Considering meditation and yoga as adjunctive treatment for COVID-19

A heath professional takes a patient on a trolley back to the post-COVID-19 ward of the Pedro Ernesto University Hospital (HUPE) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Pic/ AFP

A recent study explores the healing benefits of yoga and meditation practices as potential adjunctive treatments of COVID-19 in peer-reviewed journal JACM, The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine. Deepak Chopra, University of California, San Diego and William Bushell of Massachusetts Institute of Technology and co-authors from Harvard University and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health describe the anti-inflammatory effects associated with meditation and yoga.

The 'brief overview of key subjects' found "there is evidence of stress and inflammation modulation, and also preliminary evidence for possible forms of immune system enhancement, accompanying the practice of certain forms of meditation, yoga, and pranayama, along with potential implications for counteracting some forms of infectious challenges."

The authors also "readily acknowledge that in the context of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, the ideas put forth in this article must be put to further rigorous scientific investigation."

"The paper is another in a series in JACM and in other integrative medicine journals suggesting that research agencies in the United States and Europe would serve their citizens by upping their exploration of the potential contributions of natural health practices, especially amidst the present dearth of conventional treatments," said JACM Editor-in-Chief John Weeks.

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