Balance, focus and inner peace: that’s what the tree is all about. Image: dpa
Yoga has an amazing effect on the body. The exercises not only help with back pain. But beginners in particular have many questions. Here are the answers – also to the big cliché.
Many people associate yoga with terms such as downward facing dog or sun salutations. However, far fewer people know how yoga affects the body. In fact, the exercises have been shown to help with back pain and even some mental illnesses. But isn’t it just women in yoga studios? Can elders and men venture in? And which style suits whom? The most important answers.
How does yoga affect health? What pain can the exercises help with?
Science has dealt extensively with the topic of yoga. “The effect of yoga on health has been surprisingly well researched,” says Holger Cramer, Professor of Research into Complementary Medicine at the Institute for General Medicine at the University Hospital in Tübingen and at the Bosch Health Campus. Body, psyche, lifestyle – yoga works on many levels. The best study situation on the effect of yoga is in chronic back pain and in the accompanying cancer therapy. “Yoga can significantly reduce back pain and associated functional limitations over the long term,” says Cramer. Even a year after the end of the yoga training, a clinically relevant reduction in pain was still detectable in studies. This is not surprising, since exercises to strengthen and mobilize the back are an integral part of every yoga class.