Yoga, Exercise, Health and Disease

"Exercise is considered an acceptable method for improving and maintaining physical and emotional health.

A growing body of evidence supports the belief that yoga benefits physical and mental health via downregulation of the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis and the sympathetic nervous system (SNS).

The studies comparing the effects of yoga and exercise seem to indicate that, in both healthy and diseased populations, yoga may be as effective as or better than exercise at improving a variety of health-related outcome measures."*

The HPA axis regulates cortisol levels in our bodies, among other things.  This is important because high levels of cortisol suppress our immune system - whether we are healthy or dealing with an acute or chronic condition (such as diabetes Type 2, cardiovascular disease or cancer).

The sympathetic nervous system activates our fight-flight response, which is necessary and adaptive, but too much is not a good thing, especially if we have heart disease.

Depression and PTSD are risk factors for cardiovascular disease and metabolic disorders (like diabetes type 2).  In almost every study of yoga, self-reported measures of anxiety and depression improved after yoga practice. So yoga can improve mental health and physical health both directly and indirectly.

Depression is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease, even when we control for other lifestyle factors.  Depression has been linked to an increase in inflammatory markers (IL-6) that are implicated in heart disease.  Further, after a heart attack we are at increased risk of developing depression.

The very good news is that many studies show yoga is good for both mental health and physical health. Indeed, thousands of years of yoga practice have left us with wisdom for well-being.

*Ross, A. & Thomas, S. (2010). The Health Benefits of Yoga and Exercise: A Review of Comparison Studies.  The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 16(1), 3–12.