PEOPLE dealing with anxiety in Ilkley will be prescribed yoga classes as part of a new health study.

The pilot research project will test how relaxation, exercise and social support impact those with generalised anxiety disorder (GAD).

Free targeted yoga classes will offer relaxation, exercise, breathing techniques and social time with like-minded people.

The pilot research study is being funded by the National Lottery's Community Fund in Yorkshire and will be conducted by the charity British Wheel of Yoga Qualifications (BWYQ).

Relaxation, exercise and social support are essential ingredients for success in the management of anxiety, according to Anxiety UK.

Targeted yoga classes offering relaxation, exercise, breathing techniques and social time with like-minded people may be of great benefit.

BWYQ’s charity chair Laura Bissell said: “The grant will allow us to provide free places to 72 adults with Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD) for the first 12 weeks of the New Year with weekly group classes set up in six different locations: Barnsley, Beverley, Bradford, Ilkley, Rotherham and a weekly online class on Zoom is also available.”

BWYQ Operations Coordinator Jenny Howsam said: “Potential participants with GAD will need to complete a screening questionnaire as soon as possible, so that the consent form can be signed in December.

“At the first session in January and last session in March, either Laura or I will be present for the completion of participants’ pre and post-intervention questionnaires.

"We also hope to interview some of you at the end of the study.”

It isn’t the first time the charity has explored the impact of yoga on people’s wellbeing.

Ms Howsam and BWYQ’s charity chair, Ms Bissell, were the co-applicants and yoga consultants on a large four-year national trial that studied the effects of yoga on older adults with multiple long-term conditions.

In the latest trial, chartered psychologist and UKCP registered psychotherapist Annemarie Visser will be the project’s mental health consultant.

Ms Visser is from BWYQ’s recognised centre, The Society of Yoga Practitioners (TSYP), where she also heads the Yoga Therapy department.

Yoga therapist Susie Dennis will be running Bradford’s sessions at 2pm on Tuesdays and Ilkley’s sessions at 2.30pm on Thursdays.

A weekly online class on Zoom is also available.

For more information, people should visit: bwyq.org.uk/information/116/YOGAD.htm To register your interest in being a participant, email: BWYQchair@gmail.com