Many geologists believe that our imprint in Earth’s rock and ice is clear enough to warrant the naming of a new epoch. Now they must decide where it starts.
Limited research suggests yoga may be a viable gentle physical activity option with a variety of health-related quality of life, psychosocial and symptom management benefits. The purpose of this review was to determine the clinical significance of patient-reported outcomes from yoga interventions conducted with cancer survivors. A total of 25 published yoga intervention studies for cancer survivors from 2004-2011 had patient-reported outcomes, including quality of life, psychosocial or symptom measures. Thirteen of these studies met the necessary criteria to assess clinical significance. Clinical significance for each of the outcomes of interest was examined based on 1 standard error of the measurement, 0.5 standard deviation, and relative comparative effect sizes and their respective confidence intervals. This review describes in detail these patient-reported outcomes, how they were obtained, their relative clinical significance and implications for both clinical and research settings. Overall, clinically significant changes in patient-reported outcomes suggest that yoga interventions hold promise for improving cancer survivors' well-being. This research overview provides new directions for examining how clinical significance can provide a unique context for describing changes in patient-reported outcomes from yoga interventions. Researchers are encouraged to employ indices of clinical significance in the interpretation and discussion of results from yoga studies.
Yoga, Child's Play interactive movie course will provide participants with the knowledge and expertise needed to complement and individualize treatment strategies for multiple pediatric diagnoses. Such diagnoses include Down syndrome, Cerebral Palsy, Autism, ADHD and learning disabilities. The course will enhance conventional therapeutic approaches and provide alternative methods of treatment. The course content includes balanced yoga poses to increase body awareness, position in space, strength and flexibility. Also, specialized breathing exercises and relaxation techniques to improve concentration and reduce hyperactivity. All of the above directly relates to therapy provided in the pediatric settings. The course also will provide participants with the knowledge and expertise needed to offer the same benefits of increased body awareness, position in space, strength, flexibility, improved concentration and relaxation to healthy children. Note: This course provides conceptual preparation to seek additional training, and does not provide you a mentored hands-on skills session. Please seek additional experience, with a mentor, to perform hands-on skills.
Yoga, Child's Play interactive movie course will provide participants with the knowledge and expertise needed to complement and individualize treatment strategies for multiple pediatric diagnoses. Such diagnoses include Down syndrome, Cerebral Palsy, Autism, ADHD and learning disabilities. The course will enhance conventional therapeutic approaches and provide alternative methods of treatment. The course content includes balanced yoga poses to increase body awareness, position in space, strength and flexibility. Also, specialized breathing exercises and relaxation techniques to improve concentration and reduce hyperactivity. All of the above directly relates to therapy provided in the pediatric settings. The course also will provide participants with the knowledge and expertise needed to offer the same benefits of increased body awareness, position in space, strength, flexibility, improved concentration and relaxation to healthy children. Note: This course provides conceptual preparation to seek additional training, and does not provide you a mentored hands-on skills session. Please seek additional experience, with a mentor, to perform hands-on skills.
Up to 90% of cancer patients report symptoms of insomnia during and after treatment. Symptoms of insomnia include excessive daytime sleepiness, difficulty falling asleep, difficulty staying asleep, and waking up too early. Insomnia symptoms are among the most prevalent, distressing and persistent cancer- and cancer treatment-related toxicities reported by patients, and can be severe enough to increase cancer morbidity and mortality. Despite the ubiquity of insomnia symptoms, they are under-screened, under-diagnosed, and under-treated in cancer patients. When insomnia symptoms are identified, providers are hesitant to prescribe, and patients are hesitant to take pharmaceuticals due to polypharmacy concerns. In addition, sleep medications do not cure insomnia. Yoga is a well-tolerated mode of exercise with promising evidence for its efficacy in improving insomnia symptoms among cancer patients. This article reviews existing clinical research on the effectiveness of yoga for treating insomnia among cancer patients. The article also provides clinical recommendations for prescribing yoga for the treatment of insomnia in this population.
When stress and anxiety creep in, don't turn toward food, alcohol, or TV. Try these five yoga poses, instead.
The purpose of this pilot study was to evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of a yoga program as an adjunctive therapy for improving post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms in Veterans with military-related PTSD. Veterans (n = 12) participated in a 6 week yoga intervention held twice a week. There was significant improvement in PTSD hyperarousal symptoms and overall sleep quality as well as daytime dysfunction related to sleep. There were no significant improvements in the total PTSD, anger, or quality of life outcome scores. These results suggest that this yoga program may be an effective adjunctive therapy for improving hyperarousal symptoms of PTSD including sleep quality. This study demonstrates that the yoga program is acceptable, feasible, and that there is good adherence in a Veteran population.
The purpose of this pilot study was to evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of a yoga program as an adjunctive therapy for improving post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms in Veterans with military-related PTSD. Veterans (n = 12) participated in a 6 week yoga intervention held twice a week. There was significant improvement in PTSD hyperarousal symptoms and overall sleep quality as well as daytime dysfunction related to sleep. There were no significant improvements in the total PTSD, anger, or quality of life outcome scores. These results suggest that this yoga program may be an effective adjunctive therapy for improving hyperarousal symptoms of PTSD including sleep quality. This study demonstrates that the yoga program is acceptable, feasible, and that there is good adherence in a Veteran population.
OBJECTIVE: The objective of this research was to examine the evidence for delivering yoga-based interventions in schools.METHODS: An electronic literature search was conducted to identify peer-reviewed, published studies in which yoga and a meditative component (breathing practices or meditation) were taught to youths in a school setting. Pilot studies, single cohort, quasi-experimental, and randomized clinical trials were considered.
RESEARCH: quality was evaluated and summarized.
RESULTS: Twelve published studies were identified. Samples for which yoga was implemented as an intervention included youths with autism, intellectual disability, learning disability, and emotional disturbance, as well as typically developing youths.
CONCLUSION: Although effects of participating in school-based yoga programs appeared to be beneficial for the most part, methodological limitations, including lack of randomization, small samples, limited detail regarding the intervention, and statistical ambiguities curtailed the ability to provide definitive conclusions or recommendations. Findings speak to the need for greater methodological rigor and an increased understanding of the mechanisms of success for school-based yoga interventions.
Aim: This study aims to evaluate the feasibility and effects of instruction in yogic breathing techniques (Pranayama) in patients with treatment-resistant generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) in UK secondary mental health services settings.Materials and Methods: Participants were adult primary or secondary care patients with a primary diagnosis of GAD (with or without comorbidity) and persistent anxiety symptoms of at least moderate intensity, despite prior treatment with two or more medications of proven efficacy. Patients participated in group-delivered yogic breathing training and practice for 12 weeks. Structured assessments were performed at baseline, after 1, 2, and 6 weeks of instruction, and at end-point. Participants also completed the antisaccade (emotional variant) task and startle response task at baseline and end-point.
Results: At baseline, participating patients (n = 9) had moderate-to-severe anxiety symptoms and mild-to-moderate depressive symptoms, they attended 84% of offered sessions and provided positive feedback on the content and delivery of treatment. Symptom severity reduced significantly from baseline to end-point. There were greater errors on negative trials compared to neutral trials in the antisaccade task at baseline, and a significant reduction in antisaccade errors for negative stimuli as compared to neutral stimuli between baseline and end-point: but there were no significant differences in either mean heart rate or startle response between baseline and end-point.
Limitations: The absence of a control group and small sample size.
Conclusion: Yogic breathing techniques proved simple to learn and may be beneficial in reducing anxiety and depressive symptoms in patients with treatment-resistant GAD. Yogic breathing had no effect on autonomic arousal, but the reduction in errors to negative stimuli in the antisaccade task suggests an improvement in attention control during the intervention accompanying the reduction in symptoms.
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