Yoga is much more than twisting yourself into a pretzel. The practice is primarily for meditation, not physical fitness. Quieting the mind is the ultimate goal, but undeniably the practice can be used for fitness alone. The poses are meant to enhance your inner peace, but it’s also true that they can make you strong and flexible as they clear your head.

Whether for physical fitness or mental health, or ideally both, practicing yoga is increasingly being embraced across the country by people from all walks of life. That is especially so for those who are seeking to improve their overall wellness, which should be your goal if you’re living with hepatitis C virus (HCV).

Getting and staying healthy before, during and after HCV treatment is vital for your wellness. Getting as healthy as you can prior to treatment gives you more options. Staying as healthy as possible during and after treatment solidifies the benefits you’ve gained. Practicing yoga and following wellness tips can make a real difference.

Such was the case for our cover gal, Sheila Dewey, a yoga enthusiast and mother of six. In 2014, Dewey was among the first wave of people to be cured of hep C using the latest highly effective, interferon-free medications. Her journey from injection drug user to wellness advocate spans decades, but she believes that it has all been worth it. Click here to read about the steps she took to start and keep living a healthy life.

Even with all the latest drugs making treatment easier and faster than ever before for most HCV-positive people, some folks living with the virus are still not cured. A small number of them may have gone through the new treatments unsuccessfully, which is increasingly rare but nonetheless possible.

However, more often than not these days the reason many people with hep C have not started treatment is because the new drugs are not yet approved for their genotype. HCV has seven different genotypes, or genetic structures. Most of the new drugs are approved for genotype 1, which is the most common worldwide and in the United States.

Recently, new drugs were approved for those with genotypes 3 and 4. Click here and here to read more about these new drugs. Also, get the latest updates on difficult-to-treat cases, shorter treatment lengths and other hepatitis news.