Restless Legs Syndrome - RLS and Yoga and Qigong

Can a yoga class quieten my restless legs?

Movement relieves restless legs. That is one of the five diagnostic criteria and the safest statement anyone can make about this condition. Yoga is movement, stretching, breath control and relaxation all at once, it costs little and does little harm. Anyone too exhausted for an evening walk but still able to unroll a mat rightly asks whether it helps.

This volume states the numbers that appear in no self-help book: two studies, one research group, thirty people. For qigong in this condition there is not a single study. That is said here plainly, rather than being lost behind general recommendations.

Along with it comes the explanation of a contradiction many people puzzle over: why the German guideline says yes to yoga and the American one says no - on the same evidence. And a chapter on when to practise and when better not to.

WHAT IS IN THE BOOK

- What was actually tested as yoga in the studies

- What risks yoga carries in this condition

- Why the legs grow quieter as soon as you move them

- What stress has to do with restless legs

- The two yoga studies in detail

- Why an educational film is the hardest control group of all

- What is known about qigong, tai chi and baduanjin for sleep

- What relaxation techniques, acupuncture and massage can do

WHO THIS BOOK IS FOR

For patients who want to try yoga or qigong and would like to know what they are taking on, for anyone who has had one of them recommended, and for teachers with participants who have restless legs.

ABOUT THE SERIES

Volume 38 of 52 in the book series on restless legs syndrome, part "Everyday Life and Self-Help". Every volume can be read on its own. The statements in this volume rest on 190 professional sources, each one listed individually in the reference section.