A clinical trial found that approximately 50% of participants responded to yoga as an anxiety intervention, compared to about 70% who responded to therapy.
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At 1:01:21 · chapter starts 1:00:50
Drew, a regular hot yoga practitioner, offers a pragmatic take: yoga helps anxiety through interoception (awareness of internal bodily states) and by deliberately practicing the muscle of tolerating discomfort in awkward, vulnerable social situations. A clinical trial found roughly 50% of yoga participants responded positively compared to about 70% for therapy. Manson notes that yoga likely scores lower than exercise primarily due to lower intensity, and lower than meditation because it addresses the physical rather than cognitive dimension of anxiety. Drew sees hot yoga's added value in its socially vulnerable context — a room full of half-naked people in difficult poses forces you to abandon self-consciousness and return to bodily presence. Both agree yoga is a useful supplement, not a standalone solution.
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