1 1282 138 GLOBAL CHANGE IN INTEREST TOWARD YOGA FOR MENTAL HEALTH AILMENTS DURING CORONAVIRUS DISEASE-19 PANDEMIC: A GOOGLE TREND ANALYSIS. BACKGROUND: WITH CORONAVIRUS DISEASE (COVID)-19 PANDEMIC, SOCIETY IS GRIPPED WITH UNCERTAINTY AND FEAR, INCLINING THEM TOWARD YOGA TO PREVENT MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES. GOOGLE TRENDS (GT) DEPICTS THE PUBLIC INTEREST OF THE COMMUNITY WHICH MAY VARY DUE TO EVOLVING POLICY DYNAMICS OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC. AIM: THE AIM WAS TO STUDY GLOBAL PUBLIC INTEREST IN YOGA FOR MENTAL HEALTH DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC. MATERIAL AND METHODS: GLOBAL TIME TRENDS WERE OBTAINED FOR YOGA, ANXIETY, AND DEPRESSION FROM NOVEMBER 1, 2019 TO MAY 31, 2020 USING GT. THE TIME SERIES ANALYSIS WAS DONE IN THREE DIFFERENT TIME PERIODS - PRE-COVID-19 PHASE, TRANSITION PERIOD, AND COVID-19 PANDEMIC PHASE. CROSS-CORRELATION, SPEARMAN RHO, FRIEDMAN ANOVA TEST, AND FORECASTING WERE USED FOR ANALYSIS. RESULTS: GT FOUND A GLOBAL CHANGE IN THE SEARCH QUERIES FOR YOGA, ANXIETY, AND DEPRESSION DURING THE THREE TIME PERIODS. HIGH BURDEN COVID-19 COUNTRIES - ITALY, SPAIN, RUSSIA, AND BRAZIL HAD AN INCREASING SEARCH TREND FOR YOGA. DURING THE COVID-19 PHASE, THERE WAS A SIGNIFICANT POSITIVE CORRELATION BETWEEN THE SEARCH TRENDS OF YOGA WITH DEPRESSION (R = 0.232; P < 0.05) AND ANXIETY (R = 0.351; P < 0.05), BUT HIGHER ANXIETY AND DEPRESSION SEARCHES LEAD TO LOWER YOGA SEARCHES AT LAG +6. FORECAST PROJECTED A CONTINUOUS INCREASE IN YOGA SEARCHES AND ANXIETY QUERIES. CONCLUSION: GOOGLE TRENDS CAPTURED A SIGNIFICANT RISE IN INTEREST OF YOGA AMONG THE GLOBAL COMMUNITY BUT DIMINISHED WITH TIME. HENCE, THE NEED FOR INTERVENTIONS TO PROMOTE YOGA TO BE PART OF ROUTINE LIFE AND FOR MAKING SURE THAT PEOPLE ADHERE TO THE YOGA PRACTICES ON A CONTINUOUS BASIS. 2021 2 2890 24 YOGA: POTENTIAL BENEFITS FOR PERSONS WHO STUTTER. YOGA HAS BEEN DEMONSTRATED TO MODULATE AUTONOMIC NERVOUS SYSTEM ACTIVITY, DECREASING ANXIETY AND STRESS, AND IMPROVING QUALITY OF LIFE. THIS PRELIMINARY STUDY SOUGHT TO EXAMINE THE USE OF YOGIC TECHNIQUES ON PERSONS WHO STUTTER GIVEN THE INTERACTION BETWEEN PHYSIOLOGICAL AROUSAL/ANXIETY AND STUTTERING THAT CURRENT MULTIFACTORIAL MODELS OF STUTTERING PROPOSE. FOUR PARTICIPANTS (M = 52 YR, SD = 10; 2 FEMALE, 2 MALE), RECRUITED FROM LOCAL STUTTERING SUPPORT GROUPS IN THE GREATER PHILADELPHIA COMMUNITY VOLUNTEERED TO PARTICIPATE. STUTTERING SEVERITY, ANXIETY, AND EXPERIENCES REGARDING STUTTERING AND COMMUNICATION WERE MEASURED AT BASELINE, POST INTERVENTION, AND AT 4 MONTHS FOLLOW-UP. THE PARTICIPANTS ATTENDED GROUP YOGA SESSIONS AND ENGAGED IN HOME PRACTICE. DESCRIPTIVE RESULTS REVEALED THAT PARTICIPANTS SHOWED IMPROVEMENTS ACROSS OUTCOME MEASURES, WITH THE MOST IMPROVEMENT RELATED TO ANXIETY. PARTICIPANTS ALSO REPORTED IMPROVEMENTS IN THEIR PERCEPTIONS ABOUT COMMUNICATION AS PER QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS OF RESPONSES TO THE OPEN-ENDED QUESTIONNAIRES. THE RESULTS SUGGEST THE POTENTIAL BENEFITS OF YOGA FOR PERSONS WHO STUTTER AND WARRANTS FURTHER STUDY USING AN EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN. 2016 3 1312 19 HEALTH STATUS OF NURSES AND YOGA. I. BASELINE DATA. IN THIS ONGOING ICMR PROJECT ON "EFFECT OF YOGA ON THE HEALTH OF NURSES", SOME BASELINE DATA ON THE HEALTH OF NURSES OF NEHRU HOSPITAL, P.G.I., CHANDIGARH ARE REPORTED. THIS WAS OBTAINED BEFORE THE START OF YOGA THERAPY IN SELECTED CASES AND COLLECTED WITH THE HELP OF SIX PSYCHOLOGICAL TOOLS. OUT OF A TOTAL OF 501 NURSES, 452 (90.2%) COULD BE CONTACTED AND STUDIED. MEAN AGE WAS 30.43 YEARS AND MEAN YEARS OF SERVICE 9.93 YEARS. MEAN SCORES ON THE PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTS INDICATED POOR HEALTH STATUS OF NURSES, AVERAGE NEUROTICISM, DEPRESSIVE TENDENCIES AND ROLE STRESS. SENSE OF WELL-BEING WAS HIGH IN THEM. THE DATA IS DISCUSSED IN THE LIGHT OF RESEARCHES IN THIS AREA. THIS IS THE FIRST OF A SERIES OF THREE ARTICLES TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE JOURNAL. 1989 4 1802 27 PREVALENCE AND PREDICTORS OF YOGIC BREATHING AND MEDITATION USE - A NATIONALLY REPRESENTATIVE SURVEY OF US ADULT YOGA PRACTITIONERS. INTRODUCTION: YOGA PRACTICE IN COMMON USAGE IS OFTEN CONFINED TO THE PHYSICAL ASPECTS OF THE COMPREHENSIVE PRACTICE. THE PURPOSE OF THIS STUDY WAS TO EXAMINE THE USE OF TWO ADDITIONAL ASPECTS OF YOGA AS PART OF YOGA PRACTICE, I.E. YOGIC BREATHING AND MEDITATION (YOBAM). PREVALENCE AND PREDICTORS OF YOBAM USE AMONG YOGA PRACTITIONERS IN THE US GENERAL POPULATION WERE ANALYZED. METHOD: CROSS-SECTIONAL DATA FROM THE 2012 AND 2017 NATIONAL HEALTH INTERVIEW SURVEY (NHIS) (N = 61,267) WAS USED. 12-MONTH PREVALENCE OF YOGA USE AND YOBAM USE AMONG YOGA PRACTITIONERS WERE ANALYZED DESCRIPTIVELY FOR THE TWO COHORTS RESPECTIVELY. LOGISTIC REGRESSION ANALYSES WERE USED TO ANALYZE SOCIODEMOGRAPHIC AND HEALTH-RELATED PREDICTORS OF YOBAM USE AMONG YOGA PRACTITIONERS. RESULTS: 12-MONTH PREVALENCE OF YOGA USE AND YOBAM USE WERE 8.9 % AND 4.8 % RESPECTIVELY IN 2012. IN 2017, 13.3 % HAD PRACTICED YOGA IN THE PAST 12 MONTHS AND 7.0 % HAD USED YOBAM. YOGA PRACTITIONERS AGED BETWEEN 50 AND 64 COMPARED TO BEING 29 OR YOUNGER, FEMALES, HISPANICS AND THOSE EXPERIENCING MILD TO SEVERE FORMS OF PSYCHOLOGICAL DISTRESS WERE MORE LIKELY TO USE YOBAM AS PART OF THEIR YOGA PRACTICE. YOGA PRACTITIONERS LIVING IN THE MIDWEST OR IN A RELATIONSHIP WERE LESS LIKELY TO USE YOBAM. CONCLUSION: IN RECENT YEARS, THE NUMBER OF YOGA PRACTITIONERS IN THE US GENERAL POPULATION HAS CONSIDERABLY INCREASED AND YOBAM USE IS COMMON AMONG YOGA PRACTITIONERS. YOBAM USE SEEMS TO BE ASSOCIATED WITH AGE, GENDER, ETHNICITY, REGION, MARITAL STATUS AND PSYCHOLOGICAL DISTRESS DIMENSIONS. 2021 5 2461 31 YOGA AS A NOVEL ADJUVANT THERAPY FOR PATIENTS WITH IDIOPATHIC INFLAMMATORY MYOPATHIES. CONTEXT: RECENT STUDIES HAVE DEMONSTRATED THAT PHYSICAL ACTIVITY IS WELL TOLERATED BY PATIENTS WITH IDIOPATHIC INFLAMMATORY MYOPATHIES (IIMS) AND CAN HAVE ADDITIONAL BENEFITS AS AN ADJUVANT THERAPY TO PHARMACOLOGIC AGENTS, ESPECIALLY IF STARTED EARLY. TO DATE, NO STUDIES HAVE EXAMINED THE EFFECTS OF YOGA ON PATIENTS WITH IIMS. AIMS: THE AIM OF THIS STUDY WAS TO EVALUATE THE EFFECTS OF YOGA ON SELF-REPORTED DIFFICULTY IN PERFORMING ACTIVITIES OF DAILY LIVING (ADL) AND MUSCLE STRENGTH IN PATIENTS WITH MILD-TO-MODERATE IIMS. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: A LONGITUDINAL COHORT STUDY IN WHICH PARTICIPANTS WERE ASSESSED USING THE MYOSITIS ACTIVITIES PROFILE (MAP) AND MANUAL MUSCLE TESTING (MMT) BEFORE AND AFTER THE COMPLETION OF AN 8-WEEK INSTRUCTOR-GUIDED YOGA COURSE WAS PERFORMED. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: WILCOXON SIGNED-RANKED TEST WAS PERFORMED FOR STATISTICAL ANALYSIS. RESULTS: THE AVERAGE POSTTREATMENT MAP SCORES OF SIX PARTICIPANTS DEMONSTRATED AN INCREASE OF 2.51 POINTS, WHILE THE AVERAGE MMT SCORE OF FOUR PARTICIPANTS DEMONSTRATED AN INCREASE OF 11 POINTS. CONCLUSIONS: THIS STUDY IS THE FIRST STUDY TO DATE TO EXAMINE THE EFFECT OF YOGA AS AN ADJUVANT COMPLEMENTARY THERAPY FOR PATIENTS WITH IIM. CONTINUED RESEARCH SHOULD BE DONE ON THE EFFECT OF YOGA AS AN ADJUVANT THERAPY, FOR IN ADDITION TO INCREASE IN MUSCLE STRENGTH AND ABILITY TO PERFORM ADL, YOGA MAY OFFER POTENTIAL IMPROVEMENTS IN MOOD, MENTAL HEALTH, AND SLEEP. 2021 6 1315 38 HEALTH-RELATED QUALITY OF LIFE OUTCOMES WITH REGULAR YOGA AND HEARTFULNESS MEDITATION PRACTICE: RESULTS FROM A MULTINATIONAL, CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY. BACKGROUND: ALTHOUGH THE BENEFITS OF YOGA ARE WELL ESTABLISHED ACROSS THE WORLD, THERE ARE LIMITED STUDIES EXPLORING THE LONG-TERM INTERRELATION BETWEEN YOGA, MEDITATION, AND HEALTH. SPECIFICALLY, THERE IS LIMITED RESEARCH EXPLORING THE DIFFERENCES IN HEALTH-RELATED QUALITY OF LIFE (HRQOL) AMONG REGULAR MEDITATORS AND NONMEDITATORS. OBJECTIVE: THIS STUDY EXPLORED THE DIFFERENCES IN 7 DOMAINS OF HRQOL (INCLUDING QUALITY OF LIFE, ABILITY TO ADOPT A HEALTHY LIFESTYLE, ABILITY TO RELAX, FREQUENCY OF NERVOUSNESS AND STRESS, COPING WITH DAY-TO-DAY STRESS, WORKPLACE PRODUCTIVITY, AND STAYING HEALTHY DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC) AMONG PRACTITIONERS OF YOGA AND MEDITATION. METHODS: A CROSS-SECTIONAL, ONLINE SURVEY WAS DISTRIBUTED TO ALL MEMBERS WHO PARTICIPATED IN A 100-DAY YOGA AND MEDITATION PROGRAM, CULMINATING IN THE INTERNATIONAL DAY OF YOGA EVENT, ORGANIZED BY THE HEARTFULNESS INSTITUTE IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE CENTRAL COUNCIL FOR RESEARCH IN YOGA AND NATUROPATHY, MINISTRY OF AYUSH, SVYASA YOGA UNIVERSITY, AND PATANJALI YOGA INSTITUTE, INDIA. THE PROGRAM CONSISTED OF DAILY VIRTUAL YOGA, MEDITATION, AND SPEAKER SESSIONS. THE DATA WERE ANALYZED BY NONPARAMETRIC MANN-WHITNEY U TEST AND KRUSKAL-WALLIS TESTS FOR CONTINUOUS VARIABLES AND CHI-SQUARE TEST FOR CATEGORICAL VARIABLES. RESULTS: A TOTAL OF 3164 PARTICIPANTS FROM 39 COUNTRIES COMPLETED THE SURVEY. MEAN AGE WAS 33.8 (SD 13.6) YEARS. THE MAJORITY OF THE PARTICIPANTS WERE FEMALE (N=1643, 52%) AND STUDENTS (N=1312, 41.5%). REGULAR YOGA AND MEDITATION PRACTICE WAS ASSOCIATED WITH A POSITIVE IMPACT ON ALL 7 DOMAINS OF HRQOL (MANN-WHITNEY P<.05 AND CHI(2)P<.05). NOTABLY, EXPERIENCED HEARTFULNESS (>/=2 YEARS) MEDITATORS REPORTED BETTER OUTCOMES IN ALL THE DOMAINS OF HRQOL AS COMPARED TO THOSE NOT CURRENTLY PRACTICING THIS FORM OF MEDITATION AND PARTICIPANTS WITH