Study Shows Yoga Also Reduces Fear of Falling

July 26, 2012 -- Starting yoga even long after a stroke may improve the balance of stroke survivors, a study shows.

"It's an exciting thing," says study researcher Arlene Schmid, PhD. "People can improve their balance years after a stroke. They can change their brain and change their body. They are not stuck with what they have."

The study is published in the journal Stroke.

Schmid is a rehabilitation research scientist at Roudebush Veterans Administration-Medical Center and Indiana University in Indianapolis. For the study, her team recruited 47 stroke survivors who'd had strokes more than six months ago. Seventy-five percent of them were male veterans, including veterans of World War II.

They were divided into two groups. Ten received no therapy. The other 37 got a specialized version of yoga developed by a yoga therapist and the research team.

At first, many of the veterans scoffed at the therapy.

"'Yoga is for girls, yoga is for hippies,'" Schmid recalls them telling her. "A stereotypical male veteran's response."

After a couple of sessions, though, and with encouragement from their wives, the veterans came to appreciate yoga and the impact it had on their disabilities.

"It was a hard sell, but by the end they wanted more," Schmid says.

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Yoga Improves Balance After Stroke