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Breathing Technique, Mindfulness, and Yoga | 73

Physical Effects of Yoga
Yoga has been shown to reduce muscle tension, blood pressure,
and autonomic sympathetic over-activation (Emerson 2009). It
has also been shown to improve neuroendocrine and other
hormonal activity. Yoga has also been demonstrated to help
asthma, cardiac problems, cholesterol, irritable bowel syndrome,
cancer, insomnia and fibromyalgia. It reduces sympathetic and
increases parasympathetic nervous system operations. Cardiac
vagal (parasympathetic) tone has been connected to the
regulations of emotions and development of empathy (Brown
2009).
In recent years, yoga has been introduced into a variety of
inpatient and outpatient psychiatric programs. One such
program conducted a study to better understand the effects of
yoga on mood. The authors found that one session of yoga in an
inpatient program resulted in significant improvements in
anxiety, depression, anger, fatigue and confusion (Lavey 2005).
In addition, yoga has begun to be explored as an adjunct
treatment for schizophrenia (Visceglia 2007). The author is a
psychiatrist and yoga instructor who taught yoga to
schizophrenic patients and found that yoga resulted in many
benefits for this population, chief among them a sense of
groundedness and empowerment about the body, which is
unusual in this population. Also, since the primary treatment is
medication, which is generally prescribed and managed outside
their control, yoga allows the patients to feel a sense of control
and empowerment over this chronic illness.

Yoga and Anxiety Disorders
Kirkwood et al (Kirkwood 2005) conducted a meta-analysis on
the effect of yoga on anxiety disorders and found eight studies
that provided important information. All had some data that
favored yoga as a means to reduce anxiety. Within the analysis
the most prominent study was a randomized controlled trial that