Dru Yoga research

In world-first research studies, Dru Yoga is shown to be beneficial in reducing stress and back pain at work. It helps professional footballers decrease injuries. And most importantly, it helps you make a greater success of your life. 

Benefits of Dru Yoga and Meditation

Dru yoga and meditation offer a variety of benefits to your body, mind and emotions. It can help reduce physical tension in the body, increase positive thinking and transform your life in a way that ripples out to benefit all of those around you.

What's the evidence?

• Dru Yoga reduces back pain and sickness absence for NHS staff (added Jul 2019)
• Dru Yoga helps Liverpool soccer players reduce injuries 
• Benefits of Dru Yoga
• Dru Yoga is shown to reduce stress and pain at work
• Randomised controlled university trial - the benefits of Dru Yoga
• Dru Yoga Survey results
• Benefits of meditation
• Dru worklife balance testimonials

Dru Yoga reduces back pain and sickness absence for NHS staff

This study involved 150 NHS employees from three hospitals in North Wales.

The staff were randomly assigned to either a Dru Yoga group or an education group. The Dru Yoga group received a total of eight 60 minute yoga sessions, once a week for eight weeks. In addition to this, the yoga participants were given a DVD and a poster for home practice. They were invited to practice yoga at home for ten minutes a day for six months. The education group meanwhile received two instructional booklets for how to manage back pain and reduce stress at work.

To start each session, there was a series of gentle warm-up movements, followed by eight stretches to release tension from the shoulders and hips. Then participants did four back care postures to develop suppleness in the spine, and improve posture. This was completed with relaxation techniques to create an overall feeling of positive health and well-being.

After eight weeks, the results showed that most yoga participants had larger reductions in back pain compared to the education group. After six months, employee staff records showed that the yoga participants had 20 times less sick leave due to musculoskeletal conditions (including back pain) than the education group. We also found that the yoga participants visited health professionals for back pain only half as often as education participants during the six month study.

Those who improved the most were participants who also practised yoga at home for an average of 60 minutes or more each week. Ten minutes or more a day of home practice was associated with doubling the reduction in back pain, and many participants noted that it helped them to better manage stress too.

https://theconversation.com/yoga-in-the-workplace-can-reduce-back-pain-and-sickness-absence-87375

Dru Yoga helps Liverpool football players reduce injuries 

In an article published in January 2013 in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, Dru Yoga is quoted as being part of a successful 7 point plan, used by physiotherapists on Liverpool Football Club’s players to reduce hamstring injuries.

Recurrent hamstring injuries are a major problem in sports such as football. The research followed a professional footballer who had sustained five hamstring injuries. Liverpool’s doctors and physiotherapists successfully used a seven point programme which included Dru Yoga. The player started regular sessions of yoga-based stretching and relaxation with a qualified Dru yoga instructor. These consisted of Dru fascial warm-up techniques; intense hamstring and low back stretches, guided Dru relaxations and Dru breath training (techniques to improve lung capacity, stamina and to activate the relaxation response through the body). Sessions were undertaken for 60 min twice per week. The player soon reported subjective improvement in his hamstring freedom.

The benefits of Dru Yoga

Dru Yoga is shown to be effective in the treatment and management of low back pain and stress, and is known for being a particularly safe style of yoga. Previous studies on the effectiveness of Dru Yoga for stress in the workplace and back pain, were published in the Scandinavian Journal of Work and Environmental Health and the Journal of Occupational Medicine, and these were cited in this recent article.

Yoga for reducing perceived stress and back pain at work >

'Dru Yoga is a graceful and potent form of yoga, based on flowing movements, directed breathing and visualisation. With its foundations set firmly in ancient yogic tradition, Dru works on body, mind and spirit - improving strength and flexibility, creating core stability, building a heightened feeling of positivity, and deeply relaxing and rejuvenating your whole being.

Designed to be practised by people of all abilities, all fitness levels and all age groups, Dru is a style of yoga that can be quickly dipped into or learnt in more depth over a lifetime. Dru

Yoga classes are available in the UK, Ireland, The Netherlands and across Europe, Australia and Canada. Short Dru Yoga retreats and yoga holidays in these countries are also very popular. The Dru Yoga teacher training course, which is necessary to teach this safe, therapeutic style of yoga, is available in many countries.' Visit: druyoga.com for more details.

Dru Yoga is shown to reduce stress and back pain at work

UK research, published in September 2012 in the Journal of Occupational Medicine, shows that Dru Yoga can reduce perceived stress and back pain at work.

Stress and back pain are two key factors leading to sickness absence at work, costing the British economy an estimated £17 billion per year.  This study by researchers at Bangor University suggests to employers that wellbeing programs that include yoga can have a significant impact not only in reducing stress, but also in preventing back pain.  

More than 80 participants in the study were recruited from Conwy County Council and randomized into a yoga group who received one 50 minute Dru Yoga session each week for 8 weeks along with a 20 min DVD for home practice, while a control group received no intervention.

Dru Yoga is one of the UK’s largest schools of yoga, and includes therapeutic stretches and postures to ease back pain, flowing movements designed to relieve stress, and breathing exercises which calm the mind. 

When compared with the control group, the yoga group scores were significantly lower for perceived stress, back pain, sadness and hostility, and much higher for feeling self-assured, attentive and serene.  

Susan Williams, a Community Engagement Officer for Conwy County Council who participated in the yoga group, said: “I found that the Dru Yoga programme had a positive influence on my level of confidence.  I felt more in control, ready, aware, dynamic, even recognizing my own power.  I was happier, and it was so much easier to manage my circumstances.”

The study authors concluded: "The results indicate that a workplace yoga intervention can reduce perceived stress and back pain and improve psychological wellbeing.  Larger randomised controlled trials are needed to determine the broader efficacy of yoga for improving workplace productivity and reducing sickness absence."

The study was published on-line in September in the Journal of Occupational Medicine (Oxford University Press). Dru Yoga reduces back pain and stress:

 http://occmed.oxfordjournals.org/content/62/8/606

Dru Yoga reduces workplace stress

A study shows that yoga is significantly effective for improving wellbeing and resilience to stress in the workplace.  A team of researchers working at Bangor University found that a six week programme of Dru Yoga reduced anxiety and fatigue, while increasing emotional well-being and resilience to stress.

This research is very timely as latest figures from the HSE suggest that stress in the workplace costs the UK over £530 million per year, which equates to over 13 million ‘lost’ working days. Experts believe these figures will increase further as a result of the recession. Researchers conducted a randomized controlled study, (the first robust research done on yoga in the workplace) involving 48 university employees. They were either placed into a Dru Yoga programme, or wait listed, as the control group. The yoga group participated in a six week programme of Dru Yoga, which involved attending at least one weekly 60-minute class.

Results showed that the Dru Yoga group reported feeling significantly less anxious, unsure, confused, tired, and depressed than the control group who did not practice Dru Yoga.

In addition, the yoga group reported feeling more life purpose and satisfaction, and greater self-confidence during stressful situations. Study participant Eileen Price, Undergraduate Recruitment Administrator said, ‘At the end of the first session I went back to the office with a much clearer head and renewed vigour – I could think more clearly, make better decisions and work more efficiently.’
Researchers concluded that even a short program of Dru Yoga is effective for enhancing emotional well-being and resilience to stress in the workplace, and recommended that employers should consider offering yoga classes to their employees.

Dru Yoga is one of the UK’s most popular forms of yoga, comprising of easy-to-learn flowing movements, simple breathing techniques and effective relaxation methods. 

The complete research results can be viewed on-line at the following link:  

http://www.sjweh.fi/show_abstract.php?abstract_id=2916

First randomised controlled trial into Dru Yoga - university research

In 2008, research into the benefits of Dru Yoga was conducted at the University of Bangor (UK). 48 employees were randomized into a yoga group and a wait-list control group.

The yoga group were given Dru Yoga for six weeks, given three 60 minute classes per week.  The wait-list control group received no intervention during the six week study but were offered free classes after the trial.  Before and after measurements were obtained with the Profile of Mood States - Bipolar, and the Inventory of Positive Psychological Attitudes.

Dru Yoga participants recorded substantial increases in seven key areas of wellbeing:

	Increase
More composed - less anxious	120%
More clear-minded - less confused	500%
More elated - less depressed	240%
More energised - less tired	270%
More agreeable - less hostile	100%
More confident - less unsure	210%
Life purpose and satisfaction	330%
Self confidence during stress	650%

This study pioneers efforts to show that Dru Yoga benefits not just your physical health. Dru Yoga also benefits your emotional, mental and spiritual life... all of which are likely to improve your relationships, sense of purpose and connectedness to what's important in your life.

There is now a plethora of randomised controlled trial research showing the benefits of yoga to a whole gamut of health conditions including heart disease, pms, breast cancer side effects, back pain, depression, and cancer and many more.

Dru Yoga Survey Results

We asked 440 Dru practitioners across the world what their experience was, and this is what they said:

Dru Yoga is highly effective for helping reduce stress and tension

• 89% say they are better able to handle stress while over 84% regularly experience less body tension.
• 91% say that Dru Yoga transforms negative thinking
• About 69% report that they have more positive sleep patterns.

Dru Yoga significantly eases back problems

• 72% experience a positive change in their back pain after doing Dru Yoga.
• 93% of respondents experienced greater flexibility in spine and joints.
• 84% experience an improvement in overall body tension, a significant factor in decreasing back pain.

Dru Yoga is particularly effective in transforming painful emotions into positive and solving conflicts

• 83% of respondents notice that they have a greater ability to handle their emotions since doing Dru Yoga.
• 84% experience a positive shift in their mood after practicing Dru Yoga
• 73% have a better ability to deal with conflict.

Dru Yoga helps you create a better society! It helps people have more harmonious relationships and find greater peace within.

• 79% of people practicing Dru Yoga experience higher levels of serenity.
• 73% have a better ability to deal with conflict. 
• 79% report they are more patient and open with others. 
• 82% feel more tolerant towards others and over 76% feel greater feelings of compassion for others.
• 74% report a positive improvement in their communication skills and over 74% report an improvement in their ability to handle relationships.

Dru Yoga is a powerful tool for enhancing physical energy and vitality   

• 85% of respondents experience a boost in their energy levels after doing Dru Yoga
• 82% of participants notice an improvement in their strength and stamina.
• 92% of respondents report that their body awareness has improved.

What kind of people are experiencing these massive transformations in their lives? About 65% are students of Dru Yoga or Dru Meditation classes; 35% are their teachers.

Amazingly, nearly 50% of these people say they practice their Dru less than once every five days. Imagine gaining all these benefits from something you do only once a week or so!

And then imagine how much you'd gain if you practiced some of these easy self-help approaches every few days. 

The benefits of meditation