Dru yoga is a style of yoga that works with postures, breath work, relaxation and meditation. Its series or sequences are called Energy Block Release. According to "Dru World Wide" this yoga style has thousands of practitioners in 31 countries. The word Dru in the name refers to the HindudeityDhruva, a prince in Hindu mythology whom the god Vishnu honored with the eternal abode on the Pole Star. Dru also can be translated as 'north star' and represents our 'inner still-point'. Dru Yoga aims to create healing and unity by combining Asanas, Pranayama and the ancient Eastern tradition of Mudras. There are a number of books published about Dru Yoga.
History
Dru was started in 1978 by Mansukh Patel, Chris Barrington, Rita Goswami, Annie Jones and John Jones at Bangor University. It is inspired by the teachings of Francis of Assisi and Mahatma Gandhi. With their head office in Nant Ffrancon in a former motel, near Bethesda, Gwynedd Dru Worldwide and affiliates have registered Dru yoga as their trademark in Australia and the US. The organisation changed its name from Life Foundation School of Therapeutics Ltd to the World Peace Flame Foundation, and has also been known as Life Foundation International, Dru Ltd and Dru World Wide.
Academic research
McDonald, A., Burjan, E., Martin, S.. Yoga for patients and carers in a palliative day care setting. International Journal of Palliative Nursing, 12:519-23. This study suggests that Dru yoga benefited patients in palliative care settings. A 12-week Dru Yoga pilot project was introduced into a day care unit and proved to be highly successful.
Hartfiel, N., Havenhand, J., Khalsa, S.B., Clarke, G. and Krayer, A.. The effectiveness of yoga for the improvement of well-being and resilience to stress in the workplace. Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment, and Health, 37:70-76. A six-week intervention showed that even a short program of Dru yoga was effective for enhancing emotional well-being and resilience to stress in the workplace. The Dru yoga group reported marked improvements in feelings of clear-mindedness, composure, elation, energy, and confidence. In addition, the Dru yoga group reported increased life purpose and satisfaction, and feelings of greater self-confidence during stressful situations.
Hartfiel, N., Burton, C., Rycroft-Malone, J., Clarke, G., Havenhand, J., Khalsa, S.B. and Edwards, R.T.. Yoga for reducing perceived stress and back pain at work. Occupational Medicine, 8:606-612. In comparison to the control group, the Dru yoga group reported significant reductions in perceived stress and back pain, and a substantial improvement in psychological well-being. When compared with the control group at the end of the programme, the yoga group scores were significantly lower for perceived stress, back pain, sadness and hostility, and substantially higher for feeling self-assured, attentive and serene.
Brukner, P., Nealon, A., Morgan, C., Burgess, D. and Dunn, A. Recurrent hamstring muscle injury: applying the limited evidence in the professional football setting with a seven-point programme. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 48:929-938. In this case study, Dru Yoga was practised by a professional footballer who sustained five hamstring injuries in a relatively short period of time. The injury was managed successfully with a seven-point programme which included regular sessions of Dru Yoga. These consisted of Dru fascial warm-up techniques; intense hamstring and low back stretches; guided Dru relaxations and Dru breath training. The player soon reported subjective improvement in his hamstring freedom.
Timlin, D. and Simpson, E.. A preliminary randomised control trial of the effects of Dru yoga on psychological well-being in Northern Irish first time mothers. Midwifery, 46:29-36. This study showed that Dru yoga improved the psychological well-being of first time mothers, reduced educed global stress levels, decreased negative affect and dysfunctional coping, enhanced problem focused coping, and could be recommended to improve health and fitness in the postpartum.
Hartfiel, N., Clarke, G., Havenhand, J., Phillips, C. and Edwards, R.T.. Cost-effectiveness of yoga for managing musculoskeletal conditions in the workplace. Occupational Medicine, 67:687-695. This study showed that an eight week Dru yoga programme, with a 6-month follow-up, for National Health Service employees was effective for improving quality of life and reducing sickness absence due to back pain and musculoskeletal conditions. The results showed that Dru yoga is likely to be cost-effective for the NHS.
Hartfiel, N. and Edwards, R.T.. Yoga in the workplace can reduce back pain and sickness absence. The results of this study showed NHS staff who participated in an eight week Dru Yoga programme had larger reductions in back pain compared to a control group. After six months, employee staff records showed that the yoga participants had 20 times less sick leave due to musculoskeletal conditions than the control group. NHS staff who practiced Dru yoga during the six month study visited health professionals for back pain only half as often as control group participants.
Criticism
The Sunday Mail reported in 2001 that of funds raised only a fraction went to charity. In 2006 ex-members of the organization came forward with allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse within the organization. Other efforts by the Life Foundation were criticized, such as the Eternal Peace Flame. The Dutch web directory SIMPOS was at one time collating articles in English, critical of the organisation and its former leader Mansukh Patel, who has since returned to the top of the leadership team.
