1 82 172 A MECHANISTIC MODEL FOR YOGA AS A PREVENTIVE AND THERAPEUTIC MODALITY. YOGA IS AN ANCIENT INDIAN TECHNIQUE OF HEALTHY LIVING. NUMEROUS STUDIES HAVE CORROBORATED YOGA'S BENEFICIAL EFFECTS, INCLUDING A FAVORABLE INFLUENCE ON AUTONOMIC FUNCTION AND NEGATIVE EMOTIONS. EXTENSIVE RESEARCH IN THE LAST FEW DECADES HAS REVEALED THE CRITICAL ROLE THAT YOGA CAN PLAY IN ERADICATING STRESS. THIS HAS LAID TO THE FOUNDATION FOR A SCIENTIFIC UNDERSTANDING OF PATHOPHYSIOLOGICAL CHANGES ATTRIBUTED TO STRESS, PARTICULARLY AT THE MOLECULAR AND GENETIC LEVELS. THIS PRIMARILY HAS HELPED UNDERSTAND THE EPIGENETIC AND GENETIC MECHANISM AT PLAY TO INDUCE AND ALLEVIATE STRESS, PARTICULARLY THOSE RELATED TO EMOTIONAL ABERRATIONS. AS RESEARCH HAS INDICATED, NEGATIVE EMOTIONS ARE TRANSLATED INTO VASCULAR INFLAMMATION APPROPRIATELY ACCENTUATED BY A SYMPATHETIC PREDOMINANT AUTONOMIC FUNCTION. THIS CASCADE IS BOLSTERED BY MULTIPLE FACTORS, INCLUDING ACTIVATION OF "STRESSOR" GENES AND ELABORATING HORMONES, INCLUDING STEROIDS WITH SOMETIMES NOCUOUS CONSEQUENCES, PARTICULARLY WHEN CHRONIC. YOGA HAS BEEN CATEGORICALLY FOUND TO HAVE INHIBITED EACH AND EVERY ONE OF THESE BANEFUL EFFECTS OF STRESS. IN FACT, IT ALSO CHANGES THE NEURONAL CIRCUITS THAT POTENTIATE SUCH A PLETHORA OF PATHOLOGICAL CHANGES. THIS, IN TURN, HAS ACCENTUATED YOGA'S RELEVANCE AS A POWERFUL PREVENTIVE INTERVENTION IN NONCOMMUNICABLE DISEASES (NCD). NCDS, INCLUDING HEART DISEASE, STROKE, AND RHEUMATOLOGICAL DISORDERS, ARE ESSENTIALLY INFLAMMATORY DISEASES THAT PERPETUATE INFLAMMATION IN DIFFERENT BEDS LIKE VASCULAR OR JOINT SPACES. THE PRECISE MECHANISM BY WHICH YOGA INDUCES SUCH BENEFICIAL CHANGES IS YET TO BE DELINEATED. HOWEVER, A CORNUCOPIA OF POINTERS INDICATES THAT NEURAL, ENDOCRINE, IMMUNOLOGICAL, CELLULAR, GENETIC, AND EPIGENETIC MECHANISMS ARE AT PLAY. THIS ARTICLE ATTEMPTS TO COBBLE TOGETHER NEWFANGLED RESEARCH TO DELINEATE A MEDICAL MODEL FOR THIS 5000-YEAR-OLD PRACTICE FROM INDIA. THIS IS IMPERATIVE, AS A MECHANISTIC MODEL OF THIS ANCIENT-BUT-COMPLEX SYSTEM WOULD ENABLE A MORE COMPREHENSIVE UNDERSTANDING OF ITS MECHANISM AND REVEAL ITS YET-UNDISCOVERED POSITIVE HEALTH EFFECTS. 2021 2 2513 23 YOGA CAMP IN AYURVEDGRAMS OF CHHATTISGARH. THE CLINICAL AND EMPIRICAL HEALTH BENEFITS OF YOGA AND PRANAYAM HAVE BEEN REITERATED THROUGH RESEARCH. YOGA IS BEING ADOPTED AS A SYSTEM TO ALLEVIATE THE BURDEN OF NONCOMMUNICABLE DISEASES (NCDS) ACROSS THE GLOBE. THE DIRECTORATE OF AYUSH, GOVERNMENT OF CHHATTISGARH (DOA, GOCG) CONDUCTS ANNUAL 5-DAY-YOGA CAMP ACROSS 146 AYURVEDGRAMS IN THE STATE. THE PRESENT ARTICLE BRINGS OUT THE AYUSH INITIATIVES THE STATE IS TAKING TOWARD ACTIVE AGEING. A TOTAL OF 71,096 PEOPLE PARTICIPATED IN THE 5-DAY-YOGA CAMP ACROSS THE STATE. A MEAN PARTICIPATION OF 5079 PEOPLE OVER 5 DAYS WAS REPORTED ACROSS DISTRICTS. SUCH STATEWIDE PRACTICES NEED TO BE PROMOTED AND APPRAISED. 2012 3 1262 42 FIVE-WEEK YIN YOGA-BASED INTERVENTIONS DECREASED PLASMA ADRENOMEDULLIN AND INCREASED PSYCHOLOGICAL HEALTH IN STRESSED ADULTS: A RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL. BACKGROUND: NON-COMMUNICABLE DISEASES (NCDS, E.G. CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE) ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR HIGH RATES OF MORBIDITY AND THE MAJORITY OF PREMATURE DEATHS WORLDWIDE. IT IS NECESSARY TO DEVELOP PREVENTATIVE INTERVENTIONS THAT CAN REDUCE THE ASSOCIATED RISK FACTORS OF NCDS. RESEARCHERS HAVE FOUND THAT THE BIOMARKER ADRENOMEDULLIN (ADM) BECOMES ELEVATED YEARS BEFORE THE ONSET OF NCDS AND MIGHT PLAY AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN THEIR DEVELOPMENT. ADM HAS ALSO BEEN LINKED TO PSYCHOLOGICAL PROBLEMS SUCH AS STRESS, ANXIETY, AND DEPRESSION, WHICH ARE KNOWN RISK FACTORS OF NCDS. IN THIS RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL, WE EXAMINED WHETHER PARTICIPATING IN A FIVE-WEEK YOGA INTERVENTION REDUCES ADM AND INCREASES PSYCHOLOGICAL HEALTH IN MIDDLE-AGED ADULTS WHO SELF-REPORT AS MODERATELY TO HIGHLY STRESSED, BUT WHO OTHERWISE EXHIBIT NO PHYSICAL COMPLAINTS. METHODS: ONE HUNDRED AND FIVE ADULTS (78% WOMEN; MEAN AGE = 53.5, SD = 6.7) WERE RANDOMLY ASSIGNED TO (1) A FIVE-WEEK YIN YOGA INTERVENTION, (2) A FIVE-WEEK INTERVENTION COMBINING YIN YOGA WITH PSYCHOEDUCATION AND MINDFULNESS PRACTICE (CALLED THE YOMI PROGRAM), OR (3) A CONTROL GROUP WHO DID NOT PRACTICE YOGA OR MINDFULNESS FOR FIVE WEEKS. RESULTS: COMPARED TO THE CONTROL GROUP, WE OBSERVED SIGNIFICANTLY GREATER PRE-POST REDUCTIONS IN PLASMA ADM LEVELS (P < .001), ANXIETY (P