PEOPLE dealing with anxiety in Bradford will be prescribed yoga classes as part of a new health study.

The pilot research project will test how relaxation, exercise and social support impact those with generalised anxiety disorder (GAD).

Free targeted yoga classes will offer relaxation, exercise, breathing techniques and social time with like-minded people.

According to the NHS, GAD is a long-term condition that causes people to feel anxious about a wide range of situations and issues, rather than one specific event. 

People with GAD will feel anxious most days and may not be able to remember the last time they felt relaxed.

As soon as one anxious thought is resolved, another worry may appear.

The trial will work with 72 adults diagnosed with GAD and provide regular classes for the first 12 weeks of 2024.

There will be weekly group classes set up in six different locations - including Bradford, Ilkley, Barnsley, Rotherham and Beverley.

The study is being run by the charity, British Wheel of Yoga Qualifications (BWYQ), and funded by the National Lottery’s Community Fund in Yorkshire.

BWYQ Operations Coordinator Jenny Howsam said: “Potential participants with GAD will need to complete a screening questionnaire as soon as possible, so that the consent form can be signed in December.

“At the first session in January and last session in March, either Laura or I will be present for the completion of participants’ pre and post-intervention questionnaires.

"We also hope to interview some of you at the end of the study.”

It isn’t the first time the charity has explored the impact of yoga on people’s wellbeing. 

Ms Howsam and BWYQ’s charity chair, Ms Bissell, were the co-applicants and yoga consultants on a large four-year national trial that studied the effects of yoga on older adults with multiple long-term conditions.

In the latest trial, chartered psychologist and UKCP registered psychotherapist Annemarie Visser will be the project’s mental health consultant. 

Ms Visser is from BWYQ’s recognised centre, The Society of Yoga Practitioners (TSYP), where she also heads the Yoga Therapy department. 

Yoga therapist Susie Dennis will be running Bradford’s sessions at 2pm on Tuesdays and Ilkley’s sessions at 2.30pm on Thursdays.

A weekly online class on Zoom is also available.

For more information, people should visit: bwyq.org.uk/information/116/YOGAD.htm 

To register your interest in being a participant, email: BWYQchair@gmail.com