Asthma is defined by WebMD.com as a “disease of the airways that makes breathing difficult”. As of now, there are no cures for asthma, but there are many different kinds of treatments, from pills designed to reduce the onset of asthma attacks, to inhalers and other treatment options designed to give instantaneous relief. It has been shown in some scientific studies that preventative therapy can be enhanced through the use and daily practice of yoga, particularly the breathing exercises inherent in yoga practice.

Because yoga is a practice designed to go hand-in-hand with meditation, breathing, and breath control is a major part of the exercises, most of which have designated “inhale” and “exhale” motions, such as Salute the Sun, in which each of the twelve steps has a designated “inhale”, “exhale” and “hold your breath” instruction associated with each step. By practicing these particular exercises and mastering the deep breathing techniques associated with them, many asthma sufferers have noticed that the frequency, duration, and strength of their attacks had decreased with regular practice of yoga.

While it is often considered to be an impossibility to get solid, scientific research to confirm the effects of yoga on asthma sufferers, particularly because of the nature of the attacks, there is some research which seems to back up this hypothesis.

Some studies have been done using a device called the “Pink City Lung”, a device which can be programmed to mimic breathing patterns associated with some actions. This device was programmed with the breathing actions of some different yoga exercises, and the effects of repeated use were combined with an asthma program to simulate the breathing patterns and attacks of adult-onset asthma.

Doctors who performed this study noted that after yoga, the patients airways were less than half as irritable as they would have been before yoga. The volume of air which could be blown out in a second was also slightly increased.

This goes to show that asthma sufferers should be looking into treatment through yoga breathing exercises, and ought to consider taking yoga classes, at least to learn some beneficial breathing exercises to practice at home during times where their airways are likely to be stressed.