In a recent study, patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) described how yoga practice helped improve physical and psychosocial symptoms related to their disease. A convenience sample of 17 adults with rheumatologist-diagnosed RA who had participated in yoga within the past year were asked via telephone interview about the decision to start, continue, and stop yoga; the perceived benefits of yoga; components of yoga sessions; and general thoughts about yoga as it relates to RA. Researchers found:

• Although 8 different styles of yoga were practiced, commonalities in yoga class components reveal examples of preferred types of yoga for patients with RA.
• 3 main themes emerged, each with multiple subthemes: (1) motivators (physical fitness, influence of others, reduced price), (2) barriers (cost, symptom burden, class difficulty), and (3) benefits of yoga practice (mind–body, a tool for coping, pride/achievement, social, and “yoga meets you where you are”).