Christine Douglas and Dana Hogan
Yoga is a cost effective supplement to traditional therapies
that should be utilized by health care providers to help
improve patient outcomes
(Bridevaux, 2004)


Yoga is the blending of physical, mental and
spiritual practice, it seeks to bring about a state of
harmony between mind and body through
concentration, physical practice, and mental
discipline (Lipton 2008)
a Hindu theistic philosophy teaching the
suppression of all activity of body, mind, and will
in order that the self may realize its distinction
from them and attain liberation
(http://www.merriamwebster.com/dictionary/yoga)


Traced back more than 4000 years
(Hart, 2008)
Started as an adjunct spiritual therapy in
ancient Ayurvedic medicine
(Hart, 2008)

Over the last 40 years yoga has become popular
in the United States for the health benefits and
promotion of health
(Hart, 2008)

Approximately 18 million in US
(Lipton, 2008)

Recognized



National Institutes of Health (NIH)
National Center for Complementary and Alternative
Medicine (NCCAM)
Category of mind-body medicine

“Focuses on the interactions among the brain, mind,
body, and behavior, and on the powerful ways in
which emotional, mental, social, spiritual, and
behavioral factors can directly affect health”
(Kaley-Isley, Peterson, Fischer, and Peterson, 2010)

Arthritis

Irritable Bowel Syndrome

Fibromyalgia

Diabetes

Menstrual Symptoms

Asthma

Back pain

Attention Disorders

Multiple Sclerosis

Anxiety

Cardiovascular disease

Depression

Hypertension

Eating Disorders

Limitations to studies

Small sample size

Short term studies

Randomization

Lack of description
 Yoga poses
 Instructor qualification
 Exact regiment

NCCAM recognizes yoga as a mind-body
medicine

“Mind-body medicine typically focuses on the
intervention strategies that are thought to promote
health…an approach that respects and enhances
each person’s capacity for self knowledge and self
care, and it emphasizes techniques that are
grounded in this approach.” (Kaley-Isley, Peterson, Fischer, and Peterson, 2010)

Spirituality is in the individual

Form of imagery that is non-denominational

Safety for the patient

States Nurse Practice Act

The American Nurses Association (ANA) Code of
Ethics Provision Three

“The nurse promotes, advocates for, and strives to
protect the health, safety, and rights of the patient”
(ANA, 2010)
As yoga offers a holistic approach to patient care, viewing the practitioner as an active
participant in, and reflection of their mental, physical, social, and spiritual well-being,
it has been suggested that the therapeutic benefits of yoga surpass potentially those of
pharmaceutical drugs alone. (Chapman and Bredin, 2010)

Individual diagnosis

Physical limitations

Health assessment

History

Cost

Qualification of the instructor
American Cancer Society. (2004). Guidelines for using complementary and alternative methods.
Retrieved from: http://www.cancer.org/Treatment/TreatmentsandSideEffects/
ComplementaryandAlternativeMedicine/guidelines-for-using-complementary-andalternative-methods.
American Nurses Association’s. (2001). Code of ethics for nurses with interpretive statements.
Washington, DC: ANA.
Atkinson, N. L., Permuth-Levine, R. (2009). Benefits, Barriers, and Cues to Action of Yoga
Practice: A Focus Group Approach. American Journal of Health Behavior, 33(1), 3-14.
Bridevaux, I. P. (2004). A survey of patients' out-of-pocket payments for complementary and
alternative medicine. Complementary Therapies in Medicine, 12, 48-50.
Chapman, K. L., Bredin, S. (2010). Why Yoga? An introduction to philosophy, practice, and the
role of yoga in health promotion and disease prevention. Health & Fitness Journal, 3(2), 1321.
Kaley-Isley, L. C., Peterson, J., Fischer, C., Peterson, E. (2010). Yoga as a complementary
therapy for children and adolescents: A guide for clinicians. Psychiatry, 7(8), 20-32.
Lipton, L. (2008). Using yoga to treat disease: an evidence-based review: as researchers continue
to increase our understanding of what yoga can do for patients with chronic conditions, we
very well may be writing prescriptions for yoga poses. Journal of the American Academy of
Physicians Assistants, 21(2), 34-42.
Pender, N. J., Murdaugh, C.L., Parsons, M. A. (2006). Health Promotion in Nursing Practice.
Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.
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.