Effect of the integrated approach of yoga therapy on platelet count and uric acid in pregnancy: A multicenter stratified randomized single-blind study.

BACKGROUND: Yoga improves maternal and fetal outcomes in pregnancy. Platelet Count and Uric acid (Ua) are valuable screening measures in high-risk pregnancy. AIM: To examine the effect of yoga on platelet counts and serum Ua in high-risk pregnancy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This stratified randomized controlled trial, conducted by S-VYASA University at St. John's Medical College Hospital and Gunasheela Maternity Hospital, recruited 68 women with high-risk pregnancy (30 yoga and 38 controls) in the twelfth week of pregnancy. The inclusion criteria were: Bad obstetrics history, twin pregnancies, maternal age < 20 or > 35 years, obesity (BMI > 30), and genetic history of pregnancy complications. Those with normal pregnancy, anemia (< 10 grams%dl), h/o clotting disorders; renal, hepatic or heart disease; seizure disorder; or structural abnormalities in the pelvis, were excluded. The yoga group practiced simple meditative yoga (three days / week for three months). RESULTS: At baseline, all women had normal platelet counts (> 150×10(9)/L) with a decrease as pregnancy advanced. Ua (normal at baseline) increased in both groups. No one developed abnormal thrombocytopenia or hyperuricemia. Healthy reduction in platelet count (twelfth to twentieth week) occurred in a higher (P < 0.001, Chi(2) test) number of women in the yoga group than the control group. A similar trend was found in uric acid. Significantly lesser number of women in the yoga group (n = 3) developed pregnancy-induced hypertension (PIH) / pre-eclampsia (PE) than those in the control group (n = 12), with absolute risk reduction (ARR) by 21%. CONCLUSION: Antenatal integrated yoga from the twelfth week is safe and effective in promoting a healthy progression of platelets and uric acid in women with high-risk pregnancy, pointing to healthy hemodilution and better physiological adaptation.

Effects of yoga practice on acumeridian energies: Variance reduction implies benefits for regulation.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: This paper concerns mechanisms responsible for the efficacy of yoga medicine, traditionally attributed to the enlivenment of prana. Our strategy was to investigate levels of Qi in acupuncture meridians, since Qi is usually considered equivalent to prana. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Electrodermal measurements at acumeridian endpoints (Tsing points) were made on 32 healthy individuals, pre and post 3 weeks yoga lifestyle program using AcuGraph 3 (an instrument in wide use). A previous study found that inherent errors prevent AcuGraph from precisely evaluating Qi energies in single meridians, so group results are reported: (a) Energy levels, (b) energy stability, and (c) energy balance between (i) Yin/Yang meridians, (ii) upper and lower, and (iii) left and right regions of the body. RESULTS: Significant improvements were observed in all but energy stability, supporting the ideas that yoga enlivens prana, and that balance in meridians constitutes health. For balance variables, the study observed shifts toward normal at both ends of variable distributions, reducing standard deviations: post-intervention percentages of subjects with values in the 'healthy' range increased. CONCLUSION: Yoga improved regulation of Qi levels in acumeridian meridians as well as increasing them.

Development and feasibility of need-based yoga program for family caregivers of in-patients with schizophrenia in India.

CONTEXT AND AIM: Yoga has been found to be effective in the management of stress. This paper describes the development of a yoga program aimed to reduce burden and improve coping of family caregivers of inpatients with schizophrenia in India. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Based on the assessment of caregiver needs, literature review, and expert opinion, a ten-day group yoga program was initially developed using the qualitative inductive method of inquiry. Each day's program included warm-up exercises, yogic asanas, pranayama, and satsang. A structured questionnaire eliciting comments on each day's contents was given independently to ten experienced yoga professionals working in the field of health for validation. The final version of the program was pilot-tested on a group of six caregivers of in-patients with schizophrenia admitted at NIMHANS, Bangalore. RESULTS: On the question of whether the program would help reduce the burden of caregivers, six of the ten experts (60%) gave a rank of four of five (very much useful). Based on comments of the experts, several changes were made to the program. In the pilot-testing stage, more than 60% of the caregivers assigned a score of four and above (on a five-point Likert scale, five being extremely useful) for the overall program, handouts distributed, and performance of the trainer. Qualitative feedback of the caregivers further endorsed the feasibility and usefulness of the program. CONCLUSION: The developed yoga program was found to be acceptable to caregivers of in-patients with schizophrenia.

Barriers to yoga therapy as an add-on treatment for schizophrenia in India.

AIM: To describe the possible barriers to yoga therapy for patients with schizophrenia in India. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In a randomized control trial at NIMHANS, patients with schizophrenia (on stable doses of antipsychotics, 18-60 years of age, with a Clinical Global Impression-Severity score of 3 or more) were randomized into one of three limbs: Yoga therapy, physical exercise and waitlist. Of 857 patients screened, 392 (45.7%) patients were found eligible for the study. Among them, 223 (56.8%) declined to take part in the trial. The primary reasons for declining were analyzed. RESULTS: The primary reasons for declining were (a) distance from the center (n=83; 37.2%); (b) no one to accompany them for training (n=25; 11.2%); (c) busy work schedule (n=21, 9.4%); (d) unwilling to come for one month (n=11; 4.9%), (e) not willing for yoga therapy (n=9, 4.0%); (f) personal reasons (n=3, 1.3%); (g) religious reasons (n=1, 0.4%). In 70 patients (31.6%), no reasons were ascribed. No patient refused citing research nature of the intervention as a reason. CONCLUSION: More than half of the patients eligible for yoga did not consent to the study. Logistic factors, such as the need for daily training under supervision in a specialized center for long periods, are the most important barriers that prevent patients with schizophrenia from receiving yoga therapy. Alternative models/schedules that are patient-friendly must be explored to reach the benefit of yoga to patients with schizophrenia.

Effect of integrated yogic practices on positive and negative emotions in healthy adults.

BACKGROUND: Studies on affective wellbeing have shown the beneficial role of positive emotions on cognitive processing and the harmful role of negative emotions on coping, stress and health status. Studies have shown that yoga practices reduce anxiety and depression and improve wellbeing. OBJECTIVE: The aims of the study were to, (i) examine the safety and feasibility of conducting a weeklong free yoga camp, and (ii) assess its impact on the negative and positive affect in normal healthy volunteers. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this open-arm study450 participants were taught integrated yoga module. It included asanas, pranayama, relaxation, notional correction and devotional sessions. Assessment was carried out on the first and last day of the camp, using a modified version of Positive Affect Negative Affect Scale (PANAS). It has ten questions each to measure positive (PA) and negative affect (NA). Nine questions have been added which are referred as other positive affect (OPA) and other negative affect (ONA) domains. RESULTS: Three hundred and twelve sets of pre-post data were analyzed. There was an increase in PA of PANAS by 13% (P<0.001, Wilcoxon's signed rank test) and OPA by 17% (P<0.001). The NA reduced by 47% (P<0.001) and ONA by 48% (P<0.001). CONCLUSION: It is feasible and safe to conduct a weeklong yoga camp in an urban setting, and integrated yoga practices can reduce the negative affect and increase the positive affect within one week.

Brainstem auditory-evoked potentials in two meditative mental states.

CONTEXT: Practicing mental repetition of "OM" has been shown to cause significant changes in the middle latency auditory-evoked potentials, which suggests that it facilitates the neural activity at the mesencephalic or diencephalic levels. AIMS: The aim of the study was to study the brainstem auditory-evoked potentials (BAEP) in two meditation states based on consciousness, viz. dharana, and dhyana. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirty subjects were selected, with ages ranging from 20 to 55 years (M=29.1; ±SD=6.5 years) who had a minimum of 6 months experience in meditating "OM". Each subject was assessed in four sessions, i.e. two meditation and two control sessions. The two control sessions were: (i) ekagrata, i.e. single-topic lecture on meditation and (ii) cancalata, i.e. non-targeted thinking. The two meditation sessions were: (i) dharana, i.e. focusing on the symbol "OM" and (ii) dhyana, i.e. effortless single-thought state "OM". All four sessions were recorded on four different days and consisted of three states, i.e. pre, during and post. RESULTS: The present results showed that the wave V peak latency significantly increased in cancalata, ekagrata and dharana, but no change occurred during the dhyana session. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggested that information transmission along the auditory pathway is delayed during cancalata, ekagrata and dharana, but there is no change during dhyana. It may be said that auditory information transmission was delayed at the inferior collicular level as the wave V corresponds to the tectum.

Impact of yoga way of life on organizational performance.

BACKGROUND: Organizational performance can be attributed to a number of factors. However, there are certain organizational factors, the presence or absence of which can determine the success or failure of the organization. There are different ways in which organizations try to improve their performance by working on such factors. In the research presented in this article, an attempt is made to find out whether adoption of the Yoga Way of Life by managers can have a positive impact on such organizational performance indicators. AIMS: To measure effect of yoga way of life on five different indicators through an empirical study. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The five indicators are job satisfaction, job involvement, goal orientation, affective organizational commitment and organizational citizenship behavior. STATISTICS ANALYSIS: Pre- and post-data was measured using self-reported questionnaire. Independent T-test (Paired) and Pearson's correlation test were conducted using SPSS. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: The results of the study show that Yoga has a significant positive impact on four out of five of these indicators. Only job involvement does not show significant improvement. The construct used for measuring job involvement had a Chronbach alpha of 0.613, which is an indicator of moderate reliability, which could be the main reason for not getting positive result.

Immediate effect of two yoga-based relaxation techniques on attention in children.

AIMS: To investigate the effect of two yoga-based relaxation techniques, namely, cyclic meditation (CM) and supine rest (SR), using the six letter cancellation task (SLCT). MATERIALS AND METHODS: The subjects consisted of 208 school students, (132 boys, 76 girls) in the age range of 13 - 16 years. The subjects were assessed on SLCT before and immediately after both yoga-based relaxation techniques. RESULTS: After both practices, the total and net scores were significantly increased, although the magnitude of change was more after CM than after SR in the net scores (14.5 versus 11.31%). The net score change in the CM session was significantly larger than the change in the SR, whereas, there was no significant change in the wrong cancellation score. After either practice, the total and net scores were significantly increased, irrespective of gender and age. CONCLUSIONS: Both CM and SR led to improvement in performance, as assessed by SLCT, but the change caused by CM was larger than SR.

Meditation on OM: Relevance from ancient texts and contemporary science.

BACKGROUND: In Indian scriptures the sacred syllable Om is the primordial sound from which all other sounds and creation emerge which signifies the Supreme Power. AIMS: To explore the significance of the syllable OM from ancient texts and effects of OM meditation in contemporary science. DESCRIPTIONS FROM ANCIENT TEXTS: The descriptions of Om have been taken from four Upanisads (Mundaka, Mandukya, Svetasvatara, and Katha), the Bhagvad Gita, and Patanjali's Yoga Sutras. SCIENTIFIC STUDIES ON OM: Autonomic and respiratory studies suggest that there is a combination of mental alertness with physiological rest during the practice of Om meditation. Evoked potentials studies suggest a decrease in sensory transmission time at the level of the auditory association cortices, along with recruitment of more neurons at mesencephalic-diencephalic levels. CONCLUSIONS: It is considered that a person who realizes Om, merges with the Absolute. Scientific studies on Om suggest that the mental repetition of Om results in physiological alertness, and increased sensitivity to sensory transmission.

Measures of heart rate variability in women following a meditation technique.

Certain time domain, frequency domain and a nonlinear measure of heart rate variability are studied in women following a meditative practice called cyclic meditation. The nonlinear measure studied is the sampling entropy. We show that there is an increase in the sampling entropy in the meditative group as compared to the control group. The time domain measure called pNNx is shown to be useful in distinguishing between the meditative state and a normal resting state.

Complimentary effect of yogic sound resonance relaxation technique in patients with common neck pain.

BACKGROUND: Studies have shown that conventional treatment methods with drugs, physiotherapy and exercises for common neck pain (CNP) may be inadequate. Yoga techniques have been found to be effective complimentary therapies in chronic low back pain and also for stress reduction in other diseases. OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to examine the complimentary role of a yogic relaxation called mind sound resonance technique (MSRT) in non-surgical management of CNP. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this randomized controlled study, 60 patients with CNP were assigned to two groups (yoga, n=30) and (control, n=30). The yoga group received yogic MSRT for 20 minutes in supine position after the conventional physiotherapy program for 30 minutes using pre-recorded audio CD and the control group had non-guided supine rest for 20 minutes (after physiotherapy), for 10 days. MSRT provides deep relaxation for both mind and body by introspective experience of the sound resonance in the whole body while repeating the syllables A, U, M and Om and a long chant (Mahamrityunjaya mantra) several times in a meaningful sequence. Both the groups had pre and post assessments using visual pain analog scale, tenderness scoring key, neck disability score (NDS) questionnaire, goniometric measurement of cervical spinal flexibility, and state and trait anxiety inventory-Y1 (STAI-Y1). RESULTS: Mann-Whitney U test showed significant difference between groups in pain (P<0.01), tenderness (P<0.01), neck movements (P<0.01). NDS (P<0.01) and state anxiety (STAI-Y1) showed higher reduction in yoga (P<0.01) than that in the control group. Wilcoxon's test showed a significant improvement in both groups on all variables (P<0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Yoga relaxation through MSRT adds significant complimentary benefits to conventional physiotherapy for CNP by reducing pain, tenderness, disability and state anxiety and providing improved flexibility.

Effect of yogic education system and modern education system on memory.

BACKGROUND/AIM: Memory is more associated with the temporal cortex than other cortical areas. The two main components of memory are spatial and verbal which relate to right and left hemispheres of the brain, respectively. Many investigations have shown the beneficial effects of yoga on memory and temporal functions of the brain. This study was aimed at comparing the effect of one Gurukula Education System (GES) school based on a yoga way of life with a school using the Modern Education System (MES) on memory. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Forty nine boys of ages ranging from 11-13 years were selected from each of two residential schools, one MES and the other GES, providing similar ambiance and daily routines. The boys were matched for age and socioeconomic status. The GES educational program is based around integrated yoga modules while the MES provides a conventional modern education program. Memory was assessed by means of standard spatial and verbal memory tests applicable to Indian conditions before and after an academic year. RESULTS: Between groups there was matching at start of the academic year, while after it the GES boys showed significant enhancement in both verbal and visual memory scores than MES boys (P < 0.001, Mann-Whitney test). CONCLUSIONS: The present study showed that the GES meant for total personality development adopting yoga way of life is more effective in enhancing visual and verbal memory scores than the MES.

Normative data for the digit-letter substitution task in school children.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: To establish the norms for the substitution task, a measure of psychomotor performance. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Eight hundred and forty three school students were selected in the present study aged between 9-16 years (mean age = 12.14; SD = 1.77). Subjects were assessed one at a time for Digit-Letter Substitution Task (DLST). RESULTS: Both age and sex influenced performance on the DLST; therefore, correction scores were obtained on the basis of these factors. CONCLUSIONS: The availability of the Indian normative data for the DLST will allow wider application of this test in clinical practice.