1 357 130 ASSOCIATION BETWEEN SUDARSHAN KRIYA YOGA AND HEALTHY LIFESTYLE PRACTICES AMONG WORKING ADULTS: A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY FROM SINGAPORE. OBJECTIVES: THERE IS A PAUCITY OF RESEARCH ON THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN YOGIC BREATHING AND HEALTHY LIFESTYLE FACTORS IN WORKING ADULTS. ALSO, THERE IS VERY LITTLE INFORMATION ABOUT THE FREQUENCY OF YOGIC BREATHING PRACTICE AND ITS BENEFITS. THE AUTHORS INVESTIGATED THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SUDARSHAN KRIYA YOGA (SKY) FREQUENCY AND THE LIKELIHOOD OF LEADING A HEALTHIER LIFESTYLE AMONG PRACTITIONERS AND NONPRACTITIONERS. DESIGN: CROSS-SECTIONAL INVESTIGATION ON NON-SKY AND SKY PRACTITIONERS, SKY WAS CATEGORIZED INTO NON-, MONTHLY, WEEKLY, AND DAILY PRACTITIONERS. CONFOUNDING VARIABLES INCLUDED AGE, GENDER, ETHNICITY, MARITAL STATUS, AND EDUCATION LEVEL. A MULTIVARIATE LOGISTIC REGRESSION MODEL WAS USED TO COMPARE PRACTICE FREQUENCIES WITH THE ODDS OF HAVING A HEALTHIER LIFESTYLE. SETTINGS: COMMUNITY CENTERS, COMMUNITY EVENTS, WORKPLACES, AND UNIVERSITIES THROUGHOUT SINGAPORE SUBJECTS: OF THE 531 WORKING ADULTS (54.8% FEMALE), 50.1% HAD A HEALTHIER LIFESTYLE >/= 4 HEALTHY LIFESTYLE FACTORS). OUTCOME MEASURE: HAVING A HEALTHIER LIFESTYLE WAS DEFINED AS HAVING >/= 4 HEALTHY LIFESTYLE FACTORS OUT OF SEVEN (SMOKING, ALCOHOL, DIET, EXERCISE, SLEEP, STRESS, AND WEIGHT). RESULTS: MULTIVARIATE ANALYSIS DEMONSTRATED THAT THOSE WHO PRACTICED SKY >/= 4 DAYS/WEEK HAD SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER ODDS OF HAVING A HEALTHIER LIFESTYLE (ODDS RATIO = 3.62; 95% CONFIDENCE INTERVAL = 2.10-6.23). THE P FOR TREND ANALYSIS DEMONSTRATED THAT AS THE FREQUENCY OF PRACTICE INCREASED THE LIKELIHOOD OF HAVING A HEALTHIER LIFESTYLE ALSO INCREASED ( P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: THE PRACTICE OF YOGIC BREATHING MAY PROMOTE A HEALTHIER LIFESTYLE IN WORKING ADULTS. FURTHER EXPERIMENTAL AND LONGITUDINAL INVESTIGATIONS ARE WARRANTED. 2021 2 2055 59 THE ASSOCIATION OF SUDARSHAN KRIYA YOGA WITH HAPPINESS: A CASE-CONTROL OBSERVATIONAL STUDY FROM SINGAPORE. HAPPINESS IS A COMPLEX SUBJECTIVE EXPERIENCE THAT IS ESSENTIAL TO SOCIETAL PROGRESS. THIS STUDY INVESTIGATED THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN SUDARSHAN KRIYA YOGA (SKY) AND SUBJECTIVE HAPPINESS IN SINGAPORE. SUBJECTIVE HAPPINESS DATA WERE COLLECTED FROM A CONVENIENCE SAMPLE (N = 733) COMPRISED OF 2 GROUPS: SKY (N = 385) AND NON-SKY (N = 348) PRACTITIONERS. SKY WAS CATEGORIZED INTO NON-, MONTHLY, WEEKLY, AND DAILY PRACTITIONERS AND HAPPINESS WAS CATEGORIZED INTO LOWER, MIDDLE AND HIGHER TERTILE GROUPS. CONFOUNDING VARIABLES INCLUDED AGE, GENDER, ETHNICITY, MARITAL STATUS, EDUCATION LEVEL, BODY MASS INDEX (BMI), SMOKING STATUS, ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION AND SELF-REPORTED HEALTH. DAILY SKY PARTICIPATION WAS POSITIVELY ASSOCIATED WITH A 2-FOLD HIGHER LIKELIHOOD OF BEING HAPPIER IN A MULTIVARIATE REGRESSION ANALYSIS. THE TREND ANALYSIS SHOWED THAT AS SKY FREQUENCY INCREASES, THE ODDS OF BEING HAPPIER INCREASES. THESE FINDINGS HELP GENERATE THE HYPOTHESIS THAT YOGIC BREATHING MAY PROMOTE HAPPINESS. FURTHER EXPERIMENTAL AND PROSPECTIVE INVESTIGATIONS ARE WARRANTED. 2021 3 1466 28 INJURY IN YOGA ASANA PRACTICE: ASSESSMENT OF THE RISKS. BACKGROUND: THE RISK OF INJURY FROM MODERN YOGA ASANA PRACTICE IS POORLY CHARACTERIZED IN THE SCIENTIFIC LITERATURE, BUT ANECDOTAL REPORTS IN THE LAY LITERATURE AND PRESS HAVE POSED QUESTIONS ABOUT THE POSSIBILITY OF FREQUENT, SEVERE INJURIES. DESIGN: WE PERFORMED A CROSS-SECTIONAL SURVEY OF YOGA ASANA PARTICIPANTS ASSESSING THEIR EXPERIENCE WITH YOGA-RELATED INJURY, USING A VOLUNTARY CONVENIENCE SAMPLE. RESULTS: A TOTAL OF 2620 PARTICIPANTS RESPONDED TO OUR SURVEY. SEVENTY-NINE PERCENT WERE BETWEEN AGES 31 AND 60 AND 84% WERE FEMALE. THE MAJORITY OF RESPONDENTS LIVED IN NORTH AMERICA OR EUROPE. FORTY-FIVE PERCENT OF PARTICIPANTS REPORTED EXPERIENCING NO INJURIES DURING THE TIME THEY HAD BEEN PRACTICING YOGA. OF THOSE WHO DID EXPERIENCE AN INJURY FROM ASANA PRACTICE, 28% WERE MILD (E.G., SPRAINS OR NONSPECIFIC PAINS NOT REQUIRING A MEDICAL PROCEDURE, WITH SYMPTOMS LASTING LESS THAN 6 MONTHS) AND 63% WERE MODERATE (E.G., SPRAINS OR NONSPECIFIC PAINS NOT REQUIRING A MEDICAL PROCEDURE, WITH SYMPTOMS LASTING FROM 6 MONTHS TO 1 YEAR). ONLY 9% OF THOSE REPORTING INJURIES (4% OF THE TOTAL SAMPLE) HAD A SEVERE INJURY. THE STRONGEST PREDICTORS FOR INCREASED PROBABILITY OF REPORTING AN INJURY OVER A LIFETIME OF YOGA PRACTICE WERE GREATER NUMBER OF YEARS OF PRACTICE (P<.0001) AND TEACHING YOGA (P=.0177). OTHER ASPECTS OF PARTICIPANT DEMOGRAPHICS OR YOGA PRACTICE HABITS WERE NOT RELATED TO LIKELIHOOD OF REPORTING A YOGA-RELATED INJURY. CONCLUSIONS: WE FOUND THE NUMBER OF INJURIES REPORTED BY YOGA PARTICIPANTS PER YEARS OF PRACTICE EXPOSURE TO BE LOW AND THE OCCURRENCE OF SERIOUS INJURIES IN YOGA TO BE INFREQUENT COMPARED TO OTHER PHYSICAL ACTIVITIES, SUGGESTING THAT YOGA IS NOT A HIGH-RISK PHYSICAL ACTIVITY. MORE WORK IS NEEDED TO CLARIFY THE CAUSAL RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN THE YOGA PARTICIPANT CHARACTERISTICS, THE ASANA PRACTICE STYLE, AND THE RISK OF SIGNIFICANT INJURY. 2019 4 1025 31 EFFECTS OF YOGA ASANA PRACTICE APPROACH ON TYPES OF BENEFITS EXPERIENCED. CONTEXT: MODERN SCIENCE AND THE CLASSIC TEXT ON HATHA YOGA, HATHA YOGA PRADIPIKA, REPORT PHYSICAL, MENTAL, EMOTIONAL, SPIRITUAL, AND RELATIONAL BENEFITS OF YOGA PRACTICE. WHILE ALL HAVE SPECIFIC SUGGESTIONS FOR HOW TO PRACTICE, LITTLE RESEARCH HAS BEEN DONE TO ASCERTAIN WHETHER SPECIFIC PRACTICE APPROACHES IMPACT THE BENEFITS EXPERIENCED BY PRACTITIONERS. AIMS: OUR AIM WAS TO RELATE THE EXPERIENCE LEVEL OF THE PRACTITIONER, THE CONTEXT OF PRACTICE APPROACHES (TIME OF DAY, DURATION OF PRACTICE, FREQUENCY OF PRACTICE, ETC.), AND EXPERIENCE LEVEL OF THE TEACHER, TO THE LIKELIHOOD OF REPORTING PARTICULAR BENEFITS OF YOGA. METHODS: WE CONDUCTED A CROSS-SECTIONAL DESCRIPTIVE SURVEY OF YOGA PRACTITIONERS ACROSS LEVELS AND STYLES OF PRACTICE. DATA WERE COMPILED FROM A LARGE VOLUNTARY CONVENIENCE SAMPLE (N = 2620) REGARDING RESPONDENTS' METHODS OF PRACTICE, YOGA EXPERIENCE LEVELS, AND BENEFITS EXPERIENCED. MULTIPLE LOGISTIC REGRESSION WAS USED TO IDENTIFY APPROACHES TO YOGA PRACTICE THAT POSITIVELY PREDICTED PARTICULAR BENEFITS. RESULTS: FREQUENCY OF PRACTICE, EITHER WITH OR WITHOUT A TEACHER, WAS A POSITIVE PREDICTOR OF REPORTING NEARLY ALL BENEFITS OF YOGA, WITH AN INCREASED LIKELIHOOD OF EXPERIENCING MOST BENEFITS WHEN THE PRACTITIONER DID YOGA FIVE OR MORE DAYS PER WEEK. OTHER ASPECTS OF PRACTICE APPROACH, EXPERIENCE LEVEL OF THE PRACTITIONER, AND THE EXPERIENCE LEVEL OF THE TEACHER, HAD LESS EFFECT ON THE BENEFITS REPORTED. CONCLUSIONS: PRACTICE FREQUENCY OF AT LEAST 5 DAYS PER WEEK WILL PROVIDE PRACTITIONERS WITH THE GREATEST AMOUNT OF BENEFIT ACROSS ALL CATEGORIES OF BENEFITS. OTHER PRACTICE APPROACHES CAN VARY MORE WIDELY WITHOUT HAVING A MARKED IMPACT ON MOST BENEFITS EXPERIENCED. 2019 5 2455 41 YOGA AS A COMPLEMENTARY THERAPY FOR SMOKING CESSATION: RESULTS FROM BREATHEASY, A RANDOMIZED CLINICAL TRIAL. INTRODUCTION: THERE IS EVIDENCE THAT YOGA MAY BE HELPFUL AS AN AID FOR SMOKING CESSATION. YOGA HAS BEEN SHOWN TO REDUCE STRESS AND NEGATIVE MOOD AND MAY AID WEIGHT CONTROL, ALL OF WHICH HAVE PROVEN TO BE BARRIERS TO QUITTING SMOKING. THIS STUDY IS THE FIRST RIGOROUS, RANDOMIZED CLINICAL TRIAL OF YOGA AS A COMPLEMENTARY THERAPY FOR SMOKERS ATTEMPTING TO QUIT. METHODS: ADULT SMOKERS (N = 227; 55.5% WOMEN) WERE RANDOMIZED TO AN 8-WEEK PROGRAM OF COGNITIVE-BEHAVIORAL SMOKING CESSATION AND EITHER TWICE-WEEKLY IYENGAR YOGA OR GENERAL WELLNESS CLASSES (CONTROL). ASSESSMENTS INCLUDED COTININE-VERIFIED 7-DAY POINT PREVALENCE ABSTINENCE AT WEEK 8, 3-MONTH, AND 6-MONTH FOLLOW-UPS. RESULTS: AT BASELINE, PARTICIPANTS' MEAN AGE WAS 46.2 (SD = 12.0) YEARS AND SMOKING RATE WAS 17.3 (SD = 7.6) CIGARETTES/DAY. LONGITUDINALLY ADJUSTED MODELS OF ABSTINENCE OUTCOMES DEMONSTRATED SIGNIFICANT GROUP EFFECTS FAVORING YOGA. YOGA PARTICIPANTS HAD 37% GREATER ODDS OF ACHIEVING ABSTINENCE THAN WELLNESS PARTICIPANTS AT THE END OF TREATMENT (EOT). LOWER BASELINE SMOKING RATES (