Children and adolescents with Asperger syndrome occasionally exhibit aggressive behavior against peers and parents. In a multiple baseline design across subjects, three adolescents with Asperger syndrome were taught to use a mindfulness-based procedure called Meditation on the Soles of the Feet to control their physical aggression in the family home and during outings in the community. They were taught to shift the focus of their attention from the negative emotions that triggered their aggressive behavior to a neutral stimulus, the soles of their feet.
Prior to training in the mindfulness-based procedure the adolescents had moderate rates of aggression. During mindfulness practice, which lasted between 17 and 24 weeks, their mean rates of aggression per week decreased from 2.7, 2.5 and 3.2 to 0.9, 1.1, and 0.9, respectively, with no instances observed during the last 3 weeks of mindfulness practice. No episodes of physical aggression occurred during a 4-year follow-up. This study suggests that adolescents with Asperger syndrome may successfully use a mindfulness-based procedure to control their aggressive behavior.
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Adolescents with conduct disorder frequently engage in aggressive and disruptive behaviors. Often these behaviors are controlled or managed through behavioral or other psychosocial interventions. However, such interventions do not always ensure lasting changes in an adolescent's response repertoire so that he or she does not engage in aggression when exposed to the same situations that gave rise to the behavior previously. Mindfulness training provides a treatment option that helps an individual focus and attend to conditions that give rise to maladaptive behavior.Using a multiple baseline design,we assessed the effectiveness of a mindfulness training procedure in modulating the aggressive behavior of three adolescents who were at risk of expulsion from school because of this behavior. The adolescents were able to learn the mindfulness procedure successfully and use it in situations that previously occasioned aggressive behavior.This led to large decreases in the aggression of all three individuals. Follow-up data showed that the adolescents were able to keep their aggressive behavior at socially acceptable levels in school through to graduation. Maladaptive behaviors, other than aggression, that the adolescents chose not to modify, showed no consistent change during mindfulness training, practice, and follow-up.
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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.
BACKGROUND: The characteristics of yoga practitioners and factors motivating people to practice yoga have been studied in the US and in Australia. This study aimed to determine the characteristics of yoga users in India, the factors that motivate them to practice yoga, and the yoga techniques of choice. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study was a one-time, cross-sectional survey based on convenience sampling. Inclusion criteria were (a) a minimum of 1 week experience of yoga and (b) at least 10 years of age. 14,250 people received the survey. After excluding those who did not meet the inclusion criteria or filled in the survey incompletely or incorrectly, 5,157 respondents were included in the study. RESULTS: Out of 5,157 respondents, there were more males (67.3%), aged between 21 and 44 years (33.7% of the sample surveyed), educated up to high school (62.5%), students (39.3%), and those who had between 1 and 12 months of experience in yoga (54.4%). The first most common reason to practice yoga for all respondents was physical fitness. Three of the remaining reasons to practice yoga differed significantly with age: (i) yoga for disease management (chi(2) = 17.62, p < 0.005), (ii) yoga as a hobby (chi(2) = 10.87, p < 0.05), and (iii) yoga based on the guru's (teacher's) instructions (chi(2) = 20.05, p < 0.001). The yoga technique of choice [i.e., (i) asanas (chi(2) = 23.17, p < 0.001), (ii) pranayama (chi(2) = 19.87, p < 0.001), or (iii) meditation (chi(2) = 9.64, p < 0.05)] differed significantly across age groups. CONCLUSION: In India, a yoga practitioner was more likely to be male, between 21 and 44 years of age, high school educated, and a student. The reasons to practice yoga and the yoga technique of choice differed significantly with age.
The two decisive enzymes in flavonoid biosynthetic pathway are chalcone synthase (CHS) and chalcone isomerase (CHI), wherein the former carries the first committed step of the pathway and later is involved in isomerization of chalcone. In the present study, full-length cDNA sequence of both the genes (<i>PeCHS</i> and <i>PeCHI</i>) from <i>Phyllanthus emblica</i> (L.) were cloned and sequenced. The 390 and 209 amino acid long polypeptides of PeCHS and PeCHI are coded by 1514 bp nucleotide (nt) (ORF 1173 bp) and 843 bp nt (ORF 630 bp) sequences respectively. Computational analysis revealed the deduced protein of PeCHS contained four CHS protein family specific conserved motifs including residues of active sites and other signature sequences. Four conserved amino acids Thr-48, Tyr-106, Asn-113, and Thr-190 at active sites were identified in PeCHI. Both <i>PeCHI</i> and <i>PeCHS</i> were expressed in <i>E. coli</i> BL21 using pQE-30 UA vector. Expression analysis was carried out in different developmental stages i.e. leaf, flower and fruits. Expression of <i>PeCHS</i> was maximum in mature fruit while <i>PeCHI</i> expression was highest in young leaves. With respect to fruit, <i>PeCHI</i> expression lower down first and then increases with the maturation of fruit whereas <i>PeCHS</i> expression increases gradually with the development of fruit.
In the present clinical trial, two groups of patients of metabolic syndrome have been studied to evaluate the therapeutic and antidyslipidaemic effect of Ayurvedic herbs and Yogic exercises. The group A of 25 patients was given Lashunadi compound containing equal quantity of Lashuna (A ilium sativum Linn.), Gugullu (Commiphora wightii Hook.Ex. Stocks Engl) and Isabgol (Plantago ovate Forsk.) husk in the dosage of 6 gm, twice daily with lukewarm water. The group B of 25 patients was advised yoga therapy. The trial was conducted for two months and lipid and anthropometric profiles (body weight, body mass index & skin fold thickness) were periodically evaluated to assess the therapeutic and antidyslipidaemic effects of drugs under trial. At the end of the trial, group A exhibited its therapeutic and antidyslipidaemic efficiency over the group B.
BACKGROUND: Walking and yoga have been independently evaluated for weight control; however, there are very few studies comparing the 2 with randomization. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The present study compared the effects of 90 minutes/day for 15 days of supervised yoga or supervised walking on: (i) related biochemistry, (ii) anthropometric variables, (iii) body composition, (iv) postural stability, and (v) bilateral hand grip strength in overweight and obese persons. Sixty-eight participants, of whom 5 were overweight (BMI >/=25 kg/m2) and 63 were obese (BMI >/=30 kg/m2; group mean age +/-S.D., 36.4+/-11.2 years; 35 females), were randomized as 2 groups - (i) a yoga group and (ii) a walking group - given the same diet. RESULTS: All differences were pre-post changes within each group. Both groups showed a significant (p<0.05; repeated measures ANOVA, post-hoc analyses) decrease in: BMI, waist circumference, hip circumference, lean mass, body water, and total cholesterol. The yoga group increased serum leptin (p<0.01) and decreased LDL cholesterol (p<0.05). The walking group decreased serum adiponectin (p<0.05) and triglycerides (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Both yoga and walking improved anthropometric variables and serum lipid profile in overweight and obese persons. The possible implications are discussed.
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.
Bhakti has been an all-pervasive concept in the philosophical and religious traditions of India. The origin of bhakti can be traced in the Vedas wherein the root-word bhaj and various synonyms appear and in that point in time no distinction was made between secular (prema) and religious love (bhakti). Narada Bhakti Sutra (NBS) is a premier treatise on the nature of bhakti that emphasizes the connection between bhakti and prema and treats the age-old enigma about the nature of love in an original fashion. NBS has usually been interpreted in a theistic manner, often with theistic interpolations into the text. This paper interprets NBS with a philosophical approach to discover its unique insights on the perennial philosophical issue, namely, ‘what is love?’ and shows that NBS harks back to the age of the Vedas in which secular love and religious love were inter-twined.
Twelve subjects with mild asthmatic episodes in the form of nocturnal precipitation were studied. A two-week schedule of placebo administration, pranayamic breathing exercises using a Pink City lung exerciser alone, and exercises using the lung exerciser with hot, humid air were performed. Five of the 12 asthmatics showed highly significant increases in peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR) with the lung exerciser alone, while eight of the 12 cases showed highly significant increases in PEFR with exercise using hot, humid air. The frequency of nocturnal wheezing also declined. It can be inferred that slow breathing alone and in combination with hot, humid air has a nonspecific bronchoprotective or bronchorelaxing effect.
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.
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.
OBJECTIVE: The Your Own Greatness Affirmed (YOGA) for Youth program delivers yoga to urban inner-city schools with the goal of providing practical benefits that support underserved children at high risk of behavioral and emotional problems. A 10-week YOGA for Youth program delivered 1 to 2 times per week was implemented in 3 schools in urban neighborhoods to examine the effect of the program on student stress, affect, and resilience.METHODS: Thirty children were administered the Perceived Stress Scale, the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule, and the Resilience Scale before and after the yoga program. After the program, informal qualitative interviews were conducted with school teachers, yoga teachers, and students to determine the overall impact of the yoga program.
RESULTS: The quantitative results of this study indicated that the yoga program significantly improved students stress (p < 0.05), positive affect (p < 0.05), and resilience (p < 0.001). The qualitative results indicated that students, school teachers, and yoga teachers all found the program to be beneficial for students' well-being.
CONCLUSION: Taken together, these data suggest that the YOGA for Youth program may provide students in low-income urban schools with behavioral skills that will protect against risk factors associated with the development of behavioral and emotional problems.
Objectives: Breathing exercises practiced in various forms of meditations such as yoga may influence autonomic functions. This may be the basis of therapeutic benefit to hypertensive patients. Design: The study design was a randomized, prospective, controlled clinical study using three groups. Subjects: The subjects comprised 60 male and female patients aged 20–60 years with stage 1 essential hypertension. Intervention: Patients were randomly and equally divided into the control and other two intervention groups, who were advised to do 3 months of slow-breathing and fast-breathing exercises, respectively. Baseline and postintervention recording of blood pressure (BP), autonomic function tests such as standing-to-lying ratio (S=L ratio), immediate heart rate response to standing (30:15 ratio), Valsalva ratio, heart rate variation with respiration (E=I ratio), hand-grip test, and cold presser response were done in all subjects.Results: Slow breathing had a stronger effect than fast breathing. BP decreased longitudinally over a 3-month period with both interventions. S=L ratio, 30:15 ratio, E=I ratio, and BP response in the hand grip and cold pressor test showed significant change only in patients practicing the slow-breathing exercise.
Conclusions: Both types of breathing exercises benefit patients with hypertension. However, improvement in both the sympathetic and parasympathetic reactivity may be the mechanism that is associated in those practicing the slow-breathing exercise.
Students with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) often do not actively engage in academic instruction because they have difficulty in attending to task demands in the classroom. Without adequate intervention, this may result in poor academic outcomes for these students. In a multiple baseline design study, we taught four 5th-grade students Samatha meditation and assessed active engagement in math instruction and the percentage of math problems correctly solved during baseline, meditation training, and meditation practice phases. Results showed the students had varying but low percentages of intervals of active engagement in math instruction during baseline, but evidenced statistically significant increases from baseline to the meditation practice phase. Similarly, their low but varying percentages of math problems solved correctly during baseline showed statistically significant increases from baseline to the meditation practice phase. These results suggest that Samatha meditation may enhance cognitive processes in students with ADHD at a level to benefit them academically.
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Twenty Type 2 diabetic subjects between theage group of 30-60 years were studied to see the effect of 40 days of <i style="">Yoga</i> <i style="">asanas</i>
on biochemical profile. The duration of diabetes ranged from 0 to 10 years.
Subjects suffering from cardiac, renal and proliferative retinal complications
were excluded from the study. <i style="">Yoga</i> <i style="">asanas</i> included <i style="">Surya Namaskar</i>, <i style="">Tadasan</i>, <i style="">Konasan</i>, <i style="">Padmasan</i>, <i style="">Pranayama</i>, <i style="">Paschimottanasan</i>, <i style="">Ardhmatsyendrasan</i>, <i style="">Shavasan</i>,
<i style="">Pavanmuktasan</i>, <i style="">Sarpasan</i> and <i style="">Shavasan</i>.
Subjects were called to the cardio-respiratory laboratory in the morning time
and were given training by the <i style="">Yoga</i>
expert. The <i style="">Yogic</i> exercises were
performed for 30 - 40 minutes every day for 40 days in the above sequence. The
subjects were prescribed medicines and diet. The basal blood glucose, lipid
profile and glycosylated haemoglobin was measured and repeated after 40 days of
<i style="">yoga asanas</i>. There was a statistically
significant decrease in fasting blood glucose (from baseline 208.3 ± 20.0 to 171.7 ± 19.5
mg/dl) and decrease in Postprandial blood glucose (from 295.3 ± 22.0 to 269.7± 19.9
mg/dl). The decreases in values of serum cholesterol were also statistically
significant (from 222.8 ± 10.2 to
207.9 ± 8.6 mg/dl). The triglyceride decreased
(from 168.5 ± 15.5 to 146.3 ±13.5 mg/dl), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and very
low-density lipoprotein improved (from 144.8 ± 8.6 to 140.70 ± 7.9
mg/dl and from 37.4 ± 4.6 to
32.1 ± 3.4 mg/dl). The glycosylated
haemoglobin decreased from 10.27 ±0.5 to
8.68 ± 0.4 %. These findings suggest that <i style="">yoga asanas</i> have a beneficial effect on
glycaemic control and lipid profile in mild to moderate Type 2 diabetes.
OBJECTIVES: To measure the effect of the right and left nostril yoga breathing on frontal hemodynamic responses in 32 right handed healthy male subjects within the age range of 18-35 years (23.75 +/- 4.14 years). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Each subject practiced right nostril yoga breathing (RNYB), left nostril yoga breathing (LNYB) or breath awareness (BA) (as control) for 10 min at the same time of the day for three consecutive days, respectively. The sequence of intervention was assigned randomly. The frontal hemodynamic response in terms of changes in the oxygenated hemoglobin (oxyHb), deoxygenated hemoglobin (deoxyHb), and total hemoglobin (totalHb or blood volume) concentration was tapped for 5 min before (pre) and 10 min during the breathing practices using a 16 channel functional near-infrared system (FNIR100-ACK-W, BIOPAC Systems, Inc., U.S.A.). Average of the eight channels on each side (right and left frontals) was obtained for the two sessions (pre and during). Data was analyzed using SPSS version 10.0 through paired and independent samples t-test. RESULTS: Within group comparison showed that during RNYB, oxyHb levels increased significantly in the left prefrontal cortex (PFC) as compared to the baseline (P = 0.026). LNYB showed a trend towards significance for reduction in oxyHb in the right hemisphere (P = 0.057). Whereas BA caused significant reduction in deoxyHb (P = 0.023) in the left hemisphere. Between groups comparison revealed that oxyHb and blood volume in the left PFC increased significantly during RNYB as compared to BA (oxyHb: P =0.012; TotalHb: P =0.017) and LNYB (oxyHb: P =0.024; totalHb: P =0.034). CONCLUSION: RNYB increased oxygenation and blood volume in the left PFC as compared to BA and LNYB. This supports the relationship between nasal cycle and ultradian rhythm of cerebral dominance and suggests a possible application of uninostril yoga breathing in the management of psychopathological states which show lateralized cerebral dysfunctions.
The effects of two pranayama yoga breathing exercises on airway reactivity, airway calibre, symptom scores, and medication use in patients with mild asthma were assessed in a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover trial. After baseline assessment over 1 week, 18 patients with mild asthma practised slow deep breathing for 15 min twice a day for two consecutive 2-week periods. During the active period, subjects were asked to breathe through a Pink City lung (PCL) exerciser--a device which imposes slowing of breathing and a 1:2 inspiration:expiration duration ratio equivalent to pranayama breathing methods; during the control period, subjects breathed through a matched placebo device. Mean forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1), peak expiratory flow rate, symptom score, and inhaler use over the last 3 days of each treatment period were assessed in comparison with the baseline assessment period; all improved more with the PCL exerciser than with the placebo device, but the differences were not significant. There was a statistically significant increase in the dose of histamine needed to provoke a 20% reduction in FEV1 (PD20) during pranayama breathing but not with the placebo device. The usefulness of controlled ventilation exercises in the control of asthma should be further investigated.
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