Yoga: Alleviates Fibromyalgia, New Research

David Life's partner, Sharon Gannon, shows us how it's done.In a study published in the November issue of the journal PAIN (where yoga is rarely subject to scrutiny) researchers report patients paritcipating in a "Yoga of Awareness" program showed significantly greater improvement in symptoms of Fibromyalgia (a chronic condition characterized by widespread pain in muscles, ligaments and tendons, as well as fatigue) compared to patients on a standard care program of medications accompanied by exercise and coping skills training. Given the much higher prevalence of Fibromyalgia in females (80%), researchers chose to include only women.

The program was designed to specifically address the most common FM symptoms: pain, fatigue, sleep disturbance and emotional distress. Each Yoga of Awareness class included approximately 40 minutes of gentle stretching poses, 25 minutes of mindfulness meditation (awareness of breath, awareness of awareness itself), 10 minutes of breathing techniques (full yogic breath, breathing into sensation), 20 minutes of didactic presentations on the application of yogic principles to optimal coping, and 25 minutes of group discussions (experiences while practicing yoga at home). Let's just say that half of the study lucked out.

At the end of the 8 week program, women assigned to yoga showed significantly greater improvements on standardized measures of FM symptoms and functioning. Dr. Carson and colleagues observed, "In addition, the results suggested the yoga intervention led to a beneficial shift in how patients cope with pain, including greater use of adaptive pain coping strategies (i.e., problem solving, positive reappraisal, use of religion, activity engagement despite pain, acceptance, relaxation) and less use of maladaptive strategies (i.e., catastrophizing, self-isolation, disengagement, confrontation)." If that's all the women achieved, it would seem to be worth the price of a yoga class.