1 860 126 EFFECT OF YOGA PRACTICE ON REDUCING COGNITIVE-MOTOR INTERFERENCE FOR IMPROVING DYNAMIC BALANCE CONTROL IN HEALTHY ADULTS. OBJECTIVE: THE PURPOSE OF OUR STUDY WAS TO INVESTIGATE THE EFFECTS OF YOGA ON REDUCING COGNITIVE-MOTOR INTERFERENCE (CMI) FOR MAINTAINING BALANCE CONTROL DURING VARIED BALANCE TASKS. METHOD: YOGA (N=10) AND AGE-SIMILAR NON-PRACTITIONERS (N=10) PERFORMED THREE BALANCE TASKS INCLUDING THE LIMITS OF STABILITY TEST (LOS - INTENTIONAL BALANCE), MOTOR CONTROL TEST (MCT - REACTIVE BALANCE), AND SENSORY ORGANIZATION TEST (SOT -CONDITION 6: INDUCING BOTH SOMATOSENSORY AND VISUAL CONFLICTS) UNDER SINGLE-TASK (ST) AND DUAL-TASK (DT, ADDITION OF A COGNITIVE WORKING MEMORY TASK) CONDITIONS. THE MOTOR PERFORMANCE WAS ASSESSED BY RECORDING THE RESPONSE TIME (RT) AND MOVEMENT VELOCITY (MV) OF THE CENTER OF PRESSURE (COP) ON LOS TEST, WEIGHT SYMMETRY (WS) OF COP ON THE MCT TEST AND EQUILIBRIUM (EQ) OF COP ON THE SOT TEST. COGNITIVE PERFORMANCE WAS RECORDED AS THE NUMBER OF CORRECT RESPONSES ENUMERATED IN SITTING (ST) AND UNDER DT CONDITIONS. THE MOTOR COST (MC) AND COGNITIVE COST (CC) WERE COMPUTED USING THE FORMULA ([ST-DT]/ST)*100 FOR ALL THE VARIABLES. GREATER COST INDICATES LOWER PERFORMANCE UNDER DT VERSUS ST CONDITION. RESULTS: THE YOGA GROUP SHOWED A SIGNIFICANTLY LESSER MC FOR BOTH MCT AND SOT TESTS (P<0.05) IN COMPARISON TO THEIR COUNTERPARTS. THE CC WERE SIGNIFICANTLY LOWER ON LOS AND MCT TEST FOR THE YOGA GROUP (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: RESULTS SUGGEST THAT YOGA PRACTICE CAN SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCE CMI BY IMPROVING ALLOCATION AND UTILIZATION OF ATTENTIONAL RESOURCES FOR BOTH BALANCE CONTROL AND EXECUTIVE COGNITIVE FUNCTIONING; THUS RESULTING IN BETTER PERFORMANCE UNDER DT CONDITIONS. 2017 2 2133 24 THE EFFECTS OF A HATHA YOGA INTERVENTION ON FACETS OF DISTRESS TOLERANCE. INDIVIDUALS WITH LOW DISTRESS TOLERANCE (DT) EXPERIENCE NEGATIVE EMOTION AS PARTICULARLY THREATENING AND ARE HIGHLY MOTIVATED TO REDUCE OR AVOID SUCH AFFECTIVE EXPERIENCES. CONSEQUENTLY, THESE INDIVIDUALS HAVE DIFFICULTY REGULATING EMOTIONS AND TEND TO ENGAGE IN MALADAPTIVE STRATEGIES, SUCH AS OVEREATING, AS A MEANS TO REDUCE OR AVOID DISTRESS. HATHA YOGA ENCOURAGES ONE TO IMPLEMENT PRESENT-CENTERED AWARENESS AND NON-REACTION IN THE FACE OF PHYSICAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL DISCOMFORT AND, THUS, EMERGES AS A POTENTIAL STRATEGY FOR INCREASING DT. TO TEST WHETHER A HATHA YOGA INTERVENTION CAN ENHANCE DT, A TRANSDIAGNOSTIC RISK AND MAINTENANCE FACTOR, THIS STUDY RANDOMLY ASSIGNED FEMALES HIGH IN EMOTIONAL EATING IN RESPONSE TO STRESS (N = 52) EITHER TO AN 8-WEEK, TWICE-WEEKLY HATHA (BIKRAM) YOGA INTERVENTION OR TO A WAITLIST CONTROL CONDITION. SELF-REPORTED DT AND EMOTIONAL EATING WERE MEASURED AT BASELINE, WEEKLY DURING TREATMENT, AND 1-WEEK POST-TREATMENT. CONSISTENT WITH PREDICTION, PARTICIPANTS IN THE YOGA CONDITION REPORTED GREATER INCREASES IN DT OVER THE COURSE OF THE INTERVENTION RELATIVE TO WAITLIST PARTICIPANTS (COHEN'S D = .82). ALSO CONSISTENT WITH PREDICTION, THE REDUCTION IN EMOTIONAL EATING WAS GREATER FOR THE YOGA CONDITION THAN THE WAITLIST CONDITION (COHEN'S D = .92). IMPORTANTLY, REDUCTIONS DISTRESS ABSORPTION, A SPECIFIC SUB-FACET OF DT, ACCOUNTED FOR 15% OF THE VARIANCE IN EMOTIONAL EATING, A HALLMARK BEHAVIOR OF EATING PATHOLOGY AND RISK FACTOR FOR OBESITY. 2015 3 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 4 557 36 COST-EFFECTIVENESS OF YOGA FOR CHRONIC LOW BACK PAIN IN VETERANS. BACKGROUND: YOGA INTERVENTIONS CAN IMPROVE FUNCTION AND REDUCE PAIN IN PERSONS WITH CHRONIC LOW BACK PAIN (CLBP). OBJECTIVE: USING DATA FROM A RECENT TRIAL OF YOGA FOR MILITARY VETERANS WITH CLBP, WE ANALYZED THE INCREMENTAL COST-EFFECTIVENESS OF YOGA COMPARED WITH USUAL CARE. METHODS: PARTICIPANTS (N=150) WERE RANDOMIZED TO EITHER 2X WEEKLY, 60-MINUTE YOGA SESSIONS FOR 12 WEEKS, OR TO DELAYED TREATMENT (DT). OUTCOMES WERE MEASURED AT 12 WEEKS, AND 6 MONTHS. QUALITY-ADJUSTED LIFE YEARS (QALYS) WERE MEASURED USING THE EQ-5D SCALE. A 30% IMPROVEMENT ON THE ROLAND-MORRIS DISABILITY QUESTIONNAIRE (PRIMARY OUTCOME) SERVED AS AN ADDITIONAL EFFECTIVENESS MEASURE. INTERVENTION COSTS INCLUDING PERSONNEL, MATERIALS, AND TRANSPORTATION WERE TRACKED DURING THE STUDY. HEALTH CARE COSTS WERE OBTAINED FROM PATIENT MEDICAL RECORDS. HEALTH CARE ORGANIZATION AND SOCIETAL PERSPECTIVES WERE EXAMINED WITH A 12-MONTH HORIZON. RESULTS: INCREMENTAL QALYS GAINED BY THE YOGA GROUP OVER 12 MONTHS WERE 0.043. INTERVENTION COSTS TO DELIVER YOGA WERE $307/PARTICIPANT. NEGLIGIBLE DIFFERENCES IN HEALTH CARE COSTS WERE FOUND BETWEEN GROUPS. FROM THE HEALTH CARE ORGANIZATION PERSPECTIVE, THE INCREMENTAL COST-EFFECTIVENESS RATIO TO PROVIDE YOGA WAS $4488/QALY. FROM THE SOCIETAL PERSPECTIVE, YOGA WAS "DOMINANT" PROVIDING BOTH HEALTH BENEFIT AND COST SAVINGS. PROBABILISTIC SENSITIVITY ANALYSIS INDICATES AN 89% CHANCE OF YOGA BEING COST-EFFECTIVE AT A WILLINGNESS-TO-PAY OF $50,000. A SCENARIO COMPARING THE COSTS OF YOGA AND PHYSICAL THERAPY SUGGEST THAT YOGA MAY PRODUCE SIMILAR RESULTS AT A MUCH LOWER COST. DISCUSSION/CONCLUSIONS: YOGA IS A COST-EFFECTIVE TREATMENT FOR REDUCING PAIN AND DISABILITY AMONG MILITARY VETERANS WITH CLBP. 2020 5 534 27 COMPARISON OF YOGA AND WALKING-EXERCISE ON CARDIAC TIME INTERVALS AS A MEASURE OF CARDIAC FUNCTION IN ELDERLY WITH INCREASED PULSE PRESSURE. OBJECTIVE: ARTERIAL AGING ALONG WITH INCREASED BLOOD PRESSURE(BP) HAS BECOME THE MAJOR CARDIOVASCULAR(CV) RISK IN ELDERLY. THE AIM OF THE STUDY WAS TO COMPARE THE EFFECTS OF YOGA PROGRAM AND WALKING-EXERCISE ON CARDIAC FUNCTION IN ELDERLY WITH INCREASED PULSE PRESSURE (PP). METHODS: AN OPEN LABEL, PARALLEL-GROUP RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED STUDY DESIGN WAS ADOPTED. ELDERLY INDIVIDUALS AGED >/=60 YEARS WITH PP>/=60MMHG WERE RECRUITED FOR THE STUDY. YOGA (STUDY) GROUP (N=30) WAS ASSIGNED FOR YOGA TRAINING AND WALKING (EXERCISE) GROUP (N=30) FOR WALKING WITH LOOSENING PRACTICES FOR ONE HOUR IN THE MORNING FOR 6DAYS IN A WEEK FOR 3 MONTHS. THE OUTCOME MEASURES WERE CARDIAC TIME INTERVALS DERIVED FROM PULSE WAVE ANALYSIS AND ECG: RESTING HEART RATE (RHR), DIASTOLIC TIME(DT), VENTRICULAR EJECTION TIME(LVET), UPSTROKE TIME(UT), EJECTION DURATION INDEX (ED%), PRE-EJECTION PERIOD (PEP), RATE PRESSURE PRODUCT (RPP) AND PERCENTAGE OF MEAN ARTERIAL PRESSURE (%MAP). RESULTS: THE MEAN WITHIN-YOGA GROUP CHANGE IN RHR(BPM) WAS 4.41 (P=0.031), PD(MS): -50.29 (P=0.042), DT(MS): -49.04 (P=0.017), ED%: 2.107 (P=0.001), ES(MMHG/MS): 14.62 (P=0.118), ET(MS): -0.66 (P=0.903), UT(MS): -2.54 (P=0.676), PEP(MS): -1.25 (P=0.11) AND %MAP: 2.08 (P=0.04). THE MEAN WITHIN-CONTROL GROUP CHANGE IN HR (BPM) WAS 0.35 (P=0.887), PD (MS): 11.15(P=0.717), DT (MS): 11.3 (P=0.706), ED%: -0.101 (P=0.936), ES (MMHG/MS): 0.75 (P=0.926), ET(MS): 2.2 (P=0.721), UT(MS):4.7(P=455), PEP (MS): 2.1(P=0.11), %MAP: 0.65 (P=0.451). A SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE BETWEEN-GROUP WAS FOUND IN RHR (P=0.036), PD (P=0.02), ED% (P=0.049), LVET (P=0.048), DT (P=0.02) AND RPP (P=0.001). CONCLUSIONS: YOGA PRACTICE FOR 3 MONTHS SHOWED A SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENT IN DIASTOLIC FUNCTION WITH A MINIMAL CHANGE IN SYSTOLIC FUNCTION. YOGA IS MORE EFFECTIVE THAN WALKING IN IMPROVING CARDIAC FUNCTION IN ELDERLY WITH HIGH PP. 2017 6 1672 34 NONLINEAR MEASURES IN POSTUROGRAPHY COMPARED TO LINEAR MEASURES BASED ON YOGA POSES PERFORMANCE. PURPOSE: YOGA IS KNOWN AS A TYPE OF EXERCISE THAT COMBINES PHYSICAL, MENTAL AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS. THERE HAS NOT BEEN MUCH RESEARCH ON THE POSTURAL CONTROL IN VARIOUS YOGA POSES. THE AIM OF THIS STUDY WAS TO EXAMINE COP REGULARITY IN BOTH YOGA INSTRUCTORS AND NOVICES DURING THE PERFORMANCE OF FOUR YOGA POSES, AND TO VERIFY THE SENSITIVITY OF LINEAR AND NONLINEAR METHODS FOR ASSESSING POSTURAL STABILITY. METHODS: THE DYNAMIC CHARACTERISTICS OF COP FLUCTUATIONS WERE EXAMINED USING LINEAR AND NONLINEAR METHODS ON A GROUP OF 22 YOGA INSTRUCTORS (Y) AND 18 AGE-MATCHED NON-PRACTITIONERS OF YOGA (NY). THE STUDY INVOLVED MAINTAINING A BALANCE FOR 20 SECONDS WHILE PERFORMING FOUR YOGA POSES. RESULTS: CONVENTIONAL ANALYSIS OF COP TRAJECTORIES SHOWED THAT NY AND Y EXHIBITED SIMILAR CONTROL OF POSTURAL SWAY, AS INDICATED BY SIMILAR COP PATH-LENGTH AND AREA VALUES OBSERVED IN BOTH GROUPS. THESE RESULTS SUGGEST THAT THE SPECIAL BALANCE YOGA TRAINING RECEIVED BY Y MAY NOT HAVE AN IMPACT ON LESS CHALLENGING BALANCE CONDITIONS, SUCH AS THE POSES USED IN THIS EXPERIMENT. INTERESTINGLY, NONLINEAR DYNAMICAL ANALYSIS OF COP SHOWED THAT Y EXHIBITED LESS COP REGULARITY AND MORE COMPLEX SIGNAL THAN NY, AS EVIDENCED BY HIGHER VALUES OF SAMPLE ENTROPY AND FRACTAL DIMENSION. CONCLUSIONS: THE RESULTS SHED LIGHT ON THE SURPLUS VALUES OF COP TRAJECTORIES IN THE NONLINEAR DYNAMICAL ANALYSIS TO GAIN FURTHER INSIGHT INTO THE MECHANISMS INVOLVED IN POSTURE CONTROL. 2020 7 33 43 A 10-WEEK YOGA PRACTICE HAS NO EFFECT ON COGNITION, BUT IMPROVES BALANCE AND MOTOR LEARNING BY ATTENUATING BRAIN-DERIVED NEUROTROPHIC FACTOR LEVELS IN OLDER ADULTS. DESPITE STUDIES INVESTIGATING THE EFFECT OF YOGA ON COGNITIVE AND MOTOR FUNCTIONING IN OLDER ADULTS, THE EFFECT ON DUAL-TASK PERFORMANCE AND MOTOR LEARNING AND THE SPECIFIC MECHANISMS UNDERLYING THE POSITIVE EFFECT OF YOGA REMAIN UNCLEAR. THUS, THE AIM OF THIS STUDY WAS TO INVESTIGATE THE EFFECTS OF YOGA ON COGNITION, BALANCE UNDER SINGLE- AND DUAL-TASK CONDITIONS, AND MOTOR LEARNING. THE POTENTIAL ROLE OF BRAIN-DERIVED NEUROTROPHIC FACTOR (BDNF) IN INDUCED IMPROVEMENT WAS ALSO EXPLORED. PARTICIPANTS AGED 60-79YEARS WERE RANDOMIZED TO EITHER A CONTROL GROUP (N=15) OR A YOGA GROUP (N=18) FOR A 10-WEEK PERIOD. THE YOGA GROUP RECEIVED 90-MIN DURATION YOGA CLASSES TWO TIMES PER WEEK. CHANGES IN COGNITION, BALANCE UNDER SINGLE- AND DUAL-TASK CONDITIONS, AND LEARNING FAST AND ACCURATE REACHING MOVEMENTS WERE ASSESSED. YOGA PRACTICE DECREASED (P<0.05) THE VELOCITY VECTOR OF THE CENTER OF PRESSURE UNDER SINGLE- AND DUAL-TASK CONDITIONS, WHEREAS NO CHANGES IN COGNITIVE PERFORMANCE WERE OBSERVED. ALTHOUGH REACTION AND MOVEMENT TIMES DURING LEARNING WERE DECREASED IN BOTH GROUPS (P<0.05), A FASTER REACTION TIME (P<0.05) AND SHORTER MOVEMENT TIME (P<0.05) WERE OBSERVED IN THE YOGA GROUP THAN IN THE CONTROL GROUP. SIGNIFICANT MODERATE RELATIONSHIPS (P<0.05) BETWEEN CHANGES IN BDNF LEVELS AND FUNCTIONAL IMPROVEMENTS WERE OBSERVED. THUS, 10WEEKS OF YOGA PRACTICE RESULTED IN IMPROVED BALANCE AND LEARNING IN THE SPEED-ACCURACY MOTOR TASK THAT WERE MEDIATED BY INCREASED BDNF LEVELS, BUT HAD NO IMPACT ON COGNITION IN OLDER ADULTS. 2020 8 510 37 COMPARATIVE IMPACTS OF TAI CHI, BALANCE TRAINING, AND A SPECIALLY-DESIGNED YOGA PROGRAM ON BALANCE IN OLDER FALLERS. OBJECTIVE: TO COMPARE THE EFFECT OF A CUSTOM-DESIGNED YOGA PROGRAM WITH 2 OTHER BALANCE TRAINING PROGRAMS. DESIGN: RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL. SETTING: RESEARCH LABORATORY. PARTICIPANTS: A GROUP OF OLDER ADULTS (N=39; MEAN AGE, 74.15 +/- 6.99 Y) WITH A HISTORY OF FALLING. INTERVENTIONS: THREE DIFFERENT EXERCISE INTERVENTIONS (TAI CHI, STANDARD BALANCE TRAINING, YOGA) WERE GIVEN FOR 12 WEEKS. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: BALANCE PERFORMANCE WAS EXAMINED DURING PRE- AND POSTTEST USING FIELD TESTS, INCLUDING THE 8-FOOT UP-AND-GO TEST, 1-LEG STANCE, FUNCTIONAL REACH, AND USUAL AND MAXIMAL WALKING SPEED. THE STATIC AND DYNAMIC BALANCES WERE ALSO ASSESSED BY POSTURAL SWAY AND DYNAMIC POSTUROGRAPHY, RESPECTIVELY. RESULTS: TRAINING PRODUCED SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENTS IN ALL FIELD TESTS (P<.005), BUT GROUP DIFFERENCE AND TIME X GROUP INTERACTION WERE NOT DETECTED. FOR POSTURAL SWAY, SIGNIFICANT DECREASES IN THE AREA OF THE CENTER OF PRESSURE WITH EYES OPEN (P=.001) AND EYES CLOSED (P=.002) WERE DETECTED AFTER TRAINING. FOR EYES OPEN, MAXIMUM MEDIAL-LATERAL VELOCITY SIGNIFICANTLY DECREASED FOR THE SAMPLE (P=.013). FOR EYES CLOSED, MEDIAL-LATERAL DISPLACEMENT DECREASED FOR TAI CHI (P<.01). FOR DYNAMIC POSTUROGRAPHY, SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENTS IN OVERALL SCORE (P=.001), TIME ON THE TEST (P=.006), AND 2 LINEAR MEASURES IN LATERAL (P=.001) AND ANTERIOR-POSTERIOR (P<.001) DIRECTIONS WERE SEEN FOR THE SAMPLE. CONCLUSIONS: YOGA WAS AS EFFECTIVE AS TAI CHI AND STANDARD BALANCE TRAINING FOR IMPROVING POSTURAL STABILITY AND MAY OFFER AN ALTERNATIVE TO MORE TRADITIONAL PROGRAMS. 2014 9 462 37 CHANGES IN REACTION TIME AFTER YOGA BELLOWS-TYPE BREATHING IN HEALTHY FEMALE VOLUNTEERS. BACKGROUND: PREVIOUSLY, YOGA BELLOWS-TYPE BREATHING (BHASTRIKA PRANAYAMA) REDUCED REACTION TIME (RT) OR REDUCED ANTICIPATORY RESPONSES IN MALE PARTICIPANTS OR A MIXED GROUP OF MALE AND FEMALE PARTICIPANTS. AIMS: THE PRESENT STUDY AS A CONTROL TRIAL AIMED TO ASSESS THE EFFECTS OF YOGA BELLOWS-TYPE BREATHING ON RT IN FEMALES EXCLUSIVELY. METHODS: THE SAMPLE CONSISTED OF 25 HEALTHY FEMALES, AGED BETWEEN 19 AND 32 YEARS (GROUP MEAN +/- STANDARD DEVIATION, 22.8 +/- 3.5 YEARS). ALL OF THEM HAD PRIOR MINIMUM EXPERIENCE OF YOGA INCLUDING YOGA BELLOWS-TYPE BREATHING OF 12 MONTHS. THE RT WAS ASSESSED IN EACH PARTICIPANT BEFORE AND AFTER THREE RANDOMIZED SESSIONS DIFFERED IN THE INTERVENTION GIVEN HELD ON THREE SEPARATE DAYS. THE SESSIONS WERE (I) YOGA BELLOWS-TYPE BREATHING OR BHASTRIKA PRANAYAMA(BHK), (II) BREATH AWARENESS (BAW), AND (III) SITTING QUIETLY (CTL) AS A CONTROL SESSION. THE DURATION OF THE INTERVENTION WAS 18 MIN, AND THE PARTICIPANTS WERE ASSESSED FOR RT BEFORE AND AFTER THE INTERVENTION. RESULTS: REPEATED MEASURES ANOVA, POST HOC TESTS WITH BONFERRONI ADJUSTED SHOWED THAT THE TIME TAKEN TO OBTAIN A CORRECT RESPONSE REDUCED SIGNIFICANTLY AFTER 18 MIN OF BAW (P < 0.05) AND CTL (P < 0.05). HOWEVER, NO CHANGES WERE SEEN IN THE RT AFTER BHK. CONCLUSIONS: THE RESULTS SUGGEST THAT DIFFERENT INTERVENTIONS MAY OPTIMIZE PERFORMANCE IN TASKS REQUIRING ATTENTION IN FEMALES COMPARED TO MALES. 2018 10 993 17 EFFECTS OF HEATED AND THERMONEUTRAL YOGA INTERVENTIONS ON ARTERIAL STIFFNESS IN MIDDLE-AGED ADULTS. THE STUDY INVESTIGATED THE EFFICACY OF 12 WEEKS OF HEATED AND THERMONEUTRAL BIKRAM YOGA IN REDUCING ARTERIAL STIFFNESS IN MIDDLE-AGED ADULTS. FIFTY-FOUR SEDENTARY ADULTS (AGES 40-60 YEARS) COMPLETED 12 WEEKS OF YOGA AT 40.5 DEGREES C (N = 21), YOGA AT 23 DEGREES C (N = 14) OR TIME CONTROL (N = 19). BRACHIAL-ANKLE PULSE WAVE VELOCITY (PWV) WAS NOT SIGNIFICANTLY ALTERED BY HOT OR THERMONEUTRAL YOGA INTERVENTIONS. 2018 11 884 28 EFFECT OF YOGA TRAINING ON ONE LEG STANDING AND FUNCTIONAL REACH TESTS IN OBESE INDIVIDUALS WITH POOR POSTURAL CONTROL. [PURPOSE] THE AIM OF THE PRESENT STUDY WAS TO INVESTIGATE THE EFFECT OF YOGA TRAINING ON STATIC AND DYNAMIC STANDING BALANCE IN OBESE INDIVIDUALS WITH POOR STANDING BALANCE. [SUBJECTS AND METHODS] SIXTEEN OBESE VOLUNTEERS WERE RANDOMLY ASSIGNED INTO YOGA AND CONTROL GROUPS. THE YOGA TRAINING PROGRAM WAS PERFORMED FOR 45 MINUTES PER DAY, 3 TIMES PER WEEK, FOR 4 WEEKS. STATIC AND DYNAMIC BALANCE WERE ASSESSED IN VOLUNTEERS WITH ONE LEG STANDING AND FUNCTIONAL REACH TESTS. OUTCOME MEASURES WERE TESTED BEFORE TRAINING AND AFTER A SINGLE WEEK OF TRAINING. TWO-WAY REPEATED MEASURE ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE WITH TUKEY'S HONESTLY SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE POST HOC STATISTICS WAS USED TO ANALYZE THE DATA. [RESULTS] OBESE INDIVIDUALS SHOWED SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASED STATIC STANDING BALANCE IN THE YOGA TRAINING GROUP, BUT THERE WAS NO SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENT OF STATIC OR DYNAMIC STANDING BALANCE IN THE CONTROL GROUP AFTER 4 WEEKS. IN THE YOGA GROUP, SIGNIFICANT INCREASES IN STATIC STANDING BALANCE WAS FOUND AFTER THE 2ND, 3RD, AND 4TH WEEKS. COMPARED WITH THE CONTROL GROUP, STATIC STANDING BALANCE IN THE YOGA GROUP WAS SIGNIFICANTLY DIFFERENT AFTER THE 2ND WEEK, AND DYNAMIC STANDING BALANCE WAS SIGNIFICANTLY DIFFERENT AFTER THE 4TH WEEK. [CONCLUSION] YOGA TRAINING WOULD BE BENEFICIAL FOR IMPROVING STANDING BALANCE IN OBESE INDIVIDUALS WITH POOR STANDING BALANCE. 2015 12 542 29 COMPUTERIZED COGNITIVE TRAINING (CCT) VERSUS YOGA IMPACT ON 12 MONTH POST INTERVENTION COGNITIVE OUTCOME IN INDIVIDUALS WITH MILD COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENT. THERE IS CURRENTLY LIMITED AND MIXED EVIDENCE FOR THE COGNITIVE BENEFITS OF COMPUTERIZED COGNITIVE TRAINING (CCT) AND YOGA IN PERSONS WITH MILD COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENT (PWMCI). THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS STUDY WAS TO INVESTIGATE THE BENEFIT OF COMPUTERIZED COGNITIVE TRAINING (CCT) VS. PHYSICAL (YOGA) INTERVENTION ON COGNITIVE ABILITIES. PARTICIPANTS IN THIS STUDY WERE PART OF THE LARGER MAYO CLINIC'S HEALTHY ACTION TO BENEFIT INDEPENDENCE AND THINKING (HABIT) PROGRAM COMPARATIVE EFFECTIVENESS TRIAL. THE HABIT PROGRAM IS DESIGNED FOR PWMCI AND THEIR CARE PARTNER AND CONSISTS OF FIVE BEHAVIORAL INTERVENTIONS: CCT, MEMORY SUPPORT SYSTEM-CALENDAR (MSS-CALENDAR), WELLNESS EDUCATION, SUPPORT GROUPS, AND YOGA. THE SUBTRACTIVE STUDY DESIGN RANDOMLY WITHHELD ONE OF THE INTERVENTIONS FOR A TOTAL OF FIVE STUDY ARMS. LONGITUDINAL MIXED-EFFECTS REGRESSION MODELS WERE USED TO INVESTIGATE THE HYPOTHESIS THAT CCT AND YOGA HAS A GREATER POSITIVE IMPACT ON PSYCHOMOTOR AND BASIC ATTENTION ABILITIES AT 12 MONTHS POST-INTERVENTION AS COMPARED TO THE OTHER HABIT INTERVENTIONS. FINDINGS SHOWED CCT HAD A POSITIVE IMPACT COMPARED TO YOGA ON THE COGSTATE PSYCHOMOTOR/ATTENTION COMPOSITE AT 12 MONTHS POST-INTERVENTION (ES = 0.54; UNADJUSTED P VALUE = 0.007, ADJUSTED P VALUE = 0.021). THE IMPACT OF YOGA OR COMBINING CCT WITH YOGA DID NOT SHOW STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENT. CONTINUED CCT PRACTICE AT HOME SHOWED FURTHER BENEFIT ON PSYCHOMOTOR/ATTENTION AT 12 MONTHS POST-INTERVENTION. THERE WAS NO SIGNIFICANT BENEFIT OF CCT OR YOGA ON COGSTATE LEARNING/WORKING MEMORY COMPOSITE. 2021 13 1986 30 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 14 1975 30 SINGLE SESSION OF INTEGRATED "SILVER YOGA" PROGRAM IMPROVES CARDIOVASCULAR PARAMETERS IN SENIOR CITIZENS. AIM AND OBJECTIVE: THIS PILOT STUDY WAS CARRIED OUT TO DETERMINE CARDIOVASCULAR EFFECTS OF A SINGLE SESSION OF AN INTEGRATED "SILVER YOGA" PROGRAM IN SENIOR CITIZENS OF SERENE PELICAN TOWNSHIP, PONDICHERRY. MATERIALS AND METHODS: HEART RATE (HR) AND BLOOD PRESSURE (BP) MEASUREMENTS WERE RECORDED IN 124 SENIOR CITIZENS (75 FEMALE, 49 MALE) WITH MEAN AGE OF 67.19 +/- 10.61 YEAR WHO ATTENDED AN INTEGRATED "SILVER YOGA" PROGRAM AT CENTRE FOR YOGA THERAPY, EDUCATION AND RESEARCH FROM AUGUST TO OCTOBER 2014. PARTICIPANTS PRACTICED THE PROTOCOL THAT WAS SPECIALLY DESIGNED FOR SENIOR CITIZENS, KEEPING IN MIND THEIR HEALTH STATUS AND PHYSICAL LIMITATIONS. THIS INCLUDED SIMPLE WARM-UPS (JATHIS), BREATH BODY MOVEMENT COORDINATION PRACTICES (KRIYAS), STATIC STRETCHING POSTURES (ASANAS), BREATHING TECHNIQUES (PRANAYAMAS), RELAXATION AND SIMPLE CHANTING. NON-INVASIVE BP APPARATUS WAS USED TO RECORD THE HR, SYSTOLIC (SP) AND DIASTOLIC PRESSURE (DP) BEFORE AND AFTER THE 60 MIN SESSIONS. PULSE PRESSURE (PP), MEAN PRESSURE (MP), RATE-PRESSURE PRODUCT (RPP) AND DOUBLE PRODUCT (DOP) INDICES WERE DERIVED FROM THE RECORDED PARAMETERS. STUDENT'S PAIRED T-TEST WAS USED TO COMPARE DATA THAT PASSED NORMALITY TESTING BY KOLMOGOROV-SMIRNOV TEST AND WILCOXON MATCHED-PAIRS SIGNED-RANKS TEST FOR THOSE THAT DID NOT. P < 0.05 WERE ACCEPTED AS INDICATING SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES FOR PRE-POST COMPARISONS. RESULTS: ALL PARAMETERS WITNESSED A REDUCTION FOLLOWING THE SINGLE SESSION. THIS WAS STATISTICALLY MORE SIGNIFICANT (P < 0. 0001) IN HR, RPP AND DOP WHILE IT WAS ALSO SIGNIFICANT (P < 0.01 AND P < 0.05) IN SP AND PP, RESPECTIVELY. THE DECREASE IN MP JUST MISSED SIGNIFICANCE (P = 0.054) WHILE IT WAS NOT SIGNIFICANT IN DP. CONCLUSION: THERE IS A HEALTHY REDUCTION IN HR, BP AND DERIVED CARDIOVASCULAR INDICES FOLLOWING A SINGLE YOGA SESSION IN GERIATRIC SUBJECTS. THESE CHANGES MAY BE ATTRIBUTED TO ENHANCED HARMONY OF CARDIAC AUTONOMIC FUNCTION AS A RESULT OF COORDINATED BREATH-BODY WORK AND MIND-BODY RELAXATION DUE TO AN INTEGRATED "SILVER YOGA" PROGRAM. 2015 15 896 35 EFFECT OF YOGASANA INTERVENTION ON STANDING BALANCE PERFORMANCE AMONG PEOPLE WITH DIABETIC PERIPHERAL NEUROPATHY: A PILOT STUDY. BACKGROUND: DIABETIC PERIPHERAL NEUROPATHY (DPN) IS KNOWN TO CAUSE IMPAIRED BALANCE AND EVENTUALLY INCREASED RISK OF FALL. YOGASANAS CHARACTERIZED BY SLOW, GENTLE TRANSITIONS INTO POSTURES WITH A VARYING BASE OF SUPPORT AND FOCUS ON BODY AWARENESS DURING MOVEMENT HOLD POTENTIAL FOR TRAINING BALANCE CONTROL. THEREFORE, THE CURRENT STUDY AIMED TO EVALUATE EFFECT OF STRUCTURED YOGASANA INTERVENTION COMPARED TO CONVENTIONAL BALANCE EXERCISE ON STATIC AND DYNAMIC BALANCE PERFORMANCE AMONG PEOPLE WITH DIABETIC NEUROPATHY. METHODS: : THIRTY-FIVE PEOPLE WITH DPN AGED 42-70 YEARS WERE RECRUITED TO YOGASANA INTERVENTION GROUP (N = 11), CONVENTIONAL BALANCE EXERCISES GROUP (N = 10), AND CONTROL GROUP (N = 14) FOLLOWING ETHICAL APPROVAL. ALL PARTICIPANTS WERE EVALUATED AT BASELINE AND POST 12-WEEK INTERVENTION ON STAR EXCURSION BALANCE TEST, SINGLE-LIMB STANCE TEST, AND CENTER OF PRESSURE (COP) EXCURSION FOR BALANCE PERFORMANCE, MODIFIED FALL EFFICACY SCALE FOR FEAR OF FALLS AND LOWER EXTREMITY STRENGTH USING CHAIR STAND TEST AND STEP-UP TEST. RESULTS: BALANCE PERFORMANCE (STATIC AND DYNAMIC MEASURED BY STAR EXCURSION BALANCE TEST, SINGLE-LIMB STANCE TEST, AND COP EXCURSION, LOWER EXTREMITY STRENGTH (USING CHAIR STAND TEST AND STEP-UP TEST) DEMONSTRATED IMPROVEMENT AND FEAR OF FALL REDUCED AMONG YOGASANA INTERVENTION GROUP (P = 0.05) AND CONVENTIONAL BALANCE EXERCISES GROUP (P = 0.05) POST 12-WEEK INTERVENTION. COP EXCURSION INCREASED IN THE CONTROL GROUP INDICATING DETERIORATION IN BALANCE PERFORMANCE AFTER 12 WEEKS (P = 0.05). POST HOC COMPARISON REVEALED THAT YOGASANA INTERVENTION WAS MARGINALLY MORE EFFECTIVE IN IMPROVING STATIC AND DYNAMIC BALANCE PERFORMANCE COMPARED TO CONVENTIONAL BALANCE EXERCISES IN ALL VARIABLES OF STANDING BALANCE PERFORMANCE (P = 0.025). CONCLUSION: YOGASANA AND CONVENTIONAL BALANCE EXERCISES WERE EFFECTIVE IN IMPROVING STATIC AND DYNAMIC BALANCE PERFORMANCE, LOWER EXTREMITY MUSCLE STRENGTH, AND REDUCING FEAR OF FALL AMONG PEOPLE WITH DPN. YOGASANA INTERVENTION DEMONSTRATED MARGINALLY GREATER IMPROVEMENT IN STATIC AND DYNAMIC BALANCE PERFORMANCE AND LOWER EXTREMITY MUSCLE STRENGTH COMPARED TO CONVENTIONAL EXERCISE. 2021 16 693 25 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 17 1406 30 IMPACT OF YOGA ON HAEMODYNAMIC FUNCTION IN HEALTHY MEDICAL STUDENTS. OBJECTIVES: YOGA IMPROVES CARDIOVASCULAR HEALTH IN BOTH HEALTHY INDIVIDUALS AND THOSE WITH DIAGNOSED HEART DISEASE. THIS STUDY COMPARES CHANGES IN SOME CARDIOVASCULAR PARAMETERS BEFORE AND AFTER THE PRACTICE OF YOGA IN HEALTHY MEDICAL STUDENTS. METHODS: SIXTY-FOUR HEALTHY MEDICAL STUDENTS (57 FEMALES AND 7 MALES), MEAN AGE 21.3 +/- 2.6 YEARS, ATTENDING A SPECIAL STUDY MODULE 'ROLE OF DHYANA YOGA IN STRESS MANAGEMENT', PARTICIPATED IN THIS STUDY. SYSTOLIC (SYS) AND DIASTOLIC (DIA) BLOOD PRESSURE, HEART RATE (HR), STROKE VOLUME (SV), CARDIAC OUTPUT (CO), TOTAL PERIPHERAL RESISTANCE (TPR), INTERBEAT INTERVAL (IBI), LEFT VENTRICULAR EJECTION TIME (LVET), ARTERIAL COMPLIANCE (CWK) AND ASCENDING AORTA IMPEDANCE (ZAO) WERE MEASURED BEFORE AND AFTER SIX WEEKS OF YOGIC EXERCISES. VARIOUS EXERCISES INCLUDED ASANAS (POSTURES), PRANAYAMA (BREATHING), AND DHYANA (MEDITATION). DATA WERE ANALYZED USING STATA FOR WINDOWS. RESULTS: TWO-TAILED PAIRED T-TEST REVEALED THAT PRACTICE OFYOGA CAUSED SIGNIFICANT INCREASES IN HR (P < 0.05), SV (P < 0.01), CO (P < 0.001) AND CWK (P < 0.01) AND DECREASES IN TPR (P < 0.001), IBI (P < 0.05) AND ZAO (P < 0.001) AFTER PRACTISING YOGA FOR 6 WEEKS AS COMPARED TO BEFORE YOGA PRACTICE. NO SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES WERE, HOWEVER OBSERVED IN SYS, DIA, MEAN ARTERIAL BLOOD PRESSURE (MAP) AND LVET CONCLUSIONS: PRACTICE OF YOGA EVEN FOR A SHORT PERIOD SHOWED ABILITY TO IMPROVE MOST OF THE CARDIOVASCULAR FUNCTIONS. REGULAR PRACTICE OF YOGA FOR A LONGER PERIOD MAY FURTHER IMPROVE THESE FUNCTIONS AND POSSIBLY RESULT IN IMPROVED MANAGEMENT OF THEIR DAILY STRESS. 2011 18 1144 28 ELECTROMYOGRAPHIC PATTERN DURING GAIT INITIATION DIFFERENTIATES YOGA PRACTITIONERS AMONG PHYSICALLY ACTIVE OLDER SUBJECTS. DURING GAIT INITIATION, POSTURAL ADJUSTMENTS ARE NEEDED TO DEAL WITH BALANCE AND MOVEMENT. WITH AGING, GAIT INITIATION CHANGES AND REFLECTS FUNCTIONAL DEGRADATION OF FRAILTY INDIVIDUALS. HOWEVER, PHYSICAL ACTIVITIES HAVE DEMONSTRATED BENEFICIAL EFFECTS OF DAILY MOTOR TASKS. THE AIM OF OUR STUDY WAS TO COMPARE CENTER OF PRESSURE (COP) DISPLACEMENT AND ANKLE MUSCLE CO-ACTIVATION DURING GAIT INITIATION IN TWO PHYSICALLY ACTIVE GROUPS: A GROUP OF WALKERS (N = 12; MEAN AGE +/- SD 72.6 +/- 3.2 YEARS) AND A YOGA GROUP (N = 11; 71.5 +/- 3.8 YEARS). COP TRAJECTORY AND ELECTROMYOGRAPHY OF LEG MUSCLES WERE RECORDED SIMULTANEOUSLY DURING FIVE SUCCESSIVE TRIALS OF GAIT INITIATION. OUR MAIN FINDING WAS THAT YOGA PRACTITIONERS HAD SLOWER COP DISPLACEMENTS (P < 0.01) AND LOWER LEG MUSCLES % OF COACTIVATION (P < 0.01) IN COMPARISON WITH WALKERS. THESE PARAMETERS WHICH CHARACTERIZED GAIT INITIATION CONTROL WERE CORRELATED (R = 0.76; P < 0.01). OUR RESULTS EMPHASIZE THAT LENGTHY ANKLE MUSCLE CO-ACTIVATION AND COP PATH IN GAIT INITIATION DIFFERENTIATE YOGA PRACTITIONERS AMONG PHYSICALLY ACTIVE SUBJECTS. 2017 19 883 26 EFFECT OF YOGA TRAINING ON MAZE LEARNING. THE PERFORMANCE IN A MAZE LEARNING TASK WAS ASSESSED IN ADULTS OF EITHER SEX (N = 31) BEFORE AND AFTER 30 DAYS OF YOGA TRAINING AND IN AN AGE AND GENDER MATCHED CONTROL GROUP OF SUBJECTS WHO DID NOT RECEIVE TRAINING IN YOGA. SUBJECTS WERE BLIND FOLDED AND USED THE DOMINANT HAND TO TRACE THE PATH IN A WOODEN PENCIL MAZE. AT EACH ASSESSMENT, SUBJECTS WERE GIVEN 5 TRIALS, WITHOUT A GAP BETWEEN THEM. PERFORMANCE WAS BASED ON THE TIME TAKEN TO COMPLETE THE MAZE AND THE NUMBER OF BLIND ALLEYS TAKEN. THE TIME AND ERROR SCORES OF TRIAL 1 WERE SIGNIFICANTLY LESS AFTER YOGA (TWO-FACTOR ANOVA, TUKEY TEST). REPEATING TRIALS SIGNIFICANTLY DECREASED TIME SCORES AT TRIAL 5 VERSUS TRIAL 1, FOR BOTH GROUPS ON DAY 1 AND FOR THE CONTROL GROUP ON DAY 30. HENCE THE YOGA GROUP SHOWED IMPROVED PERFORMANCE IN MAZE TRACING AT RETEST 30 DAYS LATER, WHICH MAY BE RELATED TO THIS GROUP BEING FASTER LEARNERS AND ALSO THE EFFECT OF YOGA ITSELF. YOGA TRAINING DID NOT INFLUENCE MAZE LEARNING, BASED ON THE PERFORMANCE IN 5 REPEAT TRIALS. 2000 20 832 31 EFFECT OF YOGA ON MUSCULOSKELETAL DISCOMFORT AND MOTOR FUNCTIONS IN PROFESSIONAL COMPUTER USERS. THE SELF-RATED MUSCULOSKELETAL DISCOMFORT, HAND GRIP STRENGTH, TAPPING SPEED, AND LOW BACK AND HAMSTRING FLEXIBILITY (BASED ON A SIT AND REACH TASK) WERE ASSESSED IN 291 PROFESSIONAL COMPUTER USERS. THEY WERE THEN RANDOMIZED AS YOGA (YG; N=146) AND WAIT-LIST CONTROL (WL; N=145) GROUPS. FOLLOW-UP ASSESSMENTS FOR BOTH GROUPS WERE AFTER 60 DAYS DURING WHICH THE YG GROUP PRACTICED YOGA FOR 60 MINUTES DAILY, FOR 5 DAYS IN A WEEK. THE WL GROUP SPENT THE SAME TIME IN THEIR USUAL RECREATIONAL ACTIVITIES. AT THE END OF 60 DAYS, THE YG GROUP (N=62) SHOWED A SIGNIFICANT DECREASE IN THE FREQUENCY, INTENSITY AND DEGREE OF INTERFERENCE DUE TO MUSCULOSKELETAL DISCOMFORT, AN INCREASE IN BILATERAL HAND GRIP STRENGTH, THE RIGHT HAND TAPPING SPEED, AND LOW BACK AND HAMSTRING FLEXIBILITY (REPEATED MEASURES ANOVA AND POST HOC ANALYSIS WITH BONFERRONI ADJUSTMENT). IN CONTRAST, THE WL GROUP (N=56) SHOWED AN INCREASE IN MUSCULOSKELETAL DISCOMFORT AND A DECREASE IN LEFT HAND TAPPING SPEED. THE RESULTS SUGGEST THAT YOGA PRACTICE IS A USEFUL ADDITION TO THE ROUTINE OF PROFESSIONAL COMPUTER USERS. 2009