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We conducted assessments of 28 children with impaired vision (VI group), with ages ranging from 12 to 17 years, and an equal number of age-matched, normal-sighted children (NS group). The VI group had significantly higher rates of breathing, heart rates, and diastolic blood pressure values compared to the NS group (Mann–Whitney U test). Twenty-four of the VI group formed pairs matched for age and degree of blindness, and we randomly assigned members of the pairs to two groups, viz., yoga and physical activity. Both groups spent an hour each day practicing yoga or working in the garden, depending on their group. After 3 weeks, the yoga group showed a significant decrease in breath rate (Wilcoxon paired signed ranks test). There was no change after the physical activity program. The results showed that children with visual impairment have higher physiological arousal than children with normal sight, with a marginal reduction in arousal following yoga.
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The present study was planned to investigate the effects of Anuloma-viloma and specific yogic asanas in Premenstrual syndrome (PMS). The study group comprised of 60 females suffering from PMS between the age group of 18- 40 years, having 28-34 days regular menstrual cycle, further subdivided into 3 groups having equal number (n=20) of subjects-group A (no intervention), group B (Anuloma-viloma) and group C (yogic asanas). Age-matched 30 healthy female subjects were taken as control. In all the subjects, a baseline recording of the systolic (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) from the right arm was taken using an automated sphygmomanometer. The heart rate (HR/min), electromyogram (EMG; mV), galvanic skin response (GSR;kΩ), respiratory rate (RR/min), peripheral temperature (T;°F), were recorded simultaneously, on an automated biofeedback apparatus Relax 701. The subjects of group A and group B performed yogic exercises, regularly for 7 days prior to the expected date of menstruation for 3 consecutive menstrual cycles. The parameters were recorded again at the end of 7 days in each menstrual cycle. We observed that, in the group A and group B, HR, SBP, DBP, EMG, GSR and RR showed a very significant reduction (P<0.001) and T rose more significantly (P<0.001) after the 3rd menstrual cycle, when compared with their basal levels. On computing the percentage difference between the baseline and post values in all the three groups and than comparing this percentage difference, we found a y significant difference (P<0.05) between the groups. In the present study, the relaxation response in the females suffering from PMS showed a reduction in an abnormally high basal sympathetic activity and a heightened relaxation response in both the study groups (group B and Group C) in comparison with group A.
INTRODUCTION: A growing body of literature recognizes the importance of resilience in the nursing profession. Both mindfulness and resilience aid in handling stress, stress increases the risk of rumination and/or worry especially in females and they are more empathetic than other healthcare students. AIM: To identify correlates and predictors of the resilience among nursing students. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This is a descriptive correlation study and we have recruited 194 participants (1-4(th) year B.Sc Nursing) from Government College of Nursing and NIMHANS College of Nursing in Bangalore, India. The following instruments were used to collect the data, Freiburg Mindfulness Inventory (FMI), Toronto Empathy Questionnaire (TEQ), Perseverative Thinking Questionnaire (PTQ) and Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC). Data was analysed using Pearson's correlation test and multiple regression analysis. RESULTS: Resilience is significantly correlated with mindfulness, perseverative thinking and empathy in nursing students. Based on regression analysis this model accounted for almost 33% of variance in resilience. This result is of interest as mindfulness alone explained 23% of the variance and unproductive Repeated Negative Thinking (RNT) and RNT consuming mental capacity predicted 8% and 2% respectively. CONCLUSION: These results support the importance of resilience and mindfulness in nursing students. Hence, resilience and/or mindfulness enhancing interventions should be inculcated in nursing education.
Context: Impulsivity is a fundamental component, consistently associated with understanding and diagnosis of various neurologic and neuropsychiatric disorders. Aims: The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between self-reported dispositional mindfulness and impulsivity in a sample of college students. Settings and Design: This is a correlational study using a sample of 370 undergraduate students (226 females and 144 males) from three colleges, in Kerala, India. Participants age ranged from 18 to 26 years with a mean age of 19.47 years (standard deviation = 1.46). Subjects and Methods: Participants were given questionnaire packets including demographic details, mindful attention awareness scale, Barratt Impulsiveness Scale version 11 (BIS-11) and General Health Questionnaire-12. Statistical Analysis Used: Pearson correlations were used to examine the association between mindfulness and Impulsivity. Partial correlations were examined between impulsivity and mindfulness measures while controlling for psychological distress. Results: Dispositional mindfulness was negatively correlated with psychological distress (r = −0.40, P < 0.01) and BIS-11 scores (BIS total: r = 0.50; attentional: r = 0.44; motor: r = −0.23 non-planning: r = 0.25, P < 0.01). Relationship remained significant between mindfulness and impulsivity while after controlling for psychological distress. Conclusions: Dispositional mindfulness related to the ability to refrain from impulsive behavior in the presence of psychological distress
When the next natural disaster strikes, Will MacAskill does not want you to donate to the relief effort. And if a relative dies from a disease, he doesn’t think you should try and raise money for that cause. Rather, he wants you to focus on the "ongoing disasters" that sicken, maim and kill thousands of people every day, mostly in the developing world.
CONTEXT: Research on the effect of Thoppukaranam is limited despite it being practiced as a form of worship to the elephant-headed deity Lord Ganapati and punishment in schools. AIMS: The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of Thoppukaranam on selective attention and psychological states in a sample of young adults. SETTINGS AND DESIGNS: A randomized self-as-control within subjects design was employed. Thirty undergraduate students (4 females and 26 males) from a residential Yoga University in Southern India were recruited for this study (group mean age +/- standard deviation, 20.17 +/- 2.92). MATERIALS AND METHODS: The d2 test, State Anxiety Inventory-Short Form and State Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (SMAAS) were used to measure cognitive performance and psychological states. Assessments were made in three sessions: Baseline, control (squats), and experimental (Thoppukaranam) on 3 separate days. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: Data were analyzed using one-way repeated measures analyses of variance between three sessions, that is, baseline, squat, and Thoppukaranam. RESULTS: There was a significant improvement in all measures of the d2 test of attention (TN, E, TN-E, E%, and concentration performance) and state mindfulness after Thoppukaranam. Further state anxiety reduced significantly after the experimental session. CONCLUSIONS: These findings indicate Thoppukaranam results in enhancement of cognitive functioning and psychological states.
CONTEXT: Research on the effect of Thoppukaranam is limited despite it being practiced as a form of worship to the elephant-headed deity Lord Ganapati and punishment in schools. AIMS: The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of Thoppukaranam on selective attention and psychological states in a sample of young adults. SETTINGS AND DESIGNS: A randomized self-as-control within subjects design was employed. Thirty undergraduate students (4 females and 26 males) from a residential Yoga University in Southern India were recruited for this study (group mean age +/- standard deviation, 20.17 +/- 2.92). MATERIALS AND METHODS: The d2 test, State Anxiety Inventory-Short Form and State Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (SMAAS) were used to measure cognitive performance and psychological states. Assessments were made in three sessions: Baseline, control (squats), and experimental (Thoppukaranam) on 3 separate days. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: Data were analyzed using one-way repeated measures analyses of variance between three sessions, that is, baseline, squat, and Thoppukaranam. RESULTS: There was a significant improvement in all measures of the d2 test of attention (TN, E, TN-E, E%, and concentration performance) and state mindfulness after Thoppukaranam. Further state anxiety reduced significantly after the experimental session. CONCLUSIONS: These findings indicate Thoppukaranam results in enhancement of cognitive functioning and psychological states.
Context:Research on the effect of Thoppukaranam is limited despite it being practiced as a form of worship to the elephant-headed deity Lord Ganapati and punishment in schools.
Aims:
The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of Thoppukaranam on selective attention and psychological states in a sample of young adults.
Settings and Designs:
A randomized self-as-control within subjects design was employed. Thirty undergraduate students (4 females and 26 males) from a residential Yoga University in Southern India were recruited for this study (group mean age ± standard deviation, 20.17 ± 2.92).
Materials and Methods:
The d2 test, State Anxiety Inventory-Short Form and State Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (SMAAS) were used to measure cognitive performance and psychological states. Assessments were made in three sessions: Baseline, control (squats), and experimental (Thoppukaranam) on 3 separate days.
Statistical analysis used:
Data were analyzed using one-way repeated measures analyses of variance between three sessions, that is, baseline, squat, and Thoppukaranam.
Results:
There was a significant improvement in all measures of the d2 test of attention (TN, E, TN-E, E%, and concentration performance) and state mindfulness after Thoppukaranam. Further state anxiety reduced significantly after the experimental session.
Conclusions:
These findings indicate Thoppukaranam results in enhancement of cognitive functioning and psychological states.
This chapter tries to analyze the aging process of some Tibetans who came to India as young refugees but were forced to stay back and have spent the best part of their years in Dharamsala also known as Little Lhasa in Northern India. The question of coming to terms with aging and the nostalgia for a lost land in the midst of large-scale global changes informs the painful truth of aging on one hand and also the cultural resources of Tibetan Buddhism that helps them to come to terms with reality is the thread that describes their aging. The loss of this culture and the Buddhist way of life so brutally cut short in Tibet is the focus of the chapter, along with how they come to terms with these aspects. The chapter ends the description of activities in Dharamsala by arguing that aging is informed by spiritual and political climate with the old people also being active participants.
OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to evaluate the immediate effect of slow pace bhastrika pranayama (respiratory rate 6/min) for 5 minutes on heart rate and blood pressure and the effect of the same breathing exercise for the same duration of time (5 minutes) following oral intake of hyoscine-N-butylbromide (Buscopan), a parasympathetic blocker drug.SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Heart rate and blood pressure of volunteers (n = 39, age = 25-40 years) was recorded following standard procedure. First, subjects had to sit comfortably in an easy and steady posture (sukhasana) on a fairly soft seat placed on the floor keeping head, neck, and trunk erect, eyes closed, and the other muscles reasonably loose. The subject is directed to inhale through both nostrils slowly up to the maximum for about 4 seconds and then exhale slowly up to the maximum through both nostrils for about 6 seconds. The breathing must not be abdominal. These steps complete one cycle of slow pace bhastrika pranayama (respiratory rate 6/min). During the practice the subject is asked not to think much about the inhalation and exhalation time, but rather was requested to imagine the open blue sky. The pranayama was conducted in a cool, well-ventilated room (18-20 degrees C). After 5 minutes of this breathing practice, the blood pressure and heart rate again were recorded in the aforesaid manner using the same instrument. The other group (n = 10) took part in another study where their blood pressure and heart rate were recorded following half an hour of oral intake of hyoscine-N-butylbromide 20 mg. Then they practiced the breathing exercise as stated above, and the abovementioned parameters were recorded again to study the effect of parasympathetic blockade on the same pranayama.
RESULTS: It was noted that after slow bhastrika pranayamic breathing (respiratory rate 6/min) for 5 minutes, both the systolic and diastolic blood pressure decreased significantly with a slight fall in heart rate. No significant alteration in both blood pressure and heart rate was observed in volunteers who performed the same breathing exercise for the same duration following oral intake of hyoscine-N-butylbromide.
DISCUSSION: Pranayama increases frequency and duration of inhibitory neural impulses by activating pulmonary stretch receptors during above tidal volume inhalation as in Hering Bruer reflex, which bring about withdrawal of sympathetic tone in the skeletal muscle blood vessels, leading to widespread vasodilatation, thus causing decrease in peripheral resistance and thus decreasing the diastolic blood pressure. After hyoscine-N-butylbromide, the parasympathetic blocker, it was observed that blood pressure was not decreased significantly as a result of pranayama, as it was observed when no drug was administered.
CONCLUSIONS: Vagal cardiac and pulmonary mechanisms are linked, and improvement in one vagal limb might spill over into the other. Baroreceptor sensitivity can be enhanced significantly by slow breathing (supported by a small reduction in the heart rate observed during slow breathing and by reduction in both systolic and diastolic pressure). Slow pace bhastrika pranayama (respiratory rate 6/min) exercise thus shows a strong tendency to improving the autonomic nervous system through enhanced activation of the parasympathetic system.
Background: There is very little evidence available on the effects of yoga-based breathing practices on response inhibition. The current study used stop-signal paradigm to assess the effects of yoga breathing with intermittent breath holding (YBH) on response inhibition among healthy volunteers.Materials and Methods: Thirty-six healthy volunteers (17 males + 19 females), with mean age of 20.31 ± 3.48 years from a university, were recruited in a within-subject repeated measures (RM) design. The recordings for stop signal task were performed on three different days for baseline, post-YBH, and post yogic breath awareness (YBA) sessions. Stop-signal reaction time (SSRT), mean reaction time to go stimuli (go RT), and the probability of responding on-stop signal trials (p [r/s]) were analyzed for 36 volunteers using RM analysis of variance.
Results: SSRT reduced significantly in both YBH (218.33 ± 38.38) and YBA (213.15 ± 37.29) groups when compared to baseline (231.98 ± 29.54). No significant changes were observed in go RT and p (r/s). Further, the changes in SSRT were not significantly different among YBH and YBA groups.
Conclusion: Both YBH and YBA groups were found to enhance response inhibition in the stop-signal paradigm. YBH could be further evaluated in clinical settings for conditions where response inhibition is altered.
ContextExisting medications for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) do not modify the long-term decline in lung functions. The increasing prevalence of COPD requires the development of interventions beyond the usual medical treatment, with a specific focus on rehabilitation. Controlled breathing (pranayam) is a specific set of respiratory exercises within yoga that has been shown to improve the resting respiratory rate, vital capacity, maximum voluntary ventilation, breath-holding time, and maximal inspiratory and expiratory pressures.
Objective
In this study, pranayam was analyzed as an adjunct treatment for medically stable individuals with moderate to severe COPD.
Design
The research team carried out a case control study.
Setting
This study took place at a tertiary care institution, with the participation of the departments of Physiology, Yoga and Naturopathy, and Pulmonary Medicine at Pandit Bhagwat Dayal Sharma Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences in Rohtak, Haryana, India.
Participants
Participants were 50 medically stable individuals with moderate to severe COPD.
Intervention
Twenty-five participants in the intervention arm (IA) were trained to practice pranayam for 30 min 2 ×/d and also received the usual medical treatment. The control group also included 25 participants, and they received the usual medical treatment only, without pranayam.
Outcome Measures
The COPD assessment test (CAT) score and the body-mass index, obstruction, dyspnea, exercise (BODE) capacity index were assessed at baseline and at 3 mo. The results were expressed using standard statistical methods.
Results
For the IA, a significant improvement occurred in the CAT score (21.2 ± 2.6–17.4 ± 2.5, P < .001) and in the impact level, which moved from high (>20) to medium (10–20) after 3 mo of practicing pranayam. The control arm (CA) showed no significant improvement in the CAT score (21.6 ± 2.7–21.4 ± 2.7). Although the IA showed a significant improvement in a 6-min walk test (6MWT) when compared to the CA, (1) the IA’s forced expiratory volume in 1 sec (FEV1), which is a measure of airflow that is commonly impaired in COPD patients and which is associated with poor functional status, showed no significant improvements, and (2) the IA’s BODE capacity index showed no significant improvements.
Conclusion
The current study shows that pranayam has been demonstrated as useful for individuals with moderate to severe COPD. Significant improvements in the IA’s CAT scores after 3 mo of practice suggests that pranayam can improve the subjective experience of health, disease severity, and functional status for COPD patients, without much improvement in FEV1 actually occurring and with airflow limitation not fully reversible but usually progressive. The research team concluded that pranayam is a useful adjunct treatment and can be an effective rehabilitation program for individuals with COPD.
Context: Existing medications for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) do not modify the longterm decline in lung functions. The increasing prevalence of COPD requires the development of interventions beyond the usual medical treatment, with a specific focus on rehabilitation. Controlled breathing ipranayam) is a specific set of respiratory exercises within yoga that has been shown to improve the resting respiratory rate, vital capacity, maximum voluntary ventilation, breath-holding time, and maximal inspiratory and expiratory pressures.
Stress is recognised as the most challenging issue of modern times. Contemporary science has understood this phenomenon from one aspect and Indian philosophy gives its traditional reasons based on classical texts. Modern science has recently proposed a concept of perseverative cognition (PC) as an important reason for chronic stress. This has shown how constant rumination on an unpalatable event, object or person leads to various lifestyle disorders. Similarly classical yoga texts like the Taittiriya Upanishad, the Bhagavad Gita, and the Yoga Vashistha describe stress in their unique ways. We have here attempted a detailed classification, description, manifestation, and development of a disease and its management through these models. This paper in a nutshell projects these two models of stress and shows how they could be used in future for harmonious management of lifestyle disorders.
Stress is recognised as the most challenging issue of modern times. Contemporary science has understood this phenomenon from one aspect and Indian philosophy gives its traditional reasons based on classical texts. Modern science has recently proposed a concept of perseverative cognition (PC) as an important reason for chronic stress. This has shown how constant rumination on an unpalatable event, object or person leads to various lifestyle disorders. Similarly classical yoga texts like the Taittiriya Upanishad, the Bhagavad Gita, and the Yoga Vashistha describe stress in their unique ways. We have here attempted a detailed classification, description, manifestation, and development of a disease and its management through these models. This paper in a nutshell projects these two models of stress and shows how they could be used in future for harmonious management of lifestyle disorders.