Ancient Practice Gains Acceptance in Helping Treat Numerous Disorders

They come to her with a wide range of ailments -- from distressing disorders such as insomnia, headaches and back pain to life-threatening conditions such as heart disease, cancer and diabetes.

But nearly all the patients who seek help from Ann Thomas, a yoga therapist at Washington, D.C.'s MedStar-Georgetown Medical Center, have something in common. "They're under stress and in pain," says Thomas, who creates individualized programs incorporating elements of the 5,000-year-old Indian practice of yoga.

For example, she might teach someone with high blood pressure or a heart condition how to do yoga breathing techniques and meditation. Someone with a digestive disorder may learn "twisting" yoga poses designed to stimulate the internal organs. A frail elderly person with arthritis might do yoga postures in a supported position -- up against a wall, for instance -- to safely move the limbs through a full range of motion.

"Yoga is not a cure-all, but is best viewed as adjunctive treatment," says Thomas, who adds that physician referrals have been increasing steadily since she joined Georgetown's staff in 1996. "And the philosophy is very different from the Western mindset that looks to eradicate disease." Instead, she says, yoga seeks to create balance within the body -- and among mind, body and spirit -- which then allows natural healing processes to occur.