Sufferers of fibromyalgia could find that yoga helps to relieve
the symptoms of their condition. Researchers at the Oregon
Health and Science University found that the exercise can
improve on the benefits offered by conventional methods. Drug
therapies have been estimated to be only 30 per cent effective
when it comes to improving the symptoms of fibromyalgia.
Meanwhile, they offer an improvement of just 20 per cent in
terms of function. James Carson, from the university, commented:
"Although yoga has been practiced for millennia, only recently
have researchers begun to demonstrate yoga's effects on persons
suffering from persistent pain. "The Yoga of Awareness program
stands in contrast to previous multimodal interventions with
fibromyalgia patients in that it integrates a wide spectrum of
yoga-based techniques – postures, mindfulness meditation,
breathing exercises, application of yogic principles to optimal
coping, and group discussions." Fibromyalgia is a debilitating
condition which is thought to affect