By John Kepner, IAYT Executive Director

Over the years, IAYT has received many requests from members to help them present the evidence base for yoga therapy to the healthcare community. Despite the growth in yoga research, summarizing this work so yoga therapists and practicing physicians find it useful is no easy task. With the publication of the landmark textbook The Principles and Practice of Yoga in Health Care*, however, we finally had a vision for how this might be accomplished: IAYT could engage two carefully selected experts to summarize the evidence for the various conditions covered in the book’s seventeen clinical chapters, as well as offer an introduction and commentary to provide context, cautions, and related perspectives. These brief summaries of the latest findings would provide the yoga therapist with a vital tool for engaging clients and communicating with healthcare professionals.

We are pleased to publish the first three summaries along with a glossary of terms and an introduction by Pam Jeter, PhD, and a brief primer on reconciling research results with yoga therapy practice by Timothy McCall, MD. Additional summaries, including one on the psychophysiological mechanisms underlying yoga, will be published here over the course of 2017 as a unique resource for IAYT members.

Pam Jeter, PhD, a longtime, active member of IAYT, is a yoga researcher and educator trained in cognitive science and clinical investigation. She is the founder of Yoga Therapy for the Blind and The Science Sutras (www.thesciencesutras.com) and former faculty at Maryland University of Integrative Health. Most recently she authored the two-part series “Making Research Relevant to Your Yoga Therapy Practice” in the Summer 2016 and Winter 2017 issues of Yoga Therapy Today.

Read Pam's Introduction to the Research Summaries

Timothy McCall, MD, (www.DrMcCall.com) is also a longtime member of our IAYT community. He is a board-certified specialist in internal medicine, a yoga therapist, and a seasoned practitioner of yoga and meditation. He is the author of Yoga as Medicine, medical editor of Yoga Journal, and co-editor of the first medical textbook on yoga therapy, The Principles and Practice of Yoga in Health Care. He teaches Yoga as Medicine seminars and teacher trainings worldwide.

Read Timothy's Brief Primer

*The Principles and Practice of Yoga in Health Care is available to IAYT members at 20% off through our partner: