Yoga Styles Research Articles

Yoga and biofeedback in the management of hypertension

To determine whether the odds of positive conclusions in randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of yoga, differ between yoga styles.Systematic review of yoga RCTs. Medline/PubMed, Scopus, the Cochrane Library, IndMED and the tables of content of specialist yoga journals, not listed in medical databases, were screened up to 12 February, 2014 for RCTs comparing yoga interventions to non-yoga interventions. The RCTs’ conclusions were classified as positive (yoga is helpful for a respective condition) or not positive; and these were compared between different yoga styles using the Chi squared test and multiple logistic regression analysis.A total of 306 RCTs were included. These applied 52 different yoga styles, the most commonly used of which were: hatha yoga (36 RCTs), Iyengar yoga (31 RCTs), pranayama (26 RCTs), and the integrated approach to yoga therapy (15 RCTs). Positive conclusions were reached in 277 RCTs (91%); the proportion of positive conclusions did not differ between yoga styles (p = 0.191).RCTs with different yoga styles do not differ in their odds of reaching positive conclusions. Given that most RCTs were positive, the choice of an individual yoga style can be based on personal preferences and availability.