Concept and practice integration of professional psycho-yoga teachers

<p>As cost and dissatisfaction with health care rise in America so does the popularity of complementary and alternative therapies for the treatment of illness and disease (McCall 2007). According to the National Institute of Health complementary health approaches are defined as a group of diverse medical and health care interventions practices products or disciplines that are not generally considered part of conventional medicine (NIH Introduction to CAM 2011). They range from practitioner-based approaches such as chiropractic manipulation and massage therapy to predominantly self-care approaches such as non-vitamin/non-mineral dietary supplements meditation and yoga. According to the 2007 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS 2007) nearly 40% of Americans utilize complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) methods for overall wellbeing and specific conditions. This survey found that the most predominant approaches were as follows (in order of prevalence): use of nonvitamin/non-mineral natural products deep breathing exercises meditation chiropractic manipulation and massage and yoga. Present utilization of CAM overall may likely be higher now. A more recent NHIS survey on CAM was conducted in 2012 but is not yet available for public use. Reseachers have begun to interpret and publish results from the 2012 survey data however the results of which suggest an overall increase in CAM consumption trends. </p>