AIIMS experts tout yoga as complementary therapy for women's hormonal health

On International Yoga Day, doctors at India's premier medical institutions are making a case that may seem counterintuitive to anyone who has spent years chasing pharmaceutical solutions: a regular yoga practice, woven into the fabric of daily life, can meaningfully shift how a woman's body manages one of the most common hormonal disorders she might face.

The condition in question has a new name as of 2026. What was once called polycystic ovary syndrome, or PCOS, is now polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome—PMOS—a shift in nomenclature that reflects a deeper understanding of what the disease actually does. It is not simply an ovarian problem. It is a disorder that ripples through multiple hormonal and metabolic pathways at once, affecting menstrual regularity, fertility, weight, skin clarity, and the body's ability to process insulin. Millions of women worldwide live with it. The symptoms are visible and often distressing: irregular periods, acne, unwanted hair growth, difficulty losing weight, and the harder-to-quantify but no less real struggle to conceive.

What AIIMS researchers and other medical experts are now emphasizing is that stress sits at the center of this tangle. When a woman experiences chronic stress, her body produces elevated cortisol—the stress hormone—and this elevation worsens insulin resistance, one of the core drivers of PMOS. As insulin resistance deepens, androgen levels rise, which in turn triggers a cascade of symptoms: the periods become more erratic, the acne flares, the weight becomes harder to manage. Stress and hormonal disruption feed each other in a cycle that is difficult to break.

Yoga, these experts argue, offers a way to interrupt that cycle. A structured yoga program studied at AIIMS showed measurable results: adolescent girls with PCOS who participated in the program experienced reduced anxiety and improved hormonal parameters. The research suggests yoga functions not as a replacement for medical treatment but as a genuine complement to it. Dr. Rabindra Mohan Acharya, Director of VYASA Delhi, frames PMOS as a multidimensional challenge affecting both body and mind, one that requires stress reduction, yoga, mindfulness, and lifestyle changes working alongside conventional medical care. Dr. Rima Dada, a professor at AIIMS Delhi, points to growing evidence that psychological stress and hormonal health are inseparable: chronic stress damages reproductive and metabolic pathways, while integrating yoga and meditation with standard treatment improves both physical and emotional outcomes.

But the emotional dimension of PMOS remains largely overlooked. Many women focus on the visible markers—the weight, the acne, the irregular bleeding—while carrying in silence the anxiety, depression, sleep disruption, and damage to self-esteem that often accompany the condition. Dr. Kadambini Acharya, Assistant Director at VYASA Delhi, emphasizes that this emotional burden deserves equal clinical attention. The stress of living with PMOS, compounded by poor sleep and unhealthy habits, significantly affects hormonal health. When women incorporate yoga, mindfulness, and relaxation into their daily routines, the outcomes shift across all dimensions: physical, mental, and reproductive.

The specific yoga practices that appear most helpful combine physical postures, breathing exercises, and meditation. Dr. Ishwar V Basavaraddi, Director of the Morarji Desai National Institute of Yoga, describes yoga as a non-pharmaceutical approach to stress management that improves autonomic balance and emotional resilience while supporting hormonal regulation and metabolic health. The benefits extend beyond stress reduction alone: regular practice can improve sleep quality, enhance insulin sensitivity, build emotional resilience, and encourage healthier lifestyle choices overall.

Yet experts are careful to frame yoga not as a cure or even as a primary treatment, but as one essential piece of a larger puzzle. Medical care remains necessary. So do balanced nutrition, regular physical activity, adequate sleep, and deliberate stress management. There is no single solution to PMOS. What works is the combination—the willingness to address the condition from multiple angles at once, treating not just the symptoms that show but the stress and emotional weight that compounds them. As awareness of PMOS grows, the medical consensus is shifting: yoga should be understood not as an optional wellness activity but as an integral part of how women manage this condition over the long term.