Yes! One of the most influential yoga teachers of the 20th century, Tirumalai Krishnamacharya, famously said ‘if you can breathe, you can do yoga’. We wholeheartedly agree.

There are multiple styles of yoga, and many teachers integrate and adapt various styles to create their own practice. There is no ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ – that’s why it’s called ‘practicing’ yoga – because we are always developing, evolving, changing. It is never perfect or complete. There is no judgement, no expectations, and certainly no ‘failure’.

​So, the practice can be varied to meet any person’s needs – whether they have suffered injuries or trauma, have physical or mental challenges, or are simply feeling down or unmotivated on a particular day. The session can be adapted, developed – and used – to bring about positive change in the mind and body.

Good question. At Umbrella Yoga, one of our key principals is to be driven by scientific evidence and understanding. Whilst research that aims to understand the impacts of yoga is relatively scarce, the results are certainly positive. Studies have indicated benefits for people suffering from depression and anxiety, trauma, physical pain or injury, as well as people living with genetic conditions such as Downs Syndrome and cerebral palsy, and neurodevelopmental conditions such as autism. We encourage you to keep an eye on our website for updates on research targeting each of these conditions.

But, one thing is clear. People who suffer from any kind of anxiety (which is very common in the context of genetic and neurodevelopmental conditions), often struggle to activate the parasympathetic nervous system – the body’s brake, or ‘rest and digest’ function. This means they are in a constant state of hyper-arousal and rarely able to rest their bodies or relax their minds. Breath regulation, a key part of yoga, is the most effective way to modulate the parasympathetic nervous system (Khalsa et al., 2016). Most yoga practices start with some form of breathing exercise (or ‘pranayama’), and throughout the practice yogis have the chance to develop breath control by using physical movements and concentration. As a result, stress and anxiety is reduced.

There are so many potential benefits, and these are likely to be experienced to varying degrees, by different groups and individuals. Watch this space for updates on our understanding of yoga from a clinical and research perspective.