CURRENT RESEARCH
THE BWYQ RESEARCH STUDY ON YOGA FOR GENERALISED ANXIETY DISORDER – YOGAD (© BWYQ 2023)
With thanks to a National Lottery Community Fund grant received in 2023, BWYQ was able to pilot a new programme which will help BWYQ to develop a suite of qualifications in Yoga for Mental Health Conditions. Five 12-week courses in Yoga for Generalised Anxiety Disorder called YOGAD (© BWYQ 2023) took place at five different sites in Yorkshire as part of a pilot research study from 3 January to 23 March 2024. Sixty-three participants – identified as meeting the eligibility requirements after completion of a screening form — attended the sessions free of charge.
Research questionnaires were conducted at the first and last sessions and interviews with participants and teachers took place. BWYQ’s research team are currently analysing the data. In addition to developing the qualification, the aim is to assess the acceptability of this yoga intervention and study methods used in this uncontrolled study and to explore the feasibility of running a randomised controlled trial at some point in the future. To learn more about Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD), see NHS Overview of GA
GRATITUDE:
BWYQ would like to thank the participants for their enthusiasm during class and at home using the Home Practice Sheets that were created for the programme – see sample practice sheet and video with beginner yoga student. We would like to thank all 5 YOGAD (© BWYQ 2023) teachers for delivering BWYQ’s pilot study classes: Jane Cluley, Michelle Griffiths, Susie Dennis, Sonia Perry and Susan McHale. We are especially grateful to Michelle from Mind Body and Spirit Barnsley for sharing the sequence used in the Home Practice Sheet for Weeks 7-9 below, to Jenny for the drawings, to Mike for the video demonstration and to Laura for producing the sheet and narrating/producing the video in Photoshop and Camtasia, respectively, for BWYQ’s new website which was also funded by the grant from the Community Fund.
GENTLE YEARS YOGA RESEARCH TRIAL
Chair-based Yoga for Older Adults with Long-Term Conditions
RESEARCH REPORTS: CHAIR-BASED YOGA FOR OLDER ADULTS WITH MULTI-MORBIDITY – THE GENTLE YEARS YOGA TRIAL
Two research reports were recently published in March 2025
First, read the full report on the ‘Perceptions and experiences of chair-based yoga by older adults with multimorbidity – a qualitative process evaluation of the Gentle Years Yoga randomised controlled trial” published in BMC GERIATRICS (5 March 2025) here: bit.ly/4hytTT3
Then read the second report, bearing in mind that halfway through the first wave of the trial, the Covid pandemic forced a lockdown which meant the face-to-face classes could not continue. Skeptics said the older adults would not be able to make a switch to online delivery via Zoom, but thanks to the wonderful BWY teachers involved, the transition to online delivery was smooth and even preferred by many of the older adults who were taking part in the trial classes. For full details, see the report on “The Acceptability and feasibility of online delivery of chair-based yoga for older adults with multimorbidity – lessons from a process evaluation of the gentle years yoga trial”, published in BMC COMPLEMENTARY MEDICINE AND THERAPIES” (17 March 2025) here: bit.ly/3DKaNeI
If short on time, the two abstracts below summarise the findings.
