Mindful and Compassionate Self, Grounded Together: A Qualitative Description of Postmenopausal Women's Perceptions of Balance Flow Yoga.

Yoga has promising benefits for women to reduce fall-injury risk by improving balance, strength, confidence, and other risk factors, although the effect of yoga on reducing injury risk and fall rates is still not clearly established. The objective of the present study was to determine postmenopausal women's perceived changes in overall health and well-being and some of the facilitators and challenges to participating in a 12-week Balance Flow Yoga class, a group-based hatha yoga intervention designed specifically to address fall risk factors. Thirty-six women 50-70 years of age participated in an intervention study consisting of 12 weeks of a control period followed by 12 weeks of twice-weekly hatha Balance Flow Yoga in a community yoga studio. Twenty-three women and four yoga instructors/trainers participated in focus group discussions after the intervention was completed. Discussion was audiotaped, transcribed, and analyzed through inductive thematic analysis by three researchers, a student trainee, and a research assistant. Two overarching themes and four subthemes were revealed. The two overarching themes Mindful and Compassionate Self and Grounded Together represented participants' perceptions of personal growth and their approach to living and the sense of community support and connection. Four interrelated subthemes were Creating a Safe Space; Sense of Community and Commitment; Benefits: Physical and Beyond ; and Balancing Individual Needs. This study demonstrated perceptions of physical, emotional, and social benefits after 12 weeks of Balance Flow Yoga; these benefits could influence women's health, wellness, and future fall risk.

White Paper: Yoga Therapy and Pain-How Yoga Therapy Serves in Comprehensive Integrative Pain Management, and How It Can Do More.

This paper examines the role of yoga therapy in comprehensive integrative pain management (CIPM). The pain crisis is described, and how yoga therapists can contribute to its solution is explained. Yoga therapy can be an essential component of the multidisciplinary undertaking that will be required to improve patient outcomes and alter the trajectory of the global public health crisis constituted by an epidemic of poorly understood and inadequately addressed pain. Additional context and evidence are presented to document the effectiveness of yoga therapy interventions to support people living with pain. The white paper concludes by listing recommendations to providers, consumers, payers, and legislators, who together can address systemic and structural barriers to CIPM, as well as suggestions for enabling the yoga therapy profession to more fully participate in these solutions.