Yoga for Arthritis: Study Shows Yoga Can Help Reduce Arthritis Pain and Improve Well-being

Discomfort while walking. Pain in your hip, neck, or other joint area that wakes you up at night. Morning stiffness that can take over an hour to subside. These experiences are all-too-familiar for the one in five Americans who suffer from arthritis. However, according to a scientific study published in the Journal of Rheumatology, yoga can help with more than just the pain.

The study was intended to evaluate the effect on postural yoga for sedentary people living with arthritis and featured yoga sequences designed by registered yoga therapist, Dr. Steffany Moonaz.

Research on Yoga for Arthritis

Exercise has long been prescribed for people managing the symptoms of arthritis, but for those who live with persistent pain and inhibited movement, the thought of engaging in full-body exercise can be daunting. Exercise classes, even gentle ones, often take a “one size fits all” approach that simply doesn’t work. Finding a program that addresses the specific needs of your condition can be a challenge.

It was with this in mind that a team of faculty members from the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and McGill University, began to consider whether yoga might be able to offer something unique for those with arthritis. Dr. Susan Bartlett, a clinical researcher and member of the team was interested in yoga’s focus on listening to the body.

Instead of assuming a baseline level of ability, yoga invites us to bring a changing set of limitations to the mat each day, an attitude perfect for those dealing with arthritic flare-ups. Yoga is also a mind-body practice in which the mind and the body work together, as opposed to exercise styles where the mind is distracted from the sensations of the body.

The randomized, controlled study followed seventy-five patients dealing with osteoarthritis or rheumatoid arthritis. During the two-months of the study, half of the group who practiced yoga adapted to their specific needs, while those in the control group maintained their usual lifestyles.

The researchers were seeking to answer two questions: 1. Whether yoga safe for those suffering from arthritis; and 2. Whether regular practice of yoga could benefit those with the condition.

The study, published in 2015, concluded, “Preliminary evidence suggests yoga may help sedentary individuals with arthritis safely increase physical activity, and improve physical and psychological health and HRQOL [health-related quality-of-life].”

The researchers found that not only was an adaptive yoga practice safe, with no adverse effects reported, but that it significantly decreased pain levels in some of the participants. The study’s authors also noted that the participants reported improved energy and overall physical health, as well as an improved felt-sense of psychological well-being. Further, the positive effects of the eight-week yoga practice lasted up to nine months for some.

The researchers wrote: “We recently spoke with several participants… Now [five years later], participants reported that yoga had played a pivotal role in changing the ways in which they viewed their function, capabilities and attitude toward living with [arthritis]. They credited yoga with helping them maintain a more active lifestyle.”

Several of the participants were themselves surprised by the experience. “When I was diagnosed in 1995,” one study participant told The Baltimore Sun, “I honestly never thought I could do something like yoga. But [the trial] showed me I could, and I’ve found it makes a significant difference in my life living with arthritis.”

This participant commented that the yoga poses she learned in the study improved her balance, flexibility, and the strength of the muscles around her joints in ways she hadn’t thought possible. She credited this with improving her quality of life: “Yoga strengthened the joints, and that helped me use the joints,” she said. “That reduced my pain level, which kept me more active. And my quality of life gradually started to improve. That’s the most important thing — improving the quality of life. Without yoga, mine would not be what it is today.”

Modifying Yoga Poses for Arthritic Practitioners

The study’s yoga sequences were designed by Dr. Moonaz, a long-term researcher on the effects of yoga for arthritis. To maintain the purpose of each yoga posture while at the same time preventing the potential for injury or flare ups, Dr. Moonaz, who is experienced in teaching yoga to chronic pain sufferers, created pose modifications adapted to the specific needs of people living with arthritis. Props such as wedges and chairs were employed to help reduce pressure and adjust the angle of certain poses.

“Sometimes the modification looks nothing like the original pose,” Moonaz said. “I might take the pose and flip it over on its back, or I might take a downward dog” — a pose with hands and feet on the floor — “and [move] it against the wall. You’re still getting that lengthening of the hamstring and elongated spine, but you won’t be putting pressure on painful joints.”

By adapting the yoga poses in this way, Moonaz was able to help each participant strengthen and lengthen the muscles supporting their joints while protecting inflamed areas.

“We’ve seen countless people and their lives transformed by yoga,” Moonaz said, “and not just because they have less pain or more flexibility, but because the way they see things has changed. The main idea is yes, you have this disease, but no, it does not dictate what the rest of your life will be like.”