Changes in body awareness in yoga interventions: A systematic review.
Camille L Garnsey, Katherine E Gnall, Erika K Osherow and 1 others
PMID 40168756WHAT IT FOUND
Changes in body awareness after yoga were inconsistent across 31 studies.
Some aspects improved, especially on a detailed body-awareness questionnaire, while heartbeat and joint-position tasks were less consistent. The review does not show that yoga reliably changes clinical symptoms.
Key findings
01Seven of nine studies that used the MAIA body-awareness questionnaire reported changes over time in the yoga condition.
02Three of four controlled studies using the MAIA reported differences in favor of yoga.
03Formal mediation tests found body awareness changes mediated some outcomes, including PTSD symptoms and anxiety, but failed to mediate emotion regulation or depression symptoms.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
Many included studies had small samples, with less than 40 individuals per treatment group. Only seven of 24 controlled studies met the highest standards for randomization, allocation concealment, and assessor blinding. The review did not meta-analyze because study designs, yoga interventions, and body awareness measures were too heterogeneous. Many samples were non-clinical, mostly women, and mostly White where race was reported, so the findings may not apply broadly. Only a small number of studies tested whether body awareness changes mediated clinical outcomes, and those tests were inconsistent. Some studies used unvalidated, study-specific measures, so their findings need extra caution.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest. The publication type lists NIH extramural research support.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that yoga is proven to improve body awareness or clinical symptoms. The review found inconsistent results across measures, many small studies, and only limited evidence that body awareness changes mediate outcomes.