1 656 162 EEG SIGNAL BASED CLASSIFICATION BEFORE AND AFTER COMBINED YOGA AND SUDARSHAN KRIYA. NOWADAYS, THE STYLE OF LIVING IS RESTLESS AND BUSY WHICH HAS RESULTED IN INCREASED STRESS AMONG MANY PEOPLE. STRESS CAUSES VARIOUS MENTAL AND HEALTH ILLNESS SUCH AS DEPRESSION, ANXIETY, MOOD DISORDERS, AND AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR. YOGA AND SUDARSHAN KRIYA (SK) MEDITATION ARE HEALTHY WAYS TO ERADICATE STRESS FROM PEOPLE'S LIVES. BASED ON THE PREVIOUS STUDY, IT HAS BEEN ANALYZED THAT SK PRACTICE HELPS TO ENHANCE RELAXATION, MANAGEMENT OF EMOTION, ALERTNESS, FOCUS, AND ANTIDEPRESSANT EFFECT. IN THIS PAPER, THE COMBINED IMPACT OF YOGA AND SK MEDITATION HAS BEEN ANALYZED ON BRAIN SIGNALS BY USING STATISTICAL PARAMETERS. TO THE BEST OF THE AUTHORS' KNOWLEDGE, NO SUCH STUDY HAS BEEN CONDUCTED IN THE PAST. IN THIS STUDY, THE PRE AND POST ELECTROENCEPHALOGRAM (EEG) SIGNALS WERE CAPTURED FROM THE CONTROL AND STUDY GROUP BEFORE AND AFTER THREE MONTHS REGULAR PRACTICE OF COMBINED YOGA AND SK. DISCRETE WAVELET TRANSFORM (DWT) HAS BEEN USED TO DECOMPOSE THE SIGNAL INTO 6 SUB-BANDS (0-4, 4-8, 8-16, 16-32, 32-64, 64-128) HERTZ (HZ) BY USING DB4 WAVELET FOR ANALYSIS, STATISTICAL FEATURES SUCH AS VARIANCE, STANDARD DEVIATION, KURTOSIS, ZERO CROSSING, MAXIMUM AND MINIMUM HAVE BEEN CALCULATED FROM EACH SUB-BAND. THE OBTAINED PARAMETERS HAVE BEEN VALIDATED BY USING KRUSKAL-WALLIS STATISTICAL TEST. FURTHER, ARTIFICIAL NEURAL NETWORK (ANN) HAS BEEN APPLIED ON AFOREMENTIONED STATISTICAL PARAMETERS TO CLASSIFY SUBJECTS AS MEDITATORS AND NON-MEDITATORS. THE EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS INDICATED THAT THE PROPOSED METHOD ACHIEVED 87.2% ACCURACY FOR CLASSIFICATION AND COULD BE FURTHER EXTENDED TO CONSTRUCT AN ACCURATE CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM FOR DETECTION OF MEDITATORS AND NON-MEDITATORS. THIS STUDY FORMS A SCIENTIFIC FOUNDATION TO ENCOURAGE THE USE OF MEDITATION IN CLINICAL PRACTICES. 2019 2 894 30 EFFECT OF YOGA-NIDRA ON ADOLESCENTS WELL-BEING: A MIXED METHOD STUDY. CONTEXT: ADOLESCENT WELL-BEING IS A PRIORITY AREA FOR HEALTH-CARE INTERVENTIONS IN THE 21(ST) CENTURY. YOGA-NIDRA IS AN ANCIENT INDIAN METHOD OF ENABLING INDIVIDUALS TO ATTAIN A POSITIVE STATE OF DEEP PHYSICAL, MENTAL, AND EMOTIONAL RELAXATION. THE PRACTICE PRODUCES A STATE OF SIMULTANEOUS RELAXATION AND DETACHMENT RESULTING IN INNER AWARENESS AND RELEASE OF STRESS ON ALL PLANES OF ONE'S BEING. AIM: THIS MIXED METHOD STUDY WAS CARRIED OUT IN ADOLESCENT STUDENTS AGED 13-15 YEARS WITH AN AIM TO ASSESS EFFECTS OF YOGA-NIDRA ON VARIOUS DIMENSIONS OF WELL-BEING. MATERIALS AND METHODS: THIRTY-SIX STUDENTS RECEIVED YOGA-NIDRA SESSIONS 30 MIN DAILY FOR 3 DAYS IN A WEEK FOR 1 MONTH. PRIMARY OUTCOME MEASURES WERE HAPPINESS, PERCEIVED STRESS, OVERALL QUALITY OF LIFE, AND PSYCHOLOGICAL GENERAL WELL-BEING. THESE AND OTHER EXPERIENTIAL DIMENSIONS OF WELL-BEING COMPRISING OF ENTHUSIASM, ALERTNESS, QUIETUDE, CLARITY OF THOUGHT, CONTROL OVER ANGER, SELF-CONFIDENCE, AND SELF-AWARENESS WERE EVALUATED BEFORE AND AFTER INTERVENTION. QUALITATIVE OBSERVATIONS WERE RECORDED FROM PARTICIPANTS, THEIR TEACHERS, AND PARENTS. RESULTS OF QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE METHODS WERE ANALYZED AND COMPARED. RESULTS: YOGA-NIDRA INTERVENTION RESULTED IN SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENT IN ALL PRIMARY OUTCOME MEASURES. PARTICIPANTS REPORTED SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENT IN THE FEELINGS OF HAPPINESS, ENTHUSIASM, QUIETUDE, BEING MORE INSPIRED AND ALERT, ACTIVE, HAVING CLARITY OF THOUGHT, CONTROL OVER ANGER, AND SELF-CONFIDENCE AT THE END OF THE STUDY PERIOD. MIXED METHOD DESIGN OF THE STUDY PROVIDED CROSS-VALIDATION AND CONVERGENCE OF RESULTS OBTAINED FROM QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE ASSESSMENT TOOLS. CONCLUSION: YOGA-NIDRA IS BENEFICIAL IN IMPROVING MULTIPLE DIMENSIONS OF ADOLESCENT WELL-BEING. 2018 3 1671 26 NEW ENERGY GEOGRAPHIES: A CASE STUDY OF YOGA, MEDITATION AND HEALTHFULNESS. BEGINNING WITH A ROUTINE DAY IN THE LIFE OF A PRACTITIONER OF YOGA AND MEDITATION AND EMPHASISING THE IMPORTANCE OF NURTURING, MAINTAINING AND PREVENTING THE DISSIPATION OF DIVERSE 'ENERGIES', THIS PAPER EXPLORES THE POSSIBILITIES FOR GEOGRAPHICAL HEALTH STUDIES WHICH TAKE SERIOUSLY 'NEW ENERGY GEOGRAPHIES'. IT IS EXPLAINED HOW THIS ACCOUNT IS DERIVED FROM IN-DEPTH FIELDWORK TRACING HOW PRACTITIONERS OF YOGA AND MEDITATION FIND TIMES AND SPACES FOR THESE PRACTICES, OFTEN IN THE FACE OF BUSY URBAN LIFESTYLES. ATTENTION IS PAID TO THE 'ENERGY TALK' FEATURING HEAVILY IN HOW PRACTITIONERS DESCRIBE THE BENEFITS THAT THEY PERCEIVE THEMSELVES TO DERIVE FROM THESE PRACTICES, AND TO CLAIMS MADE ABOUT 'ENERGIES' GENERATED DURING THE TIME-SPACES OF THESE PRACTICES WHICH SEEMINGLY FLOW, USUALLY WITH POSITIVE EFFECTS, INTO OTHER DOMAINS OF THEIR LIVES. THE PAPER THEN DISCUSSES THE IMPLICATIONS OF THIS ENERGY TALK IN THE CONTEXT OF: (A) CRITICALLY REVIEWING CONVENTIONAL APPROACHES TO STUDYING 'ENERGY GEOGRAPHIES'; (B) IDENTIFYING AN ALERTNESS TO THE LIKES OF 'AFFECTIVE ENERGIES' SURFACING IN RECENT THEORETICALLY-ATTUNED WORKS OF HUMAN GEOGRAPHY (AND COGNATE DISCIPLINES); AND (C) EXPLORING DIFFERING UNDERSTANDINGS OF ENERGY/ENERGIES EXTANT IN GEOGRAPHICAL STUDIES OF HEALTH AND IN STEP WITH THE EMPIRICAL RESEARCH MATERIALS PRESENTED ABOUT YOGA, MEDITATION AND HEALTHFULNESS. WHILE ORIENTATED TOWARDS EXPLICITLY GEOGRAPHICAL INQUIRIES, THE PAPER IS INTENDED AS A STATEMENT OF INTEREST TO THE WIDER MEDICAL HUMANITIES. 2015 4 803 31 EFFECT OF YOGA ON ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE IN RELATION TO STRESS. BACKGROUND: ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE IS CONCERNED WITH THE QUANTITY AND QUALITY OF LEARNING ATTAINED IN A SUBJECT OR GROUP OF SUBJECTS AFTER A LONG PERIOD OF INSTRUCTION. EXCESSIVE STRESS HAMPERS STUDENTS' PERFORMANCE. IMPROVEMENT IN ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE AND ALERTNESS HAS BEEN REPORTED IN SEVERAL YOGIC STUDIES. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: THE MAIN OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY WAS TO ASSESS THE EFFECT OF YOGA ON ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE IN RELATION TO STRESS. MATERIALS AND METHODS: THE STUDY STARTED WITH 800 ADOLESCENT STUDENTS; 159 HIGH-STRESS STUDENTS AND 142 LOW-STRESS STUDENTS WERE SELECTED ON THE BASIS OF SCORES OBTAINED THROUGH STRESS BATTERY. EXPERIMENTAL GROUP AND CONTROL GROUP WERE GIVEN PRE TEST IN THREE SUBJECTS, I.E., MATHEMATICS, SCIENCE, AND SOCIAL STUDIES. A YOGA MODULE CONSISTING OF YOGA ASANAS, PRANAYAMA, MEDITATION, AND A VALUE ORIENTATION PROGRAM WAS ADMINISTERED ON EXPERIMENTAL GROUP FOR 7 WEEKS. THE EXPERIMENTAL AND CONTROL GROUPS WERE POST-TESTED FOR THEIR PERFORMANCE ON THE THREE SUBJECTS MENTIONED ABOVE. RESULTS: THE RESULTS SHOW THAT THE STUDENTS, WHO PRACTICED YOGA PERFORMED BETTER IN ACADEMICS. THE STUDY FURTHER SHOWS THAT LOW-STRESS STUDENTS PERFORMED BETTER THAN HIGH-STRESS STUDENTS, MEANING THEREBY THAT STRESS AFFECTS THE STUDENTS' PERFORMANCE. 2009 5 1863 26 RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL OF YOGA AND EXERCISE IN MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS. OBJECTIVE: TO DETERMINE THE EFFECT OF YOGA AND OF AEROBIC EXERCISE ON COGNITIVE FUNCTION, FATIGUE, MOOD, AND QUALITY OF LIFE IN MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS (MS). METHODS: SUBJECTS WITH CLINICALLY DEFINITE MS AND EXPANDED DISABILITY STATUS SCORE LESS THAN OR EQUAL TO 6.0 WERE RANDOMLY ASSIGNED TO ONE OF THREE GROUPS LASTING 6 MONTHS: WEEKLY IYENGAR YOGA CLASS ALONG WITH HOME PRACTICE, WEEKLY EXERCISE CLASS USING A STATIONARY BICYCLE ALONG WITH HOME EXERCISE, OR A WAITING-LIST CONTROL GROUP. OUTCOME ASSESSMENTS PERFORMED AT BASELINE AND AT THE END OF THE 6-MONTH PERIOD INCLUDED A BATTERY OF COGNITIVE MEASURES FOCUSED ON ATTENTION, PHYSIOLOGIC MEASURES OF ALERTNESS, PROFILE OF MOOD STATES, STATE-TRAIT ANXIETY INVENTORY, MULTI-DIMENSIONAL FATIGUE INVENTORY (MFI), AND SHORT FORM (SF)-36 HEALTH-RELATED QUALITY OF LIFE. RESULTS: SIXTY-NINE SUBJECTS WERE RECRUITED AND RANDOMIZED. TWELVE SUBJECTS DID NOT FINISH THE 6-MONTH INTERVENTION. THERE WERE NO ADVERSE EVENTS RELATED TO THE INTERVENTION. THERE WERE NO EFFECTS FROM EITHER OF THE ACTIVE INTERVENTIONS ON EITHER OF THE PRIMARY OUTCOME MEASURES OF ATTENTION OR ALERTNESS. BOTH ACTIVE INTERVENTIONS PRODUCED IMPROVEMENT IN SECONDARY MEASURES OF FATIGUE COMPARED TO THE CONTROL GROUP: ENERGY AND FATIGUE (VITALITY) ON THE SF-36 AND GENERAL FATIGUE ON THE MFI. THERE WERE NO CLEAR CHANGES IN MOOD RELATED TO YOGA OR EXERCISE. CONCLUSION: SUBJECTS WITH MS PARTICIPATING IN EITHER A 6-MONTH YOGA CLASS OR EXERCISE CLASS SHOWED SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENT IN MEASURES OF FATIGUE COMPARED TO A WAITING-LIST CONTROL GROUP. THERE WAS NO RELATIVE IMPROVEMENT OF COGNITIVE FUNCTION IN EITHER OF THE INTERVENTION GROUPS. 2004 6 1869 33 RANDOMIZED, CONTROLLED, SIX-MONTH TRIAL OF YOGA IN HEALTHY SENIORS: EFFECTS ON COGNITION AND QUALITY OF LIFE. CONTEXT: THERE ARE POTENTIAL BENEFITS OF MIND-BODY TECHNIQUES ON COGNITIVE FUNCTION BECAUSE THE TECHNIQUES INVOLVE AN ACTIVE ATTENTIONAL OR MINDFULNESS COMPONENT, BUT THIS HAS NOT BEEN FULLY EXPLORED. OBJECTIVE: TO DETERMINE THE EFFECT OF YOGA ON COGNITIVE FUNCTION, FATIGUE, MOOD, AND QUALITY OF LIFE IN SENIORS. DESIGN: RANDOMIZED, CONTROLLED TRIAL COMPARING YOGA, EXERCISE, AND WAIT-LIST CONTROL GROUPS. PARTICIPANTS: ONE HUNDRED THIRTY-FIVE GENERALLY HEALTHY MEN AND WOMEN AGED 65-85 YEARS. INTERVENTION: PARTICIPANTS WERE RANDOMIZED TO 6 MONTHS OF HATHA YOGA CLASS, WALKING EXERCISE CLASS, OR WAIT-LIST CONTROL. SUBJECTS ASSIGNED TO CLASSES ALSO WERE ASKED TO PRACTICE AT HOME. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: OUTCOME ASSESSMENTS PERFORMED AT BASELINE AND AFTER THE 6-MONTH PERIOD INCLUDED A BATTERY OF COGNITIVE MEASURES FOCUSED ON ATTENTION AND ALERTNESS, THE PRIMARY OUTCOME MEASURES BEING PERFORMANCE ON THE STROOP TEST AND A QUANTITATIVE ELECTROENCEPHALOGRAM (EEG) MEASURE OF ALERTNESS; SF-36 HEALTH-RELATED QUALITY OF LIFE; PROFILE OF MOOD STATES; MULTI-DIMENSIONAL FATIGUE INVENTORY; AND PHYSICAL MEASURES RELATED TO THE INTERVENTIONS. RESULTS: ONE HUNDRED THIRTY-FIVE SUBJECTS WERE RECRUITED AND RANDOMIZED. SEVENTEEN SUBJECTS DID NOT FINISH THE 6-MONTH INTERVENTION. THERE WERE NO EFFECTS FROM EITHER OF THE ACTIVE INTERVENTIONS ON ANY OF THE COGNITIVE AND ALERTNESS OUTCOME MEASURES. THE YOGA INTERVENTION PRODUCED IMPROVEMENTS IN PHYSICAL MEASURES (EG, TIMED 1-LEGGED STANDING, FORWARD FLEXIBILITY) AS WELL AS A NUMBER OF QUALITY-OF-LIFE MEASURES RELATED TO SENSE OF WELL-BEING AND ENERGY AND FATIGUE COMPARED TO CONTROLS. CONCLUSIONS: THERE WERE NO RELATIVE IMPROVEMENTS OF COGNITIVE FUNCTION AMONG HEALTHY SENIORS IN THE YOGA OR EXERCISE GROUP COMPARED TO THE WAIT-LIST CONTROL GROUP. THOSE IN THE YOGA GROUP SHOWED SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENT IN QUALITY-OF-LIFE AND PHYSICAL MEASURES COMPARED TO EXERCISE AND WAIT-LIST CONTROL GROUPS. 2006 7 1457 26 INFLUENCE OF YOGA AND AYURVEDA ON SELF-RATED SLEEP IN A GERIATRIC POPULATION. BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: SLEEP IN OLDER PERSONS IS CHARACTERIZED BY DECREASED ABILITY TO STAY ASLEEP, RESULTING IN FRAGMENTED SLEEP AND REDUCED DAYTIME ALERTNESS. PHARMACOLOGICAL TREATMENT OF INSOMNIA IN OLDER PERSONS IS ASSOCIATED WITH HAZARDOUS SIDE EFFECTS. HENCE, THE PRESENT STUDY WAS DESIGNED TO COMPARE THE EFFECTS OF YOGA AND AYURVEDA ON THE SELF RATED SLEEP IN A GERIATRIC POPULATION. METHODS: OF THE 120 RESIDENTS FROM A HOME FOR THE AGED, 69 WERE STRATIFIED BASED ON AGE (FIVE YEAR INTERVALS) AND RANDOMLY ALLOCATED TO THREE GROUPS I.E., YOGA (PHYSICAL POSTURES, RELAXATION TECHNIQUES, VOLUNTARILY REGULATED BREATHING AND LECTURES ON YOGA PHILOSOPHY), AYURVEDA (A HERBAL PREPARATION), AND WAIT-LIST CONTROL (NO INTERVENTION). THE GROUPS WERE EVALUATED FOR SELF-ASSESSMENT OF SLEEP OVER A ONE WEEK PERIOD AT BASELINE, AND AFTER THREE AND SIX MONTHS OF THE RESPECTIVE INTERVENTIONS. RESULTS: THE YOGA GROUP SHOWED A SIGNIFICANT DECREASE IN THE TIME TAKEN TO FALL ASLEEP (APPROXIMATE GROUP AVERAGE DECREASE: 10 MIN, P<0.05), AN INCREASE IN THE TOTAL NUMBER OF HOURS SLEPT (APPROXIMATE GROUP AVERAGE INCREASE: 60 MIN, P< 0.05) AND IN THE FEELING OF BEING RESTED IN THE MORNING BASED ON A RATING SCALE (P<0.05) AFTER SIX MONTHS. THE OTHER GROUPS SHOWED NO SIGNIFICANT CHANGE. INTERPRETATION AND CONCLUSION: YOGA PRACTICE IMPROVED DIFFERENT ASPECTS OF SLEEP IN A GERIATRIC POPULATION. 2005 8 303 68 AN EMPIRICAL COMPARISON OF MACHINE LEARNING ALGORITHMS FOR THE CLASSIFICATION OF BRAIN SIGNALS TO ASSESS THE IMPACT OF COMBINED YOGA AND SUDARSHAN KRIYA. TODAY'S FAST PACED LIFE REPORTS SO MUCH STRESS AMONG PEOPLE THAT IT MAY LEAD TO VARIOUS PSYCHOLOGICAL AND PHYSICAL ILLNESSES. YOGA AND MEDITATION ARE THE BEST STRATEGIES TO REDUCE THE EFFECT OF STRESS ON PHYSICAL AND MENTAL LEVEL WITHOUT ANY SIDE-EFFECTS. IN THIS STUDY, COMBINED YOGA AND SUDARSHAN KRIYA (SK) HAS BEEN USED AS AN ALTERNATIVE AND COMPLEMENTARY THERAPY FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF STRESS. THE AIM OF THE STUDY IS TO FIND A METHOD TO CLASSIFY THE MEDITATOR AND NON-MEDITATOR STATES WITH THE BEST ACCURACY. THE 50 SUBJECTS HAVE BEEN PARTICIPATING IN THIS STUDY AND DIVIDED INTO TWO GROUPS, I.E. STUDY AND CONTROL GROUP. THE SUBJECTS WITH REGULAR PRACTICE OF YOGA AND SK ARE KNOWN AS MEDITATORS AND THE ONES WITHOUT ANY PRACTICE OF YOGA AND MEDITATION WERE KNOWN AS NON-MEDITATORS. ELECTROENCEPHALOGRAM (EEG) SIGNALS WERE ACQUIRED FROM THESE BOTH GROUPS BEFORE AND AFTER 3 MONTHS. THE STATISTICAL PARAMETERS WERE COMPUTED FROM THESE ACQUIRED EEG SIGNALS USING DISCRETE WAVELET TRANSFORM (DWT). THESE EXTRACTED STATISTICAL PARAMETERS WERE GIVEN AS INPUT TO THE CLASSIFIERS. THE DECISION TREE, DISCRIMINANT ANALYSIS, LOGISTIC REGRESSION, SUPPORT VECTOR MACHINE (SVM), WEIGHTED K- NEAREST NEIGHBOUR (KNN) AND ENSEMBLE CLASSIFIERS WERE USED FOR CLASSIFICATION OF MEDITATOR AND NON- MEDITATOR STATES FROM THE ACQUIRED EEG SIGNALS. THE RESULTS HAVE DEMONSTRATED THAT THE SVM METHOD GIVES THE HIGHEST CLASSIFICATION ACCURACY AS COMPARED TO OTHER CLASSIFIERS. THE PROPOSED METHOD CAN BE USED AS A DIAGNOSIS SYSTEM IN CLINICAL PRACTICES. 2022 9 1643 27 MOOD CHANGE AND PERCEPTIONS OF VITALITY: A COMPARISON OF THE EFFECTS OF RELAXATION, VISUALIZATION AND YOGA. THE EFFECTS OF THREE DIFFERENT PROCEDURES, RELAXATION, VISUALIZATION AND YOGIC BREATHING AND STRETCH (PRANAYAMA) ON PERCEPTIONS OF PHYSICAL AND MENTAL ENERGY AND ON POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE MOOD STATES HAVE BEEN ASSESSED IN A GROUP OF NORMAL VOLUNTEERS (N = 71, AGE RANGE 21-76). PRANAYAMA PRODUCED A SIGNIFICANTLY GREATER INCREASE IN PERCEPTIONS OF MENTAL AND PHYSICAL ENERGY AND FEELINGS OF ALERTNESS AND ENTHUSIASM THAN THE OTHER TWO PROCEDURES (P < 0.5). RELAXATION MADE SUBJECTS SIGNIFICANTLY MORE SLEEPY AND SLUGGISH IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE SESSION THAN PRANAYAMA (P < 0.05). VISUALIZATION MADE THEM MORE SLUGGISH BUT LESS CONTENT THAN PRANAYAMA (P < 0.05) AND MORE UPSET THAN RELAXATION AFTER THE SECOND SESSION (P < 0.05). THUS, A 30 MIN PROGRAMME OF YOGIC STRETCH AND BREATHING EXERCISES WHICH IS SIMPLE TO LEARN AND WHICH CAN BE PRACTISED EVEN BY THE ELDERLY HAD A MARKEDLY 'INVIGORATING' EFFECT ON PERCEPTIONS OF BOTH MENTAL AND PHYSICAL ENERGY AND INCREASED HIGH POSITIVE MOOD. A MORE EXTENSIVE INVESTIGATION IS PLANNED TO ESTABLISH WHETHER SUCH A PROGRAMME CAN READILY BE INCORPORATED INTO EVERYDAY LIFE, AND WITH WHAT LONG-TERM RESULTS. 1993 10 1002 24 EFFECTS OF MAHARISHI YOGA ASANAS ON MOOD STATES, HAPPINESS, AND EXPERIENCES DURING MEDITATION. CONTEXT/BACKGROUND: MANY STUDIES SHOWED POSITIVE EFFECTS OF YOGA ASANAS. THERE IS NO STUDY ON MAHARISHI YOGA ASANAS YET. THIS RESEARCH REPLICATED AND EXPANDED OBSERVED IMPROVEMENTS ON THE PROFILE OF MOOD STATES (POMS) AS A RESULT OF 2-WEEK MAHARISHI YOGA ASANAS COURSE. THIRTEEN COLLEGE STUDENTS TAKING PART IN A 4-WEEK COURSE ON MAHARISHI YOGA ASANAS WERE MATCHED WITH 13 STUDENTS TAKING OTHER COURSES AT THE UNIVERSITY. AIMS AND OBJECTIVE: THE MAIN OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY WAS TO ASSESS THE EFFECTS OF MAHARISHI YOGA ASANAS ON MOOD STATES, DEGREE OF HAPPINESS, AND EXPERIENCES IN TRANSCENDENTAL MEDITATION (TM) PRACTICE. METHODS: ALL STUDENTS WERE GIVEN TWO PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTS AND ADDITIONAL QUESTION BEFORE AND AFTER THEIR 4-WEEK COURSE: POMS, MEDITATION DEPTH QUESTIONNAIRE, AND QUESTION ABOUT THE DEGREE OF HAPPINESS. RESULTS: REPEATED MEASURE MANOVA SHOWED THE 4-WEEK MAHARISHI YOGA ASANAS COURSE RESULTED IN SIGNIFICANT INCREASE IN HAPPINESS DURING THE DAY AND SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENTS IN (1) SENSE OF PERSONAL SELF, (2) TRANSPERSONAL QUALITIES, AND (3) TRANSPERSONAL SELF DURING THEIR TM PRACTICE. CONCLUSION: THIS RESEARCH SHOWS THAT MAHARISHI YOGA ASANAS AFFECT MORE THAN BODY AND MIND. RATHER THEY INFLUENCE MUCH DEEPER LEVELS OF ONE'S SUBJECTIVITY INCLUDING ONE'S TRANSPERSONAL SELF. 2018 11 1983 36 SLEEP, COGNITION, AND YOGA. STRESS IS ONE OF THE MAJOR PROBLEMS GLOBALLY, ASSOCIATED WITH POOR SLEEP QUALITY AND COGNITIVE DYSFUNCTION. MODERN SOCIETY IS PLAGUED BY SLEEP DISTURBANCES, EITHER DUE TO PROFESSIONAL DEMANDS OR LIFESTYLE OR BOTH THE ASPECTS, OFTEN LEADING TO REDUCED ALERTNESS AND COMPROMISED MENTAL FUNCTION, BESIDES THE WELL DOCUMENTED ILL EFFECTS OF DISTURBED SLEEP ON PHYSIOLOGICAL FUNCTIONS. THIS PERTINENT ISSUE NEEDS TO BE ADDRESSED. YOGA IS AN ANCIENT INDIAN SCIENCE, PHILOSOPHY AND WAY OF LIFE. RECENTLY, YOGA PRACTICE HAS BECOME INCREASINGLY POPULAR WORLDWIDE. YOGA PRACTICE IS AN ADJUNCT EFFECTIVE FOR STRESS, SLEEP AND ASSOCIATED DISORDERS. THERE ARE LIMITED WELL CONTROLLED PUBLISHED STUDIES CONDUCTED IN THIS AREA. WE REVIEWED THE AVAILABLE LITERATURE INCLUDING THE EFFECT OF MODERN LIFESTYLE IN CHILDREN, ADOLESCENTS, ADULTS AND GERIATRIC POPULATION. THE ROLE OF YOGA AND MEDITATION IN OPTIMIZING SLEEP ARCHITECTURE AND COGNITIVE FUNCTIONS LEADING TO OPTIMAL BRAIN FUNCTIONING IN NORMAL AND DISEASED STATE IS DISCUSSED. WE INCLUDED ARTICLES PUBLISHED IN ENGLISH WITH NO FIXED TIME DURATION FOR LITERATURE SEARCH. LITERATURE WAS SEARCHED MAINLY BY USING PUBMED AND SCIENCE DIRECT SEARCH ENGINES AND CRITICALLY EXAMINED. STUDIES HAVE REVEALED POSITIVE EFFECTS OF YOGA ON SLEEP AND COGNITIVE SKILLS AMONG HEALTHY ADULTS AS WELL AS PATIENTS OF SOME NEUROLOGICAL DISEASES. FURTHER, ON EVALUATING THE PUBLISHED STUDIES, IT IS CONCLUDED THAT SLEEP AND COGNITIVE FUNCTIONS ARE OPTIMIZED BY YOGA PRACTICE, WHICH BRINGS ABOUT CHANGES IN AUTONOMIC FUNCTION, STRUCTURAL CHANGES, CHANGES IN METABOLISM, NEUROCHEMISTRY AND IMPROVED FUNCTIONAL BRAIN NETWORK CONNECTIVITY IN KEY REGIONS OF THE BRAIN. 2021 12 1266 20 FLUID INTELLIGENCE AND BRAIN FUNCTIONAL ORGANIZATION IN AGING YOGA AND MEDITATION PRACTITIONERS. NUMEROUS STUDIES HAVE DOCUMENTED THE NORMAL AGE-RELATED DECLINE OF NEURAL STRUCTURE, FUNCTION, AND COGNITIVE PERFORMANCE. PRELIMINARY EVIDENCE SUGGESTS THAT MEDITATION MAY REDUCE DECLINE IN SPECIFIC COGNITIVE DOMAINS AND IN BRAIN STRUCTURE. HERE WE EXTENDED THIS RESEARCH BY INVESTIGATING THE RELATION BETWEEN AGE AND FLUID INTELLIGENCE AND RESTING STATE BRAIN FUNCTIONAL NETWORK ARCHITECTURE USING GRAPH THEORY, IN MIDDLE-AGED YOGA AND MEDITATION PRACTITIONERS, AND MATCHED CONTROLS. FLUID INTELLIGENCE DECLINED SLOWER IN YOGA PRACTITIONERS AND MEDITATORS COMBINED THAN IN CONTROLS. RESTING STATE FUNCTIONAL NETWORKS OF YOGA PRACTITIONERS AND MEDITATORS COMBINED WERE MORE INTEGRATED AND MORE RESILIENT TO DAMAGE THAN THOSE OF CONTROLS. FURTHERMORE, MINDFULNESS WAS POSITIVELY CORRELATED WITH FLUID INTELLIGENCE, RESILIENCE, AND GLOBAL NETWORK EFFICIENCY. THESE FINDINGS REVEAL THE POSSIBILITY TO INCREASE RESILIENCE AND TO SLOW THE DECLINE OF FLUID INTELLIGENCE AND BRAIN FUNCTIONAL ARCHITECTURE AND SUGGEST THAT MINDFULNESS PLAYS A MECHANISTIC ROLE IN THIS PRESERVATION. 2014 13 2738 43 YOGA POSTURE RECOGNITION AND QUANTITATIVE EVALUATION WITH WEARABLE SENSORS BASED ON TWO-STAGE CLASSIFIER AND PRIOR BAYESIAN NETWORK. CURRENTLY, WITH THE SATISFACTION OF PEOPLE'S MATERIAL LIFE, SPORTS, LIKE YOGA AND TAI CHI, HAVE BECOME ESSENTIAL ACTIVITIES IN PEOPLE'S DAILY LIFE. FOR MOST YOGA AMATEURS, THEY COULD ONLY LEARN YOGA BY SELF-STUDY, LIKE MECHANICALLY IMITATING FROM YOGA VIDEO. THEY COULD NOT KNOW WHETHER THEY PERFORMED STANDARDLY WITHOUT FEEDBACK AND GUIDANCE. IN THIS PAPER, WE PROPOSED A FULL-BODY POSTURE MODELING AND QUANTITATIVE EVALUATION METHOD TO RECOGNIZE AND EVALUATE YOGA POSTURES TO PROVIDE GUIDANCE TO THE LEARNER. BACK PROPAGATION ARTIFICIAL NEURAL NETWORK (BP-ANN) WAS ADOPTED AS THE FIRST CLASSIFIER TO DIVIDE YOGA POSTURES INTO DIFFERENT CATEGORIES, AND FUZZY C-MEANS (FCM) WAS UTILIZED AS THE SECOND CLASSIFIER TO CLASSIFY THE POSTURES IN A CATEGORY. THE POSTURE DATA ON EACH BODY PART WAS REGARDED AS A MULTIDIMENSIONAL GAUSSIAN VARIABLE TO BUILD A BAYESIAN NETWORK. THE CONDITIONAL PROBABILITY OF THE GAUSSIAN VARIABLE CORRESPONDING TO EACH BODY PART RELATIVE TO THE GAUSSIAN VARIABLE CORRESPONDING TO THE CONNECTED BODY PART WAS USED AS CRITERION TO QUANTITATIVELY EVALUATE THE STANDARD DEGREE OF BODY PARTS. THE ANGULAR DIFFERENCES BETWEEN NONSTANDARD PARTS AND THE STANDARD MODEL COULD BE CALCULATED TO PROVIDE GUIDANCE WITH AN EASILY-ACCEPTED LANGUAGE, SUCH AS "LIFT UP YOUR LEFT ARM", "STRAIGHTEN YOUR RIGHT FOREARM". TO EVALUATE OUR METHOD, A WEARABLE DEVICE WITH 11 INERTIAL MEASUREMENT UNITS (IMUS) FIXED ONTO THE BODY WAS DESIGNED TO MEASURE YOGA POSTURE DATA WITH QUATERNION FORMAT, AND THE POSTURE DATABASE WITH A TOTAL OF 211,643 DATA FRAMES AND 1831 POSTURE INSTANCES WAS COLLECTED FROM 11 SUBJECTS. BOTH THE POSTURE RECOGNITION TEST AND EVALUATION TEST WERE CONDUCTED. IN THE RECOGNITION TEST, 30% DATA WAS RANDOMLY PICKED FROM THE DATABASE TO TRAIN BP-ANN AND FCM CLASSIFIERS, AND THE RECOGNITION ACCURACY OF THE REMAINING 70% DATA WAS 95.39%, WHICH IS HIGHLY COMPETITIVE WITH PREVIOUS POSTURE RECOGNITION APPROACHES. IN THE EVALUATION TEST, 30% DATA WERE PICKED RANDOMLY FROM SUBJECT THREE, SUBJECT FOUR, AND SUBJECT SIX, TO TRAIN THE BAYESIAN NETWORK. THE PROBABILITIES OF NONSTANDARD PARTS WERE ALMOST ALL SMALLER THAN 0.3, WHILE THE PROBABILITIES OF STANDARD PARTS WERE ALMOST ALL GREATER THAN 0.5, AND THUS THE NONSTANDARD PARTS OF BODY POSTURE COULD BE EFFECTIVELY SEPARATED AND PICKED FOR GUIDANCE. WE ALSO TESTED SEPARATELY THE TRAINERS' YOGA POSTURE PERFORMANCE IN THE CONDITION OF WITHOUT AND WITH GUIDANCE PROVIDED BY OUR PROPOSED METHOD. THE RESULTS SHOWED THAT WITH GUIDANCE, THE JOINT ANGLE ERRORS SIGNIFICANTLY DECREASED. 2019 14 1836 23 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 15 1605 43 MENTAL STRESS: NEUROPHYSIOLOGY AND ITS REGULATION BY SUDARSHAN KRIYA YOGA. AIM: THE PRESENT STUDY FOCUSES ON ANALYZING THE EFFECTS OF SUDARSHAN KRIYA YOGA (SKY) ON EEG AS WELL AS ECG SIGNALS FOR STRESS REGULATION. TO ENVISION THE REGULATION OF STRESS DETERMINATION TEST (DT) HAS BEEN USED. WE HAVE CHOSEN A CONTROL GROUP FOR CONTRIVING A COGENT COMPARISON THAT COULD BE CORROBORATED USING STATISTICAL TESTS. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: A TOTAL OF 20 SUBJECTS WERE TAKEN IN THE STUDY, OF WHICH 10 WERE ALLOTTED TO A CONTROL GROUP. ELECTROENCEPHALOGRAPH WAS TAKEN DURING A DT TASK, BEFORE AND AFTER SKY THE SKY SESSION WITH 30 DAYS OF SKY SESSION GIVEN TO THE EXPERIMENTAL GROUP. NO SKY WAS GIVEN TO THE CONTROL GROUP. RESULTS: WE QUANTIFIED MENTAL STRESS USING EEG, ECG AND DT SYNERGISTICALLY AND USED SKY TO REGULATE IT. WE OBSERVED THAT ALPHA BAND POWER DECREASES IN THE FRONTAL LOBE OF THE BRAIN WITH INCREASING MENTAL STRESS WHILE FRONTAL BRAIN ASYMMETRY DECREASES WITH INCREASING STRESS TOLERANCE. CONCLUSIONS: THESE EEG, ECG AND DT SHOWS A SIGNIFICANT DECREMENT IN MENTAL STRESS AND IMPROVEMENT IN COGNITIVE PERFORMANCE AFTER SKY, INDICATING SKY AS A GOOD ALTERNATIVE OF MEDICATION FOR STRESS MANAGEMENT. 2017 16 2611 24 YOGA FOR REHABILITATION: AN OVERVIEW. THE USE OF YOGA FOR REHABILITATION HAS DIVERSE APPLICATIONS. YOGA PRACTICE BENEFITED MENTALLY HANDICAPPED SUBJECTS BY IMPROVING THEIR MENTAL ABILITY, ALSO THE MOTOR CO-ORDINATION AND SOCIAL SKILLS. PHYSICALLY HANDICAPPED SUBJECTS HAD A RESTORATION OF SOME DEGREE OF FUNCTIONAL ABILITY AFTER PRACTICING YOGA. VISUALLY IMPAIRED CHILDREN CHILDREN SHOWED A SIGNIFICANT DECREASE IN THEIR ABNORMAL ANXIETY LEVELS WHEN THEY PRACTICED YOGA FOR THREE WEEKS, WHILE A PROGRAM OF PHYSICAL ACTIVITY HAD NO SUCH EFFECT. SOCIALLY DISADVANTAGED ADULTS (PRISONERS IN A JAIL) AND CHILDREN IN A REMAND HOME SHOWED SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENT IN SLEEP, APPETITE AND GENERAL WELL BEING, AS WELL AS A DECREASE IN PHYSIOLOGICAL AROUSAL. THE PRACTICE OF MEDITATION WAS REPORTED TO DECREASE THE DEGREE OF SUBSTANCE (MARIJUANA) ABUSE, BY STRENGTHENING THE MENTAL RESOLVE AND DECREASING THE ANXIETY. ANOTHER IMPORTANT AREA IS THE APPLICATION OF YOGA (AND INDEED, LIFESTYLE CHANGE), IN THE REHABILITATION OF PATIENTS WITH CORONARY ARTERY DISEASE. FINALLY, THE POSSIBLE ROLE OF YOGA IN IMPROVING THE MENTAL STATE AND GENERAL WELL BEING OF HIV POSITIVE PERSONS AND PATIENTS WITH AIDS, IS BEING EXPLORED. 1997 17 1972 28 SHORT-TERM SAHAJA YOGA MEDITATION TRAINING MODULATES BRAIN STRUCTURE AND SPONTANEOUS ACTIVITY IN THE EXECUTIVE CONTROL NETWORK. INTRODUCTION: WHILE CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDIES HAVE SHOWN NEURAL CHANGES IN LONG-TERM MEDITATORS, THEY MIGHT BE CONFOUNDED BY SELF-SELECTION AND POTENTIAL BASELINE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN MEDITATORS AND NON MEDITATORS. PROSPECTIVE LONGITUDINAL STUDIES OF THE EFFECTS OF MEDITATION IN NAIVE SUBJECTS ARE MORE CONCLUSIVE WITH RESPECT TO CAUSAL INFERENCES, BUT RELATED EVIDENCE IS SO FAR LIMITED. METHODS: HERE, WE ASSESSED THE EFFECTS OF A 4-WEEK SAHAJA YOGA MEDITATION TRAINING ON GRAY MATTER DENSITY AND SPONTANEOUS RESTING-STATE BRAIN ACTIVITY IN A GROUP OF 12 MEDITATION-NAIVE HEALTHY ADULTS. RESULTS: COMPARED WITH 30 CONTROL SUBJECTS, THE PARTICIPANTS TO MEDITATION TRAINING SHOWED INCREASED GRAY MATTER DENSITY AND CHANGES IN THE COHERENCE OF INTRINSIC BRAIN ACTIVITY IN TWO ADJACENT REGIONS OF THE RIGHT INFERIOR FRONTAL GYRUS ENCOMPASSING THE ANTERIOR COMPONENT OF THE EXECUTIVE CONTROL NETWORK. BOTH THESE MEASURES CORRELATED WITH SELF-REPORTED WELL-BEING SCORES IN THE MEDITATION GROUP. CONCLUSIONS: THE SIGNIFICANT IMPACT OF A BRIEF MEDITATION TRAINING ON BRAIN REGIONS ASSOCIATED WITH ATTENTION, SELF-CONTROL, AND SELF-AWARENESS MAY REFLECT THE ENGAGEMENT OF COGNITIVE CONTROL SKILLS IN SEARCHING FOR A STATE OF MENTAL SILENCE, A DISTINCTIVE FEATURE OF SAHAJA YOGA MEDITATION. THE MANIFOLD IMPLICATIONS OF THESE FINDINGS INVOLVE BOTH MANAGERIAL AND REHABILITATIVE SETTINGS CONCERNED WITH WELL-BEING AND EMOTIONAL STATE IN NORMAL AND PATHOLOGICAL CONDITIONS. 2019 18 784 27 EFFECT OF YOGA BASED LIFESTYLE INTERVENTION ON SUBJECTIVE WELL-BEING. YOGA IS ASSUMING IMPORTANCE IN IMPROVING MENTAL HEALTH AND QUALITY OF LIFE IN THE TREATMENT OF A NUMBER OF PSYCHIATRIC AND PSYCHOSOMATIC DISORDERS. THE PRESENT STUDY WAS A PROSPECTIVE CONTROLLED STUDY TO EXPLORE THE SHORT-TERM IMPACT OF A COMPREHENSIVE BUT BRIEF LIFESTYLE INTERVENTION, BASED ON YOGA, ON SUBJECTIVE WELL BEING LEVELS IN NORMAL AND DISEASED SUBJECTS. NORMAL HEALTHY INDIVIDUALS AND SUBJECTS HAVING HYPERTENSION, CORONARY ARTERY DISEASE, DIABETES MELLITUS OR A VARIETY OF OTHER ILLNESSES WERE INCLUDED IN THE STUDY. THE OUTCOME MEASURES WERE 'SUBJECTIVE WELL BEING INVENTORY' (SUBI) SCORES, TAKEN ON THE FIRST AND LAST DAY OF THE COURSE. THE INVENTORY CONSISTS OF QUESTIONS RELATED TO ONE'S FEELINGS AND ATTITUDE ABOUT VARIOUS AREAS OF LIFE, SUCH AS HAPPINESS, ACHIEVEMENT AND INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIP. THERE WAS SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENT IN THE SUBJECTIVE WELL BEING SCORES OF THE 77 SUBJECTS WITHIN A PERIOD OF 10 DAYS AS COMPARED TO CONTROLS. THESE OBSERVATIONS SUGGEST THAT A SHORT LIFESTYLE MODIFICATION AND STRESS MANAGEMENT EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM LEADS TO REMARKABLE IMPROVEMENT IN THE SUBJECTIVE WELL BEING SCORES OF THE SUBJECTS AND CAN THEREFORE MAKE AN APPRECIABLE CONTRIBUTION TO PRIMARY PREVENTION AS WELL AS MANAGEMENT OF LIFESTYLE DISEASES. 2008 19 2086 19 THE EFFECT OF MOVEMENT-FOCUSED AND BREATH-FOCUSED YOGA PRACTICE ON STRESS PARAMETERS AND SUSTAINED ATTENTION: A RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED PILOT STUDY. YOGA-BASED PRACTICES (YBP) TYPICALLY INVOLVE A COMBINATION OF MOVEMENT SEQUENCES, CONSCIOUS REGULATION OF THE BREATH, AND TECHNIQUES TO ENGAGE ATTENTION. HOWEVER, LITTLE IS KNOWN ABOUT WHETHER EFFECTS OF YBP RESULT FROM THE SYNERGISTIC COMBINATION OF THESE COMPONENTS, OR WHETHER A SUBSET MAY YIELD SIMILAR EFFECTS. IN THIS STUDY WE COMPARED THE EFFECT OF A MOVEMENT-FOCUSED PRACTICE AND A BREATH-FOCUSED PRACTICE ON STRESS PARAMETERS (PERCEIVED STRESS AND SALIVARY CORTISOL) AND SUSTAINED ATTENTION (RESPONSE INHIBITION) IN YOGA NAIVE UNIVERSITY STUDENTS. WHILE PARTICIPANTS OF BOTH PROGRAMS SHOWED A REDUCTION IN PERCEIVED STRESS AND SALIVARY CORTISOL, ONLY THE BREATH-FOCUSED GROUP SHOWED IMPROVEMENTS IN SUSTAINED ATTENTION. IN ADDITION, IMPROVEMENT IN SUSTAINED ATTENTION WAS CORRELATED WITH REDUCTION IN PERCEIVED STRESS BUT NOT WITH REDUCTION IN SALIVARY CORTISOL. WE DISCUSS THESE FINDINGS IN THE CONTEXT OF A THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK OUTLINING BOTTOM-UP NEUROPHYSIOLOGICAL AND TOP-DOWN NEUROCOGNITIVE MECHANISMS HYPOTHESIZED TO BE ENGAGED BY YBP. 2018 20 862 31 EFFECT OF YOGA PRACTICES ON GENERAL MENTAL ABILITY IN URBAN RESIDENTIAL SCHOOL CHILDREN. INTRODUCTION MENTAL ABILITY OF CHILDREN REPRESENTS FUNCTIONING OF BRAIN IN DIFFERENT ASPECTS OF COMPETENCY INCLUDING VERBAL, MATHEMATICAL, LOGICAL REASONING AND SPATIAL, WHICH IS OF PRIME IMPORTANCE FOR ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE. OBJECTIVE THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS STUDY WAS TO ASSESS THE EFFECT OF YOGA ON GENERAL MENTAL ABILITY OF URBAN RESIDENTIAL SCHOOL CHILDREN. METHODS SIXTY-SIX URBAN SCHOOL CHILDREN AGED 11-15YEARS WERE SELECTED AS PARTICIPANTS. ALL THE SELECTED PARTICIPANTS WERE STAYING IN A RESIDENTIAL SCHOOL IN PUNE DISTRICT. A STRATIFIED RANDOM SAMPLING METHOD WAS USED TO DIVIDE THE STUDENTS INTO EXPERIMENTAL AND CONTROL GROUPS. THERE WERE 32 STUDENTS IN EXPERIMENTAL GROUP AND 29 STUDENTS IN CONTROL GROUP. BOTH EXPERIMENTAL AND CONTROL GROUPS WERE ASSESSED FOR GENERAL MENTAL ABILITY BY USING STANDARD QUESTIONNAIRE AT THE BASELINE AND AT THE END OF 12WEEKS OF YOGA TRAINING. THE STUDY PARTICIPANTS OF EXPERIMENTAL GROUP UNDERWENT YOGA TRAINING FOR 12WEEKS, FOR 1 H IN THE MORNING FOR A PERIOD OF 12WEEKS. THE CONTROL GROUP DID NOT UNDERGO ANY YOGA TRAINING DURING THIS TIME PERIOD. RESULTS THE EXPERIMENTAL GROUP PARTICIPANTS SHOWED SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENT IN GENERAL MENTAL ABILITY AS COMPARED TO CONTROL GROUP. CONCLUSION THE FINDINGS OF THIS STUDY INDICATE THAT YOGA PRACTICES COULD IMPROVE GENERAL MENTAL ABILITY OF URBAN RESIDENTIAL SCHOOL CHILDREN. 2020