Iyengar yoga, one of the world's most widely-practiced methods, emphasizes correct alignment of all parts of the body within each yoga posture. This precision builds strength and stamina--balance and flexibility--and a new sense of well-being.
Iyengar Yoga Center Houston is directed by Pauline Schloesser. Pauline is a dedicated Iyengar yoga practitioner and teacher. Her classes in Houston take place at the Heights School of Yoga.
Iyengar Yoga Relieves Lower Back Pain
US researchers studying people with chronic lower back problems found that those who did Iyengar Yoga were better at overcoming pain and depression than those who followed conventional treatments for lower back pain.
The study, which was funded by the US National Institutes of Health to the tune of 400,000 dollars, was the work of Dr Kimberly Williams, research assistant professor in the Department of Community Medicine at West Virginia University in Morgantown, and colleagues, and can be read online in the 1 September issue of the journal Spine.
Low-back pain is the largest category for medical reimbursements in the US, accounting for 34 billion dollars of medical costs every year, said the researchers.
The three-year study showed that the group that did yoga had lifted mood, less pain and improved function compared to the control group that received standard medical therapy.
Proponents of yoga have often described how it helps back pain, but not everyone was convinced so Williams and colleagues conducted this research, which they say is the biggest and most rigorous evaluation ever done.
Williams told the media that:
“The yoga group had less pain, less functional disability and less depression compared with the control group.”
“These were statistically significant and clinically important changes that were maintained six months after the intervention,” she explained.
For the study, Williams and colleagues recruited 90 people who had mild to moderate functional disability due to chronic lower back pain.
The participants were randomly assigned to have either yoga instruction or conventional medical therapy.
The yoga group were taught by Iyengar certified instructors for 90 minutes twice a week for 24 weeks. During the classes they did postures that targeted chronic low back pain.
The researchers continued to monitor the participants for 6 months after finishing yoga or medical therapy.
The researchers took outcome measures using the Oswestry Disability Questionnaire, a Visual Analog Scale, the Beck Depression Inventory, and a pain medication-usage questionnaire half way through the treatment phase (12 weeks), immediately after (24 weeks) and at week 48 (6 months after treatment finished).
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