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Right from its inception in 1924, the pioneering Kaivalyadhama Yoga Institute (India) initiated contemporary scientific research on the effects of yoga. In 1924 it also set up the first ever yoga research magazine journal by the name of Yoga-Mīmāṃsā, which is still published today.7 In their first ever laboratory they conducted many leading experiments on yoga, studying its effects on the body’s functioning.

Today, the total body of research is now outside the scope of this book. Suffice to say that a comprehensive analysis of yoga therapy from 1967 to 20138 shows a three-fold increase in the number of publications from 2003 to 2013. Most publications originated from India, followed by the US and Canada. The top four disorders addressed by yoga intervention are: mental health (depression and anxiety), cardiovascular disease (hypertension and heart disease), respiratory disease (asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, COPD), and diabetes. The report concluded that the use of yoga as a complementary therapy in clinical practice led to health benefits beyond traditional treatment alone.

Over time researchers have confirmed the importance of asanas but also the effects of yogic breathing techniques, which have beneficial effects for the cardiovascular and autonomic nervous systems,9, 10 and cancer-related fatigue.11 Furthermore, yoga practices are shown to increase heart rate variability and enhance vagal tone while decreasing the sympathetic tone in those with hypertension12 as well as decreasing blood pressure.13 Another review14 postulates that slowing down the breath to six breaths per minute induces rhythms of autonomous physiological functions (heart rate, blood pressure, blood flow to the brain) to act in coherence, reinforcing each other, and resulting in better functioning of the immune system, reduction of inflammation, regulation of blood sugar levels, induced calmness and clarity of mind, and a feeling of inner peace.

The following is a summary of some of the benefits of yoga therapy and its physical and psychological effects understood through modern research.