1 749 96 EFFECT OF SAHAJA YOGA PRACTICE ON SEIZURE CONTROL & EEG CHANGES IN PATIENTS OF EPILEPSY. THE EFFECT OF SAHAJA YOGA MEDITATION ON SEIZURE CONTROL AND ELECTROENCEPHALOGRAPHIC ALTERATIONS WAS ASSESSED IN 32 PATIENTS OF IDIOPATHIC EPILEPSY. THE SUBJECTS WERE RANDOMLY DIVIDED INTO 3 GROUPS. GROUP I (N = 10) PRACTISED SAHAJA YOGA FOR 6 MONTHS, GROUP II (N = 10) PRACTISED EXERCISES MIMICKING SAHAJA YOGA FOR 6 MONTHS AND GROUP III (N = 12) SERVED AS THE EPILEPTIC CONTROL GROUP. GROUP I SUBJECTS REPORTED A 62 PER CENT DECREASE IN SEIZURE FREQUENCY AT 3 MONTHS AND A FURTHER DECREASE OF 86 PER CENT AT 6 MONTHS OF INTERVENTION. POWER SPECTRAL ANALYSIS OF EEG SHOWED A SHIFT IN FREQUENCY FROM 0-8 HZ TOWARDS 8-20 HZ. THE RATIOS OF EEG POWERS IN DELTA (D), THETA (T), ALPHA (A) AND BETA (B) BANDS I.E., A/D, A/D + T, A/T AND A + B/D + T WERE INCREASED. PER CENT D POWER DECREASED AND PER CENT A INCREASED. NO SIGNIFICANT CHANGES IN ANY OF THE PARAMETERS WERE FOUND IN GROUPS II AND III, INDICATING THAT SAHAJA YOGA PRACTICE BRINGS ABOUT SEIZURE REDUCTION AND EEG CHANGES. SAHAJA YOGA COULD PROVE TO BE BENEFICIAL IN THE MANAGEMENT OF PATIENTS OF EPILEPSY. 1996 2 747 40 EFFECT OF SAHAJA YOGA MEDITATION ON AUDITORY EVOKED POTENTIALS (AEP) AND VISUAL CONTRAST SENSITIVITY (VCS) IN EPILEPTICS. THE EFFECT OF SAHAJA YOGA MEDITATION ON 32 PATIENTS WITH PRIMARY IDIOPATHIC EPILEPSY ON REGULAR AND MAINTAINED ANTIEPILEPTIC MEDICATION WAS STUDIED. THE PATIENTS WERE RANDOMLY DIVIDED INTO 3 GROUPS: GROUP I PRACTICED SAHAJA YOGA MEDITATION TWICE DAILY FOR 6 MONTHS UNDER PROPER GUIDANCE; GROUP II PRACTICED POSTURAL EXERCISES MIMICKING THE MEDITATION FOR THE SAME DURATION; AND GROUP III WAS THE CONTROL GROUP. VISUAL CONTRAST SENSITIVITY (VCS), AUDITORY EVOKED POTENTIALS (AEP), BRAINSTEM AUDITORY EVOKED POTENTIALS (BAEP), AND MID LATENCY RESPONSES (MLR) WERE RECORDED INITIALLY (0 MONTH) AND AT 3 AND 6 MONTHS FOR EACH GROUP. THERE WAS A SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENT IN VCS FOLLOWING MEDITATION PRACTICE IN GROUP I PARTICIPANTS. NA, THE FIRST PROMINENT NEGATIVE PEAK OF MLR AND PA, THE POSITIVE PEAK FOLLOWING NA DID NOT REGISTER CHANGES IN LATENCY. THE NA-PA AMPLITUDE OF MLR ALSO SHOWED A SIGNIFICANT INCREASE. THERE WERE NO SIGNIFICANT CHANGES IN THE ABSOLUTE AND INTERPEAK LATENCIES OF BAEP. THE REDUCED LEVEL OF STRESS FOLLOWING MEDITATION PRACTICE MAY MAKE PATIENTS MORE RESPONSIVE TO SPECIFIC STIMULI. SAHAJA YOGA MEDITATION APPEARS TO BRING ABOUT CHANGES IN SOME OF THE ELECTROPHYSIOLOGICAL RESPONSES STUDIED IN EPILEPTIC PATIENTS. 2000 3 750 43 EFFECT OF SAHAJA YOGA PRACTICE ON STRESS MANAGEMENT IN PATIENTS OF EPILEPSY. AN ATTEMPT WAS MADE TO EVALUATE THE EFFECT OF SAHAJA YOGA MEDITATION IN STRESS MANAGEMENT IN PATIENTS OF EPILEPSY. THE STUDY WAS CARRIED OUT ON 32 PATIENTS OF EPILEPSY WHO WERE RENDOMLY DIVIDED INTO 3 GROUPS: GROUP I SUBJECTS PRACTISED SAHAJA YOGA MEDITATION FOR 6 MONTHS, GROUP II SUBJECTS PRACTISED POSTURAL EXERCISES MIMICKING SAHAJA YOGA AND GROUP III SERVED AS THE EPILEPTIC CONTROL GROUP. GALVANIC SKIN RESISTANCE (GSR), BLOOD LACTATE AND URINARY VINYL MANDELIC ACID (U-VMA) WERE RECORDED AT 0, 3 AND 6 MONTHS. THERE WERE SIGNIFICANT CHANGES AT 3 & 6 MONTHS AS COMPARED TO 0 MONTH VALUES IN GSR, BLOOD LACTATE AND U-VMA LEVELS IN GROUP I SUBJECTS, BUT NOT IN GROUP II AND GROUP III SUBJECTS. THE RESULTS INDICATE THAT REDUCTION IN STRESS FOLLOWING SAHAJA YOGA PRACTICE MAY BE RESPONSIBLE FOR CLINICAL IMPROVEMENT WHICH HAD BEEN EARLIER REPORTED IN PATIENTS WHO PRACTISED SAHAJA YOGA. 1995 4 2571 46 YOGA FOR EPILEPSY. BACKGROUND: THIS IS AN UPDATED VERSION OF THE ORIGINAL COCHRANE REVIEW PUBLISHED IN THE COCHRANE LIBRARY, ISSUE 1, 2002.YOGA MAY INDUCE RELAXATION AND STRESS REDUCTION, AND INFLUENCE THE ELECTROENCEPHALOGRAM AND THE AUTONOMIC NERVOUS SYSTEM, THEREBY CONTROLLING SEIZURES. YOGA WOULD BE AN ATTRACTIVE THERAPEUTIC OPTION FOR EPILEPSY IF PROVED EFFECTIVE. OBJECTIVES: TO ASSESS WHETHER PEOPLE WITH EPILEPSY TREATED WITH YOGA:(A) HAVE A GREATER PROBABILITY OF BECOMING SEIZURE FREE;(B) HAVE A SIGNIFICANT REDUCTION IN THE FREQUENCY OR DURATION OF SEIZURES, OR BOTH; AND(C) HAVE A BETTER QUALITY OF LIFE. SEARCH METHODS: WE SEARCHED THE COCHRANE EPILEPSY GROUP SPECIALIZED REGISTER (26 MARCH 2015), THE COCHRANE CENTRAL REGISTER OF CONTROLLED TRIALS (CENTRAL, THE COCHRANE LIBRARY, 26 MARCH 2015), MEDLINE (OVID, 1946 TO 26 MARCH 2015), SCOPUS (1823 TO 9 JANUARY 2014), CLINICALTRIALS.GOV (26 MARCH 2015), THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION (WHO) INTERNATIONAL CLINICAL TRIALS REGISTRY PLATFORM ICTRP (26 MARCH 2015), AND ALSO REGISTRIES OF THE YOGA BIOMEDICAL TRUST AND THE RESEARCH COUNCIL FOR COMPLEMENTARY MEDICINE. IN ADDITION, WE SEARCHED THE REFERENCES OF ALL THE IDENTIFIED STUDIES. NO LANGUAGE RESTRICTIONS WERE IMPOSED. SELECTION CRITERIA: THE FOLLOWING STUDY DESIGNS WERE ELIGIBLE FOR INCLUSION: RANDOMISED CONTROLLED TRIALS (RCT) OF TREATMENT OF EPILEPSY WITH YOGA. ELIGIBLE PARTICIPANTS WERE ADULTS WITH UNCONTROLLED EPILEPSY COMPARING YOGA WITH NO TREATMENT OR DIFFERENT BEHAVIOURAL TREATMENTS. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: THREE REVIEW AUTHORS INDEPENDENTLY SELECTED TRIALS FOR INCLUSION AND EXTRACTED DATA. THE FOLLOWING OUTCOMES WERE ASSESSED: (A) PERCENTAGE OF PEOPLE RENDERED SEIZURE FREE; (B) SEIZURE FREQUENCY AND DURATION; (C) QUALITY OF LIFE. ANALYSES WERE ON AN INTENTION-TO-TREAT BASIS. ODDS RATIO (OR) WITH 95% CONFIDENCE INTERVALS (95% CL) WERE ESTIMATED FOR THE OUTCOMES. MAIN RESULTS: TWO UNBLINDED TRIALS RECRUITED A TOTAL OF 50 PEOPLE (18 TREATED WITH YOGA AND 32 TO CONTROL INTERVENTIONS). ANTIEPILEPTIC DRUGS WERE CONTINUED IN ALL THE PARTICIPANTS. BASELINE PHASE LASTED 3 MONTHS IN BOTH STUDIES AND TREATMENT PHASE FROM 5 WEEKS TO 6 MONTHS IN THE TWO TRIALS. RANDOMISATION WAS BY ROLL OF A DIE IN ONE STUDY AND USING A COMPUTERISED RANDOMISATION TABLE IN THE OTHER ONE BUT NEITHER STUDY PROVIDED DETAILS OF CONCEALMENT OF ALLOCATION AND WERE RATED AS UNCLEAR RISK OF BIAS. OVERALL, THE TWO STUDIES WERE RATED AS LOW RISK OF BIAS (ALL PARTICIPANTS WERE INCLUDED IN THE ANALYSIS; ALL EXPECTED AND PRE-EXPECTED OUTCOMES WERE REPORTED; NO OTHER SOURCES OF BIAS). THE OVERALL OR WITH 95% CONFIDENCE INTERVAL (CI) WAS: (I) SEIZURE FREE FOR SIX MONTHS - FOR YOGA VERSUS SHAM YOGA ORS OF 14.54 (95% CI 0.67 TO 316.69) AND FOR YOGA VERSUS NO TREATMENT GROUP 17.31 (95% CI 0.80 TO 373.45); FOR ACCEPTANCE AND COMMITMENT THERAPY (ACT) VERSUS YOGA ORS OF 1.00 (95% CL 0.16 TO 6.42; (II) REDUCTION IN SEIZURE FREQUENCY - THE MEAN DIFFERENCE BETWEEN YOGA VERSUS SHAM YOGA GROUP WAS -2.10 (95% CI -3.15 TO -1.05) AND FOR YOGA VERSUS NO TREATMENT GROUP -1.10 (95% CI -1.80 TO -0.40); (III) MORE THAN 50% REDUCTION IN SEIZURE FREQUENCY - FOR YOGA VERSUS SHAM YOGA GROUP ORS OF 81.00 (95% CI 4.36 TO 1504.46) AND FOR THE YOGA VERSUS NO TREATMENT GROUP 158.33 (95% CI 5.78 TO 4335.63); ACT VERSUS YOGA ORS OF 0.78 (95% CL 0.04 TO 14.75); (IV) MORE THAN 50% REDUCTION IN SEIZURE DURATION - FOR YOGA VERSUS SHAM YOGA GROUP ORS OF 45.00 (95% CI 2.01 TO 1006.75) AND FOR YOGA VERSUS NO TREATMENT GROUP 53.57 (95% CI 2.42 TO 1187.26); ACT VERSUS YOGA ORS OF 0.67 (95% CL 0.10 TO 4.35). IN ADDITION IN PANJWANI 1996 THE AUTHORS REPORTED THAT THE ONE-WAY ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE REVEALED NO STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE THREE GROUPS. A P-LAMBDA TEST TAKING INTO ACCOUNT THE P VALUES BETWEEN THE THREE GROUPS ALSO INDICATED THAT THE DURATION OF EPILEPSY IN THE THREE GROUPS WAS NOT COMPARABLE. NO DATA WERE AVAILABLE REGARDING QUALITY OF LIFE. IN LUNDGREN 2008 THE AUTHORS REPORTED THAT THERE WAS NO SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE YOGA AND ACT GROUPS IN SEIZURE FREE RATES, 50% OR GREATER REDUCTION IN SEIZURE FREQUENCY OR SEIZURE DURATION AT ONE YEAR FOLLOW-UP. THE YOGA GROUP SHOWED SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENT IN THEIR QUALITY OF LIFE ACCORDING TO THE SATISFACTION WITH LIFE SCALE (SWLS) (P < 0.05), WHILE THE ACT GROUP HAD SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENT IN THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION QUALITY OF LIFE-BREF (WHOQOL-BREF) SCALE (P < 0.01). AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: STUDY OF 50 SUBJECTS WITH EPILEPSY FROM TWO TRIALS REVEALS POSSIBLE BENEFICIAL EFFECT IN CONTROL OF SEIZURES. RESULTS OF THE OVERALL EFFICACY ANALYSIS SHOW THAT YOGA TREATMENT WAS BETTER WHEN COMPARED WITH NO INTERVENTION OR INTERVENTIONS OTHER THAN YOGA (POSTURAL EXERCISES MIMICKING YOGA). THERE WAS NO DIFFERENCE BETWEEN YOGA AND ACCEPTANCE AND COMMITMENT THERAPY. HOWEVER NO RELIABLE CONCLUSIONS CAN BE DRAWN REGARDING THE EFFICACY OF YOGA AS A TREATMENT FOR UNCONTROLLED EPILEPSY, IN VIEW OF METHODOLOGICAL DEFICIENCIES SUCH AS LIMITED NUMBER OF STUDIES, LIMITED NUMBER OF PARTICIPANTS RANDOMISED TO YOGA, LACK OF BLINDING AND LIMITED DATA ON QUALITY-OF-LIFE OUTCOME. PHYSICIAN BLINDING WOULD NORMALLY BE TAKEN TO BE THE PERSON DELIVERING THE INTERVENTION, WHEREAS WE THINK THE 'PHYSICIAN' WOULD IN FACT BE THE OUTCOME ASSESSOR (WHO COULD BE BLINDED), SO THAT WOULD BE A REDUCTION IN DETECTION BIAS RATHER THAN PERFORMANCE BIAS. IN ADDITION, EVIDENCE TO INFORM OUTCOMES IS LIMITED AND OF LOW QUALITY. FURTHER HIGH-QUALITY RESEARCH IS NEEDED TO FULLY EVALUATE THE EFFICACY OF YOGA FOR REFRACTORY EPILEPSY. 2015 5 2664 32 YOGA IN CHILDREN WITH EPILEPSY: A RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL. CONTEXT: MAJORITY OF EPILEPSY BEGINS IN CHILDHOOD. TWENTY TO THIRTY PERCENT OF PATIENTS MAY NOT RESPOND TO ANTIEPILEPTIC DRUGS. YOGA AS A COMPLEMENTARY THERAPY HAS BEEN FOUND TO BE BENEFICIAL IN ADULTS, BUT HAS NOT YET BEEN STUDIED IN CHILDREN WITH EPILEPSY. AIM: TO STUDY THE EFFECT OF YOGA ON SEIZURE AND ELECTROENCEPHALOGRAM (EEG) OUTCOME IN CHILDREN WITH EPILEPSY. SETTING AND DESIGN: A RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL WAS CONDUCTED IN THE PEDIATRIC NEUROLOGY OUTPATIENT DEPARTMENT OF A TERTIARY CARE TEACHING HOSPITAL. MATERIALS AND METHODS: TWENTY CHILDREN AGED 8-12 YEARS WITH AN UNEQUIVOCAL DIAGNOSIS OF EPILEPSY ON REGULAR ANTIEPILEPTIC DRUGS WERE ENROLLED. YOGA THERAPY WAS PROVIDED TO 10 CHILDREN (STUDY GROUP) AND 10 CHILDREN FORMED THE CONTROL GROUP. YOGA THERAPY WAS GIVEN AS 10 SESSIONS OF 1H EACH. WE COMPARED SEIZURE FREQUENCY AND EEG AT BASELINE, 3, AND 6 MONTHS. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS WAS CARRIED OUT USING STANDARD STATISTICAL TESTS. A P VALUE OF <0.05 WAS CONSIDERED SIGNIFICANT. RESULTS: NO CHILDREN HAD SEIZURES AT THE END OF 3 AND 6 MONTHS IN THE STUDY GROUP. IN THE CONTROL GROUP, AT 3 AND 6 MONTHS, FOUR AND THREE CHILDREN, RESPECTIVELY, HAD SEIZURES. EIGHT CHILDREN EACH IN BOTH THE GROUPS HAD AN ABNORMAL EEG AT ENROLLMENT. AT THE END OF 6 MONTHS, ONE EEG IN THE STUDY GROUP AND SEVEN IN THE CONTROL GROUP WERE ABNORMAL (P = 0.020). CONCLUSION: YOGA AS AN ADDITIONAL THERAPY IN CHILDREN WITH EPILEPSY LEADS TO SEIZURE FREEDOM AND SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENT IN EEG AT 6 MONTHS. 2018 6 1637 29 MODULATION OF CARDIAC AUTONOMIC BALANCE WITH ADJUVANT YOGA THERAPY IN PATIENTS WITH REFRACTORY EPILEPSY. THE PRACTICE OF YOGA REGULATES BODY PHYSIOLOGY THROUGH CONTROL OF POSTURE, BREATHING, AND MEDITATION. EFFECTS OF YOGA ON AUTONOMIC FUNCTIONS OF PATIENTS WITH REFRACTORY EPILEPSY, AS QUANTIFIED BY STANDARDIZED AUTONOMIC FUNCTION TESTS (AFTS), WERE DETERMINED. THE YOGA GROUP (N=18) RECEIVED SUPERVISED TRAINING IN YOGA, AND THE EXERCISE GROUP (N=16) PRACTICED SIMPLE ROUTINE EXERCISES. AFTS WERE REPEATED AFTER 10 WEEKS OF DAILY SESSIONS. DATA WERE COMPARED WITH THOSE OF HEALTHY VOLUNTEERS (N=142). THE YOGA GROUP SHOWED SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENT IN PARASYMPATHETIC PARAMETERS AND A DECREASE IN SEIZURE FREQUENCY SCORES. THERE WAS NO IMPROVEMENT IN BLOOD PRESSURE PARAMETERS IN EITHER GROUP. TWO PATIENTS IN THE YOGA GROUP ACHIEVED NORMAL AUTONOMIC FUNCTIONS AT THE END OF 10 WEEKS OF THERAPY, WHEREAS THERE WERE NO CHANGES IN THE EXERCISE GROUP. THE DATA SUGGEST THAT YOGA MAY HAVE A ROLE AS AN ADJUVANT THERAPY IN THE MANAGEMENT OF AUTONOMIC DYSFUNCTION IN PATIENTS WITH REFRACTORY EPILEPSY. 2008 7 260 28 ACCEPTANCE AND COMMITMENT THERAPY AND YOGA FOR DRUG-REFRACTORY EPILEPSY: A RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL. OBJECTIVE: THERE IS A NEED FOR CONTROLLED OUTCOME STUDIES ON BEHAVIORAL TREATMENT OF EPILEPSY. THE PURPOSE OF THIS STUDY WAS TO EVALUATE ACCEPTANCE AND COMMITMENT THERAPY (ACT) AND YOGA IN THE TREATMENT OF EPILEPSY. METHODS: THE DESIGN CONSISTED OF A RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL WITH REPEATED MEASURES (N=18). ALL PARTICIPANTS HAD AN EEG-VERIFIED EPILEPSY DIAGNOSIS WITH DRUG-REFRACTORY SEIZURES. PARTICIPANTS WERE RANDOMIZED INTO ONE OF TWO GROUPS: ACT OR YOGA. THERAPEUTIC EFFECTS WERE MEASURED USING SEIZURE INDEX (FREQUENCY X DURATION) AND QUALITY OF LIFE (SATISFACTION WITH LIFE SCALE, WHOQOL-BREF). THE TREATMENT PROTOCOLS CONSISTED OF 12 HOURS OF PROFESSIONAL THERAPY DISTRIBUTED IN TWO INDIVIDUAL SESSIONS, TWO GROUP SESSIONS DURING A 5-WEEK PERIOD, AND BOOSTER SESSIONS AT 6 AND 12 MONTHS POSTTREATMENT. SEIZURE INDEX WAS CONTINUOUSLY ASSESSED DURING THE 3-MONTH BASELINE AND 12-MONTH FOLLOW-UP. QUALITY OF LIFE WAS MEASURED AFTER TREATMENT AND AT THE 6-MONTH AND 1-YEAR FOLLOW-UPS. RESULTS: THE RESULTS INDICATE THAT BOTH ACT AND YOGA SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCE SEIZURE INDEX AND INCREASE QUALITY OF LIFE OVER TIME. ACT REDUCED SEIZURE INDEX SIGNIFICANTLY MORE AS COMPARED WITH YOGA. PARTICIPANTS IN BOTH THE ACT AND YOGA GROUPS IMPROVED THEIR QUALITY OF LIFE SIGNIFICANTLY AS MEASURED BY ONE OF TWO QUALITY-OF-LIFE INSTRUMENTS. THE ACT GROUP INCREASED THEIR QUALITY OF LIFE SIGNIFICANTLY AS COMPARED WITH THE YOGA GROUP AS MEASURED BY THE WHOQOL-BREF, AND THE YOGA GROUP INCREASED THEIR QUALITY OF LIFE SIGNIFICANTLY AS COMPARED WITH THE ACT GROUP AS MEASURED BY THE SWLS. CONCLUSIONS: THE RESULTS OF THIS STUDY SUGGEST THAT COMPLEMENTARY TREATMENTS, SUCH AS ACT AND YOGA, DECREASE SEIZURE INDEX AND INCREASE QUALITY OF LIFE. 2008 8 457 22 CHANGES IN P300 FOLLOWING ALTERNATE NOSTRIL YOGA BREATHING AND BREATH AWARENESS. THIS STUDY ASSESSED THE EFFECT OF ALTERNATE NOSTRIL YOGA BREATHING (NADISUDDHI PRANAYAMA) ON P300 AUDITORY EVOKED POTENTIALS COMPARED TO A SESSION OF BREATH AWARENESS OF EQUAL DURATION, IN 20 MALE ADULT VOLUNTEERS WHO HAD AN EXPERIENCE OF YOGA BREATHING PRACTICES FOR MORE THAN THREE MONTHS. PEAK AMPLITUDES AND PEAK LATENCIES OF THE P300 WERE ASSESSED BEFORE AND AFTER THE RESPECTIVE SESSIONS. THERE WAS A SIGNIFICANT INCREASE IN THE P300 PEAK AMPLITUDES AT FZ, CZ, AND PZ AND A SIGNIFICANT DECREASE IN THE PEAK LATENCY AT FZ ALONE FOLLOWING ALTERNATE NOSTRIL YOGA BREATHING. FOLLOWING BREATH AWARENESS THERE WAS A SIGNIFICANT INCREASE IN THE PEAK AMPLITUDE OF P300 AT CZ. THIS SUGGESTS THAT ALTERNATE NOSTRIL YOGA BREATHING POSITIVELY INFLUENCES COGNITIVE PROCESSES WHICH ARE REQUIRED FOR SUSTAINED ATTENTION AT DIFFERENT SCALP SITES (FRONTAL, VERTEX AND PARIETAL), WHEREAS BREATH AWARENESS BRINGS ABOUT CHANGES AT THE VERTEX ALONE. 2013 9 454 21 CHANGES IN MIDLATENCY AUDITORY EVOKED POTENTIALS FOLLOWING TWO YOGA-BASED RELAXATION TECHNIQUES. PRACTICING MEDITATION WHILE FOCUSING ON A SOUND OR A SYMBOL INFLUENCED MIDLATENCY AUDITORY EVOKED POTENTIALS (MLAEPS). CYCLIC MEDITATION (CM) IS A TECHNIQUE COMBINING YOGA POSTURES WITH MEDITATION WHILE SUPINE, WHICH HAS INFLUENCED THE P300 EVENT-RELATED POTENTIAL. THE EFFECTS OF CM ON MLAEPS HAVE NOT BEEN PREVIOUSLY STUDIED. THE MLAEPS WERE STUDIED BEFORE AND AFTER THE PRACTICE OF CM COMPARED TO AN EQUAL DURATION OF SUPINE REST (SR) IN 47 MALE VOLUNTEERS (GROUP MEAN AGE 26.5 +/- 4.4 YEARS), RECORDED FROM THE VERTEX REFERENCED TO LINKED EARLOBES. THE SESSIONS WERE ONE DAY APART AND SUBJECTS WERE RANDOMLY ASSIGNED TO EACH SESSION. THE PA WAVE PEAK LATENCY AND NB WAVE PEAK LATENCY SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASED FOLLOWING CM COMPARED TO BEFORE CM (REPEATED MEASURES ANOVA, POST-HOC ANALYSIS WITH LEAST SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE, P<0.05). THERE WAS A SIGNIFICANT INCREASE IN THE PEAK AMPLITUDE OF THE NB WAVE (P<0.05) COMPARED TO BEFORE CM. POST SR THERE WAS A SIGNIFICANT INCREASE IN THE PEAK LATENCY OF THE NA WAVE (P<0.05) COMPARED TO BEFORE SR. IN CONCLUSION FOLLOWING CM THE LATENCIES OF NEURAL GENERATORS CORRESPONDING TO CORTICAL AREAS IS PROLONGED, WHEREAS FOLLOWING SR A SIMILAR CHANGE OCCURS AT MESENCEPHALIC-DIENCEPHALIC LEVELS. 2009 10 1208 33 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 11 116 27 A PILOT STUDY OF A YOGA MEDITATION PROTOCOL FOR PATIENTS WITH MEDICALLY REFRACTORY EPILEPSY. OBJECTIVE: THE OBJECTIVE WAS TO ASSESS THE EFFICACY OF A YOGA MEDITATION PROTOCOL (YMP) AS AN ADJUNCTIVE TREATMENT IN PATIENTS WITH DRUG-RESISTANT CHRONIC EPILEPSY. DESIGN: THE DESIGN WAS A PROSPECTIVE, NONRANDOMIZED, OPEN-LABEL, ADD-ON TRIAL WITH A 12-WEEK BASELINE PERIOD, FOLLOWED BY A 12-WEEK SUPERVISED YMP ADMINISTRATION PHASE. THE FREQUENCY OF COMPLEX PARTIAL SEIZURES (CPS) WAS ASSESSED AT 3, 6, AND 12 MONTHS OF THE TREATMENT PERIOD. SETTING: THE SETTING WAS A COMPREHENSIVE EPILEPSY CARE CENTER ATTACHED TO A TERTIARY REFERRAL MEDICAL INSTITUTION SITUATED ON THE SOUTHWEST COAST OF THE INDIAN PENINSULA. SUBJECTS: THE SUBJECTS WERE 20 PATIENTS (14 MALES AND 6 FEMALES, AGE RANGE 15 TO 47 YEARS, MEDIAN 27 YEARS) WITH UNEQUIVOCALLY ESTABLISHED DIAGNOSES OF EPILEPSY WITH AT LEAST 4 CPS (WITH OR WITHOUT SECONDARY GENERALIZATION) DURING THE PRECEDING 3 MONTHS. INTERVENTION: INTERVENTION CONSISTED OF A YMP 20 MINUTES TWICE DAILY (MORNINGS AND EVENINGS) AT HOME, AND SUPERVISED SESSIONS OF A YMP EVERY WEEK FOR 3 MONTHS. CONTINUATION OF THE YMP BEYOND 3 MONTHS WAS OPTIONAL. OUTCOME MEASURE: THE OUTCOME MEASURE WAS THE SEIZURE FREQUENCY AT 3, 6, AND 12 MONTHS OF THE TREATMENT PERIOD. THE SUBJECTS WITH > OR = 50% REDUCTION IN MONTHLY SEIZURE RATE FROM BASELINE WERE CLASSIFIED AS RESPONDERS, AND SUBJECTS WITH <50% SEIZURE REDUCTION AS NONRESPONDERS. RESULTS: AT 3 MONTHS, A REDUCTION IN SEIZURE FREQUENCY WAS NOTED IN ALL EXCEPT 1 PATIENT, SIX OF WHOM HAD > OR = 50% SEIZURE REDUCTION. OF 16 PATIENTS WHO CONTINUED THE YMP BEYOND 3 MONTHS, 14 PATIENTS RESPONDED AT 6 MONTHS; 6 OF THEM WERE SEIZURE-FREE FOR 3 MONTHS. ALL EIGHT PATIENTS WHO CONTINUED THE YMP BEYOND 6 MONTHS RESPONDED; THREE OF THEM WERE SEIZURE FREE FOR 6 MONTHS. CONCLUSIONS: IF CONFIRMED THROUGH RANDOMIZED TRIALS INVOLVING A LARGER NUMBER OF PATIENTS, THIS YMP MAY BECOME A COST-EFFECTIVE AND ADVERSE EFFECT-FREE ADJUNCTIVE TREATMENT IN PATIENTS WITH DRUG-RESISTANT EPILEPSIES. 2006 12 737 30 EFFECT OF PRANAYAMA & YOGA-ASANA ON COGNITIVE BRAIN FUNCTIONS IN TYPE 2 DIABETES-P3 EVENT RELATED EVOKED POTENTIAL (ERP). BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVES: ELECTROPHYSIOLOGICAL EVIDENCE OF DELAYED COGNITION AS MEASURED BY P300, AN EVOKED POTENTIAL IS OBSERVED IN DIABETES MELLITUS. P300 (OR P3) IS A COMPONENT OF ENDOGENOUS CEREBRAL EVOKED RESPONSE THAT ASSESSES HIGHER FUNCTIONS OF THE BRAIN. OUR STUDY AIMS TO SEE THE ROLE OF PRANAYAMA AND YOGA-ASANA ON P300 LATENCY AND AMPLITUDE IN TYPE 2 DIABETIC PATIENTS. METHODS: SIXTY PATIENTS OF TYPE 2 DIABETES WERE RECRUITED FROM DIABETIC CLINIC AND DIVIDED INTO TWO GROUPS - CONTROL GROUP ON ONLY CONVENTIONAL MEDICAL THERAPY AND YOGA-GROUP ON CONVENTIONAL MEDICAL THERAPY ALONG WITH PRANAYAMA AND YOGA-ASANA. BASAL RECORDINGS OF P300 AND BLOOD GLUCOSE WERE TAKEN AT THE TIME OF RECRUITMENT AND SECOND RECORDINGS REPEATED AFTER FORTY FIVE DAYS FOR BOTH THE GROUPS. P300 WAS RECORDED ON NIHON KOHDEN NEUROPACK MU MEB 9100 USING AUDITORY "ODD-BALL PARADIGM". THE DATA WERE ANALYSED USING REPEATED MEASURES ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE (ANOVA) FOLLOWED BY TUKEY'S TEST AT 5 PER CENT LEVEL OF SIGNIFICANCE. RESULTS: STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENT IN THE LATENCY AND THE AMPLITUDE OF N200, P300 WAS OBSERVED IN THE YOGA GROUP AS COMPARED TO THE CONTROL GROUP. INTERPRETATION & CONCLUSION: OUR DATA SUGGEST THAT YOGA HAS A BENEFICIAL EFFECT ON P300 AND THUS CAN BE INCORPORATED ALONG WITH THE CONVENTIONAL MEDICAL THERAPY FOR IMPROVING COGNITIVE BRAIN FUNCTIONS IN DIABETES. 2010 13 898 20 EFFECT OF YOGASANAS ON THE VISUAL AND AUDITORY REACTION TIME. VISUAL AND AUDITORY REACTION TIME (VRT, ART) WAS STUDIED IN 83 HEALTHY MALE SUBJECTS OF 30-40 YEARS OF AGE WHO HAD NEVER PRACTICED YOGASANAS BEFORE. THESE SUBJECTS WERE DIVIDED INTO TWO GROUPS VIZ. GROUP A WHOSE VRT AND ART WAS DETERMINED AFTER 1 HR. YOGASANAS AND GROUP B WHOSE ART AND VRT WAS DETERMINED AFTER 6 WEEKS YOGASANAS TRAINING PROGRAMME. VRT AND ART SHOWED A SIGNIFICANT REDUCTION IN GROUP A (P LESS THAN .05) AND GROUP B (P LESS THAN .001). 1989 14 2564 17 YOGA FOR CONTROL OF EPILEPSY. YOGA IS AN AGE-OLD TRADITIONAL INDIAN PSYCHO-PHILOSOPHICAL-CULTURAL METHOD OF LEADING ONE'S LIFE, THAT ALLEVIATES STRESS, INDUCES RELAXATION AND PROVIDES MULTIPLE HEALTH BENEFITS TO THE PERSON FOLLOWING ITS SYSTEM. IT IS A METHOD OF CONTROLLING THE MIND THROUGH THE UNION OF AN INDIVIDUAL'S DORMANT ENERGY WITH THE UNIVERSAL ENERGY. COMMONLY PRACTICED YOGA METHODS ARE 'PRANAYAMA' (CONTROLLED DEEP BREATHING), 'ASANAS' (PHYSICAL POSTURES) AND 'DHYANA' (MEDITATION) ADMIXED IN VARYING PROPORTIONS WITH DIFFERING PHILOSOPHIC IDEAS. A REVIEW OF YOGA IN RELATION TO EPILEPSY ENCOMPASSES NOT ONLY SEIZURE CONTROL BUT ALSO MANY FACTORS DEALING WITH OVERALL QUALITY-OF-LIFE ISSUES (QOL). THIS PAPER REVIEWS ARTICLES RELATED TO YOGA AND EPILEPSY, SEIZURES, EEG, AUTONOMIC CHANGES, NEURO-PSYCHOLOGY, LIMBIC SYSTEM, AROUSAL, SLEEP, BRAIN PLASTICITY, MOTOR PERFORMANCE, BRAIN IMAGING STUDIES, AND REHABILITATION. THERE IS A DEARTH OF RANDOMIZED, BLINDED, CONTROLLED STUDIES RELATED TO YOGA AND SEIZURE CONTROL. A MULTI-CENTRE, CROSS-CULTURAL, PREFERABLY BLINDED (DIFFICULT FOR YOGA), WELL-RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL, ESPECIALLY USING A SINGLE YOGIC TECHNIQUE IN A HOMOGENEOUS POPULATION SUCH AS JUVENILE MYOCLONIC EPILEPSY IS JUSTIFIED TO FIND OUT HOW YOGA AFFECTS SEIZURE CONTROL AND QOL OF THE PERSON WITH EPILEPSY. 2001 15 492 38 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 16 458 22 CHANGES IN P300 FOLLOWING TWO YOGA-BASED RELAXATION TECHNIQUES. CYCLIC MEDITATION (CM) IS A TECHNIQUE THAT COMBINES "STIMULATING" AND "CALMING" PRACTICES, BASED ON A STATEMENT IN ANCIENT YOGA TEXTS SUGGESTING THAT SUCH A COMBINATION MAY BE ESPECIALLY HELPFUL TO REACH A STATE OF MENTAL EQUILIBRIUM. THE CHANGES IN THE PEAK LATENCY AND PEAK AMPLITUDE OF P300 AUDITORY EVENT-RELATED POTENTIALS WERE STUDIED BEFORE AND AFTER THE PRACTICE OF CYCLIC MEDITATION COMPARED TO AN EQUAL DURATION OF SUPINE REST IN 42 VOLUNTEERS (GROUP MEAN AGE +/- SD, 27 +/- 6.3 YEARS), FROM FZ, CZ, AND PZ ELECTRODE SITES REFERENCED TO LINKED EARLOBES. THE SESSIONS WERE ONE DAY APART AND THE ORDER WAS ALTERNATED. THERE WAS REDUCTION IN THE PEAK LATENCIES OF P300 AFTER CYCLIC MEDITATION AT FZ, CZ, AND PZ COMPARED TO THE "PRE" VALUES. A SIMILAR TREND OF REDUCTION IN P300 PEAK LATENCIES AT FZ, CZ, AND PZ WAS ALSO OBSERVED AFTER SUPINE REST, COMPARED TO THE RESPECTIVE "PRE" VALUES, ALTHOUGH THE MAGNITUDE OF CHANGE IN EACH CASE WAS LESS AFTER SUPINE REST COMPARED TO AFTER CYCLIC MEDITATION. THE P300 PEAK AMPLITUDES AFTER CM WERE HIGHER AT FZ, CZ, AND PZ SITES COMPARED TO THE "PRE" VALUES. IN CONTRAST, NO SIGNIFICANT CHANGES WERE OBSERVED IN THE P300 PEAK AMPLITUDES AT FZ, CZ, AND PZ AFTER SUPINE REST COMPARED TO THE RESPECTIVE "PRE" STATE. THE PRESENT RESULTS SUPPORT THE IDEA THAT "CYCLIC" MEDITATION ENHANCES COGNITIVE PROCESSES UNDERLYING THE GENERATION OF THE P300. 2006 17 1909 16 RIGHT UNINOSTRIL YOGA BREATHING INFLUENCES IPSILATERAL COMPONENTS OF MIDDLE LATENCY AUDITORY EVOKED POTENTIALS. A PREVIOUS REPORT DESCRIBED SELECTIVE ELECTRICAL ACTIVITY OF THE CEREBRAL HEMISPHERES WITH UNINOSTRIL BREATHING. IN THE PRESENT STUDY, MIDDLE LATENCY AUDITORY EVOKED POTENTIALS (MLAEPS) WERE RECORDED FROM SYMMETRICAL SCALP SITES DURING THE PRACTICE OF UNINOSTRIL YOGA BREATHING. THERE WERE TWO SESSIONS (40 MIN EACH) OF RIGHT NOSTRIL YOGA BREATHING (RNB) AND OF BREATH AWARENESS (BAW), WITH (I) 'BEFORE', (II) TEST (EITHER RNB OR BAW) AND (III) 'AFTER' PERIODS. THE PARTICIPANTS WERE 14 MALE VOLUNTEERS AGED BETWEEN 18 AND 33 YEARS, AND THE SETTING WAS A YOGA CENTRE. MLAEPS WERE RECORDED FROM SYMMETRICAL SCALP SITES (C4 AND C3). DURING RNB, THE PEAK AMPLITUDES OF TWO NEGATIVE COMPONENTS (VIZ. NA WAVE AND NB WAVE) WERE SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASED ON THE RIGHT SIDE. INCREASED PEAK AMPLITUDES OF NA AND NB WAVES SUGGESTED THAT RNB INCREASED THE NUMBER OF NEURONS RECRUITED ON THE RIGHT SIDE, SUGGESTING A POSSIBLE APPLICATION OF RNB IN CERTAIN PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS WITH CEREBRAL HEMISPHERIC IMBALANCE. 2004 18 693 32 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 19 1321 26 HEMISPHERE SPECIFIC EEG RELATED TO ALTERNATE NOSTRIL YOGA BREATHING. BACKGROUND: PREVIOUSLY, FORCED UNILATERAL NOSTRIL BREATHING WAS ASSOCIATED WITH IPSILATERAL, OR CONTRALATERAL CEREBRAL HEMISPHERE CHANGES, OR NO CHANGE. HENCE IT WAS INCONCLUSIVE. THE PRESENT STUDY WAS CONDUCTED ON 13 NORMAL HEALTHY PARTICIPANTS TO DETERMINE THE EFFECTS OF ALTERNATE NOSTRIL YOGA BREATHING ON (A) CEREBRAL HEMISPHERE ASYMMETRY, AND (B) CHANGES IN THE STANDARD EEG BANDS. METHODS: PARTICIPANTS WERE RANDOMLY ALLOCATED TO THREE SESSIONS (A) ALTERNATE NOSTRIL YOGA BREATHING (ANYB), (B) BREATH AWARENESS AND (C) QUIET SITTING, ON SEPARATE DAYS. EEG WAS RECORDED FROM BILATERALLY SYMMETRICAL SITES (FP1, FP2, C3, C4, O1 AND O2). ALL SITES WERE REFERENCED TO THE IPSILATERAL EAR LOBE. RESULTS: THERE WAS NO CHANGE IN CEREBRAL HEMISPHERE SYMMETRY. THE RELATIVE POWER IN THE THETA BAND WAS DECREASED DURING ALTERNATE NOSTRIL YOGA BREATHING (ANYB) AND THE BETA AMPLITUDE WAS LOWER AFTER ANYB. DURING QUIET SITTING THE RELATIVE POWER IN THE BETA BAND INCREASED, WHILE THE AMPLITUDE OF THE ALPHA BAND REDUCED. CONCLUSION: THE RESULTS SUGGEST THAT ANYB WAS ASSOCIATED WITH GREATER CALMNESS, WHEREAS QUIET SITTING WITHOUT SPECIFIC DIRECTIONS WAS ASSOCIATED WITH AROUSAL. THE RESULTS IMPLY A POSSIBLE USE OF ANYB FOR STRESS AND ANXIETY REDUCTION. 2017 20 525 29 COMPARISON OF EFFECTS OF YOGA & PHYSICAL EXERCISE IN ATHLETES. THE EFFECT OF PRANAYAMA A CONTROLLED BREATHING PRACTICE, ON EXERCISE TESTS WAS STUDIED IN ATHLETES IN TWO PHASES; SUB-MAXIMAL AND MAXIMAL EXERCISE TESTS. AT THE END OF PHASE I (ONE YEAR) BOTH THE GROUPS (CONTROL AND EXPERIMENTAL) ACHIEVED SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER WORK RATE AND REDUCTION IN OXYGEN CONSUMPTION PER UNIT WORK. THERE WAS A SIGNIFICANT REDUCTION IN BLOOD LACTATE AND AN INCREASE IN P/L RATIO IN THE EXPERIMENTAL GROUP, AT REST. AT THE END OF PHASE II (TWO YEARS), THE OXYGEN CONSUMPTION PER UNIT WORK WAS FOUND TO BE SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCED AND THE WORK RATE SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASED IN THE EXPERIMENTAL GROUP. BLOOD LACTATE DECREASED SIGNIFICANTLY AT REST IN THE EXPERIMENTAL GROUP ONLY. PYRUVATE AND PYRUVATE-LACTATE RATIO INCREASED SIGNIFICANTLY IN BOTH THE GROUPS AFTER EXERCISE AND AT REST IN THE EXPERIMENTAL GROUP. THE RESULTS IN BOTH PHASES SHOWED THAT THE SUBJECTS WHO PRACTISED PRANAYAMA COULD ACHIEVE HIGHER WORK RATES WITH REDUCED OXYGEN CONSUMPTION PER UNIT WORK AND WITHOUT INCREASE IN BLOOD LACTATE LEVELS. THE BLOOD LACTATE LEVELS WERE SIGNIFICANTLY LOW AT REST. 1994