A review on the Principles and Practices of Yoga & Healthcare Conference 2023
- grainneflannery
- Mar 21
- 4 min read
The first ever International Yoga Conference to be held in Ireland took place in DCU on May 13th and 14th this year organised by Yoga Therapy Ireland (YTI). YTI was founded in 2000 and provide professional training nationwide in general and specialised yoga. As well as many Irish experts on Lifestyle, Integrative Medicine, Psychology, Yoga and Yoga Therapy, some of the most renowned international speakers in the field of yoga and yoga therapy and its’ role in healthcare presented at the conference. Giving some background to the conference, the team stated that “Yoga is well-positioned to be part of the solution to empower people to take a more active role in their health and well-being”.
YTI’s patron, Ms Sabina Higgins, opened the conference stating “In our present society to be healthy, the need to keep physically and mentally well is crucial. I know one of the greatest ways you can do this is by taking up the practice of yoga, which can give people a lifetime gift that will equip them with the tools to become and remain healthy in body, mind and spirit.”
There was a wide range of presenters and delegates from both healthcare and yoga backgrounds at the two day event. Perhaps of the most relevant to physiotherapy, general health promotion and education was firstly GP and author Dr Mark Rowe, who is the founder of the award-winning Waterford Health Park- home to the ‘Lifestyle Medicine Be Well Clinic’. He spoke about the science of happiness, mindfulness and wellbeing as well as the benefits of positive psychology, purpose and lifestyle as medicine- and the evidence of lifestyle medicine as an approach to the prevention and treatment of chronic disease. Dr Pádraic Dunne, a research scientist (immunologist) and accredited psychotherapist based at Centre for Positive Health Sciences, RCSI presented on ‘ The Science of Health and Happiness’ and also spoke about the work of the RCSI “To Educate, Nurture and Discover for the benefit of Human Health”. Another highly regarded GP, Dr Donn Brennan, delivered a presentation on the ‘Principles and Application of Ayurvedic Medicine’- the traditional Indian approach to health and wellbeing which addresses individual constitutions, diet, herbs, lifestyle and seasonal factors in the treatment disease and supporting wellbeing. Dr Brennan was one of the first western medical doctors to train in India in the Vedic Approach to Health. He outlined how fusing medical traditions can help support our health and wellbeing and how the integration of health traditions can greatly empower individuals to enhance health and prevent disease whilst potentially saving health services money and resources.
From the international delegates Professor Holger Cramer of the Dept. of Integrative and Complimentary Medicine, University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany spoke about the role of yoga in integrative medicine and the types of research currently being carried out in this area with particular focus on the clinical application of yoga in the field of pain management. Next, highly acclaimed Dr Sat Bir Singh Khasla Ph.D., Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, gave two very detailed presentations, one on ‘The scientific Rationale and Research Evidence for Yoga and Yoga Therapy and its relevance to Public Health’ and the other on ‘Yoga and Yoga Therapy: Relevance and Research Evidence for the Prevention and Treatment of Noncommunicable Diseases and its implementation into Healthcare and Modern Science’.
And lastly Paul Fox, Chief Operations Officer for the Yoga in Healthcare Alliance UK, presented on both days, giving us an insight into the NHS Commissioned Yoga4Health Protocol. Yoga4Health is a 10-week social prescribing prevention programme aimed at supporting people to achieve lifestyle change through daily yoga practices. On Sunday Paul shared the Yoga4NHS programme. This 6 week evidence-based wellness and wellbeing course is designed to equip NHS staff with a toolkit of mind-body practices to reduce stress/anxiety, increase resilience and reduce burnout.
From a Women’s Health perspective we learnt from Yoga Teacher Niamh Daly about the role of yoga in supporting women through the stages of menopause, as well as the research supporting this genre of yoga. Dr Lisa Corrigan, Assistant Professor in Interprofessional Learning in Trinity College Dublin presented on her most recent research, Feasibility of an Evidence- Based Live- Streaming Online Pregnancy Yoga Group Programme, and discussed the role of yoga in prenatal care as well as current research in this field in Ireland.
There were many other very informative presentations in the areas of yoga and primary school education, yoga therapy, yoga in cancer care as well as practical sessions during the conference offering direct experiential sessions from yoga teachers and medical professionals.
The closing session comprised of a panel discussion of a selection of delegates entitled ‘Where to from Here? Charting the Way for Yoga in Healthcare in Ireland’ whereby a lively conversation was generated between both presenters and those in attendance- where many ideas were offered and projects currently underway were shared from both healthcare professionals and yoga teachers working in different settings.
Photos courtesy of Phil Murray (Photographer) and Yoga Therapy Ireland
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