Norah Sullivan

Professor Marceddu

Yoga Therapy

April 22nd, 2025

Case Study: Yoga, an Ally to Modern Healthcare

Yoga therapy is a holistic healing practice that goes beyond traditional practices and

blends ancient wisdom with therapeutic approaches to support physical, mental, and emotional

well-being. Teachers and philosophical thinking emphasize yoga therapy as being personal and

tailored to meet the specific needs of individuals dealing with a variety of health conditions.

Through therapeutic techniques such as breathwork (pranayama), gentle movement (asana),

meditation, and guided relaxation, yoga therapy offers a non-invasive, complementary approach

to healing. These techniques help benefit static cases such as headaches and other ailments that

are sourced in diabetes and cardiac health.

Different poses and practices during therapy can provide relief to targeted areas. People

most commonly use medication to relieve symptoms of headaches, but it is known that

therapeutic substitutes, such as yoga, have a multitude of benefits that may outweigh the use of

medication. Research shows that adults over the age of 18 are 15% more likely to suffer from

migraines. Yoga can help decrease the debilitating symptoms of headaches and lessen their

severity and frequency. Stress is significantly linked with headaches, and by taking a less

strenuous type of yoga to help release tension in the neck, shoulders, and head, symptoms can

improve. In a 2021 study, “61 participants concluded that yoga therapy combined with standard

medical treatment could further improve people’s quality of life and reduce migraine headaches”
(Medical News Today). We can analyze this and indicate that treatments such as yoga can be

used to ease symptoms. When yoga is combined with medications such as ibuprofen, specific

migraine medications (Triptan), acupuncture, and Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS),

many benefits can be measured. Yoga helps lower blood pressure and regulate heart rate, which

are essential to the removal of a headache or migraine. Poses such as Sukshma Vyayama, cycling

yoga pose, hand stretch breathing, and savasana with yoga Nidra maximize benefits.

Yoga is a series of mental, spiritual, and physical orientations that provide a sense of

inner peace. There are other advantages, specifically relief from diabetes, that researchers are

starting to realize. Insulin, a hormone released in the pancreas, allows glucose to enter cells.

Diabetes occurs when glucose cannot enter the cells and accumulates in the bloodstream. This

happens when glucose is resistant to insulin or when there is a limited amount of insulin. Yoga

overall has positive correlations with decreasing the risks of diabetes, and mind-body therapies

have proven over time to have a positive effect on blood glucose control. Stress overall heightens

blood sugar levels. “When we’re stressed, our blood sugar levels increase, and elevated blood

sugar levels increase the chances of serious complications such as heart disease” (Hardy). By

taking advantage of yoga techniques such as slow breathing, meditation, and relaxation, we can

decrease mental stress. Yoga can help treat diabetes by rejuvenating pancreatic cells, exercising

muscles, promoting weight loss, and overall improving mental attitude. It is important to

recognize that outside of the traditional benefits, yoga can help with many other physical aspects

We must consider the aspects in which yoga is beneficial across many health issues, both

mental and physical. Cardiac health becomes a major concern as we age, and over time, research

has allowed us to recognize trends in yoga that provide benefits where traditional medicine may
fall short. Personally, I love recognizing that yoga is a very progressive form of medicine, and

we see many real-life examples—especially in cardiothoracic health. Improvements in

cardiovascular measurements include heart rate variability, cortisol levels (as indicators of

stress), blood pressure, and cholesterol. In the 1970s, researchers found that “cardiac researchers

at Duke University (and many researchers since) were surprised to find significant ‘quality of

life’ improvements from yoga” (Ekhartyoga). With that said, there are different aspects of yoga

to explore if you are looking to benefit your cardiac health. Practices that increase your heart rate

include Vinyasa, Power Flow, and Ashtanga yoga. These types of yoga are intense and should be

practiced with appropriate caution. The best approach to improving your heart health is a

combination of stretching and relaxation paired with high-intensity movement to get your heart

rate elevated. Yoga, in conjunction with ongoing health research, is still a developing field—but

even so, it clearly improves cardiac health.

In conclusion, yoga therapy stands out as a holistic, powerful approach to health and

healing that straightens and questions modern sciences. Yoga therapy allows us to grasp a deeper

understanding of not only physical ailments but also mental and emotional well-being. In its

nature, you can personalize your practice, allowing yourself to modify relief in a variety of

conditions, including migraines, diabetes, and cardiac issues. Modifications are traditionally,

breathwork, gentle movement, and meditation. Reseach goes beyond extending yoga’s

effectiveness as both a contemporary and preventative health tool, especially in areas that

conventional medicine may fall short. From reducing the frequency of headaches to improving

cardiovascular and metabolic health, yoga offers a non-invasive and sustainable path toward

overall wellness. As our understanding of its therapeutic potential grows, so does the

acknowledgement of yoga as a valuable ally in modern healthcare.

Hardy, Kate. “An Increasing Number of People with Diabetes Mellitus Are Turning to Yoga in

an Effort to Keep Their Condition under Control and Improve Overall Quality of Life.”

Diabetes, 29 Oct. 2023, www.diabetes.co.uk/yoga-and-diabetes.html.

YogaTherapy.Health, 4 Nov. 2024, yogatherapy.health/2019/01/31/yoga-therapy-a-sweet-

spot-in-diabetes-control/.

“Yoga for Migraine: Evidence, Poses, and More.” Medical News Today, MediLexicon

International, www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/yoga-for-migraine#poses. Accessed 29

Apr. 2025.

Yogaeasy.Com, www.yogaeasy.com/artikel/yoga-and-cardiac-health. Accessed 29 Apr. 2025.