The Yoga Care Foundation (YCF), an Austin-based nonprofit that supports yoga research, education and community outreach, is conducting a joint study with the University of Texas Kinesiology Lab on yoga and cardiovascular health.
The project, led by Hirofumi Tanaka, Ph.D., Director, Cardiovascular Aging Research Laboratory, is studying the effect of a regular yoga practice on the risk of cardiovascular disease, the number one cause of death in the United States. Tanaka previously demonstrated that regular cardiovascular exercise and weight training can impact the heart’s arteries and function. The study aims to replicate this finding in yoga practitioners, comparing beginning yoga students to those with an established practice of at least three years.
Rich Goldstein, CEO at Austin-based Yoga Yoga and founder of YCF, says that heart disease is not the only medical condition helped by yoga. "A growing body of scientific research studies have shown that people with a wide variety of health conditions, including heart disease, back pain, sleep disorders, arthritis, and breast cancer, can benefit greatly by practicing yoga," he says. "Our goal with the foundation is to educate the general public about yoga's therapeutic applications and significantly add to the existing research in a way that will support yoga being embraced as a tool for self-care and improving quality of life."
YCF, which recently received its 501(c)(3) nonprofit status, has also contributed to a research study by the Brigham and Women's Hospital and the Harvard Medical School on the effects of yoga on individuals’
About the Yoga Care Foundation
The Yoga Care Foundation is an Austin-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit that supports yoga research, education, and community outreach. Its three primary objectives are to research the physiological, psychological and therapeutic effects of yoga; make yoga available to disadvantaged communities;
