Scoliosis Exercises
- Abdominal Stretches
- Alexander Technique
- Ashton Patterning
- Back Stretcher
- Body Rolling
- Bursitis Exercises
- Denise Vanderbush Exercises
- Feldenkrais
- General Exercises
- Gyrotonic
- Hellerwork
- Low Impact Aerobics
- Meditation
- Miracle Balls
- Neck Exercises
- Pilates
- Rehabilitation
- Rolfing
- Shiatsu
- Strengthening Exercises
- Stretches
- Tai Chi
- Trager
- Water
- Yoga for Scoliosis
Sciatica Exercises for:
Yoga & Medicine
Yoga practices are being brought into mainsteam medicine as a complimentary healing modality for a variety of conditions and diseases, including asthma, arthritis, heart disease, cancer, AIDS, addictions and ageing. Patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) practice yoga as a stress management technique (one variable of a four part comprehensive lifestyle adjustment) in Dr. Dean Ornish's Program for Reversing Heart Disease, at the Preventive Medicine Research Institute (PMRI) in Sausalito, California. The clinical trials that Dr. Ornish and his colleagues conducted (The Lifestyle Heart Trial) showed that the greater the adherence to the yoga practices, the greater the coronary artery blockage reversal, regardless of age or other factors. PMRI's yoga includes gentle stretches and postures, breathing practices, deep relaxation, imagery and meditation.
At the Stress Management Clinic at The University of Massachusetts Medical school, in Worcester, yoga, in the form of consistent, gentle stretching, is taught along with mindfulness meditation for pain management.
Herbert Benson M.D., Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, and his associates have been researching the physiological benefits of meditation (one of the practices of yoga) since 1967. He and his colleagues reviewed secular and religious writings and concluded that most cultures and religions did indeed teach the use of some focus for the attention along with the prescription to passively disregard intrusive thoughts.
They called the constellation of effects produced by their meditation research "the relaxation response". Benson's subjects have shown a reduction of the chemicals in the blood stream associated with anxiety. In addition, the basal metabloic rate (the amount of energy expended by the body at rest) lowers, i.e. the heart rate slows, muscle tension decreases and, for some people, blood pressure drops. The research also notes brain wave patterns shifting to those associated with relaxation. Benson found that many of these physiological relaxation responses could be triggered by other yoga practices as well, which he describes as active forms of meditation.
