from TIME: Another study is touting the benefits of yoga -- this time, for people with back problems. The new research put yoga head-to-head against physical therapy and found the two were equally good at restoring function and reducing the need for pain medication over time. In the new study, published in Annals of Internal Medicine, a group of 320 people did 12 weeks of yoga or physical therapy, or they simply received a book and newsletters about coping with back pain. People in the active treatment groups reported that their pain was less intense than it was at the start of the study and that they were able to physically move more. Some were also able to reduce, or even stop, their pain medications. Those improvements stuck around for a full year after the study was over. This research is unique because the people in the study were racially diverse, and most were from low-income families. Many had pre-existing medical conditions. That's important, say the researchers, because chronic back pain -- which affects about 10% of U.S. adults -- has a greater impact on minorities and people of lower socioeconomic status.
Since when I went to Kaiser Permanente 20 years ago for back pain, they gave me a bunch of exercises with my physical therapy. A few years ago I was reading a book about yoga and all the exercises they gave me were yoga moves. So, basically the physical therapy is yoga.
This sounds like something straight from the mouth of Captain Obvious.
Truth be told, Yoga is about as "full body workout" as it gets.
If you think Yoga is just some spiritual foo-foo wah-wah shit and all the health benefits are placebo, you are soooo wrong. Yes, the fortune-cookie wisdoms Yoga instructors dish out at the end of a workout when everybody is chilling and meditating can be flat-out cringe-worthy and inscence and sitar music (or whatever that string-instrument is called) isn't everybody's thing, but the 90 minutes that went before that are enough to put any regular iron-pumper or cross-fit person into gasp and sweat mode. Taking the positions slowly and elegantly ("Ansanas" in Yogaspeak) and holding them is really hard and requires a lot of strength and coordination and at times goes beyond pro level gymnastics.
Oh, and the countless chicks that do it are often pretty hot. And I mean that in more ways than one. :-) ... Which reminds me that I actually just had an excessive flirt (and some very nice dances) with a cute Yoga instructor this weekend ...
So, yes, there are a lot of benefits to doing Yoga, including those of regular physical health, strength and flexibility at the same time. That Yoga is about as good as it gets when treating muscular deficiencies in your back is something well established.
We suffer more in our imagination than in reality. - Seneca
> Some dumb Christians have tried to convince people that yoga is evil.
FTFY.
Some dumb Christians also believe that "Does not the very nature of things teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a disgrace to him," (1 Cor 11:14). Apparently these retards haver never seen a male horse with a long mane, nor a male lion.
The only ones saying Yoga is "evil" are idiots.
"The once-a-week yoga classes in the study were designed specifically for back-pain patients"
I'm compelled to stress the importance of this and of not doing exercises that lastingly increase pain. Many people with back pain who go to normal yoga classes end up being sore from pain instead of muscle soreness after since the programs are typically not customized to their needs/abilities.