YOGA, A SPIRITUAL PRACTICE that began in India,
has extended its limbs widely. In the United
States, it’s held up as a fitness regimen, a path to
transformation or enlightenment, and a treat-
ment for so much that ails us—from addiction,
headaches, and hearing loss to post-traumatic
stress disorder, heart disease, and yes, Crohn’s.
More than 14 percent of U.S. adults used yoga
for health reasons in 2017, up from 9.5 percent
five years earlier, a government survey found.
Since 2018, Harvard Medical School students
have studied it as part of a required course on
building resilience. Parents tote infants to Itsy
Bitsy Yoga, which purports to improve a baby’s
sleep, digestion, and brain development.
Validating health claims for yoga is difficult.
Most studies involve too few participants to be
conclusive, in large part because yoga does not
generally attract big government grants or have
an industry like drugmakers to finance research.
Sat Bir Singh Khalsa, a yoga instructor, Harvard
neuroscientist, and expert on the science of yoga,
acknowledges the research has a long way to go.
“But I would say we have demonstrated our credi-
bility.” Khalsa has investigated yoga for insomnia,
PTSD, anxiety, and chronic stress, where he’s seen
the most compelling evidence of yoga’s benefits.
Stress plays a major role in many illnesses
that kill us. It also drives unhealthy eating, poor
sleep, alcohol and drug misuse, and other bad
habits. “Modern medicine really sucks at pre-
venting chronic disease,” he said.FINDING CALM 129