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The Health Benefits of Yoga


Fair Oaks Therapeuticum emphasizes the benefits of yoga and low-impact exercise. Many people ask why we offer yoga as part of our practice. We're particularly concerned with improving patients' psychological functioning, and we believe that forms of exercise that both balance the nervous system and strengthen the body are most beneficial. Yoga and low-impact exercise stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system, which is in charge of the body's relaxation response; high-intensity workouts that stress the body's cardiovascular and muscular-skeltal systems stimulate the sympathetic nervous system, which is primarily responsible for our fight-or-flight response. In anxiety and depressive disorders, the sympathetic nervous system tends to be over-reactive. The following chart compares the effects of yoga and more rigorous workout programs.

YOGA WORKOUTS
  • Slow dynamic and static movements
  • Parasympathetic nervous system dominates
  • Awareness internal
  • Non-competitive, process oriented
  • Energizing
  • Breath is slow, controlled and regular
  • Balanced activity of opposing muscle groups
  • Effort is minimized; relaxation is maximized
  • Subcortical regions of the brain dominate
  • Normalization of muscle tone
  • Low risk of injury to muscles and ligaments
  • Low caloric consumption
  • Outcome: Growth in self-awareness, balanced body and psyche, mental health
  • Rapid forceful movements
  • Sympathetic nervous system dominates
  • Focused
  • Potentially more competitive, goal oriented
  • Fatiguing
  • Breath is taxed and rapid
  • Balanced and imbalanced activity of opposing muscle groups
  • Effort is maximized; relaxation is not a concern during the exercise program
  • Cortical regions of the brain dominate
  • Increased muscle tension
  • Greater risk of injury
  • Moderate to high caloric consumption
  • Outcome:Toned body, increase in mental focus, physical fitness, possible boredom

Research has also shown that yoga not only impacts physiological functioning but has distinct and lasting effects on a person's mental health and psychology. Some of the psychological benefits are described below:

Psychological benefits of yoga

Psychological Cognitive Psycho-physiological
  • Increase in subjective well-being
  • Improved mood
  • Increase in ability to relax and be in the here and now
  • Increase in self-acceptance and self-awareness
  • Decrease in anxiety and depression
  • Decrease in hostility
  • Increase in social adjustment
  • Improved sleep
  • Normalized pain sensitivity
  • Weight normalizes
  • Improved attention
  • Improved concentration
  • Improved choice reaction time
  • Improved memory
  • Improved learning efficiency
  • Improved symbol coding
  • Improved depth perception
  • Increase in somatic and kinesthetic awareness
  • Improved immunity
  • Improved dexterity and fine motor skills
  • Improved eye-hand co-ordination
  • Increased steadiness
  • Improved balance
  • More integrated functioning of body parts
  • Posture and midline becomes more stable


In addition to its physiological benefits, yoga also affects our psychological and spiritual experience. Yoga above all is a spiritual practice that in time rewards the practitioner with inner calm, serenity and a quiet happiness. As part of our patients' treatment, we recommend three sessions of yoga each week.


Last modified on 01.21.10

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