I was directed to this writing recently:
I was particularly interested in the authors comment, “There is been surge of interest in yoga as a tool to improve health and wellbeing in the last decade or two. There have been a number of research papers that have been published on efficacy of yoga in rheumatoid arthritis offered in a group setting. However, there haven’t been any studies offered in an individualized setting.”, which is a fair comment – most research is around group interventions, yet paradoxically Yoga Therapy is by and large conducted one on one by nature of its very personalised nature.
This is a perspective piece of writing, so not research in its fullest sense, but none the less it’s a useful exploration of three topics – Yoga Therapy for Rheumatoid Arthritis, the delivery of Yoga Therapy in an individualised manner, and a useful reflection on how Yoga philosophy fits into a western clinical setting. The author uses a tradition known as Viniyoga – I’ll be honest and say it’s not one I know an awful lot about, however I suspect the content of the sessions and the therapeutic relationship matter more than the name of the tradition in this instance (although, of course, lineage is important).
The author reports encouraging results in a hospital setting, so worth a read for anyone considering Yoga Therapy as a client or referrer, or for those looking at an integrative approach to Rheumatoid Arthritis and related concerns.
