DURHAM, N.C. -

Millions of people practice yoga as a way to stay fit or for relaxation, but could it be used as medication?

Nine-year-old Aaron Schaefer spent years battling debilitating migraines caused by stress, but since starting a yoga class, his headaches are gone.

"When I started taking [the class], it was like a cure from heaven," Schaefer said.

Researchers at Duke University are studying whether a program that combines yoga and other therapies can help children's mental and physical health.

"It calms you down. It relaxes your body. It lowers your heart rate. It lowers your respiration and, in general, it reduces the effects of stress on your body," said Dr. Murali Doraiswamy, professor of psychiatry at Duke Medicine.

Doraiswamy said these relaxation responses can help mild depression and sleep disorders. Yoga may also provide additional benefits for people with schizophrenia and ADHD when combined with standard drugs.

"The benefits were of the same magnitude of the benefits we see with psychiatric medications," Doraiswamy said.

Previous studies have shown yoga-based techniques can help individuals cope with anxiety, stress, and poor mood. Researchers are studying whether these methods can be adapted for children and teens.

"Often times, [children] dont fully understand that kind of awareness of body and the awareness of how their thoughts and emotions can be tied in with how theyre feeling physically," said Anava Wren, doctoral candidate in clinical psychology at Duke University.

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Health Beat: Yoga for kids

11 July 2013 Last updated at 09:02 ET

Yoga can improve mood and mental wellbeing among prisoners, an Oxford University study has claimed.

Researchers aimed to see if a trial ten-week yoga course, run by the Prison Phoenix Trust charity, could ease aggression and antisocial behaviour.

Dr Amy Bilderbeck said yoga could "possibly aid in managing the burden of mental health problems in prisons".

Inmates from West Midlands' category B and C prisons, a women's prison and a young offender institution took part.

The team from Oxford University's Departments of Experimental Psychology and Psychiatry measured their mood, stress, impulsivity and mental wellbeing compared to other prisoners.

Dr Bilderbeck said: 'We found that the group that did the yoga course showed an improvement in positive mood, a decrease in stress and greater accuracy in a computer test of impulsivity and attention.

"Offering yoga sessions in prisons is cheap, much cheaper than other mental health interventions. If it has any effect on addressing mental health problems in prisons, it could save significant amounts of public money."

She cautioned that yoga lessons would not "suddenly turn prisons into calm and serene places, stop all aggression and reduce reoffending rates".

Sam Settle, director of the Oxford-based Prison Phoenix Trust, said: "Yoga and meditation helps them feel better, make better decisions and develop the capacity to think before acting - all essential in leading positive, crime-free lives once back in the community.'

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Yoga in prison can 'improve mood'