Bridging Yogic Science and Sports Medicine: An Integrative Review of Evidence-Based Approaches to Health and Performance

Abstract

The combination of the modern sports medicine and the yogic science is a new trend in the optimization of the human health, performance, and recovery. Whereas sports medicine has always had an interest in biomechanical efficiency, physiological adaptation, and management of injury, the yogic science can be of additional value in understanding the mind/body regulation, breath control, and psychophysiological resilience. It is a review of existing data on the physiological, psychological, and performance-related impact of yoga and its translational usefulness in the athletic and rehabilitative setting. Recent clinical and experimental studies are showing that yoga can improve cardiorespiratory, neuromuscular coordination and autonomic balance, focus, emotional regulation, and stress resistance. These multidimensional advantages will help to achieve better performance results, be less prone to injuries, and improve recovery in athletes and active people. The review highlights the promise of yoga-based interventions as scientifically-based, and cost-effective and sustainable supplements to contemporary training and rehabilitation models. By incorporating the concepts of yogic into sports medicine paradigms, the promotion of holisticness may be nurtured in the practise of prevention, health promotion, and performance optimization, placing the future of human performance science at the centre of evidence-based cross-disciplinary efforts and development of new methods and approaches.