Yoga is considered a form of comparative, complementary, alternative, and/or integrative medicine due to its holistic approach to improving health and overall well-being. The use of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) in Western nations has increased over the last decades, and its combination with biomedicine has garnered scholarly momentum to the extent that CAM has been integrated into mainstream health care. Survey research shows that many patients are not informing their healthcare providers of their inclination to utilize CAM for various reasons; the highest CAM use is reported among high-education, high-income groups in the U.S. Comparative medicine is an approach that combines contemporary medical practices with complementary and alternative – ancient and traditional therapies to address the physical, mental, emotional, and also spiritual aspects of our health. Over 36 million Americans self-reported practicing yoga according to a survey by Yoga Alliance in 2016 and these numbers have most likely increased due to the pandemic.
Yoga is many things to many people. However, yoga and its meditative component is not something one does – yoga is something one becomes. Same is true for meditation – one becomes meditative, its not an activity which one performs. The basics of yoga are worth understanding given the popularity and the benefits of the practice. Though many people in the world associate yoga to be a physical practice, Yoga encompasses a range of practices, including postures (asanas), breath techniques (pranayama), meditation or mindfulness techniques, and a range of disciplinary aspects toward oneself and the external world. Yoga therefore is not just physical exercise but constitutes a comprehensive system that is designed to promote balance and harmony. The term “spiritual” is fairly a new addition to the way Western medicine views and categorizes health. The World Health Organization’s definition of health that equates health with well-being is — “Health is a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.”
One primary difference between Eastern healing approaches and Western biomedical approaches is that many times the Eastern modalities are holistic – the treatment is targeted toward healing of the whole person while Western medicine focuses on treating localized or affected areas. Also, another notable differences between Western medicine and preventive aspects of comparative interventions such as yoga is that Yoga is a non-invasive, cost-effective safe intervention that is easy to administer and implement in any health setting, and this section examines evidence-based research on yoga therapy for physical conditions. Meaning, no outside medication or chemicals are needed; with regular practice, the body is trained to generate ‘medicine’ on its own due to an enhanced flow of prana or energy, thereby improving one’s physical and mental health.
Hundreds of thousands of research studies demonstrate the physical benefits of yoga include increased flexibility, muscle strength, and tone, increased energy, improved respiration, improved health, and weight reduction; mental benefits include better stress management and increase in calmness, improvement in attention and concentration, improvement in sleep quality, development of coping skills and promotes self-care, and helps develop a positive outlook about life. There is a positive, bidirectional relationship between the popularity of yoga and an increase in yoga therapy research. Yoga therapy research has experienced cutting-edge quantitative and qualitative research utilizing measures such as the use of biomarkers, brain imaging techniques, and observed changes in gene expression.
The U.S. government too is keen on making funding available for Complementary and Alternative Medicine research for mind-body interventions such as Yoga, Ayurveda, Traditional Chinese Medicine, etc. Finally, yoga can be seen as a necessary and preventative intervention in the post-Covid-19 pandemic and the epidemics of noncommunicable diseases which people are suffering from. Healthcare costs around the globe have multiplied given the convergence of noncommunicable diseases and the pandemic and more people are experiencing stress, anxiety, and depression as a result of the circumstances.
Mind-body interventions which are cost-effective have a large role to play as the world faces a mental health pandemic and thus what we often see as non-mainstream or alternative modalities have a large role to play in improving physical and mental health. Yoga is one such mind-body intervention and will continue to play a major role in health policy and ailment mitigation in a post-pandemic world. There is an immediate need for healthcare practitioners and providers to familiarize themselves with Eastern therapeutic modalities such as Yoga as these practices will continue to gain popularity given their effectiveness.
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