1 2797 136 YOGA THERAPY FOR PROMOTING EMOTIONAL SENSITIVITY IN UNIVERSITY STUDENTS. BACKGROUND: STUDENTS NEED EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE (EI) FOR THEIR BETTER ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE. THERE ARE THREE IMPORTANT PSYCHOLOGICAL DIMENSIONS OF EI: EMOTIONAL SENSITIVITY (ES), EMOTIONAL MATURITY (EM) AND EMOTIONAL COMPETENCY (EC), WHICH MOTIVATE STUDENTS TO RECOGNIZE TRUTHFULLY, INTERPRET HONESTLY AND HANDLE TACTFULLY THE DYNAMICS OF THEIR BEHAVIORAL PATTERN. OBJECTIVE: THE STUDY WAS DESIGNED TO ASSESS ES IN THE STUDENTS UNDERGOING YOGA THERAPY PROGRAM IN THE FORM OF YOGA INSTRUCTOR'S COURSE (YIC) MODULE. MATERIALS AND METHODS: ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY FOUR YIC STUDENTS WITH 25.77 +/- 4.85 YEARS OF MEAN AGE PARTICIPATED IN THIS STUDY OF 21 DAYS DURATION (A SINGLE GROUP PRE-POST DESIGN). THE ES DATA WAS COLLECTED BEFORE (PRE) AND AFTER (POST) YIC MODULE USING EMOTIONAL QUOTIENT TEST DEVELOPED BY DR DALIP SINGH AND DR N K CHADHA. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: MEANS, STANDARD DEVIATIONS, KOLMOGOROV-SMIRNOV TEST, AND WILCOXON SIGNED RANK TEST WERE USED FOR ANALYZING THE DATA WITH THE HELP OF SPSS 16. RESULTS: THE DATA ANALYSIS SHOWED 3.63% SIGNIFICANT INCREASE (P < 0.01) IN ES. CONCLUSION: THE PRESENT STUDY SUGGESTS THAT YIC MODULE CAN RESULT IN IMPROVEMENT OF ES AMONG UNIVERSITY STUDENTS, THUS PAVING THE WAY FOR THEIR ACADEMIC SUCCESS. ADDITIONAL WELL-DESIGNED STUDIES ARE NEEDED BEFORE A STRONG RECOMMENDATION CAN BE MADE. 2014 2 492 30 COGNITIVE BEHAVIOR EVALUATION BASED ON PHYSIOLOGICAL PARAMETERS AMONG YOUNG HEALTHY SUBJECTS WITH YOGA AS INTERVENTION. OBJECTIVE: TO INVESTIGATE THE EFFECT OF YOGA PRACTICE ON COGNITIVE SKILLS, AUTONOMIC NERVOUS SYSTEM, AND HEART RATE VARIABILITY BY ANALYZING PHYSIOLOGICAL PARAMETERS. METHODS: THE STUDY WAS CONDUCTED ON 30 NORMAL YOUNG HEALTHY ENGINEERING STUDENTS. THEY WERE RANDOMLY SELECTED INTO TWO GROUPS: YOGA GROUP AND CONTROL GROUP. THE YOGA GROUP PRACTICED YOGA ONE AND HALF HOUR PER DAY FOR SIX DAYS IN A WEEK, FOR A PERIOD OF FIVE MONTHS. RESULTS: THE YOGA PRACTISING GROUP SHOWED INCREASED ALPHA, BETA, AND DELTA EEG BAND POWERS AND SIGNIFICANT REDUCTION IN THETA AND GAMMA BAND POWERS. THE INCREASED ALPHA AND BETA POWER CAN REPRESENT ENHANCED COGNITIVE FUNCTIONS SUCH AS MEMORY AND CONCENTRATION, AND THAT OF DELTA SIGNIFIES SYNCHRONIZATION OF BRAIN ACTIVITY. THE HEART RATE INDEX THETA/ALPHA DECREASED, NEURAL ACTIVITY BETA/THETA INCREASED, ATTENTION RESOURCE INDEX BETA/(ALPHA + THETA) INCREASED, EXECUTIVE LOAD INDEX (DELTA + THETA)/ALPHA DECREASED, AND THE RATIO (DELTA + THETA)/(ALPHA + BETA) DECREASED. THE YOGA PRACTICE GROUP SHOWED IMPROVEMENT IN HEART RATE VARIABILITY, INCREASED SDNN/RMSSD, AND REDUCTION IN LF/HF RATIO. CONCLUSION: YOGA PRACTISING GROUP SHOWED SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENT IN VARIOUS COGNITIVE FUNCTIONS, SUCH AS PERFORMANCE ENHANCEMENT, NEURAL ACTIVITY, ATTENTION, AND EXECUTIVE FUNCTION. IT ALSO RESULTED IN INCREASE IN THE HEART RATE VARIABILITY, PARASYMPATHETIC NERVOUS SYSTEM ACTIVITY, AND BALANCED AUTONOMIC NERVOUS SYSTEM REACTIVITY. 2015 3 846 27 EFFECT OF YOGA ON PULSE RATE VARIABILITY MEASURED FROM A VENOUS PRESSURE WAVEFORM. THE BENEFITS OF YOGA HAVE BEEN STUDIED IN DIFFERENT FIELDS, FROM CHRONIC HEALTH CONDITIONS TO MENTAL DISORDERS, SHOWING THAT IT CAN HELP TO IMPROVE THE OVERALL HEALTH. IN PARTICULAR, IT HAS BEEN PROVEN THAT YOGA ALSO IMPROVES THE AUTONOMIC FUNCTION. HEART RATE VARIABILITY (HRV) AT REST IS COMMONLY USED AS A NON-INVASIVE MEASURE OF AUTONOMIC REGULATION OF HEART RATE. ALTERNATIVELY, PULSE RATE VARIABILITY (PRV) HAS BEEN PROPOSED AS A SURROGATE OF HRV. VOLUMETRIX HAS DEVELOPED A NOVEL TECHNOLOGY THAT CAPTURES VENOUS WAVEFORMS VIA SENSORS ON THE VOLAR ASPECT OF THE WRIST, CALLED NIVABAND. THIS STUDY AIMS TO ASSESS THE EFFECT OF YOGA IN THE AUTONOMIC NERVOUS SYSTEM BY ANALYZING THE PRV OBTAINED FROM THE NIVA SIGNAL. TEMPORAL (STATISTICS OF THE NORMAL-TO-NORMAL INTERVALS), SPECTRAL (POWER IN LOW AND HIGH FREQUENCY BANDS) AND NONLINEAR (LAGGED POINCARE PLOT ANALYSIS) PARAMETERS ARE ANALYZED BEFORE AND AFTER A YOGA SESSION IN 20 HEALTHY VOLUNTEERS. THE PRV ANALYSIS SHOWS AN INCREASE IN PARAMETERS RELATED TO PARASYMPATHETIC ACTIVITY AND OVERALL VARIABILITY, AND A DECREASE IN PARAMETERS RELATED TO SYMPATHETIC ACTIVITY AND MEAN HEART RATE. THESE RESULTS SUPPORT THE BENEFICIAL EFFECT OF YOGA IN AUTONOMIC NERVOUS SYSTEM, INCREASING THE PARASYMPATHETIC ACTIVITY. 2019 4 1605 31 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 5 80 29 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 6 1131 79 EFFICACY OF YOGA FOR MENTAL PERFORMANCE IN UNIVERSITY STUDENTS. BACKGROUND: WITH GROWING SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE, YOGA IS EMERGING AS AN IMPORTANT HEALTH BEHAVIOR-LIFESTYLE MODIFYING MODULE TO ACHIEVE HOLISTIC HEALTH AT PHYSICAL, MENTAL, EMOTIONAL, SOCIAL AND SPIRITUAL LEVELS. BRAIN WAVE COHERENCE (BWC) RECORDINGS FROM THE SURFACE OF THE SKULL ARE ASSOCIATED WITH DIFFERENT COGNITIVE PROCESSES AND PLAYS BOTH CRITICAL AND USEFUL ROLES IN YOGA WITH WIDE RANGE OF FUNCTIONAL SIGNIFICANCE. THE PSYCHO-PHYSIOLOGICAL CHANGES THAT CHARACTERIZE THE EFFICACY OF YOGA FOR BETTER MENTAL PERFORMANCE IN UNIVERSITY STUDENTS HAVE NOT BEEN STUDIED ADEQUATELY. OBJECTIVE: THE STUDY WAS DESIGNED TO ASSESS THE MENTAL PERFORMANCE THROUGH BWC ANALYSIS IN UNIVERSITY STUDENTS UNDERGOING INTEGRATED YOGA MODULE (IYM). MATERIALS AND METHODS: THE IYM SUBJECTS (N=30) WITH 25.77+/-4.85 YEARS OF MEAN AGE PARTICIPATED IN THIS SINGLE GROUP PRE-POST STUDY. THE BWC DATA WAS COLLECTED BEFORE (PRE) AND AFTER (POST) THE 21 DAYS IYM USING BRAIN MASTER (MODEL: 2E PART # 390-001), MICHIGAN, USA. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: MEANS, STANDARD DEVIATIONS, KOLMOGOROV-SMIRNOV TEST AND WILCOXON SIGNED RANK TEST WERE USED FOR ANALYZING DATA WITH THE HELP OF SPSS-16. RESULTS: A COMPLETE STATISTICAL AND SPECTRAL ANALYSIS SHOWED 43.24% INCREASE (P<0.001) IN DELTA, 9.13% INCREASE (P=0.289) IN THETA, 57.85% INCREASE (P<0.001) IN ALPHA, 17.65% DECREASE (P=0.136) IN BETA AND 9.19% INCREASE (P=0.586) IN GAMMA BWC BETWEEN PRE AND POST INTERVENTION MEASUREMENTS. CONCLUSION: BWC STUDY SHOWED SIGNIFICANT INCREASE IN BOTH DELTA AND ALPHA WAVE COHERENCE SUGGESTING THAT IYM CAN RESULT IN IMPROVEMENT OF COHERENT AND INTEGRATED BRAIN FUNCTIONING AMONG STUDENTS, THUS PAVING THE WAY FOR THEIR BETTER MENTAL PERFORMANCE. ALTHOUGH THIS PRELIMINARY RESEARCH IS PROMISING, MORE WELL-DESIGNED STUDIES ARE NEEDED BEFORE A STRONG RECOMMENDATION CAN BE MADE. 2013 7 1208 39 EXPLORATION OF LOWER FREQUENCY EEG DYNAMICS AND CORTICAL ALPHA ASYMMETRY IN LONG-TERM RAJYOGA MEDITATORS. BACKGROUND: RAJYOGA MEDITATION IS TAUGHT BY PRAJAPITA BRAHMAKUMARIS WORLD SPIRITUAL UNIVERSITY (BRAHMAKUMARIS) AND HAS BEEN FOLLOWED BY MORE THAN ONE MILLION FOLLOWERS ACROSS THE GLOBE. HOWEVER, RARE STUDIES WERE CONDUCTED ON PHYSIOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF RAJYOGA MEDITATION USING ELECTROENCEPHALOGRAPHY (EEG). BAND POWER AND CORTICAL ASYMMETRY WERE NOT STUDIED WITH RAJYOGA MEDITATORS. AIMS: THIS STUDY AIMS TO INVESTIGATE THE EFFECT OF REGULAR MEDITATION PRACTICE ON EEG BRAIN DYNAMICS IN LOW-FREQUENCY BANDS OF LONG-TERM RAJYOGA MEDITATORS. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: SUBJECTS WERE MATCHED FOR AGE IN BOTH GROUPS. LOWER FREQUENCY EEG BANDS WERE ANALYZED IN RESTING AND DURING MEDITATION. MATERIALS AND METHODS: TWENTY-ONE MALE LONG-TERM MEDITATORS (LTMS) AND SAME NUMBER OF CONTROLS WERE SELECTED TO PARTICIPATE IN STUDY AS PAR INCLUSION CRITERIA. SEMI HIGH-DENSITY EEG WAS RECORDED BEFORE AND DURING MEDITATION IN LTM GROUP AND RESTING IN CONTROL GROUP. THE MAIN OUTCOME OF THE STUDY WAS SPECTRAL POWER OF ALPHA AND THETA BANDS AND CORTICAL (HEMISPHERICAL) ASYMMETRY CALCULATED USING BAND POWER. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: ONE-WAY ANOVA WAS PERFORMED TO FIND THE SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE BETWEEN EEG SPECTRAL PROPERTIES OF GROUPS. PEARSON'S CHI-SQUARE TEST WAS USED TO FIND DIFFERENCE AMONG DEMOGRAPHICS DATA. RESULTS: RESULTS REVEAL HIGH-BAND POWER IN ALPHA AND THETA SPECTRA IN MEDITATORS. CORTICAL ASYMMETRY CALCULATED THROUGH EEG POWER WAS ALSO FOUND TO BE HIGH IN FRONTAL AS WELL AS PARIETAL CHANNELS. HOWEVER, NO CORRELATION WAS SEEN BETWEEN THE EXPERIENCE OF MEDITATION (YEARS, HOURS) PRACTICE AND EEG INDICES. CONCLUSION: OVERALL FINDINGS INDICATE CONTRIBUTION OF SMALLER FREQUENCIES (ALPHA AND THETA) WHILE MAINTAINING MEDITATIVE EXPERIENCE. THIS SUGGESTS A POSITIVE IMPACT OF MEDITATION ON FRONTAL AND PARIETAL AREAS OF BRAIN, INVOLVED IN THE PROCESSES OF REGULATION OF SELECTIVE AND SUSTAINED ATTENTION AS WELL AS PROVIDE EVIDENCE ABOUT THEIR INVOLVEMENT IN EMOTION AND COGNITIVE PROCESSING. 2018 8 1578 34 MEASUREMENT OF THE EFFECT OF ISHA YOGA ON CARDIAC AUTONOMIC NERVOUS SYSTEM USING SHORT-TERM HEART RATE VARIABILITY. BACKGROUND: BENEFICIAL EFFECTS OF YOGA HAVE BEEN POSTULATED TO BE DUE TO MODULATION OF THE AUTONOMIC NERVOUS SYSTEM. OBJECTIVE: TO ASSESS THE EFFECT OF ISHA YOGA PRACTICES ON CARDIOVASCULAR AUTONOMIC NERVOUS SYSTEM THROUGH SHORT-TERM HEART RATE VARIABILITY (HRV). DESIGN OF THE STUDY: SHORT-TERM HRV OF LONG-TERM REGULAR HEALTHY 14 (12 MALES AND 2 FEMALES) ISHA YOGA PRACTITIONERS WAS COMPARED WITH THAT OF AGE- AND GENDER-MATCHED 14 (12 MALES AND 2 FEMALES) NON-YOGA PRACTITIONERS. METHODS AND MATERIALS: ECG LEAD II AND RESPIRATORY MOVEMENTS WERE RECORDED IN BOTH GROUPS USING POLYRITE DURING SUPINE REST FOR 5 MIN AND CONTROLLED DEEP BREATHING FOR 1 MINUTE. FREQUENCY DOMAIN ANALYSIS [RR INTERVAL IS THE MEAN OF DISTANCE BETWEEN SUBSEQUENT R WAVE PEAKS IN ECG], LOW FREQUENCY (LF) POWER, HIGH FREQUENCY (HF) POWER, LF NORMALIZED UNITS (NU), HF NU, LF/HF RATIO] AND TIME DOMAIN ANALYSIS [STANDARD DEVIATION OF NORMAL TO NORMAL INTERVAL (SDNN), SQUARE OF MEAN SQUARED DIFFERENCE OF SUCCESSIVE NORMAL TO NORMAL INTERVALS (RMSSD), NORMAL TO NORMAL INTERVALS WHICH ARE DIFFERING BY 50 MS (NN50), AND PERCENTAGE OF NN50 (PNN50)] OF HRV VARIABLES WERE ANALYZED FOR SUPINE REST. TIME DOMAIN ANALYSIS WAS RECORDED FOR DEEP BREATHING. RESULTS: RESULTS SHOWED STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES BETWEEN ISHA YOGA PRACTITIONERS AND CONTROLS IN BOTH FREQUENCY AND TIME DOMAIN ANALYSES OF HRV INDICES, WITH NO DIFFERENCE IN RESTING HEART RATE BETWEEN THE GROUPS. CONCLUSIONS: PRACTITIONERS OF ISHA YOGA SHOWED WELL-BALANCED BENEFICIAL ACTIVITY OF VAGAL EFFERENTS, AN OVERALL INCREASED HRV, AND SYMPATHOVAGAL BALANCE, COMPARED TO NON-YOGA PRACTITIONERS DURING SUPINE REST AND DEEP BREATHING. 2012 9 2004 37 STUDY OF IMMEDIATE NEUROLOGICAL AND AUTONOMIC CHANGES DURING KAPALBHATI PRANAYAMA IN YOGA PRACTITIONERS. BACKGROUND: KAPALBHATI IS A FAST PACE RESPIRATORY EXERCISE OR PRANAYAM, WHICH IS SUPPOSED TO BE PRACTICED BY YOGIS TO CLEAN THEIR BRAIN. PRANAYAMAS ARE WELL KNOWN TO IMPROVE HEART RATE VARIABILITY (HRV) ULTIMATELY LEADING TO BETTER AUTONOMIC FUNCTIONS. OTHER STUDIES HAVE OBSERVED THE IMMEDIATE EFFECT OF KAPALBHATI ON VARIOUS NEUROLOGICAL (BRAIN AND SPINE) AND AUTONOMIC FUNCTIONS, BUT THEIR RESULTS ARE VARIED AND INCONCLUSIVE. OBJECTIVE: THE AIM OF THIS STUDY IS TO FIND OUT THE CHANGES IN HRV AND BRAIN WAVES DURING AND AFTER PRACTICE OF KAPALBHATI AS COMPARED WITH THE BASELINE VALUES OF DIFFERENT PARAMETERS. METHODS: VARIOUS PARAMETERS WERE MEASURED AT BASELINE, DURING AND AFTER KAPALBHATI PRANAYAM WITH THE HELP OF DINAMIKA HRV-ADVANCED HRV TEST SYSTEM, MOSCOW, RUSSIA. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS WAS ACCOMPLISHED EMPLOYING REPEATED MEASURES ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE WITH BONFERRONI POST-HOC ANALYSIS AND HOLM'S MULTIPLE COMPARISONS USING THE VERSION 28.0.0.0 OF THE STATISTICAL PACKAGE FOR THE SOCIAL SCIENCES (SPSS) FOR WINDOWS (190) SPSS INC., CHICAGO. RESULTS: WE FOUND THAT DURING AND AFTER KAPALBHATI, CHANGES IN HRV WERE SIGNIFICANT IN TIME AND FREQUENCY DOMAIN SHOWING PARASYMPATHETIC WITHDRAWAL AND INSIGNIFICANT CHANGES IN BRAIN WAVES AS COMPARED WITH REFERENCE POINT VALUES. CONCLUSION: KAPALBHATI IS INITIALLY ENERGIZING, CLEANSING, AND HEATING. THERE OCCURS PARASYMPATHETIC WITHDRAWAL AND SYMPATHETIC ACTIVATION DURING PRANAYAMA. THERE IS AN INCREASE GAMMA WAVE ACTIVATION POST PRANAYAMA SHOWING CONTROL OF THE DEFAULT MODE NETWORK. 2022 10 1132 60 EFFICACY OF YOGA FOR SUSTAINED ATTENTION IN UNIVERSITY STUDENTS. SUSTAINED ATTENTION (SA) IS A VITAL FUNCTION MEDIATED BY THE RIGHT FRONTAL - PARIETAL CORTEX. THE DIGIT VIGILANCE TEST (DVT) MEASURES SA. ASSESSMENT OF SA IN STUDENTS FOR THEIR ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE IS CONSIDERED TO BE AN ESSENTIAL PART OF A NEUROPSYCHOLOGICAL EVALUATION. THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS STUDY IS TO DETERMINE SA IN STUDENTS UNDERGOING TRAINING OF INTEGRATED YOGA MODULE (IYM). A TOTAL OF 66 UNIVERSITY STUDENTS AGED BETWEEN 18-37 YEARS PARTICIPATED IN THIS STUDY WITH A SINGLE GROUP PRE-POST DESIGN. THE DVT DATA WAS COLLECTED BEFORE AND AFTER THE IYM. STATISTICAL PACKAGE FOR SOCIAL SCIENCES VERSION 19 WAS USED FOR DATA ANALYSIS. THE KOLMOGOROV-SMIRNOV TEST SHOWED THAT THE DATA WERE NOT NORMALLY DISTRIBUTED. THE WILCOXON'S SIGNED RANKS TEST WAS USED TO COMPARE MEANS OF DATA. THE DATA ANALYSIS SHOWED 11.66% DECREASE (P < 0.001) IN TOTAL TIME TAKEN FOR DVT AND 31.90% DECREASE (P < 0.001) IN ERROR SCORES FOR DVT. THE PRESENT STUDY SUGGESTS THAT IYM CAN RESULT IN IMPROVEMENT OF SA AMONG STUDENTS, THUS PAVING THE WAY FOR THEIR ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE. ADDITIONAL WELL-DESIGNED STUDIES ARE NEEDED BEFORE A STRONG RECOMMENDATION CAN BE MADE. 2013 11 1558 33 LONG-TERM EFFECTS OF HATHA YOGA ON HEART RATE VARIABILITY IN HEALTHY PRACTITIONERS: POTENTIAL BENEFITS FOR CARDIOVASCULAR RISK REDUCTION. HATHA YOGA IS COMMONLY PRACTICED IN WESTERN COUNTRIES AND IS CLAIMED TO REDUCE RISK OF CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE. THE PURPOSE OF THIS STUDY WAS TO EVALUATE AND COMPARE TIME-DOMAIN AND FREQUENCY-DOMAIN METRICS OF HEART RATE VARIABILITY (HRV) IN HATHA YOGA PRACTITIONERS AND HEALTHY CONTROLS. THIS CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY, WHICH WAS CONDUCTED AT A REGIONAL UNIVERSITY AND COMMUNITY WELLNESS CENTER, INCLUDED CONVENIENCE SAMPLING OF 19 HATHA YOGA PRACTITIONERS AND 8 HEALTHY CONTROLS. USING A LEAD II ECG SYSTEM, 10 MINUTES OF ELECTROCARDIOGRAM (ECG) RECORDING WAS COLLECTED FOR EACH PARTICIPANT. ARTIFACT-FREE, 5-MINUTE SIGNALS WERE USED TO DERIVE TIME-DOMAIN AND FREQUENCY-DOMAIN MEASURES OF HRV. THE MEAN DURATION OF HATHA YOGA PRACTICE AMONG PRACTITIONERS WAS 11.47 +/- 8 YEARS. DEMOGRAPHIC AND ANTHROPOMETRIC CHARACTERISTICS DID NOT DIFFER SIGNIFICANTLY BETWEEN GROUPS. COMPARED WITH THE CONTROL GROUP, THE YOGA GROUP HAD SIGNIFICANTLY GREATER MEAN HIGH FREQUENCY (HF) POWER (859.2 +/- 1342.1 VS 175.5 +/- 121.1; P = .04) AND MEAN HF NORMALIZED UNITS (NU) (57.0 +/- 16.6 VS 36.7 +/- 13.4; P = .02) AND A SIGNIFICANTLY LOWER LOW FREQUENCY (LF)/HF RATIO (1.1 +/- 0.5 VS 2.2 +/- 1.1; P = .01). NO SIGNIFICANT INTERGROUP DIFFERENCES WERE OBSERVED FOR LF POWER, LF NU, OR ANY TIME-DOMAIN MEASURES OF HRV. THESE RESULTS LACK GENERALIZABILITY DUE TO SMALL SAMPLE SIZE AND LACK OF BLINDED ASSESSMENT OF OUTCOME MEASURES. HATHA YOGA PRACTITIONERS SHOWED PARASYMPATHETIC PREDOMINANCE COMPARED WITH HEALTHY CONTROLS. ANALYZING FREQUENCY-DOMAIN HRV METRICS ENABLES DETECTING CHANGES IN CARDIAC AUTONOMIC FUNCTION EARLIER THAN BY ANALYSIS OF TIME-DOMAIN METRICS. PARASYMPATHETIC PREDOMINANCE DEMONSTRATED IN THE YOGA GROUP SUGGESTS HATHA YOGA PRACTITIONERS MAY BE AT LOWER RISK FOR STRESS-RELATED COMORBIDITIES. 2021 12 1329 34 HIGH-FREQUENCY CEREBRAL ACTIVATION AND INTERHEMISPHERIC SYNCHRONIZATION FOLLOWING SUDARSHAN KRIYA YOGA AS GLOBAL BRAIN RHYTHMS: THE STATE EFFECTS. CONTEXT: RESPIRATION IS KNOWN TO MODULATE NEURONAL OSCILLATIONS IN THE BRAIN AND IS MEASURED BY ELECTROENCEPHALOGRAM (EEG). SUDARSHAN KRIYA YOGA (SKY) IS A POPULAR BREATHING PROCESS AND IS ESTABLISHED FOR ITS SIGNIFICANT EFFECTS ON THE VARIOUS ASPECTS OF PHYSIOLOGY AND PSYCHOLOGY. AIMS: THIS STUDY AIMED TO OBSERVE NEURONAL OSCILLATIONS IN MULTIFREQUENCY BANDS AND INTERHEMISPHERIC SYNCHRONIZATION FOLLOWING SKY. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: THIS STUDY EMPLOYED BEFORE- AND AFTER-STUDY DESIGN. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: FORTY HEALTHY VOLUNTEERS (AVERAGE AGE 25.45 +/- 5.75, 23 MALES AND 17 FEMALES) PARTICIPATED IN THE STUDY. NINETEEN-CHANNEL EEG WAS RECORDED AND ANALYZED FOR 5 MIN EACH: BEFORE AND AFTER SKY. SPECTRAL POWER FOR DELTA, THETA, ALPHA, BETA, AND GAMMA FREQUENCY BAND WAS CALCULATED USING MULTI-TAPER FAST FOURIER TRANSFORM (CHRONUX TOOLBOX). THE ASYMMETRY INDEX WAS CALCULATED BY SUBTRACTING THE NATURAL LOG OF POWERS OF LEFT (L) HEMISPHERE FROM THE RIGHT((R)) TO SHOW INTERHEMISPHERIC SYNCHRONIZATION. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: PAIRED T-TEST WAS USED FOR STATISTICAL ANALYSIS. RESULTS: SPECTRAL POWER INCREASED SIGNIFICANTLY IN ALL FREQUENCY BANDS BILATERALLY IN FRONTAL, CENTRAL, PARIETAL, TEMPORAL, AND OCCIPITAL REGIONS OF THE BRAIN AFTER LONG SKY. ELECTRICAL ACTIVITY SHIFTED FROM LOWER TO HIGHER FREQUENCY RANGE WITH A SIGNIFICANT RISE IN THE GAMMA AND BETA POWERS FOLLOWING SKY. ASYMMETRY INDEX VALUES TENDED TOWARD 0 FOLLOWING SKY. CONCLUSIONS: A SINGLE SESSION OF SKY GENERATES GLOBAL BRAIN RHYTHM DOMINANTLY WITH HIGH-FREQUENCY CEREBRAL ACTIVATION AND INITIATES APPROPRIATE INTERHEMISPHERIC SYNCHRONIZATION IN BRAIN RHYTHMS AS STATE EFFECTS. THIS SUGGESTS THAT SKY LEADS TO BETTER ATTENTION, MEMORY, AND EMOTIONAL AND AUTONOMIC CONTROL ALONG WITH ENHANCED COGNITIVE FUNCTIONS, WHICH FINALLY IMPROVES PHYSICAL AND MENTAL WELL-BEING. 2020 13 350 40 ASSESSMENT OF CARDIAC AUTONOMIC TONE FOLLOWING LONG SUDARSHAN KRIYA YOGA IN ART OF LIVING PRACTITIONERS. OBJECTIVE: THE BREATHING PROCESSES ARE KNOWN TO MODULATE CARDIAC AUTONOMIC TONE AND IMPROVE PSYCHOLOGICAL STATUS. WE INVESTIGATED CARDIAC AUTONOMIC TONE FOLLOWING LONG SUDARSHAN KRIYA YOGA (SKY) USING HEART RATE VARIABILITY (HRV) AND SKIN CONDUCTANCE LEVEL (SCL). METHODS: THIRTY HEALTHY VOLUNTEERS (AGE 28.3 +/- 8.4 YEARS; 23 M: 7 F) PARTICIPATED IN THE STUDY. ELECTROCARDIOGRAM (ECG) AND SCL WERE RECORDED FOR 5 MIN EACH, BEFORE AND AFTER LONG SKY. LONG SKY IS A COMBINATION OF PRANAYAMA AND CYCLIC RHYTHMIC BREATHING AND IS PERFORMED BY FOLLOWING THE GUIDED AUDIO INSTRUCTIONS. HRV ANALYSIS WAS USED FOR THE ASSESSMENT OF CARDIAC AUTONOMIC TONE. TIME AND FREQUENCY DOMAIN PARAMETERS OF HRV WERE CALCULATED BY USING RR INTERVAL OF ECG. SCL WAS ACQUIRED USING GALVANIC SKIN RESPONSE (GSR) AMPLIFIER OF POWERLAB IN MICROSEIMENS (MUS). RESULTS: TIME DOMAIN PARAMETERS OF HRV, INCLUDING MEAN RR INTERVAL (P = 0.000), RESPIRATORY SINUS ARRHYTHMIA (RSA) (P = 0.037), STANDARD DEVIATION OF ALL NN INTERVALS (SDNN) (P = 0.013), NN50 COUNT DIVIDED BY THE TOTAL NUMBER OF ALL NN INTERVALS (PNN50) (P = 0.004), AND SQUARE ROOT OF THE MEAN OF THE SUM OF THE SQUARES OF DIFFERENCES BETWEEN ADJACENT NN INTERVALS (RMSSD) (P = 0.002) INCREASED, AND MEAN HEART RATE DECREASED (P = 0.000) FOLLOWING LONG SKY. IN FREQUENCY DOMAIN ANALYSIS, POWER OF LOW-FREQUENCY (LF) COMPONENT (P = 0.010) AND LF/HF RATIO (P = 0.008) DECREASED SIGNIFICANTLY, WHEREAS POWER OF HIGH FREQUENCY (HF) SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASED (P = 0.010). SCL DECREASED FOLLOWING LONG SKY, ALTHOUGH IT DID NOT ATTAIN STATISTICAL SIGNIFICANCE. CONCLUSIONS: THE RESULTS SUGGEST THAT LONG SKY INDUCES SIGNIFICANT OSCILLATIONS IN CARDIAC AUTONOMIC TONE. PARASYMPATHETIC ACTIVITY INCREASES AND SYMPATHETIC ACTIVITY DECREASES AND SYMPATHOVAGAL BALANCE IMPROVES FOLLOWING LONG SKY. DECREASE IN SYMPATHETIC ACTIVITY IS ALSO DEMONSTRATED BY DECREASE IN CONDUCTANCE ALTHOUGH IT DID NOT REACH STATISTICAL SIGNIFICANCE. FROM THIS STUDY IT CAN BE CONCLUDED THAT LONG SKY HAS A BENEFICIAL EFFECT ON CARDIAC AUTONOMIC TONE, AND PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGICAL RELAXATION. IT MAY SERVE AS A TOOL TO IMPROVE HRV, WHICH IS THE MARKER OF CARDIOVASCULAR HEALTH. 2017 14 2792 59 YOGA THERAPY FOR DEVELOPING EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE IN MID-LIFE MANAGERS. BACKGROUND: BUSINESS EXECUTIVES' LIVES HAVE BECOME A NEVER-ENDING RACE AGAINST TIME, TECHNOLOGY, AND TARGETS. THIS RACE CREATES TENSION, WHICH LEADS TO DISSATISFACTION AND FRUSTRATION AND EVENTUALLY MANIFESTS ITSELF AS PSYCHOLOGICAL AND PHYSIOLOGICAL STRESS WITH MENTAL AND EMOTIONAL DRAIN. THIS MODERN LIFESTYLE INTENSIFIES THE STRESS LEADING TO "EXCESSIVE TENSION" AND CONSEQUENT DETERIORATION IN "EXECUTIVE EFFICIENCY". OBJECTIVE: TO ASSESS EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENT QUOTIENT (EQ) IN MANAGERS UNDERGOING YOGA-BASED SELF MANAGEMENT OF EXCESSIVE TENSION (SMET) PROGRAM. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 72 MANAGERS PARTICIPATED IN THIS STUDY WHICH IS OF "SINGLE GROUP PRE-POST DESIGN." THE EQ TEST DEVELOPED BY PROF N. K. CHADHA FROM UNIVERSITY OF DELHI WAS ADMINISTERED AS PRE AND POST THE 5 DAYS OF SMET PROGRAM. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: MEANS, STANDARD DEVIATIONS, KOLMOGOROV-SMIRNOV TEST, AND WILCOXON SIGNED RANK TEST WERE USED TO ANALYZE THE DATA. RESULTS: THE DATA ANALYSIS SHOWED 72.02% SIGNIFICANT INCREASE (P<0.001) IN EQ. CONCLUSION: THE RESULTS SUGGEST THAT PARTICIPATION IN A SMET PROGRAM WAS ASSOCIATED WITH IMPROVEMENT IN EQ AND MAY HAVE IMPLICATIONS FOR "EXECUTIVE EFFICIENCY." 2011 15 693 33 EFFECT OF CONTROLLED BREATHING EXERCISES ON THE PSYCHOLOGICAL STATUS AND THE CARDIAC AUTONOMIC TONE: SUDARSHAN KRIYA AND PRANA-YOGA. OBJECTIVE: THE OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY WAS TO OBSERVE THE EFFECT OF CONTROLLED BREATHING EXERCISES INCLUDING SUDARSHAN KRIYA (SK) AND PRANA-YOGA (PY) ON THE PSYCHO-PHYSIOLOGICAL STATUS. METHODS: THE STUDY GROUP INCLUDED 60 HEALTHY VOLUNTEERS (M:30, F:30) IN THE AGE GROUP OF 18 TO 30 YEARS (21.3 +/- 3.2 YRS), RANDOMLY DIVIDED IN TO THREE GROUPS OF 20 SUBJECTS EACH--(1) THE SK GROUP (2) THE PY GROUP AND THE (3) CONTROL GROUP. THE PSYCHO-PHYSIOLOGICAL DATA WAS COLLECTED AT THE FOLLOWING FOUR TIME INTERVENTIONS: BASELINE, 6TH, 60TH AND THE 150TH DAY. PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT WAS DONE USING QUESTIONNAIRES AND FOR THE AUTONOMIC TONE QUANTIFICATION HEART RATE VARIABILITY (HRV) ANALYSIS WAS DONE USING THE STANDARD LEAD II ELECTROCARDIOGRAM RECORDINGS. IN A POST-HOC ANALYSIS EACH GROUP WAS FURTHER SUB DIVIDED IN TO THE FOLLOWING TWO PATTERNS, BASED ON THE BASELINE VALUES OF NORMALIZED LOW FREQUENCY (LF) POWER (CUTOFF 64 MS2): (I) PATTERN A-SUBJECTS WITH LOW LEVEL LF POWER, AND (II) PATTERN B- SUBJECTS WITH HIGH LEVEL LF POWER. RESULTS: THE STRESS MANAGEMENT SKILLS HAVE SHOWN SIGNIFICANT INCREASE IN SK GROUP BUT NOT IN PY AND CONTROL GROUP. SUBJECTS OF SK, PY, AND CONTROL GROUP SHOWED SIGNIFICANT INCREASE IN LF VALUE AND LF:HF RATIO FOR PATTERN A AND SIGNIFICANT DECREASE FOR PATTERN B. PLOTTED LF VALUE FOR PATTERN A & B IN SK AND PY PRACTITIONERS SHOWED CONVERGENCE, COMING TO A MEAN VALUE OVER THE PERIOD OF 150 DAYS. THE LF:HF RATIO CURVE PLOTTED OVER TIME FOR PATTERN A & B SHOWED CONVERGENCE IN SK GROUP ONLY. NO SUCH CONVERGENCE IN LF VALUE & LF/HF RATIO FOR PATTERN A & B WAS SEEN IN CONTROL GROUP. CONCLUSION: IN CONCLUSION, SUDARSHAN KRIYA POSITIVELY MODIFIES STRESS COPING BEHAVIOR AND INITIATES APPROPRIATE BALANCE IN CARDIAC AUTONOMIC TONE. 2014 16 1382 36 IMPACT OF PRAJNA YOGA ON COGNITION IN ADOLESCENTS WITH CONGENITAL AND ADVENTITIOUS VISUAL IMPAIRMENT. CONTEXT: NUMEROUS SCIENTIFIC STUDIES HAVE INVESTIGATED THE IMPACT OF YOGA ON COGNITION IN CHILDREN AND ADULTS. HOWEVER, FEWER STUDIES HAVE ASSESSED THE IMPACT OF YOGIC PRACTICES ON COGNITION IN CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS WITH VISUAL IMPAIRMENT. DESPITE THEIR KEEN INTELLECTUAL ABILITIES AND ADVANCED LINGUISTIC SKILLS, TEENS WITH VISUAL IMPAIRMENT OFTEN EXPERIENCE DIFFICULTIES WITH COGNITIVE CONTROL AND BEHAVIORAL REGULATION. MEMORY PLAYS AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN COGNITION. BESIDES STORING INFORMATION, MEMORY IS ALSO USED FOR RECALL, DEFINED AS THE RETRIEVAL OF INFORMATION THE BRAIN HAS RECENTLY BEEN EXPOSED TO, AND RECOGNITION, DEFINED AS THE ABILITY TO RECOGNIZE OR RETRIEVE THE INFORMATION PREVIOUSLY ENCOUNTERED AND STORED IN THE BRAIN. OBJECTIVE: THE OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY WAS TO OBSERVE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF PRAJNA YOGA ON ENHANCING THE COGNITION AND VERBAL MEMORY IN ADOLESCENTS WITH VISUAL IMPAIRMENT. DEGREE OF VISUAL IMPAIRMENT AND AGE OF ONSET OF VISUAL IMPAIRMENT WERE CONSIDERED WHILE ANALYZING THE STUDY DATA. DESIGN: AN OPEN-TRIAL, SINGLE ARM, PRE-POST STUDY DESIGN WAS ADOPTED. 273 ADOLESCENTS WITH VISUAL IMPAIRMENT WERE ASSESSED ACROSS INDIA USING THE REY AUDITORY VERBAL LEARNING TEST (RAVLT), AT BASELINE (BEFORE THE INTERVENTION), IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE INTERVENTION, AND AT 40 DAYS AFTER THE INTERVENTION. RAVLT MEASURES RECALL AND RECOGNITION THROUGH VERBAL MEMORY. INTERVENTION: PRAJNA YOGA (PY) OR THE ART OF LIVING INTUITION PROGRAM IS A UNIQUE INTERVENTION, BASED ON ANCIENT TECHNIQUES OF PRANAYAMA, SUPER BRAIN YOGA, AND MEDITATION, TAUGHT TO CHILDREN & ADOLESCENTS BETWEEN THE AGES 5 AND 17. RESULTS: THE MEAN SCORES FOR RECOGNITION (P=0.011) AND IMMEDIATE RECALL (P=0.011) IMPROVED SIGNIFICANTLY AFTER PY FOR THE ENTIRE STUDY POPULATION, REGARDLESS OF THE DEGREE OF VISUAL IMPAIRMENT, GENDER AND AGE OF ONSET. A SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENT IN MEAN SCORES FOR DELAYED RECALL WAS SEEN AFTER 40 DAYS OF DAILY PRACTICE (P = 0.007). 2022 17 2680 38 YOGA IN SCHOOL SPORTS IMPROVES FUNCTIONING OF AUTONOMIC NERVOUS SYSTEM IN YOUNG ADULTS: A NON-RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED PILOT STUDY. BACKGROUND: YOGA IN SCHOOL IS A BENEFICIAL TOOL TO PROMOTE THE GOOD HEALTH AND WELL-BEING OF STUDENTS BY CHANGING THE WAY THEY REACT TO STRESS. THE POSITIVE EFFECTS OF YOGA-TAUGHT IN SCHOOLS-ON CHILDREN, YOUTH AND YOUNG ADULTS HAVE BEEN DEMONSTRATED IN FORMER STUDIES USING MOSTLY SUBJECTIVE PSYCHOMETRIC DATA. AIM: THE PRESENT TRIAL AIMS TO EVALUATE THE POTENTIAL EFFECTS OF YOGA ON AUTONOMIC REGULATION IN YOUNG ADULTS BY ANALYZING HEART RATE VARIABILITY (HRV). METHODS: THIS STUDY IS A NON-RANDOMIZED, EXPLORATIVE, TWO-ARM-PILOT STUDY WITH AN ACTIVE CONTROL GROUP. FOURTEEN HEALTHY YOUNG ADULTS TOOK PART IN A 10-WEEK YOGA PROGRAM (90 MIN ONCE A WEEK) IN SCHOOL AND WERE COMPARED TO A CONTROL GROUP OF 11 STUDENTS WHO PARTICIPATED IN CONVENTIONAL SCHOOL SPORTS (90 MIN ONCE A WEEK OVER 10 WEEKS). 24-HOUR ELECTROCARDIOGRAMS (ECGS) WERE RECORDED AT BASELINE AND FOLLOWING THE 10-WEEK INTERVENTION. FROM 20-MINUTE OF NOCTURNAL SLEEP PHASES, HRV PARAMETERS WERE CALCULATED FROM LINEAR (TIME AND FREQUENCY DOMAIN) AND NONLINEAR DYNAMICS (SUCH AS SYMBOLIC DYNAMICS AND POINCARE PLOT ANALYSIS). ANALYSES OF VARIANCE (ANOVA) FOLLOWED BY T-TESTS AS POST-HOC TESTS ESTIMATING BOTH STATISTICAL SIGNIFICANCE AND EFFECT SIZE WERE USED TO COMPARE PRE-POST-INTERVENTION FOR THE TWO GROUPS. RESULTS: THE STATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF THE INTERACTION EFFECTS DID NOT REVEAL A SIGNIFICANT GROUP AND TIME INTERACTION FOR THE INDIVIDUAL NOCTURNAL HRV INDICES. ALMOST ALL INDICES REVEALED MEDIUM AND LARGE EFFECTS REGARDING THE TIME MAIN EFFECTS. THE CHANGES IN THE HRV INDICES FOLLOWING THE INTERVENTION WERE MORE DRAMATIC FOR THE YOGA GROUP THAN FOR THE CONTROL GROUP WHICH IS REFLECTED IN PREDOMINANTLY HIGHER SIGNIFICANCES AND STRONGER EFFECT SIZES IN THE YOGA GROUP. CONCLUSION: IN THIS EXPLORATIVE PILOT TRIAL, AN INCREASE OF HRV (MORE PARASYMPATHETIC DOMINANCE AND OVERALL HIGHER HRV) AFTER TEN WEEKS OF YOGA IN SCHOOL IN COMPARISON TO REGULAR SCHOOL SPORTS WAS DEMONSTRATED, SHOWING AN IMPROVED SELF-REGULATION OF THE AUTONOMIC NERVOUS SYSTEM. 2020 18 1935 15 ROLE OF YOGA IN THE MANAGEMENT OF PREMATURE EJACULATION. PREMATURE EJACULATION (PE) IS A COMMON MALE SEXUAL PROBLEM. VARIOUS NON-PHARMACOLOGICAL AND PHARMACOLOGICAL TREATMENT OPTIONS ARE AVAILABLE CURRENTLY. THE IMPORTANCE OF YOGA IN THE MANAGEMENT OF VARIOUS SEXUAL DYSFUNCTIONS IS INCREASINGLY RECOGNIZED. IN THIS REVIEW, WE ARE ANALYZING THE ROLE OF YOGA IN THE MANAGEMENT OF PE. THIS PAPER EXPLORES THE MECHANISM OF YOGA PRACTICES IN THE MANAGEMENT OF PE AND THE RECOMMENDED YOGA PRACTICE FOR PE. IT ALSO DISCUSSES THE SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE OF YOGA PRACTICES, SUCH AS YOGA POSTURES (YOGASANA), BREATHING PRACTICES (PRANAYAMA), LOCK (BANDHA), GESTURES (MUDRA), RELAXATION, AUM CHANTING, YOGA NIDRA AND MEDITATION WITH PARTICULAR REFERENCE THE MANAGEMENT OF PE. 2020 19 2649 71 YOGA IMPROVES ATTENTION AND SELF-ESTEEM IN UNDERPRIVILEGED GIRL STUDENT. BACKGROUND: A STUDENT UNDER OPTIMAL STRESS DOES BRING OUT HIS OR HER BEST; HOWEVER, EXTREME STRESS CAN RESULT IN MENTAL HEALTH PROBLEMS AND DETERIORATES THEIR ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE. STUDENTS WHO ESTEEM THEMSELVES LOW ARE MOST LIKELY TO ENGAGE IN DESTRUCTIVE AND SELF-DESTRUCTIVE BEHAVIORS. MOREOVER, EXCESSIVE STRESS IS HARMFUL TO ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE AND MAY LEAD TO DROPPING OUT IN STUDENT. CAN YOGA BE OF BENEFIT IN STUDENTS FOR IMPROVING THEIR ATTENTION AND SELF-ESTEEM (SE)? OBJECTIVE: TO ASSESS ATTENTION AND SE IN GIRLS UNDERGOING INTEGRATED YOGA MODULE (IYM). MATERIALS AND METHODS: SIXTY LOW-INCOME HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS WITH 15.17 + 0.64 YEARS OF MEAN AGE PARTICIPATED IN THIS SINGLE GROUP PRE-POST STUDY. THE DATA WAS COLLECTED BEFORE AND AFTER 5 DAYS OF IYM. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: MEANS, STANDARD DEVIATIONS, KOLMOGOROV-SMIRNOV TEST, AND WILCOXON SIGNED RANK TEST WERE USED TO ANALYZE THE DATA WITH THE HELP OF SPSS 16. RESULTS: THE DATA ANALYSIS SHOWED 9.04% INCREASE (P = 0.001) IN SE SCORES, WHEREAS D2 TEST FOR ATTENTION REVEALED 10.12% INCREASE (P < 0.001) IN TOTAL NUMBER OF SYMBOLS PROCESSED SCORES AND 44.73% DECREASE (P < 0.001) IN TOTAL NUMBER OF ERRORS. CONCLUSION: THE PRESENT STUDY SUGGESTS THAT OF IYM CAN RESULT IN IMPROVEMENT OF ATTENTION AND SE AMONG STUDENTS AND THEREBY ENHANCING THEIR MENTAL HEALTH AND CAN HELP THEM IN IMPROVING THEIR ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT. EFFORTS AIMED AT REDUCING MENTAL HEALTH PROBLEMS AMONG STUDENTS MAY FOCUS MORE ON IMPLEMENTING EFFECTIVE AND CULTURALLY ACCEPTABLE INTERVENTIONS, SUCH AS YOGA, COUNSELING, AND SOCIAL SUPPORT. ADDITIONAL WELL-DESIGNED STUDIES ARE NEEDED BEFORE A STRONG RECOMMENDATION CAN BE MADE. 2013 20 1836 13 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