Yoga for Population Health

Brett and I wrote this ebook/white paper and thought it might be helpful to share some of it on our blog. The book is available for purchase here: https://subtleyoga.com/store/
We are passionate about the widespread adoption of yoga as prevention, treatment, aftercare/reclaiming, and health promotion – 4 domains of public health.

An excerpt:

“The multi-faceted dysfunction of the health care system necessitates rethinking how health is achieved and health care is conceptualized and delivered. Innovation, including new, inter/multi-disciplinary alliances, is essential in order to reduce costs, increase value, and achieve better outcomes for individuals and populations. This paper calls for collaboration between public policy makers, researchers and community coalitions, and educators/practitioners of Complementary and Integrative Medicine (CIM) to address this need.

In health care, the term “innovation” has meant new therapies, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and more recently mHealth or eHealth. These clinical and communication advances are important, however they tend to be responsive only to the paradigm in which they are embedded.  A deeper and broader perspective on what creates good health is required, including viewing the current health care crisis through the lens of a holistically oriented biopsychosocialspiritual model.”…

And another:

“Improved population health is an essential aspect of The Triple Aim. Yoga is perhaps uniquely applicable for scaling a process of internalizing the health locus of control to community or population levels. This scaling can be applied in treatment, recovery, prevention, and health promotion.  Yoga can address a range of needs in any population or organization and facilitate the development of a culture of health in a community. Unlike massage, chiropractic, or other complementary and integrative medicine (CIM) modalities that require one-on-one intervention, yoga can be provided in group settings and practiced at home. It is accessible, adaptable, low risk, low cost, and has a broad and growing research base. It has the potential to be integrated into any number of services, for example a mental health outpatient program at a community mental health center, a weight loss program in a health department, and an employee wellness program at a hospital.”

Feel free to share this with health care workers and others interested in incorporating yoga practices, theory, and philosophy into their work.

Health care need to change. Change starts with better ways of thinking.
We can all be a part of that process.
Namaste

Here’s a link to the store to purchase a copy. https://subtleyoga.com/store/