According to a survey conducted by the Yoga Journal, nearly 16 million adults use yoga as a way to unwind and unburden themselves of stress.
If you're wondering how far yoga poses for beginners have penetrated American culture, take a look at the numbers. According to a survey conducted by the Yoga Journal, nearly 16 million adults use yoga as a way to unwind and unburden themselves of stress. And if the Huffington Post's new yoga benefits article is any indication, that figure may soon rise even higher.
Written by Harvard Medical School physician Aditi Nerurkar, the piece focuses on the apparent utility of yoga in treating post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The researcher said that the latest segment of American society to adopt the regimen for this purpose is the U.S. Armed Forces.
Nerurkar's colleague Sat Bir Khalsa noted that yoga is particularly well-suited for a condition that is both physiological and psychological.
"PTSD is a mind-body disorder with both mental and physical components," he told Nerurkar, quoted by the news source. "So yoga, in its blending of physical postures with conscious breathing, adds a strong dimension for the existing treatment of PTSD."
Nearly 7 percent of adults will suffer from PTSD in their lifetimes, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. Regardless of the condition's cause, scientists are looking into using yoga to reduce its severity.
