Effect of Yoga-Nidra as an adjunct to standard treatment in a young male subject with post-COVID pneumonia

Abstract

Post COVID-19 patients tend to suffer from ongoing or new symptoms like shortness of breath, fatigue, lack of mental clarity etc. In some severe cases, these might lead to pulmonary fibrosis and need persistent oxygen requirement. Yoga & meditation interventions have been used as an effective adjunct to chronic respiratory diseases in the past. However, this case presents the use of 20 minutes yoga-nidra sessions to cope-up with persistent low-flow oxygen requirement, tachycardia in a 23-year-old male subject over the course of 9 days. This case shows that regular practice of yoga-nidra, without any breath-work and/or bodily postures, might help aid rehabilitation of post-COVID patients and those with severe pulmonary complications when given as a complementary therapy, especially among those unable to do asana or pranayama due to lack of strength, old-age or any other medical reasons. Future pilot studies are necessitated to create further new evidence. It also brings to light the vast untapped potential of mHealth aided Online yoga-based interventions that may spearhead future research in this domain of knowledge, especially during situations like the COVID pandemic.