Building healthy & resilient communities
Wellbeing Programme for NHS Patients & Staff
- GP Yoga Referral Protocol -
Listen to what NHS staff have to say about Yoga4NHS
NHS commissioned programme that fuses the wisdom of ancient practices with modern medical science.
RCGP & PCI Accredited - Validated by the University of Westminster.
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Stress Reduction
83%* participants report a reduction in their stress level, noticing an improvement of their mood and their outlook on life, with 81% reporting improvement in their overall mental health including feeling calmer.
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Physical Vitality
82%* participants feel a direct improvement of their physical health, including weight loss, 73% report improved muscle strength, flexibility, overall confidence.
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Better Lifestyle Choices
68%* participants positively changed their lifestyle as a result of the programme including their eating habits.
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Better Sleep
62%* participants report an improvement in their sleep quality as a result of the programme.
Equip NHS staff with a toolkit of mind-body practices to reduce stress/anxiety, increase resilience and reduce burnout.
6-week programme (60 min weekly session) accredited by the Royal College of GPs, rewarded by 6 CPD hrs on completion.
What staff learn on the Yoga4NHS programme:
Yoga breathing practices
Mindfulness practices
Simple yoga postures
A short talk each week on evidence-based approaches to lifestyle medicine.
Attendees are supported with course handouts, optional access to video resources recorded by health professionals who are also yoga teachers, and ongoing support from the Yoga In Healthcare Alliance (YIHA).
Each weekly session is 60 to 75min long, prior yoga experience is not required. The sessions are delivered face-to-face to groups of 10 to 20 participants.
10-week programme comprising of 10x2-hour weekly sessions.
Each session includes:
Breathing practices
Yoga postures accessible to all (on a mat or a chair)
Meditation and mindfulness
Relaxation
Group discussion
Participants receive a course manual, weekly videos to support their home practice, weekly email communication, plus your Y4H expert is available 2 hours each week to answer questions and offer personalised guidance.
The sessions are delivered face-to-face. Groups are kept small to provide opportunities for social connection and a tailored approach.
Quality insurance.
Originally commissioned by NHS West London Clinical Commissioning Group and designed by Yoga in Healthcare Alliance in cooperation with medical practitioners.
The benefits of the programme have been validated by the University of Westminster* which evaluation report concludes: “Participant reported outcome data demonstrated significant improvements from baseline to post-intervention on all outcome measures, which were sustained 3 months after the yoga4health programme”.
Only experienced yoga teachers are accepted to teach the programmes, which is accredited by the Personalised Care Institute (PCI) and the Royal College of GPs. This ensures that the programme is of the highest standard.
NHS staff on the programme will earn 6 x CPD hrs.
What participants say…
(*Cartwright, T, Richards, R, Edwards, A & Cheshire, A. (2019) Yoga4Health on social prescription: A mixed methods evaluation. University of Westminster.)