Why Do Yoga Research: Who Cares and What Good Is It?

Abstract

Although IAYT's publications include both original research and summaries of research published in other peer-reviewed journals, the question of why we should be involved in research on Yoga in the first place is a valid one. Full-time research on Yoga or Yoga therapy involves substantial resources both in labor and in costs. For example, a small Yoga therapy clinical trial grant from the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) requires substantial involvement of trained scientists and Yoga instructors and can cost the taxpayer over a half-million dollars. Yet all of this cost and effort will yield but one small publishable preliminary study. These resources might easily be devoted elsewhere for the public good, perhaps through providing more Yoga classes to underserved populations.