Opioid addiction, also called opioid use disorder (OUD), is a serious health problem worldwide. Recovery from this condition is very difficult, and many people relapse. One major reason is the intense symptoms that happen during withdrawal. These symptoms are partly caused by an imbalance in the nervous system.
A new study published in JAMA Psychiatry has found that practicing yoga, along with standard treatment, can help correct this imbalance and speed up recovery. This could be a helpful addition to current treatment plans for people trying to recover from opioid addiction.
Our body has two main parts of the nervous system that help us respond to the world: the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems. The sympathetic system controls the “fight-or-flight” response.
It makes our heart beat faster, raises blood pressure, and prepares the body to handle danger or stress. The parasympathetic system does the opposite—it calms the body down, slows the heart rate, and helps us relax and digest food.
In people with opioid dependence, the sympathetic system becomes overactive. This creates a long-lasting imbalance that can lead to stronger cravings and a higher chance of relapse.
Scientists use something called heart rate variability (HRV) to measure how balanced these two systems are. A 2024 review showed that people with substance use disorders often have lower HRV, which is linked to more stress, stronger cravings, and worse symptoms. Low HRV means the body is stuck in a stress state and can’t relax properly.
While medications like buprenorphine are helpful in treating opioid addiction, they don’t fully fix this nervous system imbalance. That’s why the researchers wanted to see if yoga could help. Yoga is known to activate the parasympathetic system and improve HRV. The study also looked at yoga’s effects on anxiety, sleep, and pain.
The study included 59 men, aged 18 to 50, who were experiencing mild to moderate withdrawal from opioids. They were randomly divided into two groups. One group received standard care with buprenorphine.
The other group received the same treatment plus 10 yoga sessions over 14 days. Each yoga session lasted 45 minutes and included breathing exercises, gentle movements, relaxation, and guided meditation.
The results were clear. The group that practiced yoga recovered faster from withdrawal. Their average recovery time was just 5 days, compared to 9 days for the group that only received standard care. The yoga group also had better HRV, showing their nervous systems were becoming more balanced.
They also fell asleep 61 minutes faster, on average, than those in the standard care group. Anxiety and pain levels were also lower in the yoga group. The researchers believe this is because yoga doesn’t just treat symptoms—it helps restore important functions in the body that control stress and recovery.
The study showed that 23% of the benefit from yoga came from improving parasympathetic activity. This supports the idea that yoga works by helping the nervous system return to a healthy state.
However, the researchers did mention some limits. All the participants were men, and most were being treated for one type of opioid—tapentadol.
Even so, past studies suggest that the benefits of yoga for the nervous system likely apply to people addicted to other opioids, like morphine or fentanyl. More research is needed with a wider group of people to confirm these results.
Still, this study gives hope that yoga, a simple and low-cost activity, could help people get through the hardest part of recovery and lower their chances of relapsing.
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