1 1728 89 PERFORMANCE ON PSYCHOMOTOR TASKS FOLLOWING TWO YOGA-BASED RELAXATION TECHNIQUES. PREVIOUSLY CYCLIC MEDITATION AND SUPINE REST HAVE BEEN SHOWN TO IMPROVE PERFORMANCE IN A LETTER CANCELLATION TASK REQUIRING ATTENTION, VISUAL SCANNING, AND MOTOR SPEED. THE PRESENT STUDY ASSESSED THE PERFORMANCE IN 57 VOLUNTEERS (ALL MALE, M AGE = 26.5 YR., SD = 4.6) IN THREE TASKS, VIZ., A DIGIT-LETTER SUBSTITUTION TASK (DLST), A LETTER-COPYING TASK, AND A CIRCLE-DOTTING TASK. THE DLST ASSESSED ATTENTION AND SPEED OF INFORMATION PROCESSING, WHILE THE OTHER 2 TESTS ASSESSED MOTOR SPEED. EACH PARTICIPANT WAS ASSESSED BEFORE AND AFTER THREE TYPES OF SESSIONS: CYCLIC MEDITATION, SUPINE REST, AND CONTROL (NO INTERVENTION). DLST SCORES AND SCORES FOR LETTER-COPYING AND CIRCLE-DOTTING TASKS IMPROVED SIGNIFICANTLY AFTER CYCLIC MEDITATION; THE SAME SCORES ALSO IMPROVED AFTER SUPINE REST. THERE WAS NO CHANGE AFTER THE NO-INTERVENTION/CONTROL SESSION. FROM THE RESULTS IT WAS DIFFICULT TO CONCLUDE WHETHER IMPROVED DLST SCORES AFTER CYCLIC MEDITATION WERE DUE TO BETTER INFORMATION PROCESSING SPEED OR IMPROVED MOTOR SPEED. 2009 2 1357 40 IMMEDIATE EFFECT OF TWO YOGA-BASED RELAXATION TECHNIQUES ON PERFORMANCE IN A LETTER-CANCELLATION TASK. THE PERFORMANCE IN A SIX-LETTER CANCELLATION TASK WAS ASSESSED WITH 69 MALE VOLUNTEERS, AGES 18 TO 48 YEARS, IMMEDIATELY BEFORE AND AFTER TWO YOGA-BASED RELAXATION TECHNIQUES AND A CONTROL SESSION OF EQUAL DURATION. THE TECHNIQUES WERE CYCLIC MEDITATION AND SUPINE REST. CYCLIC MEDITATION CONSISTS OF ALTERNATING CYCLES OF YOGA POSTURES AND SUPINE REST. AFTER BOTH PRACTICES, THE NET SCORES WERE SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER, ALTHOUGH THE MAGNITUDE OF CHANGE WAS MORE AFTER CYCLIC MEDITATION THAN AFTER SUPINE REST (24.9% VERSUS 13.6%). THERE WAS REDUCTION IN SCORES FOR WRONG CANCELLATIONS AFTER CYCLIC MEDITATION AND NOT AFTER SUPINE REST. THE CONTROL GROUP SHOWED NO CHANGE. THE RESULTS SUGGEST THAT CYCLIC MEDITATION BRINGS ABOUT A GREATER IMPROVEMENT IN PERFORMANCE IN THIS TASK, WHICH REQUIRES SELECTIVE ATTENTION, CONCENTRATION, VISUAL SCANNING ABILITIES, AND A REPETITIVE MOTOR RESPONSE. 2007 3 868 37 EFFECT OF YOGA RELAXATION TECHNIQUES ON PERFORMANCE OF DIGIT-LETTER SUBSTITUTION TASK BY TEENAGERS. BACKGROUND/AIMS: MEMORY AND SELECTIVE ATTENTION ARE IMPORTANT SKILLS FOR ACADEMIC AND PROFESSIONAL PERFORMANCE. TECHNIQUES TO IMPROVE THESE SKILLS ARE NOT TAUGHT EITHER IN EDUCATION OR COMPANY TRAINING COURSES. ANY SYSTEM WHICH CAN SYSTEMATICALLY IMPROVE THESE SKILLS WILL BE OF VALUE IN SCHOOLS, UNIVERSITIES, AND WORKPLACES. AIMS: TO INVESTIGATE POSSIBLE IMPROVEMENTS IN MEMORY AND SELECTIVE ATTENTION, AS MEASURED BY THE DIGIT-LETTER SUBSTITUTION TASK (DLST), DUE TO PRACTICE OF CYCLIC MEDITATION (CM), A YOGA RELAXATION TECHNIQUE, AS COMPARED TO SUPINE REST (SR). MATERIALS AND METHODS: SUBJECTS CONSISTED OF 253 SCHOOL STUDENTS, 156 BOYS, 97 GIRLS, IN THE AGE RANGE 13-16 YEARS, WHO WERE ATTENDING A 10-DAY YOGA TRAINING COURSE DURING SUMMER VACATION. THE SELECTED SUBJECTS HAD ENGLISH AS THEIR MEDIUM OF INSTRUCTION IN SCHOOL AND THEY ACTED AS THEIR OWN CONTROLS. THEY WERE ALLOCATED TO TWO GROUPS, AND TESTED ON THE DLST, IMMEDIATELY BEFORE AND AFTER 22.5 MINUTES PRACTICE OF CM ON ONE DAY, AND IMMEDIATELY BEFORE AND AFTER AN EQUAL PERIOD OF SR ON THE OTHER DAY. THE FIRST GROUP PERFORMED CM ON DAY 9 AND SR ON DAY 10. FOR THE SECOND GROUP, THE ORDER WAS REVERSED. RESULTS: WITHIN EACH GROUP PRE-POST TEST DIFFERENCES WERE SIGNIFICANT FOR BOTH THE RELAXATION TECHNIQUES. THE MAGNITUDE OF NET SCORE IMPROVEMENT WAS GREATER AFTER SR (7.85%) COMPARED TO CM (3.95%). SIGNIFICANCE LEVELS WERE P < 0.4 X 10(-9)FOR SR AND P < 0.1 X 10(-3) FOR CM. THE NUMBER OF WRONG ATTEMPTS ALSO INCREASED SIGNIFICANTLY ON BOTH INTERVENTIONS, EVEN AFTER REMOVING TWO OUTLIER DATA POINTS ON DAY 1 IN THE SR GROUP. CONCLUSIONS: BOTH CM AND SR LEAD TO IMPROVEMENT IN PERFORMANCE ON THE DLST. HOWEVER, THESE RELAXATION TECHNIQUES LEAD TO MORE WRONG CANCELLATION ERRORS. 2009 4 1355 33 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. 2010 5 768 41 EFFECT OF TWO YOGA-BASED RELAXATION TECHNIQUES ON MEMORY SCORES AND STATE ANXIETY. BACKGROUND: A YOGA PRACTICE INVOLVING CYCLES OF YOGA POSTURES AND SUPINE REST (CALLED CYCLIC MEDITATION) WAS PREVIOUSLY SHOWN TO IMPROVE PERFORMANCE IN ATTENTION TASKS MORE THAN RELAXATION IN THE CORPSE POSTURE (SHAVASANA). THIS WAS ASCRIBED TO REDUCED ANXIETY, THOUGH THIS WAS NOT ASSESSED. METHODS: IN FIFTY-SEVEN MALE VOLUNTEERS (GROUP AVERAGE AGE +/- S.D., 26.6 +/- 4.5 YEARS) THE IMMEDIATE EFFECT OF TWO YOGA RELAXATION TECHNIQUES WAS STUDIED ON MEMORY AND STATE ANXIETY. ALL PARTICIPANTS WERE ASSESSED BEFORE AND AFTER (I) CYCLIC MEDITATION (CM) PRACTICED FOR 22:30 MINUTES ON ONE DAY AND (II) AN EQUAL DURATION OF SUPINE REST (SR) OR THE CORPSE POSTURE (SHAVASANA), ON ANOTHER DAY. SECTIONS OF THE WECHSLER MEMORY SCALE (WMS) WERE USED TO ASSESS; (I) ATTENTION AND CONCENTRATION (DIGIT SPAN FORWARD AND BACKWARD), AND (II) ASSOCIATE LEARNING. STATE ANXIETY WAS ASSESSED USING SPIELBERGER'S STATE-TRAIT ANXIETY INVENTORY (STAI). RESULTS: THERE WAS A SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENT IN THE SCORES OF ALL SECTIONS OF THE WMS STUDIED AFTER BOTH CM AND SR, BUT, THE MAGNITUDE OF CHANGE WAS MORE AFTER CM COMPARED TO AFTER SR. THE STATE ANXIETY SCORES DECREASED AFTER BOTH CM AND SR, WITH A GREATER MAGNITUDE OF DECREASE AFTER CM. THERE WAS NO CORRELATION BETWEEN PERCENTAGE CHANGE IN MEMORY SCORES AND STATE ANXIETY FOR EITHER SESSION. CONCLUSION: A CYCLICAL COMBINATION OF YOGA POSTURES AND SUPINE REST IN CM IMPROVED MEMORY SCORES IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE PRACTICE AND DECREASED STATE ANXIETY MORE THAN REST IN A CLASSICAL YOGA RELAXATION POSTURE (SHAVASANA). 2009 6 1354 28 IMMEDIATE EFFECT OF THREE YOGA BREATHING TECHNIQUES ON PERFORMANCE ON A LETTER-CANCELLATION TASK. THE EFFECTS OF THREE YOGA BREATHING PRACTICES WERE EVALUATED ON PERFORMANCE ON A LETTER-CANCELLATION TASK WHICH IS A LEFT-HEMISPHERE DOMINANT TASK. THE THREE YOGA BREATHING PRACTICES (RIGHT, LEFT, AND ALTERNATE NOSTRIL BREATHING) WERE SELECTED BECAUSE UNILATERAL FORCED NOSTRIL BREATHING STIMULATES THE CONTRALATERAL HEMISPHERE. THERE WERE 20 MALE VOLUNTEERS WHOSE AGES RANGED FROM 20 TO 45 YEARS (M AGE=28.4 YR., SD=5.7). ALL SUBJECTS WERE ASSESSED BEFORE AND AFTER FOUR SESSIONS, I.E., RIGHT NOSTRIL YOGA BREATHING, LEFT NOSTRIL YOGA BREATHING, ALTERNATE NOSTRIL YOGA BREATHING, AND BREATH AWARENESS AS A CONTROL. THE LETTER-CANCELLATION TASK SCORES WERE SIGNIFICANTLY IMPROVED, I.E., THERE WERE FEWER ERRORS FOLLOWING RIGHT AND ALTERNATE NOSTRIL YOGA BREATHING (WILCOXON PAIRED SIGNED-RANKS TEST). THE IMPROVED PERFORMANCE MAY BE RELATED TO THE ENHANCEMENT OF CONTRALATERAL HEMISPHERE FUNCTION FOUND WITH SELECTIVE NOSTRIL BREATHING. 2007 7 1351 30 IMMEDIATE EFFECT OF A YOGA BREATHING PRACTICE ON ATTENTION AND ANXIETY IN PRE-TEEN CHILDREN. PRE-TEEN CHILDREN FACE STRESSORS RELATED TO THEIR TRANSITION FROM CHILDHOOD TO ADOLESCENCE, WITH A SIMULTANEOUS INCREASE IN ACADEMIC PRESSURE. THE PRESENT STUDY COMPARED THE IMMEDIATE EFFECTS OF 18 MIN OF (I) HIGH FREQUENCY YOGA BREATHING WITH (II) YOGA-BASED BREATH AWARENESS AND (III) SITTING QUIETLY, ON (A) ATTENTION AND (B) ANXIETY, IN 61 PRE-TEEN CHILDREN (AGED BETWEEN 11 AND 12 YEARS; 25 GIRLS). ATTENTION WAS ASSESSED USING A SIX LETTER CANCELLATION TASK AND SPIELBERGER'S STATE TRAIT ANXIETY INVENTORY STAI-S WAS USED TO MEASURE ANXIETY BEFORE AND AFTER THE THREE PRACTICES, PRACTICED ON SEPARATE DAYS. REPEATED MEASURES ANOVA, FOLLOWED BY BONFERRONI ADJUSTED POST-HOC ANALYSES SHOWED AN INCREASE IN TOTAL ATTEMPTS AND NET SCORES AFTER HIGH FREQUENCY YOGA BREATHING (P < 0.05), WHILE WRONG ATTEMPTS INCREASED AFTER YOGA BASED BREATH AWARENESS (P < 0.05). ANXIETY DECREASED COMPARABLY AFTER ALL THREE INTERVENTIONS. THE 25 GIRLS IN THE GROUP HAD THE SAME TREND OF RESULTS AS THE WHOLE GROUP WITH RESPECT TO THE ATTENTION-BASED CANCELLATION TASK, WHILE BOYS SHOWED NO, HOW SINCE CHANGE. FOR BOTH GIRLS AND BOYS, ANXIETY DECREASED AFTER ALL THREE 18MIN INTERVENTIONS. THE RESULTS SUGGEST THAT HIGH FREQUENCY YOGA BREATHING COULD BE A SHORT, USEFUL SCHOOL BASED PRACTICE TO IMPROVE ATTENTION AND REDUCE ANXIETY. 2019 8 1356 39 IMMEDIATE EFFECT OF TWO YOGA-BASED RELAXATION TECHNIQUES ON COGNITIVE FUNCTIONS IN PATIENTS SUFFERING FROM RELAPSING REMITTING MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS: A COMPARATIVE STUDY. COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENT (CI) IS AN IMPORTANT FEATURE OF RELAPSING REMITTING MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS (RRMS). YOGIC RELAXATION TECHNIQUES HAVE BEEN FOUND USEFUL IN IMPROVING VARIOUS COGNITIVE DOMAINS IN HEALTH AND DISEASE. EIGHTEEN SUBJECTS (13 FEMALES) IN THE AGE RANGE OF 51.5 +/- 12.72 YEARS WITH THE DIAGNOSIS OF RRMS BY A NEUROLOGIST (MCDONALD CRITERIA 2010) SINCE LAST 18.16 +/- 12.59 YEARS WERE RECRUITED INTO THE STUDY FROM A NEURO-REHABILITATION CENTRE IN GERMANY. ASSESSMENTS WERE DONE BEFORE AND IMMEDIATELY AFTER TWO RANDOMLY ALLOCATED 30-MIN SESSIONS OF YOGIC RELAXATION: CYCLIC MEDITATION (CM) AND SR (SUPINE REST OR SHAVASANA). ASSESSMENTS WERE DONE FOR ATTENTION, PSYCHOMOTOR PERFORMANCE, INFORMATION PROCESSING SPEED, EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONS, AND IMMEDIATE AND DELAYED RECALL USING STANDARD PSYCHOMETRIC TOOLS. RMANOVA WAS APPLIED TO ANALYSE THE DATA USING SPSS VERSION 10. BOTH CM AND SR SESSIONS IMPROVED SCORES ON DIGIT SYMBOL SUBSTITUTION TEST (DSST) (P < 0.01) AND AUDITORY VERBAL LEARNING TEST (AVLT) (P < 0.05). THERE WAS A SIGNIFICANTLY BETTER PERFORMANCE IN TRAIL MAKING TEST (TMT)-A AND FORWARD DIGIT SPAN (FDS) AFTER CM AS COMPARED TO SR (P < 0.01). YOGIC RELAXATION TECHNIQUES MAY HAVE AN IMMEDIATE ENHANCING EFFECT ON PROCESSING SPEED, PSYCHOMOTOR PERFORMANCE, AND RECALL OF RRMS PATIENTS. CM IS BETTER THAN SR IN IMPROVING PROCESSING SPEED, SHORT-TERM MEMORY, AND VERBAL WORKING MEMORY. 2016 9 1727 34 PERFORMANCE IN A SUBSTITUTION TASK AND STATE ANXIETY FOLLOWING YOGA IN ARMY RECRUITS. 140 MEN (M AGE = 30.3 YR., SD = 5.7) FROM THE INDIAN ARMY IN NORTH INDIA PARTICIPATED IN THE STUDY. THEY WERE NAIVE TO YOGA AND WERE ASSIGNED TO YOGA AND BREATH AWARENESS GROUPS RANDOMLY, WITH 70 IN EACH GROUP. 20 HEALTHY MALES OF COMPARABLE AGE (M AGE = 33.7 YR., SD = 7.0) FORMED A COMPARISON GROUP. THEIR PERFORMANCE IN A DIGIT-LETTER SUBSTITUTION TASK AND A STATE ANXIETY SUBSCALE WAS ASSESSED IMMEDIATELY BEFORE AND AFTER TWO 45-MIN. SESSIONS. THE TWO GROUPS OF SOLDIERS PRACTICED EITHER YOGA OR BREATH AWARENESS. THE COMPARISON GROUP LISTENED TO MEDITATION MUSIC. DIGIT-LETTER SUBSTITUTION SCORES INCREASED IN BOTH GROUPS OF ARMY PERSONNEL AND IN THE COMPARISON GROUP. STATE ANXIETY DECREASED AFTER YOGA AND LISTENING TO MEDITATION MUSIC, BUT NOT AFTER BREATH AWARENESS. THIS SUGGESTS THAT EVEN IN ARMY PERSONNEL NAIVE TO YOGA, A YOGA-BASED INTERVENTION OR LISTENING TO MEDITATION MUSIC COULD REDUCE ANXIETY WHILE INCREASING PERFORMANCE ON AN ATTENTION TASK. 2012 10 1957 36 SELF-ESTEEM AND PERFORMANCE IN ATTENTIONAL TASKS IN SCHOOL CHILDREN AFTER 4(1/2) MONTHS OF YOGA. INTRODUCTION: PHYSICAL ACTIVITY IS KNOWN TO IMPROVE SELF-ESTEEM OF CHILDREN. LOW SELF-ESTEEM CAUSES DISTRACTION OF ATTENTION WHICH LEADS TO DECLINE IN PERFORMANCE IN ATTENTIONAL TASKS. THE PERFORMANCE OF A CHILD AT SCHOOL DEPENDS ON MULTIPLE FACTORS, A MAJOR FACTOR BEING ATTENTION. HENCE, THE PRESENT STUDY WAS DESIGNED TO SEE (I) THE EFFECT 4(1/2) MONTHS OF YOGA PRACTICE HAD ON CHILDREN'S (A) PERFORMANCE IN ATTENTIONAL TASKS, (B) SELF-ESTEEM AND (II) THE CORRELATION BETWEEN YOGA PERFORMANCE AND (A) ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE, (B) BEHAVIOR WITH PEERS, (C) BEHAVIOR WITH TEACHERS, (D) PUNCTUALITY, (E) PARTICIPATION IN EXTRA-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES. METHODS: PARTICIPANTS WERE 116 CHILDREN WITH GROUP MEAN AGE +/- STANDARD DEVIATION; 10.2 +/- 0.6 YEARS. WE ASSESSED THEM FOR (I) SELF-ESTEEM USING INDIAN ADAPTATION OF BATTLE'S SELF ESTEEM INVENTORY FOR CHILDREN AND (II) PERFORMANCE IN ATTENTIONAL TASKS USING TWO DIFFERENT TESTS, I.E., SIX LETTER CANCELLATION TEST (SLCT) AND DIGIT LETTER SUBSTITUTION TEST (DLST) AND (III) THE TEACHER'S RATING SCALE WHICH ANALYZED THE TEACHER'S ASSESSMENT OF THE CHILDREN'S ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE, BEHAVIOR WITH PEERS, BEHAVIOR WITH TEACHERS, PUNCTUALITY, YOGA PRACTICE, AND PARTICIPATION IN EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES ON AN ANALOG SCALE, BEFORE AND AFTER THE INTERVENTION. DATA WERE ANALYZED WITH PASW (SPSS STATISTICS 24) USING THE T-TEST FOR PAIRED DATA. RESULTS: THERE WAS A SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENT IN THE SCORES OF (I) SLCT (P < 0.001), (II) DLST (P < 0.001), (III) SOCIAL SELF-ESTEEM (P < 0.01), (IV) ACADEMIC SELF-ESTEEM (P < 0.001), AND (V) TOTAL SELF-ESTEEM (P < 0.001) AFTER 60 MIN/DAY OF YOGA PRACTICE FOR 4(1/2) MONTHS. PEARSON CORRELATION SHOWED A POSITIVE CORRELATION BETWEEN YOGA PERFORMANCE AND THE BEHAVIOR WITH TEACHERS (R = 0.221 AND P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: YOGA PRACTICE IS BENEFICIAL FOR SCHOOL CHILDREN AS IT IMPROVES ATTENTION, CONCENTRATION, MEMORY, MOTOR SPEED, AND SELF-ESTEEM (SOCIAL, ACADEMIC AND TOTAL). IN ADDITION, IMPROVED YOGA PERFORMANCE IMPROVES BEHAVIOR WITH TEACHERS, THUS IMPROVING DISCIPLINE IN SCHOOL. 2019 11 1559 24 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 12 1692 33 OXYGEN CONSUMPTION AND RESPIRATION FOLLOWING TWO YOGA RELAXATION TECHNIQUES. THE PRESENT STUDY WAS CONDUCTED TO EVALUATE A STATEMENT IN ANCIENT YOGA TEXTS THAT SUGGESTS THAT A COMBINATION OF BOTH "CALMING" AND "STIMULATING" MEASURES MAY BE ESPECIALLY HELPFUL IN REACHING A STATE OF MENTAL EQUILIBRIUM. TWO YOGA PRACTICES, ONE COMBINING "CALMING AND STIMULATING" MEASURES (CYCLIC MEDITATION) AND THE OTHER, A "CALMING" TECHNIQUE (SHAVASAN), WERE COMPARED. THE OXYGEN CONSUMPTION, BREATH RATE, AND BREATH VOLUME OF 40 MALE VOLUNTEERS (GROUP MEAN +/- SD, 27.0 +/- 5.7 YEARS) WERE ASSESSED BEFORE AND AFTER SESSIONS OF CYCLIC MEDITATION (CM) AND BEFORE AND AFTER SESSIONS OF SHAVASAN (SH). THE 2 SESSIONS (CM, SH) WERE 1 DAY APART. CYCLIC MEDITATION INCLUDES THE PRACTICE OF YOGA POSTURES INTERSPERSED WITH PERIODS OF SUPINE RELAXATION. DURING SH THE SUBJECT LIES IN A SUPINE POSITION THROUGHOUT THE PRACTICE. THERE WAS A SIGNIFICANT DECREASE IN THE AMOUNT OF OXYGEN CONSUMED AND IN BREATH RATE AND AN INCREASE IN BREATH VOLUME AFTER BOTH TYPES OF SESSIONS (2-FACTOR ANOVA, PAIRED T TEST). HOWEVER, THE MAGNITUDE OF CHANGE ON ALL 3 MEASURES WAS GREATER AFTER CM: (1) OXYGEN CONSUMPTION DECREASED 32.1% AFTER CM COMPARED WITH 10.1% AFTER SH; (2) BREATH RATE DECREASED 18.0% AFTER CM AND 15.2% AFTER SH; AND (3) BREATH VOLUME INCREASED 28.8% AFTER CM AND 15.9% AFTER SH. THESE RESULTS SUPPORT THE IDEA THAT A COMBINATION OF YOGA POSTURES INTERSPERSED WITH RELAXATION REDUCES AROUSAL MORE THAN RELAXATION ALONE DOES. 2000 13 1691 24 OXYGEN CONSUMPTION AND RESPIRATION DURING AND AFTER TWO YOGA RELAXATION TECHNIQUES. CYCLIC MEDITATION (CM) IS A TECHNIQUE WHICH COMBINES "STIMULATING" AND "CALMING" PRACTICES, BASED ON A STATEMENT IN ANCIENT YOGA TEXTS SUGGESTING THAT SUCH A COMBINATION MAY BE ESPECIALLY HELPFUL TO REACH A STATE OF MENTAL EQUILIBRIUM. THE OXYGEN CONSUMPTION, BREATH RATE AND BREATH VOLUME OF 50 MALE VOLUNTEERS (GROUP MEAN AGE+/-SD, 27+/-6.3 YEARS) WERE ASSESSED BEFORE, DURING, AND AFTER SESSIONS OF CM AND SESSIONS OF SUPINE REST IN THE CORPSE POSTURE (SHAVASANA, SH). THE SESSIONS WERE ONE DAY APART AND THE ORDER WAS ALTERNATED. THE OXYGEN CONSUMPTION, BREATH RATE AND BREATH VOLUME INCREASED DURING THE "STIMULATING" PRACTICES OF CM, RETURNED TO THE BASELINE DURING THE "CALMING" PRACTICES, AND THE OXYGEN CONSUMPTION DECREASED BY 19.3 PERCENT BELOW BASELINE VALUES AFTER CM. DURING THE SH SESSION THE OXYGEN CONSUMPTION, BREATH RATE AND BREATH VOLUME REDUCED; HOWEVER THE DECREASE IN OXYGEN CONSUMPTION AFTER SH WAS LESS THAN AFTER CM (I.E., 4.8 PERCENT). THE RESULTS SUPPORT THE IDEA THAT A COMBINATION OF YOGA POSTURES WITH SUPINE REST (IN CM) REDUCES THE OXYGEN CONSUMPTION MORE THAN RESTING SUPINE ALONE DOES. 2006 14 1726 40 PERFORMANCE IN A CORSI BLOCK-TAPPING TASK FOLLOWING HIGH-FREQUENCY YOGA BREATHING OR BREATH AWARENESS. BACKGROUND: UNINOSTRIL YOGA BREATHING PRACTICES HAVE IMPROVED SPATIAL MEMORY SCORES. THERE HAS BEEN NO ASSESSMENT ON THE EFFECT OF HIGH-FREQUENCY YOGA BREATHING (HFYB) ON WORKING MEMORY AND SPATIAL MEMORY SCORES USING THE CORSI BLOCK-TAPPING TASK (CBTT). OBJECTIVES: THE PRESENT STUDY WAS PLANNED TO ASSESS THE IMMEDIATE EFFECTS OF HFYB AND BREATH AWARENESS (BAW) COMPARED TO A CONTROL SESSION ON PERFORMANCE IN A CBTT. METHODS: FIFTEEN PARTICIPANTS OF BOTH SEXES WITH AGES BETWEEN 18 AND 24 YEARS (GROUP MEAN AGE +/- STANDARD DEVIATION, 20.0 +/- 1.6 YEARS; 10 FEMALES) WERE RECRUITED FOR THE TRIAL FROM A UNIVERSITY IN NORTH INDIA. EACH PARTICIPANT WAS ASSESSED IN THREE SESSIONS CONDUCTED ON 3 SEPARATE DAYS AT THE SAME TIME OF THE DAY. THE THREE SESSIONS WERE (I) HFYB, (II) BAW, AND (III) QUIET SITTING (QS). THE DURATION OF THE INTERVENTION WAS 18 MIN. THE PARTICIPANTS WERE ASSESSED BEFORE AND AFTER ALL THE THREE SESSIONS. REPEATED-MEASURES-ANALYSES OF VARIANCE FOLLOWED BY POST HOC TESTS WITH BONFERRONI ADJUSTMENT WERE PERFORMED TO COMPARE DATA BEFORE AND AFTER ALL THE THREE SESSIONS. RESULTS: BAW RESULTED IN AN IMPROVEMENT IN BACKWARD TOTAL SCORES (P < 0.05) AND THE BACKWARD CORSI SPAN (P < 0.05; ONE TAILED). CONCLUSIONS: THE RESULTS SUGGEST THAT BAW IMPROVES PRIMARY WORKING MEMORY, SPATIAL MEMORY, AND SPATIAL ATTENTION. HFYB DID NOT CAUSE ANY CHANGE. 2019 15 454 36 CHANGES IN MIDLATENCY AUDITORY EVOKED POTENTIALS FOLLOWING TWO YOGA-BASED RELAXATION TECHNIQUES. PRACTICING MEDITATION WHILE FOCUSING ON A SOUND OR A SYMBOL INFLUENCED MIDLATENCY AUDITORY EVOKED POTENTIALS (MLAEPS). CYCLIC MEDITATION (CM) IS A TECHNIQUE COMBINING YOGA POSTURES WITH MEDITATION WHILE SUPINE, WHICH HAS INFLUENCED THE P300 EVENT-RELATED POTENTIAL. THE EFFECTS OF CM ON MLAEPS HAVE NOT BEEN PREVIOUSLY STUDIED. THE MLAEPS WERE STUDIED BEFORE AND AFTER THE PRACTICE OF CM COMPARED TO AN EQUAL DURATION OF SUPINE REST (SR) IN 47 MALE VOLUNTEERS (GROUP MEAN AGE 26.5 +/- 4.4 YEARS), RECORDED FROM THE VERTEX REFERENCED TO LINKED EARLOBES. THE SESSIONS WERE ONE DAY APART AND SUBJECTS WERE RANDOMLY ASSIGNED TO EACH SESSION. THE PA WAVE PEAK LATENCY AND NB WAVE PEAK LATENCY SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASED FOLLOWING CM COMPARED TO BEFORE CM (REPEATED MEASURES ANOVA, POST-HOC ANALYSIS WITH LEAST SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE, P<0.05). THERE WAS A SIGNIFICANT INCREASE IN THE PEAK AMPLITUDE OF THE NB WAVE (P<0.05) COMPARED TO BEFORE CM. POST SR THERE WAS A SIGNIFICANT INCREASE IN THE PEAK LATENCY OF THE NA WAVE (P<0.05) COMPARED TO BEFORE SR. IN CONCLUSION FOLLOWING CM THE LATENCIES OF NEURAL GENERATORS CORRESPONDING TO CORTICAL AREAS IS PROLONGED, WHEREAS FOLLOWING SR A SIMILAR CHANGE OCCURS AT MESENCEPHALIC-DIENCEPHALIC LEVELS. 2009 16 1350 29 IMMEDIATE CHANGES IN MUSCLE STRENGTH AND MOTOR SPEED FOLLOWING YOGA BREATHING. THE PRESENT STUDY WAS CONDUCTED TO ASSESS THE IMMEDIATE EFFECT OF HIGH-FREQUENCY YOGA BREATHING ON MUSCLE STRENGTH AND MOTOR SPEED. BILATERAL HANDGRIP STRENGTH, LEG AND BACK STRENGTH, FINGER TAPPING AND ARM TAPPING SPEED WERE ASSESSED IN FIFTY MALE PARTICIPANTS (GROUP MEAN AGE +/- SD, 26.9 +/- 6.2 YEARS) BEFORE AND AFTER (A) HIGH FREQUENCY YOGA BREATHING FOR 15 MINUTES AND (B) BREATH AWARENESS FOR THE SAME DURATION. SESSIONS (A) AND (B) WERE ON TWO DIFFERENT DAYS BUT AT THE SAME TIME OF THE DAY. THE SCHEDULE WAS ALTERNATED FOR DIFFERENT PARTICIPANTS. THERE WAS A SIGNIFICANT INCREASE (P < 0.05) IN RIGHT HAND GRIP STRENGTH AFTER HIGH FREQUENCY YOGA BREATHING. BOTH FINGER AND ARM TAPPING IMPROVED AFTER BOTH PRACTICES. THE RESULTS SUGGEST A ROLE FOR HIGH FREQUENCY YOGA BREATHING IN IMPROVING THE HAND GRIP STRENGTH AS AN IMMEDIATE EFFECT. 2014 17 1261 34 FINGER DEXTERITY AND VISUAL DISCRIMINATION FOLLOWING TWO YOGA BREATHING PRACTICES. BACKGROUND: PRACTICING YOGA HAS BEEN SHOWN TO IMPROVE MOTOR FUNCTIONS AND ATTENTION. THOUGH ATTENTION IS REQUIRED FOR FINE MOTOR AND DISCRIMINATION TASKS, THE EFFECT OF YOGA BREATHING TECHNIQUES ON FINE MOTOR SKILLS AND VISUAL DISCRIMINATION HAS NOT BEEN ASSESSED. AIM: TO STUDY THE EFFECT OF YOGA BREATHING TECHNIQUES ON FINGER DEXTERITY AND VISUAL DISCRIMINATION. MATERIALS AND METHODS: THE PRESENT STUDY CONSISTED OF ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY SUBJECTS WHO HAD ENROLLED FOR STRESS MANAGEMENT. THEY WERE RANDOMLY DIVIDED INTO TWO GROUPS, ONE GROUP PRACTICED HIGH FREQUENCY YOGA BREATHING WHILE THE OTHER GROUP PRACTICED BREATH AWARENESS. HIGH FREQUENCY YOGA BREATHING (KAPALABHATI, BREATH RATE 1.0 HZ) AND BREATH AWARENESS ARE TWO YOGA PRACTICES WHICH IMPROVE ATTENTION. THE IMMEDIATE EFFECT OF HIGH FREQUENCY YOGA BREATHING AND BREATH AWARENESS (I) WERE ASSESSED ON THE PERFORMANCE ON THE O'CONNOR FINGER DEXTERITY TASK AND (II) (IN) A SHAPE AND SIZE DISCRIMINATION TASK. RESULTS: THERE WAS A SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENT IN THE FINGER DEXTERITY TASK BY 19% AFTER KAPALABHATI AND 9% AFTER BREATH AWARENESS (P<0.001 IN BOTH CASES, REPEATED MEASURES ANOVA AND POST-HOC ANALYSES). THERE WAS A SIGNIFICANT REDUCTION (P<0.001) IN ERROR (41% AFTER KAPALABHATI AND 21% AFTER BREATH AWARENESS) AS WELL AS TIME TAKEN TO COMPLETE THE SHAPE AND SIZE DISCRIMINATION TEST (15% AFTER KAPALABHATI AND 15% AFTER BREATH AWARENESS; P<0.001) WAS ALSO OBSERVED. CONCLUSION: BOTH KAPALABAHATI AND BREATH AWARENESS CAN IMPROVE FINE MOTOR SKILLS AND VISUAL DISCRIMINATION, WITH A GREATER MAGNITUDE OF CHANGE AFTER KAPALABHATI. 2012 18 1986 31 SPATIAL AND VERBAL MEMORY TEST SCORES FOLLOWING YOGA AND FINE ARTS CAMPS FOR SCHOOL CHILDREN. THE PERFORMANCE SCORES OF CHILDREN (AGED 11 TO 16 YEARS) IN VERBAL AND SPATIAL MEMORY TESTS WERE COMPARED FOR TWO GROUPS (N = 30, EACH), ONE ATTENDING A YOGA CAMP AND THE OTHER A FINE ARTS CAMP. BOTH GROUPS WERE ASSESSED ON THE MEMORY TASKS INITIALLY AND AFTER TEN DAYS OF THEIR RESPECTIVE INTERVENTIONS. A CONTROL GROUP (N = 30) WAS SIMILARLY STUDIED TO ASSESS THE TEST-RETEST EFFECT. AT THE FINAL ASSESSMENT THE YOGA GROUP SHOWED A SIGNIFICANT INCREASE OF 43% IN SPATIAL MEMORY SCORES (MULTIVARIATE ANALYSIS, TUKEY TEST), WHILE THE FINE ARTS AND CONTROL GROUPS SHOWED NO CHANGE. THE RESULTS SUGGEST THAT YOGA PRACTICE, INCLUDING PHYSICAL POSTURES, YOGA BREATHING, MEDITATION AND GUIDED RELAXATION IMPROVED DELAYED RECALL OF SPATIAL INFORMATION. 2004 19 695 27 EFFECT OF FOUR VOLUNTARY REGULATED YOGA BREATHING TECHNIQUES ON GRIP STRENGTH. BILATERAL HAND-GRIP STRENGTH WAS STUDIED IN 21 MALE VOLUNTEERS (M AGE = 25.6 YR., SD = 5.2). ALL WERE ASSESSED BEFORE AND AFTER FIVE PRACTICE SESSIONS OF 20 MIN. DURATION: RIGHT-NOSTRIL YOGA BREATHING, LEFT-NOSTRIL YOGA BREATHING, ALTERNATE-NOSTRIL YOGA BREATHING, BREATH AWARENESS, AND A NO-INTERVENTION SESSION. DATA WERE ANALYZED WITH ANALYSES OF VARIANCE AND AN ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE USING THE NO-BREATH AWARENESS CONTROL CONDITION AS A COVARIATE. THERE WERE NO SIGNIFICANT CHANGES. THE LEFT-HAND-GRIP STRENGTH REDUCED AFTER LEFT-NOSTRIL YOGA BREATHING. HOWEVER, FINDINGS WERE NOT CONSIDERED SIGNIFICANT, SO METHODOLOGICAL ISSUES IN YOGA RESEARCH WHICH COULD CONTRIBUTE TO NULL FINDINGS AND EVEN MASK ACTUAL CHANGES WERE DISCUSSED. 2009 20 463 38 CHANGES IN SHAPE AND SIZE DISCRIMINATION AND STATE ANXIETY AFTER ALTERNATE-NOSTRIL YOGA BREATHING AND BREATH AWARENESS IN ONE SESSION EACH. BACKGROUND YOGA BREATHING TECHNIQUES LIKE HIGH-FREQUENCY YOGA BREATHING (HFYB) AND BREATH AWARENESS (BAW) HAVE BEEN ASSOCIATED WITH IMPROVED PERFORMANCE IN THE SHAPE AND SIZE DISCRIMINATION TASK. A PUBMED SEARCH OF THE LITERATURE REVEALED THAT ALTERNATE-NOSTRIL BREATHING HAS BEEN SHOWN TO IMPROVE PERFORMANCE IN ATTENTION TASKS, BUT THE EFFECT ON TACTILE PERCEPTION HAS NOT BEEN STUDIED. HENCE, THE PRESENT STUDY WAS DESIGNED TO ASSESS THE IMMEDIATE EFFECTS OF ALTERNATE-NOSTRIL YOGA BREATHING (ANYB) COMPARED TO BREATH AWARENESS ON SHAPE AND SIZE DISCRIMINATION AND STATE ANXIETY. MATERIAL AND METHODS FIFTY HEALTHY MALE VOLUNTEERS AGES 20-50 YEARS (GROUP MEAN +/-S.D., 28.4+/-8.2 YEARS) WERE RECRUITED. EACH PARTICIPANT WAS ASSESSED IN 3 SESSIONS CONDUCTED ON 3 SEPARATE DAYS AT THE SAME TIME OF DAY. THE 3 SESSIONS WERE (I) ALTERNATE-NOSTRIL YOGA BREATHING (ANYB), (II) BREATH AWARENESS (BAW), AND (III) QUIET SITTING (QS), AND THE SEQUENCE OF THE SESSIONS WAS RANDOMLY ALLOCATED. THE SHAPE AND SIZE DISCRIMINATION TASK AND STATE ANXIETY WERE ASSESSED BEFORE AND AFTER ALL 3 SESSIONS. REPEATED MEASURES ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE (RM-ANOVA) FOLLOWED BY POST HOC TESTS FOR MULTIPLE COMPARISONS, WHICH WERE BONFERRONI-ADJUSTED, WERE PERFORMED TO COMPARE DATA BEFORE AND AFTER ALL 3 SESSIONS USING SPSS VERSION 18.0. RESULTS THE ERRORS SCORES IN THE SHAPE AND SIZE DISCRIMINATION TASK SHOWED A SIGNIFICANT REDUCTION AFTER THE ANYB SESSION (P<0.001). A SIGNIFICANT REDUCTION WAS FOUND IN THE LEVEL OF STATE ANXIETY AFTER BREATH AWARENESS (P<0.05) AND QUIET SITTING SESSIONS (P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS THE PRESENT RESULTS SUGGEST THAT ANYB: (I) IMPROVES PERFORMANCE IN A TASK WHICH REQUIRES PERCEPTUAL SENSITIVITY AND FOCUSED ATTENTION, BUT (II) DOES NOT REDUCE STATE ANXIETY FOLLOWING THIS TASK. 2019