For many years it has been known that practicing yoga can enhance balance, flexibility and strength, as well as reduce stress — multiplying the health benefits. But can yoga increase bone density?

Yes — and it may only take 10 minutes a day, is the answer, according to New York City physician Loren Fishman, who has studies to prove it.

Over the last few years, Dr. Fishman has instructed women and men (average age of 68) to perform 10 basic yoga postures, 10 minutes a day to see how this gentle form of exercise might impact bone strength. To date, he has published his first results from a small pilot study of 11 people doing his short yoga program and seven others who didn’t do yoga.

While this pilot study is a simple one, and not tightly controlled, the results are intriguing. The yoga practitioners gained in T-score, which compares your bone density with that of an ideal young standard of the same gender. The gains included a 0.76 T-score point increase in the spine and 0.92 in the hip. This was enough of a change so that five yoga practitioners moved from having osteopenia to normal bone mineral density and two went from having a diagnosis of osteoporosis to osteopenia.

As Dr. Fishman suggests, these preliminary results are enough to warrant a well-funded, highly controlled trial. In the meantime, you might well build bone and strength, and enjoy other health benefits from a simple yoga routine.

These three yoga poses Dr. Fishman used in his study are also included in my “Exercising for Bone Health” DVD. You may also want to learn more about these poses and others in a beginner’s yoga class. We recommend you always consult your healthcare practitioner before beginning any exercise program. 

  Downward facing dog

     Bridge pose

   Triangle pose

If you are interested in other exercises for a strong bone building program, you will want to check out my new "Exercising for Bone Health" DVD It contains a short yoga routine with beginner-friendly poses as part of a 35-minute bone-building exercise sampler that introduces you to four other modalities as well. In fact, we made sure that all the exercises can be done easily from a chair and can increase in intensity and strength building over time.

Reference: Fishman, L. 2009 Yoga for Osteoporosis. Topics in Geriatric Rehabilitation, Vol. 26, No.3:244-250

We created the Osteo Blast blog as our forum to express opinions and educate the public about natural means of supporting and improving bone health and overall wellness. As part of this forum, we sometimes discuss medical issues and medications, and their effects on bone health in general. However, we cannot advise readers about specific medical issues in this forum. If you wish to obtain advice from Susan E. Brown, PhD, about your specific bone health and nutritional concerns, please visit our Consultations page. Other specific medical questions should be referred to your healthcare provider.