Review articleYoga and substance use disorders: A narrative review

- Yoga has been found to have beneficial effect as an adjunctive treatment modality, to supplement other medically oriented treatment, for Substance Use Disorders.
- Yoga can help individuals during both short term (Detoxification) and long term management of Substance Use; by various mechanisms.
- It is highly likely that it will be accepted by the patient community as an add on treatment.
- There are specific issues that should be kept in mind while evaluating the available literature on Yoga and substance use.
- Expansion of database is needed to use Yoga as an “Evidence based treatment”.

Yoga has been utilized for promotion of health and alleviating distress. It has also been used as a therapeutic measure in the field of mental health, including substance use disorders. This narrative review discusses the literature pertaining to use of yoga in the treatment of substance use disorders. The evidence base especially with regards to randomized trials is presented. The possible mechanisms how yoga might be helpful in the treatment of substance use disorders are explored. Subsequently, implications of yoga in clinical practice are elaborated, followed by examination of the issues in interpretation of the literature of published yoga related studies.