A new randomized clinical trial from Harvard Medical School and Boston University (published in JAMA Psychiatry) compared a 12-week program of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and Kundalini yoga (which involves traditional yoga components, breathwork and meditation) against a stress education control group, for people with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). They found that CBT was still the best first-line treatment, but that the yoga regime also significantly reduced anxiety disorder and may prove an important weapon for patients who cannot afford or aren’t interested in CBT.

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