Health & Well-Being A-Z

Kundalini Yoga

woman demonstrating yoga kundalini
Description

Kundalini yoga is an ancient yoga practice from traditional India. It usually involves a combination of controlled breathing, meditation, and physical body movements or postures..

Kundalini yoga has been used for a type of anxiety marked by recurrent thoughts and repetitive behaviors (obsessive-compulsive disorder or OCD), depression, and many other conditions, but there is no good scientific evidence to support most of these uses.

Is It Effective?

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Natural Medicines rates effectiveness based on scientific evidence according to the following scale: Effective, Likely Effective, Possibly Effective, Possibly Ineffective, Likely Ineffective, Ineffective, and Insufficient Evidence to Rate.

Possibly effective
  • A type of anxiety marked by recurrent thoughts and repetitive behaviors (obsessive-compulsive disorder or OCD). Practicing Kundalini yoga might improve symptoms of OCD and reduce the need for medicine. It seems to be more effective than practicing relaxation and mindfulness meditation. But this evidence is generally low-quality, so higher quality research is needed to confirm.
Possibly ineffective
  • High blood pressure. Practicing Kundalini yoga does not seem to lower blood pressure in people with high blood pressure.
Insufficient evidence
  • Memory and thinking skills (cognitive function). Practicing a specific type of Kundalini yoga that involves one nostril breathing might improve memory and thinking skills.
  • Decline in memory and thinking skills in older people that is more than what is normal for their age. Practicing Kundalini yoga seems to improve memory and thinking skills in people with mild age-related memory decline about as well as a memory enhancement training program.
  • Depression. Early research shows that practicing Kundalini yoga may improve symptoms of depression.
  • Other conditions.

More evidence is needed to rate Kundalini yoga for these uses.

Is it Safe?

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Kundalini yoga is an ancient Indian practice. It involves doing breathing exercises, meditation, and body postures. It's thought that Kundalini yoga might calm the nervous system, which might help maintain good health and improve some medical conditions.

Safety

Kundalini yoga is POSSIBLY SAFE when used appropriately. No adverse events have been reported in clinical studies. But Kundalini yoga involves breathing and meditation practices that are more intense than other forms of yoga. For this reason, some experts worry that Kundalini yoga may not be the safest form of yoga for some people.

Special Precautions & Warnings:

Pregnancy and breast-feeding: There isn't enough reliable information to know if Kundalini yoga is safe to practice when pregnant or breast-feeding. Until more is known, avoid using.

Drug interactions

It is not known if this treatment interacts with any medicines. Before using this treatment, talk with your health professional if you take any medications.

Herb interactions

There are no known interactions with herbs and supplements.

Food interactions

There are no known interactions with foods.

Dosage

The appropriate or safe use of Kundalini yoga depends on several factors such as the condition being treated or the person administering the treatment. Be sure to seek and follow relevant directions from your physician or other healthcare professional before using this treatment.

Other names

Circular Yoga, Coiled Yoga, Raja Yoga, Roya Yoga, Yoga of Awareness.

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