Yoga as Medicine
Dr. Donna Mueller explains the benefits of yoga and how to incorporate yoga into lifestyle medicine.
Featuring:
Donna Mueller, DO, MS, C-IAYT
Donna Mueller, DO, MS, C-IAYT, received her medical degree from the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, a master’s degree from State University of New York at Buffalo, and a bachelor’s degree from Pennsylvania State University. She is board-certified in both lifestyle medicine and osteopathic neuromusculoskeletal (O-NMM) medicine. She is one of only about 1,000 certified O-NMM specialists in the country. Dr. Mueller is available for telemedicine consultations for patients who are seeking to improve their overall health, prevent, and reverse some chronic diseases such as coronary artery disease, diabetes, hyperlipidemia, and certain cancers, as well as other chronic issues such as pain, obesity, high blood pressure, anxiety, and stress. She also offers concomitant yoga therapy online for applicable patients. Transcription:
Bill Klaproth: (Host) So, what is lifestyle medicine, and how does yoga fit in as an important component to lifestyle medicine? Let's find out with Dr. Donna Mueller lifestyle medicine physician with Heartland Family Health in Lititz. This is Healthier You, a podcast from UPMC Pinnacle, I'm Bill Klaproth. Dr. Mueller, it is great to talk with you, thank you so much for your time. So first off, what is lifestyle medicine?
Dr. Donna Mueller: (Guest) Thank you for having me. Lifestyle medicine is based on the six pillars of restoring health. It's eating whole food plant-based predominant diet, its doing exercise minimum of 150 minutes per week, moderate intensity. It's sleeping every night, eight hours, restful sleep. It's doing daily relaxation to lower your stress. It's avoidance of risky substances, such as tobacco and alcohol, and it's having a regular connection to positive people.
Host: I like that, a regular connection with positive people that certainly can improve your health. So, you mentioned stress in those pillars of lifestyle medicine, a lot of people use yoga to relieve stress. How would you define yoga and how long have you practiced that?
Dr. Mueller: So, yoga is a constellation of exercises that come to us from ancient India and they're still practiced today. If you look at the word Ashtanga, it means wheel and there's like eight components to yoga, which I will not go into, but there are lots of pieces to the yoga that helped with stress. And some of those are the physical postures or Asana, and I have done those probably 30 years now, this year it'll be 30 years since I started practicing.
Host: Okay so then how do you use yoga as a tool in lifestyle medicine?
Dr. Mueller: When I used to work in cardiac rehab, way back before I was a physician, I noticed that patients were usually a little bit stressed out. They had a diagnosis. They had issues that were really life-threatening. So, we started with doing, just breathing and other things that were simple for them to grasp and to incorporate into their exercise. So, in lifestyle medicine, it's much bigger than that. It's part of an overall daily stress reduction for a patient, but it might also be part of their moderate exercise depending on their practice, whether it's rigorous or not.
Host: So, for people who may be unsure of yoga, what are the real health benefits of yoga? And there are many.
Dr. Mueller: So, there are a number of studies out peer-reviewed showing yoga to help with coronary artery disease, because it can actually help to relax the blood vessels so that high blood pressure melts away. There's some studies that suggest it helps with cancer, so to prevent certain cancers, but also to help patients when they're diagnosed with cancer and get them through their chemo or radiation. I used it when I worked for Fox Chase Cancer Center, doing yoga with patients, and it was an enormous help to those people going through that process. There's a lot of conditions. Respiratory conditions get better because you're breathing. It's a wonderful tool for lifestyle medicine.
Host: So, then this touches on more than just the physical activity, pillar of wellness, this touches a couple of those things, stress, and physical activity.
Dr. Mueller: Correct. It's really a useful tool in anyone's toolbox doing lifestyle medicine or not, but it's very off-putting to most people because they think it's a religion. They think, incorrectly that it's something that only very athletic people can do, but it's for everyone.
Host: When you say it's for everyone, if you're not flexible or typically physically active, is yoga still an option?
Dr. Mueller: Absolutely. I always say there's no such thing as a pretzel CO's or a cocktail party. Because if you're doing the practice on a regular basis, you're getting 100% of the benefit. Every time you attempt to do something that might be, looking pretty exotic or pretzel, but you never have to contort yourself. You just have to try to get your body into a certain position. It's really more about quieting the mind by stilling your body.
Host: Interesting. So, we hear this term, Yogic breathing. What is Yogic breathing?
Dr. Mueller: So, there's a couple of terms you'll hear thrown around for yoga breathing. One of them is ujjayi, It's a very interesting sounding breath. It's like an ocean sound. So, you're making the sound of like a ha when you exhale and that's a specific breathing pattern. The concept of Yogic breathing is overall called Pranayama. And it really just means life force because we don't breathe, we don't live. And that's so important right now that we all take deep breaths. Focus on relaxing our bodies through the breath. And the yoga does ties that in because I think particularly in the West, we forget to slow down and breathe.
Host: That we do. So, does Yogic breathing have the same benefits as physical yoga?
Dr. Mueller: Some say so I know there's new literature out there that will speak to this. I won't get into it on our talk today, but you could look it up. There's a lot of evidence out there about blood pressure and just vasodilation of the arteries through just breathing. There's also some very elaborate breathing regimens that I don't recommend because they become so challenging, like where you have to breathe in through one nostril, plug the other one. That's not the kind of Yogic breathing I teach my patients, or I advocate for people to do. It's very simple. It's very relaxing and it can help with a whole host of conditions, not the least of which being depression and anxiety. Which a lot of people are facing right now.
Host: Yeah, so true. Is there a certain type of yoga that's more beneficial than the other?
Dr. Mueller: I don't necessarily know if there's a certain type, but I would say there's a type for everyone. So, my teacher used to tell me that the type of yoga that you don't enjoy is the one you need the most. So, if you're a fast person, that's always moving and going from one thing to the next, and you're attracted to that slow yoga, where people are doing like upward facing dog downward facing dog. And they're always moving. It's called Vinyasa. Maybe you need the slower yoga where you're laying on a mat, propping yourself up with bolsters, being forced to think in one position for maybe five, 10 minutes, So it's interesting because the kind of yoga you might be attracted to do might not be the best yoga for you.
Host: And what's nice about yoga is you can find a program that's tailored right to you. So, with COVID-19 now making it difficult to practice in a studio with other people. Is it safe to start yoga on your own at home?
Dr. Mueller: When I started yoga, I had a teacher I saw maybe once or twice a week. But I had books. Can you imagine we used books? I got booked. And I opened them, and I taught myself Asana and then I would seek out certain other teachers that taught a specific kind of Asana. So, people can do that. That's not beyond, anybody's reach. With the internet, there's all kinds of online classes. There's an ability to zoom with the studio. It's not just limited to in-person and now people do outdoor classes. If you're in a place where the weather allows it. I would just advocate people, talk to their healthcare provider about it and they go slow, really take their time. You just work on the breath and then find something that maybe is a little irritating to your system but not painful. So as a reminder, in this new world where everything's online, you have to make sure you're safe. I advocate every person talked to their own personal physician particularly when engaging in an unsupervised online practice for yoga. Get medical clearance from your own healthcare provider. Or see us here at UPMC and speak with me. I will advocate for everyone exercising, but we need to be safe. And if you're not monitored, if no one's looking out for you, you could actually end up hurting yourself. So always clear it with your own healthcare professional first.
Host: Well through this, it's easy to see how important yoga is when it comes to lifestyle medicine, Dr. Mueller, this has really been informative and insightful. Thank you so much for your time. We appreciate it.
Dr. Mueller: Thank you so much. Have a wonderful day.
Host: That's Dr. Donna Mueller. And to find out more about lifestyle medicine, visit UPMC Pinnacle.com/lifestyle medicine, or call Heartland Family Health. It's (717) 627-4088. And if you found this podcast helpful, please share it on your social channels and check out the full podcast library for topics of interest to you. This is Healthier You a podcast from UPMC Pinnacle, I'm Bill Klaproth thanks for listening.
Bill Klaproth: (Host) So, what is lifestyle medicine, and how does yoga fit in as an important component to lifestyle medicine? Let's find out with Dr. Donna Mueller lifestyle medicine physician with Heartland Family Health in Lititz. This is Healthier You, a podcast from UPMC Pinnacle, I'm Bill Klaproth. Dr. Mueller, it is great to talk with you, thank you so much for your time. So first off, what is lifestyle medicine?
Dr. Donna Mueller: (Guest) Thank you for having me. Lifestyle medicine is based on the six pillars of restoring health. It's eating whole food plant-based predominant diet, its doing exercise minimum of 150 minutes per week, moderate intensity. It's sleeping every night, eight hours, restful sleep. It's doing daily relaxation to lower your stress. It's avoidance of risky substances, such as tobacco and alcohol, and it's having a regular connection to positive people.
Host: I like that, a regular connection with positive people that certainly can improve your health. So, you mentioned stress in those pillars of lifestyle medicine, a lot of people use yoga to relieve stress. How would you define yoga and how long have you practiced that?
Dr. Mueller: So, yoga is a constellation of exercises that come to us from ancient India and they're still practiced today. If you look at the word Ashtanga, it means wheel and there's like eight components to yoga, which I will not go into, but there are lots of pieces to the yoga that helped with stress. And some of those are the physical postures or Asana, and I have done those probably 30 years now, this year it'll be 30 years since I started practicing.
Host: Okay so then how do you use yoga as a tool in lifestyle medicine?
Dr. Mueller: When I used to work in cardiac rehab, way back before I was a physician, I noticed that patients were usually a little bit stressed out. They had a diagnosis. They had issues that were really life-threatening. So, we started with doing, just breathing and other things that were simple for them to grasp and to incorporate into their exercise. So, in lifestyle medicine, it's much bigger than that. It's part of an overall daily stress reduction for a patient, but it might also be part of their moderate exercise depending on their practice, whether it's rigorous or not.
Host: So, for people who may be unsure of yoga, what are the real health benefits of yoga? And there are many.
Dr. Mueller: So, there are a number of studies out peer-reviewed showing yoga to help with coronary artery disease, because it can actually help to relax the blood vessels so that high blood pressure melts away. There's some studies that suggest it helps with cancer, so to prevent certain cancers, but also to help patients when they're diagnosed with cancer and get them through their chemo or radiation. I used it when I worked for Fox Chase Cancer Center, doing yoga with patients, and it was an enormous help to those people going through that process. There's a lot of conditions. Respiratory conditions get better because you're breathing. It's a wonderful tool for lifestyle medicine.
Host: So, then this touches on more than just the physical activity, pillar of wellness, this touches a couple of those things, stress, and physical activity.
Dr. Mueller: Correct. It's really a useful tool in anyone's toolbox doing lifestyle medicine or not, but it's very off-putting to most people because they think it's a religion. They think, incorrectly that it's something that only very athletic people can do, but it's for everyone.
Host: When you say it's for everyone, if you're not flexible or typically physically active, is yoga still an option?
Dr. Mueller: Absolutely. I always say there's no such thing as a pretzel CO's or a cocktail party. Because if you're doing the practice on a regular basis, you're getting 100% of the benefit. Every time you attempt to do something that might be, looking pretty exotic or pretzel, but you never have to contort yourself. You just have to try to get your body into a certain position. It's really more about quieting the mind by stilling your body.
Host: Interesting. So, we hear this term, Yogic breathing. What is Yogic breathing?
Dr. Mueller: So, there's a couple of terms you'll hear thrown around for yoga breathing. One of them is ujjayi, It's a very interesting sounding breath. It's like an ocean sound. So, you're making the sound of like a ha when you exhale and that's a specific breathing pattern. The concept of Yogic breathing is overall called Pranayama. And it really just means life force because we don't breathe, we don't live. And that's so important right now that we all take deep breaths. Focus on relaxing our bodies through the breath. And the yoga does ties that in because I think particularly in the West, we forget to slow down and breathe.
Host: That we do. So, does Yogic breathing have the same benefits as physical yoga?
Dr. Mueller: Some say so I know there's new literature out there that will speak to this. I won't get into it on our talk today, but you could look it up. There's a lot of evidence out there about blood pressure and just vasodilation of the arteries through just breathing. There's also some very elaborate breathing regimens that I don't recommend because they become so challenging, like where you have to breathe in through one nostril, plug the other one. That's not the kind of Yogic breathing I teach my patients, or I advocate for people to do. It's very simple. It's very relaxing and it can help with a whole host of conditions, not the least of which being depression and anxiety. Which a lot of people are facing right now.
Host: Yeah, so true. Is there a certain type of yoga that's more beneficial than the other?
Dr. Mueller: I don't necessarily know if there's a certain type, but I would say there's a type for everyone. So, my teacher used to tell me that the type of yoga that you don't enjoy is the one you need the most. So, if you're a fast person, that's always moving and going from one thing to the next, and you're attracted to that slow yoga, where people are doing like upward facing dog downward facing dog. And they're always moving. It's called Vinyasa. Maybe you need the slower yoga where you're laying on a mat, propping yourself up with bolsters, being forced to think in one position for maybe five, 10 minutes, So it's interesting because the kind of yoga you might be attracted to do might not be the best yoga for you.
Host: And what's nice about yoga is you can find a program that's tailored right to you. So, with COVID-19 now making it difficult to practice in a studio with other people. Is it safe to start yoga on your own at home?
Dr. Mueller: When I started yoga, I had a teacher I saw maybe once or twice a week. But I had books. Can you imagine we used books? I got booked. And I opened them, and I taught myself Asana and then I would seek out certain other teachers that taught a specific kind of Asana. So, people can do that. That's not beyond, anybody's reach. With the internet, there's all kinds of online classes. There's an ability to zoom with the studio. It's not just limited to in-person and now people do outdoor classes. If you're in a place where the weather allows it. I would just advocate people, talk to their healthcare provider about it and they go slow, really take their time. You just work on the breath and then find something that maybe is a little irritating to your system but not painful. So as a reminder, in this new world where everything's online, you have to make sure you're safe. I advocate every person talked to their own personal physician particularly when engaging in an unsupervised online practice for yoga. Get medical clearance from your own healthcare provider. Or see us here at UPMC and speak with me. I will advocate for everyone exercising, but we need to be safe. And if you're not monitored, if no one's looking out for you, you could actually end up hurting yourself. So always clear it with your own healthcare professional first.
Host: Well through this, it's easy to see how important yoga is when it comes to lifestyle medicine, Dr. Mueller, this has really been informative and insightful. Thank you so much for your time. We appreciate it.
Dr. Mueller: Thank you so much. Have a wonderful day.
Host: That's Dr. Donna Mueller. And to find out more about lifestyle medicine, visit UPMC Pinnacle.com/lifestyle medicine, or call Heartland Family Health. It's (717) 627-4088. And if you found this podcast helpful, please share it on your social channels and check out the full podcast library for topics of interest to you. This is Healthier You a podcast from UPMC Pinnacle, I'm Bill Klaproth thanks for listening.