Flowing forward: yoga and self-management for long COVID recovery

Long COVID is a complex, multisystem condition that affects physical, psychological, and social well-being, yet treatment options remain limited. Yoga and self-management have each demonstrated benefits in chronic disease populations, but their combined use for individuals with long COVID (PwLC) has not been investigated. This single-arm pilot study evaluated the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary outcomes of an eight-week remotely delivered intervention integrating yoga and self-management education (MY -Skills Mobile). Sixteen participants enrolled and fifteen completed the program. Feasibility was supported by high eligibility (100%), consent (70%), yoga attendance (86.7%), and self-management module completion (65%). Attrition was minimal (6.25%) and no adverse events occurred. Acceptability benchmarks were met, with participants rating the intervention highly on telehealth usability and mobile application measures, and most reporting improvements in stress, bodily comfort, and overall quality of life. Preliminary outcomes showed small positive effects in health-related quality of life (7–8% improvement, d = 0.38–0.44) and long COVID symptom burden (7.1% reduction, d = 0.25). Fatigue and pain outcomes showed mixed trends, with changes not reaching clinically significant thresholds. Findings suggest that MY -Skills Mobile is feasible, acceptable, and safe for PwLC, with promising though modest effects on quality of life and symptom burden. Future randomized controlled trials are warranted to determine efficacy and explore scalability of this integrative approach.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science (M.S.)

Level thesis:degree_level

Masters

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Health and Exercise Science

Grantor dc:publisher

Colorado State University. Libraries

Year dc:date.issued

2025

Authors dc:creator

• Willard, Zoë, author
• Leach, Heather, advisor
• Portz, Jennifer, committee member
• Schmid, Arlene, committee member

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright and other restrictions may apply. User is responsible for compliance with all applicable laws. For information about copyright law, please see https://libguides.colostate.edu/copyright.

Language dc:language.iso

eng, English

Identifier URI

https://doi.org/10.25675/3.025560

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:mountainscholar.org:10217/242668