Linköping University Hosts 2026 Yoga Conference Bridging Research, Clinicians, and Practitioners

Linköping University brought together researchers, clinicians, and yoga practitioners at its Hasselquistsalen venue on Campus Universitetssjukhuset for a one-day conference titled "Evidence on Yoga – Future for Health & Care," with sessions covering everything from cardiac care to cancer rehabilitation.

The conference mixed invited researcher lectures, panel discussions, and practical application elements, with digital attendance available via Zoom for those unable to join on site in Linköping, Sweden.

Among the sessions, Anna Strömberg presented on yoga for patients in cardiac and intensive care settings, joined in that clinical territory by Madeleine Bellfjord, a physiotherapist from Göteborg University. Lotti Orvelius led a dedicated session on teleyoga titled "Teleyoga – Yoga for patients cared within cardiology and intensive care," drawing from LiU's ongoing investigation into whether remotely delivered medical yoga can improve health outcomes. That study has enrolled both heart disease patients and former intensive care patients as participant groups.

The teleyoga work reflects a broader institutional push at LiU to test whether yoga's therapeutic effects hold when delivered at a distance, a question with real implications for patients who cannot access clinical settings.

Affiliated researcher Anna-Karin Ax brought the oncology dimension to the conference. Her work sits at the intersection of clinical nursing and research: "I combine research with clinical work as a contact nurse at an oncology clinic in Linköping," she has written. "Side effects of cancer treatment affect individuals both during the treatment period and long after it has ended. My research focuses on cancer rehabilitation during ongoing oncological treatment, with the aim of improving health-related quality of life for indviduals undergoing cancer therapy."

The conference's central aim was disseminating new research results on yoga's effects for medical conditions while strengthening collaboration across professional lines, connecting the evidence being generated in university labs with the clinicians treating patients and the practitioners delivering yoga on the ground. Registration closed ahead of the event, and no attendance fees were listed on the university's event page.