November 10, 2009
Yoga Journal - Minding Your Pain
Many yogis can attest to the therapeutic benefits of their practice, but recent research may help spread the word by showing how effective yoga can be when teamed with Western medicine. The study, conducted by Patrick Randolph, Ph.D., at Texas Tech University, combined the mindful therapy of yoga and meditation with traditional medical treatment among chronic pain sufferers and found that the one-two punch was superior to medicine alone.
Randolph targeted chronic pain because it’s an ailment he believes is as much mental as physical. “Most of the people who experience chronic pain are also going to experience depression or anxiety,” says Randolph, former director of psychological services at the International Pain Institute at Texas Tech University’s Health and Science Center. “So when we treat chronic pain, we need to treat both the body and the mind at the same time.”
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