Yoga For Psoriasis: What Mr Iyengar, The Yoga Doctors And The Research Say

By Chris Lalor, Certified Senior Iyengar Yoga Teacher and Certified Yoga Therapist, and Dr Stuart McGill, Yoga Teacher, Flametree Yoga Darwin

Does your psoriasis flare when life gets stressful? Many people with psoriasis notice it: a hard month at work, a worry at home, and the patches come back, itchier and angrier. Stress is a well-known trigger for psoriasis, and psoriasis brings its own stress. This guide brings together what Mr BKS Iyengar, Dr Timothy McCall and the research say about yoga, pranayama (yogic breathing), meditation and mindfulness for psoriasis, and for the stress that travels with it. Last updated: 8 November 2026.

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Does yoga help psoriasis? The short answer

Yes, yoga for psoriasis is well worth trying, above all for the stress that so often sets off a flare. In randomised trials, mindfulness and meditation went with clearer skin: people who listened to a mindfulness recording during light therapy cleared faster, and an 8-week online mindfulness course improved skin severity, itch, low mood and quality of life. A good yoga and pranayama class builds that same calm, steady attention. Mr BKS Iyengar set out a sequence of poses for psoriasis and named stress as one of its causes.

Two things to keep in mind as you read. First, the psoriasis trials tested mindfulness and meditation courses, some by audio recording or online, not yoga classes. Second, no trial has yet tested yoga of any style for psoriasis, and none has tested Iyengar yoga, the style we teach. In our view as certified Iyengar teachers, a class that settles the body, the breath and the mind together is likely to go further than a recording alone. Why the kind of yoga matters.

The bottom line: five key moves for psoriasis

1. Go to a yoga class at your level, several times a week. Regular practice settles the stress response that so often sets off a flare. Tell your teacher about your skin, and use a folded blanket under sore knees and elbows.
2. Add breath work (pranayama). A slow, quiet breath calms the mind and brings stress, worry and anger down.
3. Practise calm attention. In the trials, mindfulness courses of 8 weeks or more went with clearer skin and less itch. Holding a yoga pose with steady attention builds the same skill.
4. Make rest part of the practice. Mr Iyengar’s sequence for psoriasis ends with legs up the wall and lying in deep rest (Savasana). Rest poses are where a busy nervous system slows down.
5. Start now. New to Flametree, or away 3 months or more? 2 free classes, then 10 at half price, in Darwin or LIVE online.

Who was Mr BKS Iyengar? Iyengar yoga is the style we teach at Flametree. During the 20th century, Mr BKS Iyengar was the major teacher who codified traditional Indian yoga, through his seminal books and widespread teaching. He also pioneered the use of props, so poses can be adapted to almost any body. His style is sometimes called modern classical yoga. This guide is part of our encyclopaedia of yoga for health conditions.

This guide in short

• Overall evidence: Limited. Best study: A review of six randomised trials found that in five of them, people who practised guided meditation for 8 or 12 weeks rated their psoriasis as less severe (Bartholomew 2022). These trials tested meditation and mindfulness courses, not yoga poses or pranayama. No trial has yet tested yoga for psoriasis.
• Mr BKS Iyengar: named stress and hormonal changes among the causes of psoriasis, and set out a sequence of about 19 poses for it, ending in deep rest.
• Dr Timothy McCall, an American medical doctor and yoga therapist who studied with Mr BKS Iyengar, author of Yoga as Medicine: psoriasis is no. 94 on his list of conditions helped by yoga, resting on an early relaxation study during light therapy.
• The research: no yoga or pranayama trial yet; mindfulness and meditation trials and reviews point to clearer skin, less itch and better quality of life.
• Psoriatic arthritis: see also our arthritis guide.
• Take it further: our free ebook Cutting Stress With Yoga, the 2027 masterclass on anxiety, upsets and anger, and classes in Darwin and online.

What psoriasis is

Psoriasis is a long-lasting skin condition. Mr Iyengar described it as the eruption of “dry, silvery, scaly, or inflamed patches, usually on the knees and elbows”, which can also affect the scalp, the body and the limbs. It often runs in families. It tends to come and go in flares, and reviews describe stress as a well-known trigger for a flare. Some people with psoriasis also develop psoriatic arthritis, with sore, swollen joints.

It is common. In the 2014 to 2015 National Health Survey of the Australian Bureau of Statistics, about 2.6% of Australians said they had psoriasis, as reported in a review by the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. That is roughly 600,000 people, our estimate from that figure. Psoriasis can weigh heavily on how people feel about themselves, and reviews describe high levels of distress alongside the skin.

How yoga breaks into the psoriasis stress circle

Because stress and psoriasis feed each other, several of our other guides go further on the stress side:

• Stress and burnout and anxiety and anger
• Inflammation and the immune system, as psoriasis is an immune condition
• Arthritis, for sore and stiff joints, including psoriatic arthritis
• Sleep and energy and depression and low mood

“We cannot eliminate stress and tension from our lives. That is not the point.”

What did Mr BKS Iyengar teach about psoriasis?

In short: calm the system, and give the practice time. What follows is known from long practice and teacher experience, and has not been tested for psoriasis by modern research. Not yet tested is not the same as wrong.

• Stress is one of the causes. In Yoga: The Path to Holistic Health, his book on yoga for health, Mr Iyengar wrote that psoriasis is often genetic, and that it can also be caused by stress or hormonal changes (Skin chapter). He wrote that skin disorders are common, and that yoga poses offer a healthy and effective way of working with them.
• A sequence of about 19 poses. His psoriasis sequence in that book includes Downward Facing Dog (Adho Mukha Svanasana), Wide-angle Seated Forward Bend (Upavistha Konasana), Headstand (Salamba Sirsasana), the supported backbend Viparita Dandasana, Shoulderstand (Salamba Sarvangasana), forward bends such as Paschimottanasana and Janu Sirsasana, Bridge (Setu Bandha Sarvangasana), legs up the wall (Viparita Karani) and, last, deep rest (Savasana). Several of these are inversions, learned step by step with a teacher. Be guided by your teacher.
• Patience, from his own letters. In 1990 a teacher wrote to Mr Iyengar about a student with psoriasis whose sores had not cleared after about four months of a programme of inversions and supported poses. In substance, he replied that yoga helps the quality of the blood, but the peeling and cracking of the skin can carry on for a while, and yoga may not be the whole answer on its own. A later note said her skin had improved a little, and that her legs no longer went to sleep when she raised them in Viparita Karani. One student, in one letter: not a study, but an honest picture of the time it can take.

Mr Iyengar’s sequence for psoriasis, in outline

“The main causes of negative stress are anger, fear, speed, greed, unhealthy ambition, and competition.”

What Dr Timothy McCall says

In short: psoriasis is on his list. Dr Timothy McCall, an American medical doctor and yoga therapist who studied with Mr Iyengar and wrote Yoga as Medicine, published a list of 117 health conditions helped by yoga in June 2019. Psoriasis is no. 94. Our encyclopaedia uses his list as its backbone and builds on it with newer research.

His reference for no. 94 is an early report from the University of Massachusetts in 1988 (Bernhard, Kristeller and Kabat-Zinn) on relaxation and visualisation alongside light therapy for psoriasis. The same team published the full trial ten years later, described below. Since 2019 more trials and reviews of mindfulness and meditation in psoriasis have been published, and they are added here. We have not yet found psoriasis covered in the other yoga doctors’ books we hold, and will add them as we read further.

What does the research say about yoga for psoriasis?

In short: mindfulness and meditation have been tested in psoriasis, and most of the trials point to clearer skin, less itch or a better quality of life. Yoga poses and pranayama have not yet been tested for psoriasis. Reviews ask for larger, longer trials. No trial has tested Iyengar yoga for psoriasis. Why the difference matters.

Mindfulness and meditation trials

Mindfulness means paying attention on purpose, in the present moment, without judging. In these trials it was taught by audio recording, online, or in group sessions, alongside the person’s usual skin care.

• Psoriasis cleared faster when people listened to a mindfulness recording during light therapy. Kabat-Zinn and others 1998, a randomised trial of 37 people with moderate to severe psoriasis starting light therapy (UVB or PUVA) at the University of Massachusetts. Those who listened to guided mindfulness instructions during their light sessions reached the halfway point and the clearing point of their skin sooner than those who had light therapy alone. Doctors who did not know who had the recording checked the skin. Read the study.
• Eight weeks of online mindfulness improved skin severity, itch, low mood and quality of life compared with usual care alone. Zhao and others 2026, a randomised trial of 109 people with psoriasis in Xi’an, China; 8 weekly online sessions of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) on top of usual care. Anxiety did not differ between the groups. Read the study.
• Meditation alongside a standard psoriasis medicine pointed the same way, though the difference was not clear enough to be sure. Nagendran and others 2026, a randomised trial of 50 adults with moderate to severe psoriasis in Madurai, India, 44 of whom were analysed, over 4 months. 61% of the meditation group reached a 75% improvement in their skin score, against 52% on the medicine alone. Stress, sleep and quality of life trended better with meditation. No side effects from the meditation were reported. Read the study.

What 8 weeks of online mindfulness changed

Reviews of many trials

• In five of six randomised trials, guided meditation for 8 or 12 weeks went with less severe psoriasis, as rated by the people themselves. Bartholomew and others 2022, a review of mindfulness and meditation for psoriasis. The authors say meditation can help both skin severity and quality of life in the short term, and ask for longer studies. Read the study.
• Meditation and guided imagery were among the complementary approaches with the best evidence for psoriasis. Gamret and others 2018, a review in JAMA Dermatology of 44 randomised trials of complementary therapies; meditation and guided imagery were tested in 3 trials of 112 people and showed a modest benefit. Read the study.
• Mindfulness-based therapies were among the most promising psychological approaches for psoriasis. Qureshi and others 2019, a review of 27 sets of patients and 1,522 people, including 16 randomised trials. The authors note that many studies were short and lost people along the way. Read the study.
• Mindfulness-based approaches were named among the most promising mind and body options for skin disease. Rafidi and others 2022, a review of 40 studies and 3,112 people, 18 of them in psoriasis. Read the study.
• Mindfulness added to usual care pointed to a better quality of life with psoriasis, though the range of results was wide. Lu and others 2025, a network meta-analysis (a review that compares many approaches at once) of 13 studies and 1,233 people. The authors rate the studies as low quality. Read the study.
• Online and app-based mindfulness and similar programmes were linked with less psoriasis severity and itch in randomised trials. Lamarre and others 2026, a scoping review of 11 studies, 9 of them in psoriasis. Read the study.

Stress and the skin

• Stress is a well-known trigger for psoriasis to appear or flare, and stress-reduction approaches such as meditation and yoga are part of its care. Basavaraj and others 2011, a review of stress and quality of life in psoriasis. It describes how stress works through the body’s stress hormones and the immune system. Read the study.
• Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) and similar approaches can break the itch, scratch and stress cycle and improve quality of life with skin disease. Kubrak and others 2026, a narrative review of stress-sensitive skin conditions, including psoriasis. Read the study.

Yoga studies

No trial has yet tested yoga of any style for psoriasis. Not yet studied is not the same as not working. Reviews of stress and psoriasis list yoga among the stress-reduction approaches, and an Australian interview study found that people with psoriasis in New South Wales often tried complementary approaches alongside their medical care (Magin 2006, 29 people with psoriasis). Read the study.

Iyengar yoga studies

No trial has yet tested Iyengar yoga for psoriasis. In other conditions, such as back and neck pain, Iyengar yoga taught by trained Iyengar teachers has done well in trials. Iyengar teachers are trained for years and assessed by a panel of senior Iyengar teachers before they are certified, and classes are built around props, so each pose can be adapted to the person and the day. Why the difference matters.

Mindfulness courses and Iyengar yoga for psoriasis

Breathing practice and pranayama

No trial has yet tested breathing exercises or pranayama on their own for psoriasis. Not yet studied is not the same as not working. The pranayama we teach (staircase, ocean, alternate nostril and humming breaths) is slow, quiet and taught step by step, often lying down with the chest supported. A long, soft out-breath is one of the oldest ways to tell a stressed body it is safe, and stress is where psoriasis and the breath meet. Why the kind of breathing matters.

Psoriatic arthritis

• In people with inflammatory arthritis, including psoriatic arthritis, an adapted yoga programme in a health app went with better self-rated overall health. Fedkov and others 2026, a review of the records of 2,924 people using a health app, looked back over 12 weeks. People were not put into groups by chance, so this is an early signal. A tailored exercise programme in the same app eased pain. Read the study.

For sore and stiff joints, our arthritis guide covers the yoga research for rheumatoid arthritis, another inflammatory joint condition, and how Iyengar classes adapt poses for painful joints.

How long and how often?

The trials that changed the skin ran for weeks, not days. The mindfulness recording was used at every light session over the course of light therapy. The online mindfulness course ran 8 weeks, and the meditation trials in the 2022 review ran 8 or 12 weeks. A two-week mindfulness course during a clinic stay raised people’s mindfulness but did not change their skin (Eckardt 2024, 39 people). Read the study. Mr Iyengar’s 1990 letter tells the same story: give it months, and keep going.

“It is better to do a good pose minimum than a bad pose maximum.”

Yoga, pranayama and mindfulness: how they work together

The psoriasis studies above tested mindfulness and meditation courses, not yoga poses. That still counts for our classes. Mindfulness is steady, present attention, and yoga poses and pranayama (yogic breathing) are old routes to that same state. So the mindfulness trials in psoriasis also show what a good yoga and pranayama class can build. No trial separates which part does the work.

We suggest coming to both a yoga class and a pranayama class. Mr Iyengar taught that asana (poses), pranayama and meditation are not divided, and in our experience the two together do more than either alone. See every class time. We trace the history and the links in Yoga And Mindfulness: Why The Mindfulness Research Points Back To Yoga And The Breath.

How this comes together in a Flametree class

Everything above points the same way, and it is how we teach yoga for psoriasis in Darwin and online.

• Tell your teacher about your skin. Classes are adapted to the people in them, and to how you feel on the day.
• Props in every class: blankets, bolsters, belts, blocks, chairs and the wall. A folded blanket under the knees or elbows makes kneeling and weight-bearing poses kinder to sore patches.
• Steady, focused work. Holding a pose with care gives a busy mind one job to do, which is mindfulness in action.
• Rest and breath to finish: every class ends with supported rest, and our pranayama classes go further.
• Quieter options: gentle yoga and restorative yoga for stressed or tired days.

See the timetable and book a class. Body, then breath, then a quieter mind: that is the path a class follows, and it is why we offer poses and breathing together.

Read more on stress, skin and calm

• Yoga for stress and burnout
• Yoga and anxiety
• Yoga for inflammation and the immune system
• My hair fell out from stress, another way stress shows on the body
• How to quiet the mind

Take it further

• Classes, in Darwin or LIVE online: new, or away 3 months or more? 2 free classes, then 10 at half price. Already practising yoga? See the non-beginner half price pass. See the timetable and book.
• Masterclasses: Yoga for anxiety, upsets and anger, Sunday 18 April 2027, one of our 2027 masterclasses with Chris Lalor, where you get the twists, supported forward bends and calming breath that settle the stress response. See the 2027 masterclasses.
• Retreats: a week of daily yoga in Bali. See the retreats.

Other conditions are in our encyclopaedia of yoga for health conditions.

Yoga for psoriasis: questions people ask

Does yoga help psoriasis?

Yoga has not yet been tested for psoriasis itself, but the research on calming the mind points the right way. In randomised trials, mindfulness and meditation went with clearer skin: people listening to a mindfulness recording during light therapy cleared faster (Kabat-Zinn 1998), and 8 weeks of online mindfulness improved skin severity, itch and quality of life (Zhao 2026). Stress is a well-known trigger for flares, and a good yoga and pranayama class builds the same calm attention.

Can yoga cure psoriasis?

No. Psoriasis is a long-lasting condition, and no practice can promise to make it go away. Mr Iyengar himself said that the skin can keep peeling for a while even as yoga helps, and that yoga may not be the whole answer on its own. What the research points to is calmer days, less itch, a better quality of life and, in some trials, clearer skin.

Does stress make psoriasis worse?

Reviews describe stress as a well-known trigger for psoriasis to appear or flare, working through the body’s stress hormones and the immune system (Basavaraj 2011). Psoriasis also brings its own stress. That two-way link is why calming practices such as mindfulness, pranayama and yoga are part of the picture.

Does meditation or mindfulness help psoriasis?

Most of the trials say yes. A review found that in five of six randomised trials, 8 or 12 weeks of guided meditation went with less severe psoriasis (Bartholomew 2022), and reviews name mindfulness among the most promising mind and body approaches (Qureshi 2019; Rafidi 2022). A two-week course was too short to change the skin (Eckardt 2024).

Which yoga poses did Mr Iyengar suggest for psoriasis?

In Yoga: The Path to Holistic Health, his sequence for psoriasis of about 19 poses includes Downward Facing Dog, a wide seated forward bend, Headstand and Shoulderstand, supported backbends, forward bends such as Paschimottanasana, Bridge and legs up the wall, finishing with deep rest (Savasana). Several are inversions, learned step by step. Be guided by your teacher.

Can I do yoga with psoriasis on my knees and elbows?

Yes. In an Iyengar class, a folded blanket goes under the knees or elbows in kneeling and weight-bearing poses, and poses can be adapted with props on a day when the skin is sore. Tell your teacher about your skin.

Can yoga help psoriatic arthritis?

It has not been tested on its own for psoriatic arthritis. In a review of the records of 2,924 people with inflammatory arthritis, including psoriatic arthritis, an adapted yoga programme went with better self-rated overall health (Fedkov 2026). Our arthritis guide sets out the stronger yoga research for rheumatoid arthritis, another inflammatory joint condition.

How long does it take to help, and how often should I practise?

The trials that changed the skin ran 8 to 12 weeks or more; a two-week course raised mindfulness but did not change the skin. Mr Iyengar’s advice to a student in 1990 was to give it months. Come to class several times a week and keep going.

Can I do yoga for psoriasis in Darwin or online?

Yes. Flametree Yoga teaches Iyengar yoga in Woolner and Coolalinga in Darwin, and LIVE online, with pranayama classes for the breath and gentle and restorative classes for stressed days. New students can begin with our new-student offer of 2 free classes, then 10 at half price. Book a class

“Health has to be earned, not bought.”

Where this comes from: BKS Iyengar, Yoga: The Path to Holistic Health (Skin chapter), Light on Life and Astadala Yogamala; his 1990 reply to a teacher about a student with psoriasis (RIMYI student study material). Timothy McCall MD, his June 2019 list of 117 health conditions helped by yoga and its reference list, and Yoga as Medicine (Bantam). Australian Bureau of Statistics, National Health Survey 2014 to 2015, as reported in the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme review of biologics for psoriasis. Studies as linked above, each looked up in PubMed in November 2026. Everything is summarised in our own words.

This page is general information, not medical advice. Flametree Yoga Studio, Darwin and LIVE online.