Yoga and Diabetes¹

Adult-onset diabetes can usually be controlled through dietary and other lifestyle changes. While Yoga cannot "cure" diabetes, it can complement the lifestyle changes necessary to keep diabetic symptoms in check, and it can help you feel more in control of your health and well being.

If you need to lose weight, Yoga can help you build your concentration and willpower so that it's easier to stay on a weight-loss program. Yoga breathing techniques are particularly helpful because they teach you to focus on one thing - in this case, your smooth rhythmic breathing - to the exclusion of everything else. In addition to strengthening your will, this practice also reduces harmful stress reactions and conserves energy so that more of it is available for living your life the way you want to . Learning how to cope with stress is important to anyone dealing with a chronic physical condition.

Yoga exercises gently tone and shape the body, improve posture and flexibility, and contribute to feelings of well-being. Most Yoga exercises have a profound effect on improving circulation, especially to the extremities. Yoga exercises help keep the blood vessels elastic, and Yoga exercise combined with relaxation training has even been shown to reduce high blood pressure in some cases. After you've practiced for a while, you can add more vigorous exercises to your Yoga routine to give you the added benefits of some aerobic conditioning and increased muscle strength. Yoga exercises gently press on the body's glands and organs, resulting in positive effects for the digestion, endocrine, and reproductive systems.

By releasing muscle tension and teaching you how to relax at will, Yoga relaxation training helps reduce the harmful effects of physical and mental stress. Daily practice of meditation shows you a quiet, restful, stable part of yourself that supports everything you do, and teaches you how to draw on these inner resources for the strength and health that can be your choice.

Coping with diabetes does not mean giving in to an "illness" mentality; by following your physician's instructions and changing your lifestyle, you can create a life that is full, happy, energetic, healthy, and balanced.

1. From the American Y O G A Association, The nations's preeminent Yoga school, providing nonprofit, nonreligious education for 25 years.
The American Yoga Association * 513 S. Orange Avenue * Sarasota, FL 34236