Kripalu Institute for Extraordinary Living
Changing the World Through Yoga Research
What if we were to make yoga widely available to children in schools? To our military personnel? To those with mental and physical illness? To our elderly?
Yoga has the potential to change our world-both through the alleviation of suffering and the creation of vast opportunities for self-fulfillment. Those of us who practice yoga know that this is true. But in order to bring the transformational effects of yoga deeply into our society, these effects must first be scientifically evaluated—and that’s just what we're doing at Kripalu’s Institute for Extraordinary Living (IEL).
Did you know that the IEL sponsors the largest and most influential team of yoga researchers in the West? We currently support a team of Harvard Medical School faculty and research assistants who are studying the effects of yoga on a wide spectrum of human functioning—from mental and physical health to the development of extraordinary states of consciousness.
Please find out more about our work by reviewing the information throughout this website. If you can, I urge you to make a donation (at right) to support one of our projects. You can bring the gift of yoga to inner-city school children, to war veterans with PTSD, to disadvantaged adults suffering from obesity, and to so many others who might not otherwise have access to yoga.
Thank you for joining us in this historic effort.
—Stephen Cope, Director, Institute for Extraordinary Living
Current IEL Projects
The investigation of thousands of years old yoga practices with contemporary scientific techniques—it’s an exciting prospect. Do these ancient practices really work? How do they work? Why do they work? What are the real effects of yoga on contemporary practitioners? What are the “mechanisms of effect”—the active ingredients of yoga practice? Nuanced, scientific answers to these questions are now within our grasp.
Yoga in the Schools A short-term study (currently ongoing) and a long-term study (now in the planning stages) exploring the effects of yoga on the mental health and performance of adolescents in a secondary school setting—providing yoga within the school curriculum. This study is done in conjunction with Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.
Find out more about this research project.
Military Populations and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder A groundbreaking study of the effects of yoga on American military personnel—both active duty and veterans—who have been diagnosed with PTSD. This three-year study is funded by the Department of Defense.
Find out more about this research project.
Yoga and the Brain A study of the effects of long-term yoga practice on the structure and function of the brain, using cutting-edge MRI technology. Carried out in collaboration with Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, this study compares adept yogis with adept meditators.
Find out more about this research project.
Yoga and Weight Loss A three-year pilot study of the effects of regular yoga practice on weight loss and associated parameters of physical and psychological well-being, done in collaboration with the Osher Institute of Harvard Medical School.
Find out more about this research project.
The IEL Standardized Yoga Curriculum The development of a standardized yoga curriculum, giving researchers a replicable and reliable intervention which will facilitate comparisons between and across populations.
Find out more about this research project.
Stephen Cope is the Director of the Institute for Extraordinary Living. He is a Western-trained psychotherapist who writes and teaches about the relationship between Western psychological paradigms and the Eastern contemplative traditions. Stephen holds degrees from Amherst College and Boston College. He did graduate and postgraduate training in psychoanalytic psychotherapy in the Boston area, where he practiced for many years before joining the staff at Kripalu Center. In its twenty-fifth anniversary edition, Yoga Journal named him one of the most important innovators in the developing field of American yoga. Stephen is a classically trained pianist and has danced professionally with a ballet and modern-dance company.
Stephen works with a talented and committed staff, bringing together a rich and impressive variety of skills. Meet the IEL team.
