Yoga and Sports – what’s the connection? Plenty, it appears, if one have been to contemplate a three-day worldwide convention hosted by S-VYASA Yoga University earlier this month.

Themed ‘Integrative Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation’, the 2024 version of INCOFYRA (International Conference on Frontiers in Yoga Research and its Applications) mentioned points associated to complete and sustainable medical look after athletes and sportspersons. It introduced collectively students, researchers and practitioners from across the globe to discover how Yoga, sports activities medication and rehabilitation intersect.

INCOFYRA, S-VYASA University’s flagship occasion for over twenty years, has been a platform the place essential scientists and clinicians are invited to disseminate newest analysis updates.

“We believe that continued multidisciplinary, international collaboration will stimulate the development of sports medicine. The 25th INCOFYRA was tailored for physical therapists, integrative and conventional medicine-based sports rehabilitators, athletic trainers, primary care physicians and researchers interested in understanding of sports-medicine science, diagnosis and treatment. Its aim was to achieve high levels of confidence and competence in these areas, optimising the care of the athletes,” mentioned Dr HR Nagendra, Founder-Chancellor, S-VYASA University, Bengaluru and chief patron of the convention.

PHYSIOTHERAPY COUPLED WITH YOGA SHOWED BETTER OUTCOMES THAN PHYSIOTHERAPY ALONE

The growing recognition of sports activities and train has aided the expansion of sports activities medication considerably.

Conventionally, sports activities medication and rehabilitation embrace medical and surgical interventions adopted by physiotherapy and health coaching, and dietary supplementation. Increasingly although, world traits are veering in direction of together with conventional strategies, with sportspersons typically themselves demanding the identical.

Dr BR Ramakrishna, Vice-Chancellor of S-VYASA University, corroborates. “There is an emerging build-up of the evidence base of integrative medicine, along with its increasing popularity and acceptance among athletes and sports-medicine practitioners. The indigenous system of healthcare has been found very effective in managing several chronic diseases, ensuring fitness for sports persons, and healing sports injuries.”

“A systematic integration of complementary medicine with conventional methods is an unmet need to attain optimal performance, sports-related injury prevention and effective functional rehabilitation of sports personnel,” says NK Manjunath, Director of Research, S-VYASA University.

“There is a growing recognition of the benefits of integrating yoga into rehabilitation protocols. Yoga is an ancient Indian system of mind–body medicine that combines physical postures, regulated breathing, relaxation techniques and meditation. Yoga showed better outcomes for managing pain, stiffness, and functional subscales of the WOMAC scale when complemented with physiotherapy, compared to physiotherapy alone,” he reveals.

STRENGTHENING THE ‘EVIDENCE BASE’ ON TRADITIONAL MEDICINE: INDIA LEADING

The World Health Organisation (WHO) newsroom has an fascinating function story titled `How a British lengthy jumper embraced yoga and by no means seemed again’, that talks about how “athletes’ workout plans are increasingly incorporating slow, measured movements such as the practice of yoga”, whether or not in restoration or for prevention in opposition to accidents.

Nevertheless, the WHO, whereas acknowledging that yoga and different conventional medication programs are “an important and often underestimated health resource”, nonetheless talks in regards to the want for strengthening “the evidence base on yoga, and show, in a systematic and standardised way, how it contributes to physical and mental health”.

Towards this finish, with the assistance of the Government of India, WHO arrange the ‘Global Centre for Traditional Medicine’ in Jamnagar, Gujarat, and likewise convened a Global Summit on Traditional Medicine in August 2023.

Such alternate of concepts, greatest practices and evidence-based scientific classes that have been a part of the twenty fifth INCOFYRA come useful on this context. This convention helps the reason for well being of sportspersons, but additionally brings in that essential component of analysis and evidence-backed claims in complementary therapies.

The occasion witnessed scientific classes with evidence-based insights, 9 keynote talks, 27 symposium talks and a number of other workshops. It noticed the participation of 55 worldwide and nationwide specialists, and 600 delegates. Prominent personalities, together with sportspersons and champions, have been invited as visitors, with ICCR President Dr Vijay Sahasrabuddhe because the chief visitor.

There was additionally a particular roundtable dialogue on ‘Challenges in Integrative Rehabilitation and Policy-Making in Integrative Sports Medicine’, the place a number of eminent individuals and coverage stakeholders participated.

INSIGHTS ON STRENGTHENING THE MIND-BODY-SOUL-GLUTES-BIOMECHANICS-DATA SCIENCE CONNECTION

• Yoga asana and pranayama to strengthen the core points of physique, calf, glutes and chest for future sportsmen – Srinivasa Murthy, Indian basketball coach
• Performance in sports activities and biomechanics: how understanding the mechanics of the human physique can unlock new ranges of athletic achievement – Mark Arthur King, Professor of Sports Biomechanics, Loughborough University
• Advances in sports activities diet and dietary methods. Importance of diet for an athlete’s success, power ranges, restoration – Geetha Ghaliyavar, main sports activities nutritionist
• The National Education Policy 2020 and its emphasis on bodily health and interior happiness – Dr Ganesan Kannabiran, Director, NAAC, Bengaluru
• Role of yoga remedy built-in with knowledge science to enhance sports activities medication and different remedies – Chieko Kato, Sports Psychologist, Toyo University, Japan
• Strategic strategy to integrating yoga in sports activities rehabilitation – Manjunath NK, Director of Research, S-VYASA University
• Key idea of allostatic load with a bunch of area particular biomarkers, from the angle of sports activities personnel – Diego Bonilla, CEO & Scientific Director, DBSS International, Colombia
• Latest traits in sports activities rehabilitation – Thiagarajan Alwar, MD (Sports Medicine), specialist in Arthroscopy
• Conservative strategies in meniscus surgical procedure – Dr Jagadeesh PC, Sports-specialized orthopaedic surgeon
• Elevating athletic efficiency by integrating yoga into sports activities medication and rehabilitation – Dr Dobson Dominic, MD (Sports Medicine), Chennai

The creator is a journalist, most cancers survivor and licensed yoga instructor. She could be reached at swatikamal@gmail.com