Yoga teaches med school students how to balance life.
It is common knowledge that medical school students are under a lot of pressure: loads of studying, difficult professors, tuition and so on. However, doctors at Boston University are using yoga to teach students not only how to balance life, but also how to impart this knowledge to their future patients.
The course "targets the unique challenges and stressors medical students face as well as offers a fairly advanced level of intellectual content appropriate for the medical students," said instructor Robert Saper, as quoted in BU Today.
One component of the class reviews the scientific literature on the physiological benefits they can reap from yoga, such as improvements in anxiety symptoms and a balance of breath and heartbeat, the news source said.
In addition to helping students relax and teaching them some of the science behind yoga, the course is also part of a research study on the effects of this mind-body exercise on the mental health of med school students. Previous studies showed that 25 percent of this population will become depressed at some point in their education, according to BU Today.
People who are interested in taking a Boston yoga class are not alone, nor are those who hope to teach one. One yoga industry organization estimated that as of 2005, there were about 70,000 certified yoga instructors around the nation, as reported by U.S. News & World Report.
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Tags: Balance life, Boston yoga, Boston yoga classes, how to balance life
