Iyengar Yoga for Prolonged Grief Disorder (Yoga)

Iyengar Yoga as a Probe of Prolonged Grief Disorder Neurobiology

Experiencing the death of a loved one is inevitable for older adults. Before the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, over 2.5 million people died annually in the United States, including 52,000 in Wisconsin alone, and COVID-19 has added to this toll. Each person who dies leaves an average of five grieving people behind. Most grieving older adults are resilient and recover their pre-loss functioning within one year. However, in about 10%, acute grief becomes protracted and debilitating, leading to the development of prolonged grief disorder (PGD), a clinically diagnosable mental health condition. PGD in older adults increases the risk for poorer medical, mental health, and cognitive outcomes; lower quality of life; disability; premature mortality; and suicide. Despite the magnitude of this problem, the neurobiology of PGD in older adults is poorly understood. By using Iyengar Yoga (IY) as a probe for PGD neurobiology, this pilot project aims to address this critical gap.

Study Overview

• Status: Active, not recruiting
• Conditions: Prolonged Grief Disorder
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Iyengar Yoga; Other: Socialization Control

Detailed Description

Our goal is to conduct a pilot study to examine in PGD the modulating effects of 10-week IY on circulating endocannabinoid and emotion processing brain circuit, and the associations between biological changes and clinical response.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 68
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Wisconsin
    • Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, United States, 53226
      • Medical College of Wisconsin

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 40 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Male or female greater than or equal to 40 years of age
• Bereavement >6 months
• Score greater than or equal to 25 on the Inventory of Complicated Grief (ICG)
• Presence of PGD (subsyndromal and syndromal)
• Adequate visual and auditory acuity

Exclusion Criteria:

• Delirium/unstable medical conditions
• Lifetime history of neurological illnesses: seizures, stroke, dementia of any etiology, severe head injury, brain tumor or surgery
• Serious back, joint or neck injuries within the past 3 months
• Currently practicing yoga
• Gross structural abnormalities on T1-weighted images
• Lifetime history of the following psychiatric disorders: bipolar or psychotic disorders, including psychotic depression
• Current alcohol/drug abuse or dependence
• Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contraindications
• Acute suicidality

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Other
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

3

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Iyengar Yoga; Participants will engage in 10 weekly IY classes	Other: Iyengar Yoga; Participation in Iyengar Yoga classes
Active Comparator: Socialization Control; Participants will engage in 10 weekly socialization control group sessions	Other: Socialization Control; Participation in socialization control group sessions
No Intervention: Healthy Comparison Group; A group of participants will also be followed for 10 weeks

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in circulating endocannabinoid concentrations	Change in circulating endocannabinoids from baseline to post-intervention	10 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in neural activity measured using Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)	Change in neural activity from baseline to post-intervention	10 weeks
Inventory of Complicated Grief (ICG) scale score change	ICG score ranges from 0 to 76 (higher scores indicate worse outcome)	10 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Medical College of Wisconsin

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Goveas JS, Hwang G, McAuliffe TL, Blair NP, Webber A, Claesges SA, Murphy LM, Chandler K, Reynolds CF, Hainsworth KR. Iyengar yoga and health education interventions for prolonged grief disorder in later life: feasibility of a randomized controlled pilot trial. Sci Rep. 2025 Dec 24;15(1):44604. doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-28397-5.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): August 30, 2021
• Primary Completion (Estimated): August 1, 2026
• Study Completion (Estimated): December 1, 2026

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: August 24, 2021
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: August 27, 2021
• First Posted (Actual): August 30, 2021

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimated): January 12, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 9, 2026
• Last Verified: January 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Trauma and Stressor Related Disorders; Mental Disorders; Prolonged Grief Disorder
• Other Study ID Numbers: 00003864

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No
• product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.: No