1 1496 132 INTRACEREBRAL PAIN PROCESSING IN A YOGA MASTER WHO CLAIMS NOT TO FEEL PAIN DURING MEDITATION. WE RECORDED MAGNETOENCEPHALOGRAPHY (MEG) AND FUNCTIONAL MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING (FMRI) FOLLOWING NOXIOUS LASER STIMULATION IN A YOGA MASTER WHO CLAIMS NOT TO FEEL PAIN WHEN MEDITATING. AS FOR BACKGROUND MEG ACTIVITY, THE POWER OF ALPHA FREQUENCY BANDS PEAKING AT AROUND 10 HZ WAS MUCH INCREASED DURING MEDITATION OVER OCCIPITAL, PARIETAL AND TEMPORAL REGIONS, WHEN COMPARED WITH THE NON-MEDITATIVE STATE, WHICH MIGHT MEAN THE SUBJECT WAS VERY RELAXED, THOUGH HE DID NOT FALL ASLEEP, DURING MEDITATION. PRIMARY PAIN-RELATED CORTICAL ACTIVITIES RECORDED FROM PRIMARY (SI) AND SECONDARY SOMATOSENSORY CORTICES (SII) BY MEG WERE VERY WEAK OR ABSENT DURING MEDITATION. AS FOR FMRI RECORDING, THERE WERE REMARKABLE CHANGES IN LEVELS OF ACTIVITY IN THE THALAMUS, SII-INSULA (MAINLY THE INSULA) AND CINGULATE CORTEX BETWEEN MEDITATION AND NON-MEDITATION. ACTIVITIES IN ALL THREE REGIONS WERE INCREASED DURING NON-MEDITATION, SIMILAR TO RESULTS IN NORMAL SUBJECTS. IN CONTRAST, ACTIVITIES IN ALL THREE REGIONS WERE WEAKER DURING MEDITATION, AND THE LEVEL WAS LOWER THAN THE BASELINE IN THE THALAMUS. RECENT NEUROIMAGING AND ELECTROPHYSIOLOGICAL STUDIES HAVE CLARIFIED THAT THE EMOTIONAL ASPECT OF PAIN PERCEPTION MAINLY INVOLVES THE INSULA AND CINGULATE CORTEX. THOUGH WE CANNOT CLEARLY EXPLAIN THIS UNUSUAL CONDITION IN THE YOGA MASTER, A CHANGE OF MULTIPLE REGIONS RELATING TO PAIN PERCEPTION COULD BE RESPONSIBLE, SINCE PAIN IS A COMPLEX SENSORY AND EMOTIONAL EXPERIENCE. 2005 2 1452 30 INFLUENCE OF LONG-TERM SAHAJA YOGA MEDITATION PRACTICE ON EMOTIONAL PROCESSING IN THE BRAIN: AN ERP STUDY. DESPITE GROWING INTEREST IN MEDITATION AS A TOOL FOR ALTERNATIVE THERAPY OF STRESS-RELATED AND PSYCHOSOMATIC DISEASES, BRAIN MECHANISMS OF BENEFICIAL INFLUENCES OF MEDITATION PRACTICE ON HEALTH AND QUALITY OF LIFE ARE STILL UNCLEAR. WE PROPOSE THAT THE KEY POINT IS A PERSISTENT CHANGE IN EMOTIONAL FUNCTIONING, SPECIFICALLY THE MODULATION OF THE EARLY APPRAISAL OF MOTIVATIONAL SIGNIFICANCE OF EVENTS. THE MAIN AIM WAS TO STUDY THE EFFECTS OF LONG-TERM MEDITATION PRACTICE ON EVENT-RELATED BRAIN POTENTIALS (ERPS) DURING AFFECTIVE PICTURE VIEWING. ERPS WERE RECORDED IN 20 LONG-TERM SAHAJA YOGA MEDITATORS AND 20 CONTROL SUBJECTS WITHOUT PRIOR EXPERIENCE IN MEDITATION. THE MEDITATORS' MID-LATENCY (140-400MS) ERPS WERE ATTENUATED FOR BOTH POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE PICTURES (I.E. THERE WERE NO AROUSAL-RELATED INCREASES IN ERP POSITIVITY) AND THIS EFFECT WAS MORE PROMINENT OVER THE RIGHT HEMISPHERE. HOWEVER, WE FOUND NO DIFFERENCES IN THE LONG LATENCY (400-800MS) RESPONSES TO EMOTIONAL IMAGES, ASSOCIATED WITH MEDITATION PRACTICE. IN ADDITION WE FOUND STRONGER ERP NEGATIVITY IN THE TIME WINDOW 200-300MS FOR MEDITATORS COMPARED TO THE CONTROLS, REGARDLESS OF PICTURE VALENCE. WE ASSUME THAT LONG-TERM MEDITATION PRACTICE ENHANCES FRONTAL TOP-DOWN CONTROL OVER FAST AUTOMATIC SALIENCE DETECTION, BASED ON AMYGDALA FUNCTIONS. 2014 3 447 25 CHANGED PATTERN OF REGIONAL GLUCOSE METABOLISM DURING YOGA MEDITATIVE RELAXATION. USING POSITRON EMISSION TOMOGRAPHY (PET), MEASUREMENTS OF THE REGIONAL CEREBRAL METABOLIC RATE OF GLUCOSE (RCMRGLC) ARE ABLE TO DELINEATE CEREBRAL METABOLIC RESPONSES TO EXTERNAL OR MENTAL STIMULATION. IN ORDER TO EXAMINE POSSIBLE CHANGES OF BRAIN METABOLISM DUE TO YOGA MEDITATION PET SCANS WERE PERFORMED IN 8 MEMBERS OF A YOGA MEDITATION GROUP DURING THE NORMAL CONTROL STATE (C) AND YOGA MEDITATIVE RELAXATION (YMR). WHEREAS THERE WERE INTRAINDIVIDUAL CHANGES OF THE TOTAL CMRGLC, THE ALTERATIONS WERE NOT SIGNIFICANT FOR INTERGROUP COMPARISON; SPECIFIC FOCAL CHANGES OR CHANGES IN THE INTERHEMISPHERIC DIFFERENCES IN METABOLISM WERE ALSO NOT SEEN; HOWEVER THE RATIOS OF FRONTAL VS. OCCIPITAL RCMRGLC WERE SIGNIFICANTLY ELEVATED (P LESS THAN 0.05) DURING YMR. THESE ALTERED RATIOS WERE CAUSED BY A SLIGHT INCREASE OF FRONTAL RCMRGLC AND A MORE PRONOUNCED REDUCTION IN PRIMARY AND SECONDARY VISUAL CENTERS. THESE DATA INDICATE A HOLISTIC BEHAVIOR OF THE BRAIN METABOLISM DURING THE TIME OF ALTERED STATE OF CONSCIOUSNESS DURING YMR. 1990 4 2257 28 THE PHYSIOLOGICAL CORRELATES OF KUNDALINI YOGA MEDITATION: A STUDY OF A YOGA MASTER. THIS STUDY EXPLORES THE PHYSIOLOGICAL CORRELATES OF A HIGHLY PRACTICED KUNDALINI YOGA MEDITATOR. THORACIC AND ABDOMINAL BREATHING PATTERNS, HEART RATE (HR), OCCIPITAL PARIETAL ELECTROENCEPHALOGRAPH (EEG), SKIN CONDUCTANCE LEVEL (SCL), AND BLOOD VOLUME PULSE (BVP) WERE MONITORED DURING PREBASELINE, MEDITATION, AND POSTBASELINE PERIODS. VISUAL ANALYSES OF THE DATA SHOWED A DECREASE IN RESPIRATION RATE DURING THE MEDITATION FROM A MEAN OF 11 BREATHS/MIN FOR THE PRE- AND 13 BREATHS/MIN FOR THE POSTBASELINE TO A MEAN OF 5 BREATHS/MIN DURING THE MEDITATION, WITH A PREDOMINANCE OF ABDOMINAL/DIAPHRAGMATIC BREATHING. THERE WAS ALSO MORE ALPHA EEG ACTIVITY DURING THE MEDITATION (M = 1.71 MICROV) COMPARED TO THE PRE- (M = .47 MICROV) AND POSTBASELINE (M = .78 MICROV) PERIODS, AND AN INCREASE IN THETA EEG ACTIVITY IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING THE MEDITATION (M = .62 MICROV) COMPARED TO THE PRE-BASELINE AND MEDITATIVE PERIODS (EACH WITH M = .26 MICROV). THESE FINDINGS SUGGEST THAT A SHIFT IN BREATHING PATTERNS MAY CONTRIBUTE TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF ALPHA EEG, AND THOSE PATTERNS NEED TO BE INVESTIGATED FURTHER. 2001 5 1734 27 PERSPECTIVES ON YOGA INPUTS IN THE MANAGEMENT OF CHRONIC PAIN. CHRONIC PAIN IS MULTI-DIMENSIONAL. AT THE PHYSICAL LEVEL ITSELF, BEYOND THE NOCICEPTIVE PATHWAY, THERE IS HYPER AROUSAL STATE OF THE COMPONENTS OF THE NERVOUS SYSTEM, WHICH NEGATIVELY INFLUENCES TENSION COMPONENT OF THE MUSCLES, PATTERNS OF BREATHING, ENERGY LEVELS AND MINDSET, ALL OF WHICH EXACERBATE THE DISTRESS AND AFFECT THE QUALITY OF LIFE OF THE INDIVIDUAL AND FAMILY. BEGINNING WITH THE PHYSICAL BODY, YOGA EVENTUALLY INFLUENCES ALL ASPECTS OF THE PERSON: VITAL, MENTAL, EMOTIONAL, INTELLECTUAL AND SPIRITUAL. IT OFFERS VARIOUS LEVELS AND APPROACHES TO RELAX, ENERGIZE, REMODEL AND STRENGTHEN BODY AND PSYCHE. THE ASANAS AND PRANAYAMA HARMONIZE THE PHYSIOLOGICAL SYSTEM AND INITIATE A "RELAXATION RESPONSE" IN THE NEURO ENDOCRINAL SYSTEM. THIS CONSISTS OF DECREASED METABOLISM, QUIETER BREATHING, STABLE BLOOD PRESSURE, REDUCED MUSCLE TENSION, LOWER HEART RATE AND SLOW BRAIN WAVE PATTERN. AS THE NEURAL DISCHARGE PATTERN GETS MODULATED, HYPER AROUSAL OF THE NERVOUS SYSTEM AND THE STATIC LOAD ON POSTURAL MUSCLE COME DOWN. THE FUNCTION OF VISCERA IMPROVES WITH THE SENSE OF RELAXATION AND SLEEP GETS DEEPER AND SUSTAINED; FATIGUE DIMINISHES. SEVERAL SUBTLE LEVEL NOTIONAL CORRECTIONS CAN HAPPEN IN CASE THE SUBJECT MEDITATES AND THAT CHANGES THE CONTEXT OF THE DISEASE, PAIN AND THE MEANING OF LIFE. MEDITATION AND PRANAYAMA, ALONG WITH RELAXING ASANAS, CAN HELP INDIVIDUALS DEAL WITH THE EMOTIONAL ASPECTS OF CHRONIC PAIN, REDUCE ANXIETY AND DEPRESSION EFFECTIVELY AND IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF LIFE PERCEIVED. 2010 6 1836 28 PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGICAL CORRELATES OF THE PRACTICE OF TANTRIC YOGA MEDITATION. AUTONOMIC AND ELECTROENCEPHALOGRAPHIC (EEG) CORRELATES OF TANTRIC YOGA MEDITATION WERE STUDIED IN THREE GROUPS OF SUBJECTS AS THEY PROGRESSED FROM NORMAL CONSCIOUSNESS INTO MEDITATION. GROUPS DIFFERED IN THEIR LEVEL OF MEDITATION PROFICIENCY. MEASURES OF SKIN RESISTANCE, HEART RATE, RESPIRATION, AUTONOMIC ORIENTING RESPONSES, RESTING EEG, EEG ALPHA AND THETA FREQUENCIES, SLEEP-SCORED EEG, AVERAGED EVOKED RESPONSES, AND SUBJECTIVE EXPERIENCE WERE EMPLOYED. UNLIKE MOST PREVIOUSLY REPORTED MEDITATION STUDIES, PROFICIENT MEDITATORS DEMONSTRATED INCREASED AUTONOMIC ACTIVATION DURING MEDITATION WHILE UNEXPERIENCED MEDITATORS DEMONSTRATED AUTONOMIC RELAXATION. DURING MEDITATION, PROFICIENT MEDITATORS DEMONSTRATED INCREASED ALPHA AND THETA POWER, MINIMAL EVIDENCE OF EEG-DEFINED SLEEP, AND DECREASED AUTONOMIC ORIENTING TO EXTERNAL STIMULATION. AN EPISODE OF SUDDEN AUTONOMIC ACTIVATION WAS OBSERVED THAT WAS CHARACTERIZED BY THE MEDITATOR AS AN APPROACH TO THE YOGIC ECSTATIC STATE OF INTENSE CONCENTRATION. THESE FINDINGS CHALLENGE THE CURRENT "RELAXATION" MODEL OF MEDITATIVE STATES. 1978 7 1565 41 LOW AND THEN HIGH FREQUENCY OSCILLATIONS OF DISTINCT RIGHT CORTICAL NETWORKS ARE PROGRESSIVELY ENHANCED BY MEDIUM AND LONG TERM SATYANANDA YOGA MEDITATION PRACTICE. MEDITATION PROFICIENCY IS RELATED TO TRAIT-LIKE (LEARNED) EFFECTS ON BRAIN FUNCTION, DEVELOPED OVER TIME. PREVIOUS STUDIES SHOW INCREASES IN EEG POWER IN LOWER FREQUENCY BANDS (THETA, ALPHA) IN EXPERIENCED MEDITATORS IN BOTH MEDITATION STATES AND BASELINE CONDITIONS. HIGHER GAMMA BAND POWER HAS BEEN FOUND IN ADVANCED BUDDHIST MEDITATORS, YET IT IS NOT KNOWN IF THIS OCCURS IN YOGA MEDITATION PRACTICES. THIS STUDY USED ELORETA TO COMPARE DIFFERENCES IN CORTICAL SOURCE ACTIVITY UNDERLYING SCALP EEG FROM INTERMEDIATE (MEAN EXPERIENCE 4 YEARS) AND ADVANCED (MEAN EXPERIENCE 30 YEARS) AUSTRALIAN MEDITATORS FROM THE SATYANANDA YOGA TRADITION DURING A BODY-STEADINESS MEDITATION, MANTRA MEDITATION, AND NON-MEDITATION MENTAL CALCULATION CONDITION. INTERMEDIATE YOGA MEDITATORS SHOWED GREATER SOURCE ACTIVITY IN LOW FREQUENCIES (PARTICULARLY THETA AND ALPHA1) DURING MENTAL CALCULATION, BODY-STEADINESS AND MANTRA MEDITATION. A SIMILAR SPATIAL PATTERN OF SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES WAS FOUND IN ALL CONDITIONS BUT THE NUMBER OF SIGNIFICANT VOXELS WAS DOUBLE DURING BODY-STEADINESS AND MANTRA MEDITATION THAN IN THE NON-MEDITATION (CALCULATION) CONDITION. THESE DIFFERENCES WERE GREATEST IN RIGHT (R) SUPERIOR FRONTAL AND R PRECENTRAL GYRI AND EXTENDED BACK TO INCLUDE THE R PARIETAL AND OCCIPITAL LOBES. ADVANCED YOGA MEDITATORS SHOWED GREATER ACTIVITY IN HIGH FREQUENCIES (BETA AND ESPECIALLY GAMMA) IN ALL CONDITIONS BUT GREATLY EXPANDED DURING MEDITATION PRACTICE. ACROSS ALL CONDITIONS (MEDITATION AND NON-MEDITATION) DIFFERENCES WERE GREATEST IN THE SAME REGIONS: R INSULA, R INFERIOR FRONTAL GYRUS AND R ANTERIOR TEMPORAL LOBE. DISTINCT R CORE NETWORKS WERE IDENTIFIED IN ALPHA1 (8-10 HZ) AND GAMMA (25-42 HZ) BANDS, RESPECTIVELY. THE VOXELS RECRUITED TO THESE NETWORKS GREATLY EXPANDED DURING MEDITATION PRACTICE TO INCLUDE HOMOLOGOUS REGIONS OF THE LEFT HEMISPHERE. FUNCTIONAL INTERPRETATION PARALLELS TRADITIONALLY DESCRIBED STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT IN YOGA PROFICIENCY. 2014 8 1919 25 ROLE OF YOGA AND MEDITATION IN THE CONTEXT OF DYSFUNCTIONAL SELF: A HYPOTHETICO-INTEGRATIVE APPROACH. AARON T. BECK DESCRIBES HABITUAL PATTERNS OF SCHEMAS (IE, ORGANIZED PATTERNS OF THOUGHT OR BEHAVIOR) AS VITAL ELEMENTS OF EMOTIONAL AND BEHAVIORAL EXPERIENCE, WHEREAS BIASED PROCESSING OF INFORMATION ACCOMPANIES PSYCHOPATHOLOGICAL STATES. IN THIS ARTICLE, THE AUTHORS PROPOSE A HYPOTHETICO-INTEGRATIVE APPROACH TO UNDERSTANDING THE ROLE OF YOGA AND MEDITATION. THIS APPROACH IS BASED ON THE BACKGROUND OF BECK'S MODEL OF THE PSYCHOPATHOLOGY OF THE DYSFUNCTIONAL SELF. THE AUTHORS HAVE FOUND THAT THE PRACTICES COMMON TO MOST FORMS OF YOGA AND MEDITATION ARE (1) FOCUSING OF ATTENTION; (2) CREATING A STATE OF RELAXATION; AND (3) DEVELOPING MINDFULNESS THROUGH EFFERENT ATTENUATION, SENSORY ATTENUATION, AND NONANALYTIC ATTENTION. BIOLOGICAL STUDIES OF MEDITATION AND YOGA HAVE FOUND A TENDENCY TOWARD USE OF THE RELAXATION RESPONSE, THE INVOLVEMENT OF THE ATTENTIONAL NETWORKS, AND, LIKELY, THE CINGULATECORTEX, PARTICULARLY IN THE PROCESS OF BARE ATTENTION (IE, AWARENESS WITHOUT THOUGHT). THIS HIGHEST LEVEL OF NONJUDGMENTAL AWARENESS MAY HELP IN OBTAINING A BETTER-ADJUSTED RESILIENT SELF. 2014 9 1756 29 PLASTICITY OF VISUAL ATTENTION IN ISHA YOGA MEDITATION PRACTITIONERS BEFORE AND AFTER A 3-MONTH RETREAT. MEDITATION HAS LATELY RECEIVED CONSIDERABLE INTEREST FROM COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE. STUDIES SUGGEST THAT DAILY MEDITATION LEADS TO LONG LASTING ATTENTIONAL AND NEURONAL PLASTICITY. WE PRESENT CHANGES RELATED TO THE ATTENTIONAL SYSTEMS BEFORE AND AFTER A 3 MONTH INTENSIVE MEDITATION RETREAT. WE USED THREE BEHAVIORAL PSYCHOPHYSICAL TESTS - A STROOP TASK, AN ATTENTIONAL BLINK TASK, AND A GLOBAL-LOCAL LETTER TASK-TO ASSESS THE EFFECT OF ISHA YOGA MEDITATION ON ATTENTIONAL RESOURCE ALLOCATION. 82 ISHA YOGA PRACTITIONERS WERE TESTED AT THE BEGINNING AND AT THE END OF THE RETREAT. OUR RESULTS SHOWED AN INCREASE IN CORRECT RESPONSES SPECIFIC TO INCONGRUENT STIMULI IN THE STROOP TASK. CONGRUENTLY, A POSITIVE CORRELATION BETWEEN PREVIOUS MEDITATION EXPERIENCE AND ACCURACY TO INCONGRUENT STROOP STIMULI WAS ALSO OBSERVED AT BASELINE. WE ALSO OBSERVED A REDUCTION OF THE ATTENTIONAL BLINK. UNEXPECTEDLY, A NEGATIVE CORRELATION BETWEEN PREVIOUS MEDITATION EXPERIENCE AND ATTENTIONAL BLINK PERFORMANCE AT BASELINE WAS OBSERVED. REGARDING SPATIAL ATTENTION ORIENTATION AS ASSESSED USING THE GLOBAL-LOCAL LETTER TASK, PARTICIPANTS SHOWED A BIAS TOWARD LOCAL PROCESSING. ONLY SLIGHT DIFFERENCES IN PERFORMANCE WERE FOUND PRE- VS. POST- MEDITATION RETREAT. BIASING TOWARD THE LOCAL STIMULI IN THE GLOBAL-LOCAL TASK AND NEGATIVE CORRELATION OF PREVIOUS MEDITATION EXPERIENCE WITH ATTENTIONAL BLINK PERFORMANCE IS CONSISTENT WITH ISHA PRACTICES BEING FOCUSED-ATTENTION PRACTICES. GIVEN THE RELATIVELY SMALL EFFECT SIZES AND THE ABSENCE OF A CONTROL GROUP, OUR RESULTS DO NOT ALLOW CLEAR SUPPORT NOR REJECTION OF THE HYPOTHESIS OF MEDITATION-DRIVEN NEURONAL PLASTICITY IN THE ATTENTIONAL SYSTEM FOR ISHA YOGA PRACTICE. 2013 10 2693 21 YOGA INCREASES THE VOLUME OF THE HIPPOCAMPUS IN ELDERLY SUBJECTS. CONTEXT: THE NEUROBIOLOGICAL EFFECT OF YOGA ON THE CORTICAL STRUCTURES IN THE ELDERLY IS AS YET UNKNOWN. MATERIALS AND METHODS: SEVEN HEALTHY ELDERLY SUBJECTS RECEIVED YOGA INTERVENTION AS AN ADD-ON LIFE-STYLE PRACTICE. MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING SCANS WERE OBTAINED BEFORE AND 6 MONTHS LATER. VOXEL-BASED-MORPHOMETRIC ANALYSES COMPARED THE BRAINS BEFORE AND AFTER THE YOGA. RESULTS: YOGA GROUP WAS FOUND TO HAVE INCREASES IN HIPPOCAMPAL, BUT NOT IN OCCIPITAL GRAY MATTER. CONCLUSION: YOGA HAS POTENTIAL TO REDUCE NEURO-SENESCENCE. SMALL SAMPLE SIZE AND ABSENCE OF THE CONTROL GROUP PREVENT GENERALIZATION OF THE FINDINGS LIMITING ITS TRANSLATIONAL VALUE. 2013 11 80 23 A MATHEMATICAL METHOD FOR ELECTROMYOGRAPHY ANALYSIS OF MUSCLE FUNCTIONS DURING YOGASANA. CONTEXT: FOR THE PAST FEW DECADES, THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE PRACTICING YOGA IS INCREASING IN NUMBER. YOGASANAS NEED SMOOTH BODY MOVEMENTS IN THE PROCESS OF ATTAINING DEFINED POSTURES THAT THE PERSON MUST HOLD ON TO ACTIVATE SPECIFIC MUSCLES OF THE BODY RELATED TO THAT ASANA. YOGASANAS SHOULD BE PERFORMED WITH PERFECTION TO DERIVE MAXIMUM BENEFITS. OBJECTIVE: THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS STUDY WAS TO INTRODUCE A MATHEMATICAL METHOD TO UNDERSTAND MUSCLE FUNCTIONALITIES WHILE DOING YOGASANAS. MATERIALS AND METHODS: USED DELSYS SURFACE ELECTROMYOGRAPHY (SEMG) - TRIGNO (DELSYS INC.) SENSORS FOR DATA RECORDING AND ANALYZING MUSCLE ACTIVATION PATTERNS. RESULTS: PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS WAS QUANTIFIED USING NORMALIZED SEMG SIGNALS. THE SEMG DATA DURING FINAL POSTURE WERE FIT TO A STRAIGHT LINE USING LINEAR REGRESSION ANALYSIS. CONCLUSION: THE RESULTS SUGGESTED THAT THE SLOPE OF THE BEST FIT LINE IS A GOOD METRIC FOR MONITORING THE MUSCLE ACTIVITY DURING YOGA PERFORMANCE. THE ADVANTAGES OF THIS METHOD ARE THE SLOPE OF THE LINE IS A GOOD INDICATOR FOR MONITORING THE MUSCLE ACTIVITY WHILE DOING YOGASANA AND THE METHOD SUGGESTED IN THIS STUDY CAN BE EXTENDED FOR ANALYZING OTHER ASANAS AS WELL. 2019 12 2085 35 THE EFFECT OF LONG TERM COMBINED YOGA PRACTICE ON THE BASAL METABOLIC RATE OF HEALTHY ADULTS. BACKGROUND: DIFFERENT PROCEDURES PRACTICED IN YOGA HAVE STIMULATORY OR INHIBITORY EFFECTS ON THE BASAL METABOLIC RATE WHEN STUDIED ACUTELY. IN DAILY LIFE HOWEVER, THESE PROCEDURES ARE USUALLY PRACTICED IN COMBINATION. THE PURPOSE OF THE PRESENT STUDY WAS TO INVESTIGATE THE NET CHANGE IN THE BASAL METABOLIC RATE (BMR) OF INDIVIDUALS ACTIVELY ENGAGING IN A COMBINATION OF YOGA PRACTICES (ASANA OR YOGIC POSTURES, MEDITATION AND PRANAYAMA OR BREATHING EXERCISES) FOR A MINIMUM PERIOD OF SIX MONTHS, AT A RESIDENTIAL YOGA EDUCATION AND RESEARCH CENTER AT BANGALORE. METHODS: THE MEASURED BMR OF INDIVIDUALS PRACTICING YOGA THROUGH A COMBINATION OF PRACTICES WAS COMPARED WITH THAT OF CONTROL SUBJECTS WHO DID NOT PRACTICE YOGA BUT LED SIMILAR LIFESTYLES. RESULTS: THE BMR OF THE YOGA PRACTITIONERS WAS SIGNIFICANTLY LOWER THAN THAT OF THE NON-YOGA GROUP, AND WAS LOWER BY ABOUT 13 % WHEN ADJUSTED FOR BODY WEIGHT (P < 0.001). THIS DIFFERENCE PERSISTED WHEN THE GROUPS WERE STRATIFIED BY GENDER; HOWEVER, THE DIFFERENCE IN BMR ADJUSTED FOR BODY WEIGHT WAS GREATER IN WOMEN THAN MEN (ABOUT 8 AND 18% RESPECTIVELY). IN ADDITION, THE MEAN BMR OF THE YOGA GROUP WAS SIGNIFICANTLY LOWER THAN THEIR PREDICTED VALUES, WHILE THE MEAN BMR OF NON-YOGA GROUP WAS COMPARABLE WITH THEIR PREDICTED VALUES DERIVED FROM 1985 WHO/FAO/UNU PREDICTIVE EQUATIONS. CONCLUSION: THIS STUDY SHOWS THAT THERE IS A SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCED BMR, PROBABLY LINKED TO REDUCED AROUSAL, WITH THE LONG TERM PRACTICE OF YOGA USING A COMBINATION OF STIMULATORY AND INHIBITORY YOGIC PRACTICES. 2006 13 2752 27 YOGA PRACTICE IS ASSOCIATED WITH SUPERIOR MOTOR IMAGERY PERFORMANCE. YOGA IS AN ACTIVITY THAT AIMS TO INTEGRATE PHYSICAL, MENTAL AND SPIRITUAL ELEMENTS AND IS AN INCREASINGLY POPULAR APPROACH TO ENHANCING PHYSICAL FITNESS. THE INTEGRATION OF IMAGERY WITHIN YOGA PRACTICE IS CONSIDERED AN IMPORTANT COMPONENT AND MAY BE CRITICAL IN CONTRIBUTING TO THE BENEFITS OF YOGA THAT HAVE BEEN REPORTED. IN THIS STUDY, WE TESTED WHETHER INDIVIDUALS WHO PRACTICE YOGA DEMONSTRATE SUPERIOR PERFORMANCE ON AN OBJECTIVE MEASURE OF IMPLICIT MOTOR IMAGERY. THIRTY-SIX PARTICIPANTS (18 YOGA, 18 NON-YOGA) MATCHED FOR AGE, SEX AND HANDEDNESS, UNDERTOOK THE HAND LATERALITY RECOGNITION TASK; AN OBJECTIVE MEASURE OF IMPLICIT MOTOR IMAGERY PERFORMANCE. ACCURACY AND RESPONSE TIMES WERE GATHERED AND ANALYSED TO DETERMINE ANY GROUP DIFFERENCES AS WELL AS ANY DIFFERENCES RELATING TO THE TYPICAL HALLMARKS OF IMAGERY (I.E. DOMINANCE AND AWKWARDNESS EFFECTS) ON THE TASK. RESPONSE TIMES (RTS) IN THE YOGA GROUP WERE SIGNIFICANTLY FASTER THAN CONTROLS (P < 0.05) AND THERE WAS ALSO A TREND TOWARDS GREATER ACCURACY FOR THE YOGA GROUP (P = 0.073). DOMINANCE EFFECTS (FASTER RESPONSES TO IMAGES CORRESPONDING WITH THE DOMINANT LIMB) AND AWKWARDNESS EFFECTS (FASTER RESPONSES TO IMAGES CORRESPONDING WITH NATURAL COMPARED WITH AWKWARD POSTURES) WERE EVIDENT ACROSS GROUPS, SUPPORTING THE PARTICIPANTS' USE OF MOTOR IMAGERY IN UNDERTAKING THE TASK. ADDITIONALLY, A GROUP X AWKWARDNESS INTERACTION (P < 0.05) REVEALED THAT THE ENHANCED IMAGERY PERFORMANCE FOR THE YOGA GROUP WAS MOST PRONOUNCED FOR AWKWARD POSTURES. THIS IS THE FIRST STUDY TO SHOW THAT YOGA PRACTICE IS ASSOCIATED WITH SUPERIOR MOTOR IMAGERY PERFORMANCE; AN ASSOCIATION THAT MAY BE IMPORTANT IN EXPLAINING THE ESTABLISHED REHABILITATIVE VALUE OF YOGA FOR CHRONIC PAIN. 2017 14 371 19 AWARENESS AND PRACTICE OF AEROBIC EXERCISE AND YOGA AMONG HYPERTENSIVE PATIENTS IN ANAND CITY. BACKGROUND: AEROBIC EXERCISE IS HELPFUL IN REDUCING ELEVATED BLOOD PRESSURE (BP). IT WAS ALSO FOUND THAT YOGA IS USEFUL IN REDUCING RAISED BP. THUS, THEY BOTH CAN BE USED IN PREVENTION AND TREATMENT OF HYPERTENSION. HENCE, THE STUDY AIMED TO OBSERVE BOTH AWARENESS AND PRACTICE OF AEROBIC EXERCISE AND YOGA AMONG HYPERTENSIVE PATIENTS IN ANAND CITY. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A CROSS-SECTIONAL DESCRIPTIVE STUDY WAS CONDUCTED. A QUESTIONNAIRE WAS PREPARED CONTAINING 24 QUESTIONS ABOUT AWARENESS AND PRACTICE OF AEROBIC EXERCISE AND YOGA AMONG HYPERTENSIVE PATIENTS. THE QUESTIONS WERE EXPLAINED TO ALL THE PATIENTS, AND 200 PATIENTS WERE RECRUITED FROM ANAND CITY THROUGH CONVENIENCE SAMPLING. RESULTS: TWO-HUNDRED PATIENTS WERE INCLUDED IN THIS STUDY, OF WHICH 100% WERE AWARE OF HYPERTENSION. 67.68% WERE AWARE OF THE ROLE OF AEROBIC EXERCISE IN HYPERTENSION, OF WHICH 58.29% PRACTICED THEM. THE AWARENESS OF THE ROLE OF YOGA IN HYPERTENSION WAS NOTED IN 33.67% OF PATIENTS, OF WHICH ONLY 13.07% PRACTICED PRANAYAMA AND 9.50% PRACTICED ASANAS. CONCLUSION: THERE WAS A COMPLETE AWARENESS OF HYPERTENSION AMONG HYPERTENSIVE PATIENTS. A LARGE NUMBER OF PATIENTS WERE AWARE OF THE ROLE OF AEROBIC EXERCISE IN HYPERTENSION, BUT ONLY FEW OF THE PATIENTS PRACTICED THEM. HOWEVER, THERE WAS LESS AWARENESS OF THE ROLE OF YOGA IN HYPERTENSION AND EVEN LESSER NUMBER PRACTICED THEM. 2019 15 2890 23 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 16 2396 20 YOGA AND CHEMOREFLEX RESPONSE TO HYPOXIA AND HYPERCAPNIA. WE TESTED WHETHER CHEMOREFLEX SENSITIVITY COULD BE AFFECTED BY THE PRACTICE OF YOGA, AND WHETHER THIS IS SPECIFICALLY BECAUSE OF A SLOW BREATHING RATE OBTAINED DURING YOGA OR AS A GENERAL CONSEQUENCE OF YOGA. WE FOUND THAT SLOW BREATHING RATE PER SE SUBSTANTIALLY REDUCED CHEMOREFLEX SENSITIVITY, BUT LONG-TERM YOGA PRACTICE WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR A GENERALISED REDUCTION IN CHEMOREFLEX. 2000 17 1559 21 LONG-TERM VIHANGAM YOGA MEDITATION AND SCORES ON TESTS OF ATTENTION. ALTHOUGH THE LITERATURE INDICATES THAT MEDITATION HAS BENEFICIAL EFFECTS ON SEVERAL ASPECTS OF HUMAN FUNCTIONING, FEW STUDIES HAVE SPECIFICALLY INVESTIGATED THE EFFECTS OF MEDITATION ON VARIOUS DOMAINS OF ATTENTION. THIS STUDY WAS CONDUCTED TO EXAMINE THE DIFFERENCES IN VARIOUS DOMAINS OF ATTENTION BETWEEN LONG-TERM CONCENTRATIVE MEDITATORS VERSUS MATCHED CONTROLS. 15 PRACTITIONERS OF VIHANGAM YOGA (> 10 YR. EXPERIENCE) WERE ENROLLED IN THE STUDY. CONTROLS MATCHED ON AGE, SEX, AND YEARS OF EDUCATION WERE RECRUITED. BOTH GROUPS WERE ADMINISTERED THE STROOP, TRAIL-MAKING, AND DIGIT SYMBOL SUBSTITUTION TESTS AS WELL AS THE DIGIT FORWARD AND DIGIT BACKWARD TESTS. THE GROUP OF VIHANGAM YOGIS HAD SIGNIFICANTLY BETTER MEAN PERFORMANCE ON ALL TESTS OF ATTENTION. LONG-TERM VIHANGAM YOGA MEDITATION IMPROVES ATTENTION SPAN, PROCESSING SPEED, ATTENTION ALTERNATION ABILITY, AND PERFORMANCE IN INTERFERENCE TESTS. 2010 18 757 16 EFFECT OF SLOW AND DEEP BREATHING ON BRAIN WAVES IN REGULAR YOGA PRACTITIONERS. VARIOUS YOGIC PRACTICES FOCUS ON BREATHING. BREATHING MAY AFFECT BRAIN WAVES. THIS CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY WAS CONDUCTED TO SEE THE EFFECT SLOW AND DEEP RESPIRATION ON EEG ACTIVITY IN EXPERIENCED YOGA PRACTITIONERS AT THE DEPARTMENT OF PHYSIOLOGY AT AIIMS, BHOPAL, INDIA. THE DURATION OF THE STUDY WAS ABOUT ONE YEAR. EEG WAS TAKEN AND WAS ANALYZED BY DINAMIKA - ADVANCED TEST SYSTEM, MOSCOW, RUSSIA. PAIRED T-TEST USING GRAPH PAD SOFTWARE WAS USED FOR STATISTICAL ANALYSIS. THE DELTA PERCENTAGE DECREASED AND THE OTHER WAVE'S PERCENTAGES THETA, ALPHA, AND BETA INCREASED SIGNIFICANTLY. THE PERSON BECOMES DEEPLY RELAXED AND MORE FOCUSSED ON SLOW AND DEEP BREATHING. 2021 19 2779 15 YOGA TECHNIQUES AS A MEANS OF CORE STABILITY TRAINING. CORE STABILITY IN GENERAL INVOLVES THE MUSCULAR CONTROL REQUIRED AROUND THE LUMBAR SPINE TO MAINTAIN FUNCTIONAL STABILITY. STABILITY AND MOVEMENT ARE CRITICALLY DEPENDENT ON THE COORDINATION OF ALL THE MUSCLES SURROUNDING THE LUMBAR SPINE. THIS PAPER AIMS TO SHOW THAT AN AGE-OLD YOGA PRACTICE, CALLED UDDHYANA BHANDA AND NOULI, IS AN EFFECTIVE MEANS OF CORE STABILITY. 2009 20 2556 15 YOGA FOR CHILDREN. THERE IS AN INCREASING INTEREST IN THE USE OF YOGA FOR CHILDREN TO CALM THE MIND AND INCREASE HEALTH AND WELL BEING. DESPITE SCANT BUT INCREASING EVIDENCE SUPPORTING THE EFFICACY OF YOGA IN CHILDREN, SPECIAL YOGA PROGRAMS WITHIN SCHOOLS ARE BEING DEVELOPED FOR CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS. THIS INCREASING POPULARITY OF THE POTENTIAL BENEFITS OF YOGA MAY ENCOURAGE PARENTS TO CONSIDER YOGA FOR THEIR CHILDREN AND REQUEST REFERRALS OR CLARIFICATION OF THE PURPORTED EFFECTS. A DESCRIPTION OF THE PHILOSOPHICAL BASIS OF YOGA, THE BASIC COMPONENTS OF A YOGA PRACTICE, SAFETY CONCERNS, AND HOW TO LOCATE AND EVALUATE A YOGA PROGRAM FOR CHILDREN WILL BE ADDRESSED. 2009