Yoga

Improve Quality of Life with Yoga and Meditation

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Improve Quality of Life with Yoga and Meditation

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“Though the benefits of a yoga practice initially arrive on our mats, a regular practice expands those benefits as they permeate into our daily lives beyond the four corners of our mats.” – Crystal Borup-Popenoe

 

Yoga practice has been shown to have a myriad of benefits for psychological and physical health, social, and spiritual well-being. It is both an exercise and a mind-body practice those stresses both mental attention to present moment movements, breath control, and flexibility, range of motion, and balance.

 

In today’s Research News article “Health-Related Quality of Life Outcomes With Regular Yoga and Heartfulness Meditation Practice: Results From a Multinational, Cross-sectional Study.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9116454/  ) Thimmapuram and colleagues recruit participants in the International Day of Yoga 100 day Yoga and heartfulness meditation practice online from countries around the world and had them complete measures of yoga practice, health-related quality of life, relaxation, nervousness, and stress.

 

Both regular yoga practitioners and also heartfulness meditation practitioners in comparison to those who were not had significantly higher health-related quality of life, healthy lifestyle, ability to cope with stress, workplace productivity, relaxation, and staying healthy during Covid-19 and lower levels of stress. Hence, regular practitioners of yoga or heartfulness meditation were associated with greater health and well-being.

 

The study does not establish causation but provide evidence that the relationship of the practices to health and well-being occur regardless of country.

 

“Moderate‐quality evidence supports the recommendation of yoga as a supportive intervention for improving health‐related quality of life and reducing fatigue and sleep disturbances when compared with no therapy, as well as for reducing depression, anxiety and fatigue, when compared with psychosocial/educational interventions. “ – Holger Cramer

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

This and other Contemplative Studies posts are also available on Twitter @MindfulResearch

 

Study Summary

 

Thimmapuram, J., Patel, K., Madhusudhan, D. K., Deshpande, S., Bouderlique, E., Nicolai, V., & Rao, R. (2022). Health-Related Quality of Life Outcomes With Regular Yoga and Heartfulness Meditation Practice: Results From a Multinational, Cross-sectional Study. JMIR formative research, 6(5), e37876. https://doi.org/10.2196/37876

 

Abstract

Background

Although the benefits of yoga are well established across the world, there are limited studies exploring the long-term interrelation between yoga, meditation, and health. Specifically, there is limited research exploring the differences in health-related quality of life (HRQOL) among regular meditators and nonmeditators.

Objective

This study explored the differences in 7 domains of HRQOL (including quality of life, ability to adopt a healthy lifestyle, ability to relax, frequency of nervousness and stress, coping with day-to-day stress, workplace productivity, and staying healthy during the COVID-19 pandemic) among practitioners of yoga and meditation.

Methods

A cross-sectional, online survey was distributed to all members who participated in a 100-day yoga and meditation program, culminating in the International Day of Yoga event, organized by the Heartfulness Institute in partnership with the Central Council for Research in Yoga and Naturopathy, Ministry of Ayush, SVYASA Yoga University, and Patanjali Yoga Institute, India. The program consisted of daily virtual yoga, meditation, and speaker sessions. The data were analyzed by nonparametric Mann-Whitney U test and Kruskal-Wallis tests for continuous variables and chi-square test for categorical variables.

Results

A total of 3164 participants from 39 countries completed the survey. Mean age was 33.8 (SD 13.6) years. The majority of the participants were female (n=1643, 52%) and students (n=1312, 41.5%). Regular yoga and meditation practice was associated with a positive impact on all 7 domains of HRQOL (Mann-Whitney P<.05 and χ2 P<.05). Notably, experienced Heartfulness (≥2 years) meditators reported better outcomes in all the domains of HRQOL as compared to those not currently practicing this form of meditation and participants with ≤1 year of Heartfulness meditation experience (P<.05).

Conclusions

This is one of the first cross-sectional studies to explore HRQOL outcomes among participants of a 100-day virtual yoga and meditation program. Overall, a yoga and meditation practice was found to be an effective tool for promoting HRQOL. Regular yoga and meditation practice was associated with factors promoting health and well-being, with long-term meditation practice associated with increased benefits.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9116454/

Reduce Burnout in Caregivers for the Elderly with Meditation and Yoga

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Reduce Burnout in Caregivers for the Elderly with Meditation and Yoga

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“Self-care is very important for preventing caregiver burnout and senior stress, and two of the most effective self-care habits you can start are meditation and yoga.” – Harry Cline

 

There is a tremendous demand for caregiving. It is estimated that over 65 million (29% of the adult population) in the US provides care to someone who is ill, disabled or aged, averaging 20 hours per week spent caring for their loved ones. This caregiving comes at a cost exacting a tremendous toll on caregivers’ health and well-being. Caregiving has been associated with increased levels of depression and anxiety as well as higher use of psychoactive medications, poorer self-reported physical health, compromised immune function, and increased mortality. Mindfulness practice for caregivers has been shown to help them cope with the physical and psychological demands of caregiving.

 

In today’s Research News article “The effects of yoga and mindful meditation on elderly care worker’s burnout: a CONSORT-compliant randomized controlled trial.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8753257/ ) Kukihara and colleagues recruited adult caregivers for the elderly and randomly assigned them to receive either no-treatment, or 6 weekly 60-minute programs of either yoga or mindful meditation. They were measured before and after treatment for burnout and provided saliva samples for assay for the stress marker α-amylase.

 

They found that in comparison to baseline and the no-treatment control group both the yoga and meditation groups had significant reductions in burnout, particularly emotional exhaustion, and the salivary stress marker α-amylase. There were no significant differences in the benefits of the yoga or the mindful meditation programs.

 

So, practice yoga or meditation to reduce burnout and stress in caregivers for the elderly.

 

“Caregiving for a senior is a wonderful thing to do, but it comes with its difficulties and stresses. Yoga and meditation are two practices that can help seniors and their caregivers lead happier and healthier lives.” – Beverly Nelson

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

This and other Contemplative Studies posts are also available on Twitter @MindfulResearch

 

Study Summary

 

Kukihara, H., Ando, M., & Yamawaki, N. (2022). The effects of yoga and mindful meditation on elderly care worker’s burnout: a CONSORT-compliant randomized controlled trial. Journal of rural medicine : JRM, 17(1), 14–20. https://doi.org/10.2185/jrm.2021-021

 

Abstract

Objectives: This study aims to investigate the effects of mindful meditation and yoga on reducing burnout and stress in care workers who assist elderly individuals. Knowing how to reduce burnout is important because that of care workers is associated with the quality of client care, worker productivity, and job turnover.

Patients and Methods: The participants included 44 care workers who worked for elderly care facilities in rural Fukuoka. They were randomly assigned to one of three intervention groups: control, yoga, or mindfulness. In the yoga intervention group, a certified yoga instructor taught a 60-minute yoga session each week for six weeks. In the mindfulness group, an experienced medical doctor instructed a mindful meditation program for the same length. Participants were asked to complete the Japanese Burnout Scale (JBS), and the research team collected the level of α-amylase in saliva using NIPRO: T-110-N pre- and post-interventions.

Results: MANOVA was performed with each intervention (control, yoga, mindfulness) as the independent variable on the three subscales of the JBS (emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal achievement) and a biomarker of stress level (α-amylase). The results indicated a significant main effect of interventions, and a follow-up ANOVA showed a significant effect of interventions on emotional exhaustion and personal achievement.

Conclusion: The results indicate that practicing mindful meditation or yoga for 60 minutes once a week for six weeks can reduce care workers’ burnout. This study was notable because the biomarker of stress also improved. It is strongly recommended and encouraged that institutions caring for the elderly population provide mindful meditation or yoga intervention to reduce burnout, which benefits not only care workers but also their clients.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8753257/

 

Manage Hypertension with Yoga

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Manage Hypertension with Yoga

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“brisk walking, reducing salt intake, and practicing yoga can each benefit people with high blood pressure.” – Markus MacGill

 

High Blood Pressure (Hypertension) is an insidious disease because there are no overt symptoms. The individual feels fine. But it can be deadly as more than 360,000 American deaths, roughly 1,000 deaths each day, had high blood pressure as a primary or contributing cause. In addition, hypertension markedly increases the risk heart attack, stroke, heart failure, and kidney disease.  It is also a very common disorder with about 70 million American adults (29%) having high blood pressure and only about half (52%) of people with high blood pressure have their condition under control. Treatment frequently includes antihypertensive drugs. But these medications often have adverse side effects. So, patients feel lousy when taking the drugs, but fine when they’re not. So, compliance is a major issue with many patients not taking the drugs regularly or stopping entirely.

 

Obviously, there is a need for alternative to drug treatments for hypertension. Exercise has been shown to effectively reduce blood pressure. Also, mindfulness practices have been shown to aid in controlling hypertension. Yoga practice is both an exercise and a mindfulness practice that has been shown to reduce blood pressure. The research has been accumulating. So, it makes sense to summarize what has been learned regarding the conditions under which yoga practice is effective in reducing hypertension.

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In today’s Research News article “Content, Structure, and Delivery Characteristics of Yoga Interventions for Managing Hypertension: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8995771/ ) Nalbant and colleagues review, summarize, and perform a meta-analysis of the published randomized controlled studies of the conditions under which yoga practice is effective in reducing hypertension. They identified 34 published randomized controlled trials.

 

They report that the published studies found that yoga practice was overall effective in lowering diastolic and systolic blood pressure in patients with hypertension. In comparing trials that produced significant improvement in hypertension to those that didn’t they report that the successful trials incorporated balance of postures, breathing practices, meditation and relaxation practices, occurring over 2 sessions per week, and were delivered in a formal setting under supervision.

 

This summary of published research supports the use of yoga practice in the treatment of hypertension and defines the components that need to be present to produce significant benefits.

 

“Yoga leaves a positive impact on your mind and body. It is an effective way to lower blood pressure. Here are some effective yoga asanas for hypertension.” – Varsha Vats

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

This and other Contemplative Studies posts are also available on Twitter @MindfulResearch

 

Study Summary

 

Nalbant, G., Hassanein, Z. M., Lewis, S., & Chattopadhyay, K. (2022). Content, Structure, and Delivery Characteristics of Yoga Interventions for Managing Hypertension: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials. Frontiers in public health, 10, 846231. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2022.846231

 

Abstract

Objectives

This systematic review aimed to synthesize the content, structure, and delivery characteristics of effective yoga interventions used for managing hypertension and to compare these characteristics with ineffective interventions.

Design and Method

The JBI and the PRISMA guidelines were followed in this systematic review. RCTs conducted among hypertensive adults were included. RCTs reporting at least one of the major components of yoga (i.e., asana, pranayama, and dhyana and relaxation practices) and comparing them with no intervention or any intervention were eligible. Sixteen databases were searched for published and unpublished studies without any date and language restrictions till March 15, 2021.

Results

The literature search yielded 13,130 records. 34 RCTs (evaluating 38 yoga interventions) met the inclusion criteria. Overall, included studies had low methodological quality mostly due to inadequate reporting. Yoga reduced SBP and DBP compared to a control intervention (MD −6.49 and −2.78; 95CI% −8.94– −4.04 and −4.11– −1.45, respectively). Eighteen, 14 and 20 interventions were effective in improving SBP, DBP, or either, respectively. 13 out of 20 effective interventions incorporated all the 3 major components of yoga and allocated similar durations to each component whereas ineffective interventions were more focused on the asana and duration of asana practice was longer. The most common duration and frequency of effective interventions were 45 min/session (in 5 interventions), 7 days/week (in 5 interventions), and 12 weeks (in 11 interventions) whereas the most common session frequency was 2 days a week (in 7 interventions) in ineffective interventions. Effective interventions were mostly center-based (in 15 interventions) and supervised (in 16 interventions) and this was similar with ineffective interventions.

Conclusion

Despite the low quality and heterogeneity of included studies, our findings suggest yoga interventions may effectively manage hypertension. The differences between the effective and ineffective interventions suggest that effective yoga interventions mostly incorporated asana, pranayama, and dhyana and relaxation practices and they had a balance between these three components and included regular practice. They were mostly delivered in a center and under supervision. Future studies should consider developing and evaluating an intervention for managing hypertension using the synthesized findings of the effective interventions in this review.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8995771/

 

Improve the Symptoms of Type 2 Diabetes with Yoga Therapy

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Iyengar Yoga Exercises For Diabetes Mellitus Type 2 - YouTube

Improve the Symptoms of Type 2 Diabetes with Yoga Therapy

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“Yoga can do more than just relax your body in mind — especially if you’re living with diabetes. Certain poses may help lower blood pressure and blood sugar levels while also improving circulation, leading many experts to recommend yoga for diabetes management.” – Emily Cronkleton

 

Diabetes is a major health issue. It is estimated that 30 million people in the United States and nearly 600 million people worldwide have diabetes, and the numbers are growing. Type-2 Diabetes results from a resistance of tissues, especially fat tissues, to the ability of insulin to promote the uptake of glucose from the blood. As a result, blood sugar levels rise producing hyperglycemia. Diabetes is heavily associated with other diseases such as cardiovascular disease, heart attacks, stroke, blindness, kidney disease, and circulatory problems leading to amputations. As a result, diabetes doubles the risk of death of any cause compared to individuals of the same age without diabetes.

 

Type 2 diabetes is a common and increasingly prevalent illness that is largely preventable. One of the reasons for the increasing incidence of Type 2 Diabetes is its association with overweight and obesity which is becoming epidemic in the industrialized world. A leading cause of this is a sedentary lifestyle. Unlike Type I Diabetes, Type II does not require insulin injections. Instead, the treatment and prevention of Type 2 Diabetes focuses on diet, exercise, and weight control. Recently, mindfulness practices have been shown to be helpful in managing diabetes. A mindfulness practice that combines mindfulness with exercise is yoga and it has been shown to be helpful in the treatment of Type II Diabetes.

 

In today’s Research News article “Impact of an Integrated Yoga Therapy Protocol on Insulin Resistance and Glycemic Control in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8798588/ ) Gowri and colleagues recruited adult patients with Type 2 diabetes and randomly assigned them to either receive twice weekly for 120 days sessions of yoga therapy or treatment as usual. Both groups received dietary advice. They were measured before treatment and 120 days later for body size and levels of insulin and lipids in the blood.

 

They found in comparison to baseline and the control group that the yoga therapy group had significantly lower body mass index (BMI), post-prandial and fasting blood glucose, HbA1c, insulin, insulin resistance, LDL cholesterol, and very-low density lipoproteins and higher levels of HDL cholesterol.

 

These are encouraging results that yoga therapy is a safe and effective treatment to improve the symptoms of type 2 diabetes. Future research should compare yoga therapy to other forms of exercise.

 

“Yoga therapy works predominantly by its ability to decrease the stress response, which in turn controls blood glucose levels. In addition, postures and other yogic techniques may benefit the function of abdominal organs like the pancreas via mechanical and energetic effects.” – Robyn Tiger

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

This and other Contemplative Studies posts are also available on Twitter @MindfulResearch

 

Study Summary

 

Mangala Gowri, M., Rajendran, J., Srinivasan, A. R., Bhavanani, A. B., & Meena, R. (2022). Impact of an Integrated Yoga Therapy Protocol on Insulin Resistance and Glycemic Control in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus. Rambam Maimonides medical journal, 13(1), e0005. https://doi.org/10.5041/RMMJ.10462

 

Abstract

Objective

Diabetes mellitus (DM), characterized by chronic hyperglycemia, is attributed to relative insulin deficiency or resistance, or both. Studies have shown that yoga can modulate parameters of insulin resistance. The present study explored the possible beneficial effects of integrated yoga therapy with reference to glycemic control and insulin resistance (IR) in individuals with diabetes maintained on standard oral medical care with yoga therapy, compared to those on standard oral medical care alone.

Methods

In this study, the subjects on yoga intervention comprised 35 type 2 diabetics, and an equal number of volunteers constituted the control group. Subjects ranged in age from 30 to 70 years, with hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) test more than 7%, and were maintained on diabetic diet and oral hypoglycemic agents. Blood samples were drawn prior to and after 120 days of integrated yoga therapy intervention. Fasting blood glucose (FBG), post-prandial blood glucose (PPBG), HbA1c, insulin, and lipid profile were assessed in both the intervention and control groups.

Results

The intervention group revealed significant improvements in body mass index (BMI) (0.7 kg/m2 median decrease; P=0.001), FBG (20 mg/dL median decrease; P<0.001), PPBG (33 mg/dL median decrease; P<0.001), HbA1c (0.4% median decrease; P<0.001), homeostatic model assessment for insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) (1.2 median decrease; P<0.001), cholesterol (13 mg/dL median decrease, P=0.006), triacylglycerol (22 mg/dL median decrease; P=0.027), low-density lipoprotein (6 mg/dL median decrease; P=0.004), and very-low-density lipoprotein levels (4 mg/dL median decrease; P=0.032). Increases in high-density lipoprotein after 120 days were not significant (6 mg/dL median increase; P=0.15). However, when compared to changes observed in patients in the control group, all these improvements proved to be significant.

Conclusion

Administration of integrated yoga therapy to individuals with diabetes leads to a significant improvement in glycemic control, insulin resistance, and key biochemical parameters.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8798588/

Meditation is an Effective Treatment for a Variety of Medical Conditions

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Meditation is an Effective Treatment for a Variety of Medical Conditions

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“Mindfulness is not a cure-all. . . . There have been thousands of studies showing that there are psychological and physical benefits to mindfulness meditation, but the intention . . . is not to cure the disease or fully treat the symptoms, but to treat the whole person — and that includes their mental and emotional well-being — so they can live in greater health and joy.” – Men’s Health

 

Over the last several decades, research and anecdotal experiences have accumulated an impressive evidential case that meditation has positive benefits for the individual’s mental, physical, and spiritual life. Meditation appears to be beneficial both for healthy people and for people suffering from a myriad of mental and physical illnesses. It appears to be beneficial across ages, from children to the elderly. And it appears to be beneficial across genders, personalities, race, and ethnicity. The breadth and depth of benefits is unprecedented. There is no other treatment or practice that has been shown to come anyway near the range of mindfulness’ positive benefits.

 

Over the last few decades, a vast amount of research has been published on the benefits of meditation on the mental and physical health of the practitioners. So, it makes sense to step back and summarize what has been learned.

 

In today’s Research News article “Systematic Review for the Medical Applications of Meditation in Randomized Controlled Trials.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8834867/ ) Kim and colleagues review and summarize the 104 published randomized controlled trials on the benefits of meditation practices on mental and physical well-being.

 

They report that the published research found that different studies report varying results but the most common significant benefits of meditation practice were improvements in fatigue, sleep quality, quality of life, stress, PTSD symptoms, blood pressure, intraocular pressure, and depression. In general yoga-based practices produced slightly better results than mindfulness based techniques,

 

Hence, meditation practices have been found to help improve mental and physical well-being.

 

“meditation can improve mental health and reduce symptoms associated with chronic conditions.” – Ashley Welch

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

This and other Contemplative Studies posts are also available on Twitter @MindfulResearch

 

Study Summary

 

Kim, D. Y., Hong, S. H., Jang, S. H., Park, S. H., Noh, J. H., Seok, J. M., Jo, H. J., Son, C. G., & Lee, E. J. (2022). Systematic Review for the Medical Applications of Meditation in Randomized Controlled Trials. International journal of environmental research and public health, 19(3), 1244. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19031244

 

Abstract

Background: Meditation has been increasingly adapted for healthy populations and participants with diseases. Its beneficial effects are still challenging to determine due to the heterogeneity and methodological obstacles regarding medical applications. This study aimed to integrate the features of therapeutic meditation in randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Methods: We conducted a systematic review of RCTs with meditation for populations with diseases using the PubMed database through June 2021. We analyzed the characteristics of the diseases/disorders, participants, measurements, and their overall benefits. Results: Among a total of 4855 references, 104 RCTs were determined and mainly applied mindfulness-based (51 RCTs), yoga-based (32 RCTs), and transcendental meditation (14 RCTs) to 10,139 patient-participants. These RCTs were conducted for participants with a total of 45 kinds of disorders; the most frequent being cancer, followed by musculoskeletal and connective tissue diseases and affective mood disorder. Seven symptoms or signs were frequently assessed: depressive mood, feeling anxious, quality of life, stress, sleep, pain, and fatigue. The RCTs showed a higher ratio of positive outcomes for sleep (73.9%) and fatigue (68.4%). Conclusions: This systematic review produced the comprehensive features of RCTs for therapeutic meditation. These results will help physicians and researchers further study clinical adaptations in the future as reference data.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8834867/

 

Improve Inflammatory and Stress Responses with Yoga

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Improve Inflammatory and Stress Responses with Yoga

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“yoga could slow the harmful physical effects of stress and inflammaging.” – Harvard Health

 

The immune system is designed to protect the body from threats like stress, infection, injury, and toxic chemicals. One of its tools is the Inflammatory response. This response works quite well for short-term infections and injuries. But when inflammation is protracted and becomes chronic, it can itself become a threat to health. It can produce autoimmune diseases such as colitis, Chron’s disease, arthritis, heart disease, increased cancer risk, lung disease, sleep disruption, gum disease, decreased bone health, psoriasis, and depression. Indeed, the presence of chronic inflammation is associated with reduced longevity.

 

So, it is important for health to control the inflammatory response, allowing it to do its job in fighting off infection but reducing its activity when no external threat is apparent. Of course, it is far better to prevent chronic inflammation in the first place than to treat it later. Mind-body techniques such as yoga, Tai Chi and meditation have been shown to adaptively reduce the inflammatory response. The evidence is accumulating. So, it makes sense to step back and summarize what has been learned.

 

In today’s Research News article “The role of yoga in inflammatory markers. Brain, behavior, & immunity – health.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8842003/ ) Estevan and colleagues review and summarize the published research studies of the effects of yoga practice on the inflammatory response.

 

They report that the published research found that yoga practice reduces the inflammatory response and stress hormones in a wide variety of conditions such a COPD, obesity cancer, and depression. So, the research suggests that yoga practice is an effective treatment to reduce the chronic inflammation.

 

“Often, the precursor to illness is chronic inflammation. . . . Yoga — of various styles, intensities, and durations — reduced the biochemical markers of inflammation across several chronic conditions.” – Sarah Ezrin

 

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

This and other Contemplative Studies posts are also available on Twitter @MindfulResearch

 

Study Summary

 

Estevao C. (2022). The role of yoga in inflammatory markers. Brain, behavior, & immunity – health, 20, 100421. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbih.2022.100421

 

Abstract

Yoga is an ancient system for integrating the mind, body, and spirit. In the hatha yoga ashtanga tradition (the eight limb Patanjali Yoga), three of the limbs are meditation, breathwork (pranayama) and physical postures (asana), which are widely practised in yoga classes. The benefits of yoga for mental and physical health are rooted in the practice’s origins: in yoga, stress is said to be the root of all diseases.

The established fields of psychoneuroimmunology and immunopsychiatry study the interplay between the immune system and mood or mental states. This mini-review has shifted the emphasis from research that focuses on yoga’s benefits for stress, the most commonly studied outcome of yoga research, to a summary of the research on the effects of yoga practices on the immune system. The current literature bears strong evidence for the benefits of yoga on the levels of circulating cortisol and classical inflammatory markers, such as C-reactive protein (CRP) and cytokines such as interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β), interleukin 6 (IL-6), tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) and interferon-gamma (INF-γ). The evidence for other less studied markers, telomerase activity, β-endorphins, Immunoglobulin A (IgA) and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is also growing. This mini-review centres around the interplay between yoga and these markers in stress management and depression, vascular and immune function in the older population, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, auto-immune diseases, breast cancer and pregnancy.

Overall, the literature examined reveals the novelty of this field of research and sheds light on methodological challenges; however, it uncovers the potential for yoga to be used as adjuvant therapy in conditions with an inflammatory component.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8842003/

 

Improve the Regulation of Emotions with Yoga

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Improve the Regulation of Emotions with Yoga

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“yoga has an important role in regulating the feelings of the adolescents and the students who practice yoga are more happy, energetic, focused, and healthy.” – Yasmin Janjhua

 

Emotions are important to our well-being. They provide the spice of life, the joy, the love, the happiness. But they can be troubling producing sadness, hurt and fear. They can also be harmful such as the consequences of out-of-control anger or suicidal depression. We need emotions, but we must find ways to keep them under control. Emotion regulation is the term used to describe the ability to control emotions. It is not eliminating or suppressing them. Far from it, emotion regulation allows for the emotion to be fully felt and experienced. But it maintains the intensity of the emotion at a manageable level and also produces the ability to respond to the emotion appropriately and constructively. Clearly, emotion regulation is a key to a happier life.

 

Mindfulness practices have been shown to improve emption regulation. Exercise has also been shown to improve mental health. Yoga is both a mindfulness practice and an exercise. It has been shown to have a myriad of benefits for psychological and physical health, social, and spiritual well-being. So, there is reason to believe that yoga practice may improve emotion regulation. How this might work in young adults has not been well explored.

 

In today’s Research News article “”I Just Find It Easier to Let Go of Anger”: Reflections on the Ways in Which Yoga Influences How Young People Manage Their Emotions.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8645589/ ) Hagen and colleagues examine the changes in emotions that occur in teenagers during participation in an 8-week yoga class. The teens received semi-structured interviews and filled out logs of their experiences.

 

The youths reported that yoga reduced negative emotions and improved their ability to regulate these emotions. This is very important for everyone but especially during the highly volatile teenage years. By making the teens more aware of their emotions and improving their ability to understand their origins, they become better at working with them as opposed to suppressing or ignoring them. Hence, yoga practice may be an important means to help teens navigate this difficult period.

 

“Yoga is beneficial for everyone, from 3 years to 103! It might be said though, that the 13-18 year old age group needs it the most.” – Lyn Russell

 

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

This and other Contemplative Studies posts are available on Twitter @MindfulResearch

 

Study Summary

 

Hagen, I., Skjelstad, S., & Nayar, U. S. (2021). “I Just Find It Easier to Let Go of Anger”: Reflections on the Ways in Which Yoga Influences How Young People Manage Their Emotions. Frontiers in psychology, 12, 729588. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.729588

 

Abstract

In this article we discuss how young people experienced a school-based yoga intervention. We pay particular attention to how yoga provides a space for young people to deal with their emotions. We base our discussion on qualitative data from young people in Norway who participated in the European research project “Hippocampus: Promoting Mental Health and Wellbeing among Young People through Yoga.” The qualitative results are based on experiences described by these young people in individual semi-structured interviews and in diaries or logs. Our data include nine interviews performed in the spring of 2019 with young people of Norwegian and refugee background in their late teens and early twenties. There were also 133 logs noted by the students exposed to the yoga intervention. In the qualitative interviews, young people talk about yoga and emotional management, improved sleep habits, and regulation. They also report improved ability to regulate and cope with stress. Yoga seemed especially beneficial for refugee trauma. In this article, we have chosen to focus on the utterances of young people about emotions, as those were quite dominant in our data, especially in the interview material. We have identified instances of emotional regulation, but also of emotional processes and changes of emotions, all of which were related to these young students practicing yoga. The impact of yoga on emotions illustrates the potential of yoga to improve the well-being and mental health of young people.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8645589/

Improve Working Memory with Yogic Visual Concentration

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Improve Working Memory with Yogic Visual Concentration

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“The Hatha Yoga Pradipika defines trataka as “looking intently with an unwavering gaze at a small point until tears are shed.” This simple technique has a purifying, invigorating effect on the mind and improves concentration, paving the way for a deeper meditation practice. “ – Natalya Podgorny

 

Yoga practice has been shown to have a myriad of benefits for psychological and physical health, social, and spiritual well-being. It is both an exercise and a mind-body practice those stresses both mental attention to present moment movements, breath control, and flexibility, range of motion, and balance. There has, however, not been much attention paid to the characteristics of practice that are important for producing maximum benefits. One little researched component of some yoga practices is yogic visual concentration.

 

In today’s Research News article “Effect of Trataka (Yogic Visual Concentration) on the Performance in the Corsi-Block Tapping Task: A Repeated Measures Study.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.773049/full?utm_source=F-AAE&utm_medium=EMLF&utm_campaign=MRK_1796285_a0P58000000G0YfEAK_Psycho_20211223_arts_A ) Swathi and colleagues recruited healthy university students and trained them for 20 minutes per day for 6 weeks on the yogic visual concentration technique of Trataka and also eye exercise training. Trataka involved eye exercises, viewing a candle in a dark room, and visualizing the candle flame. Eye exercises involved exercising eye movement in all planes. Training was followed by one week of no training. They then alternated practicing eye exercises or Trataka for 4 days. After the practices they were measured for memory processes with the Corsi Block Tapping task.

 

They found that in comparison to baseline and the eye exercise condition, after practicing yogic visual concentration (Trataka) there was significant improvements in memory, including working memory, spatial memory, and spatial attention. Using eye exercises as a comparison (control) condition reduces many possible confounding explanations and is a strength of the study, strengthening the conclusion that yogic visual concentration results in improvement of short-term nenory.

 

Mindfulness practices, including yoga, contain a number of components including practicing concentration. These practices are also known to improve memory. The present results suggest that the concentration practice is sufficient to produce improvements in short-term (working) memory. This makes sense as a prerequisite of memory is obtaining the information in the first place without interference, and this would be improved by learning to concentrate better on the task at hand.

 

So, improve working memory with yogic visual concentration.

 

“The purpose of concentration techniques is to discover how to focus the mind on one point for a sustained duration. . . With dedicated practice, concentration techniques can help prevent memory loss, create clarity of thought, and promote everyday mindfulness.” – Timothy Burgin

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

This and other Contemplative Studies posts are available on Twitter @MindfulResearch

 

Study Summary

 

Swathi PS, Bhat R and Saoji AA (2021) Effect of Trataka (Yogic Visual Concentration) on the Performance in the Corsi-Block Tapping Task: A Repeated Measures Study. Front. Psychol. 12:773049. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.773049

 

Background and Objective: Attention and memory are essential aspects of cognitive health. Yogasanas, pranayama, and meditation have shown to improve cognitive functions. There has been no assessment of Trataka (yogic visual concentration) on working or on spatial memory. The present study was planned to assess the immediate effects of Trataka and of eye exercise sessions on the Corsi-block tapping task (CBTT).

Methods: A total of 41 healthy volunteers of both genders with age 23.21 ± 2.81 years were recruited. All participants underwent baseline assessment, followed by 2 weeks of training in Trataka (including eye exercise). Each training session lasted for 20 min/day for 6 days a week. After completion of the training period, a 1-week washout period was given. Each participant then was assessed in two sessions in Trataka and in eye exercise on two separate days, maintaining the same time of the day. Repeated measure analysis of variance with Holm’s adjustment was performed to check the difference between the sessions.

Results: Significant within-subjects effects were observed for forward Corsi span andforward total score (p < 0.001), and also for backward Corsi span (p < 0.05) and backward total score (p < 0.05). Post hoc analyses revealed Trataka session to be better than eye exercises and baseline. The eye exercise session did not show any significant changes in the CBTT.

Conclusion: The result suggests that Trataka session improves working memory, spatial memory, and spatial attention.

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.773049/full?utm_source=F-AAE&utm_medium=EMLF&utm_campaign=MRK_1796285_a0P58000000G0YfEAK_Psycho_20211223_arts_A

 

Increase Body Awareness and Emotional Regulation in College Women with Yoga

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Increase Body Awareness and Emotional Regulation in College Women with Yoga

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“Among the suite of tools and strategies that so many of us lean on when it comes to living peacefully (or not) with our emotions, yoga is probably one of the most affecting and effective.” – Monisha Rudhran

 

Yoga training has been shown to improve health and well-being. It has also been found to be effective for a large array of medical and psychiatric conditions, either stand-alone or in combination with more traditional therapies. There are a wide variety of different yoga training techniques. Many varieties employ breath-focused and meditative-focused practices. Although the benefits of yoga practices in general are well studied there is little scientific research comparing breathing and meditative-focused yoga versus only yoga postures.

 

In today’s Research News article “Can Yoga Boost Access to the Bodily and Emotional Self? Changes in Heart Rate Variability and in Affective Evaluation Before, During and After a Single Session of Yoga Exercise With and Without Instructions of Controlled Breathing and Mindful Body Awareness in Young Healthy Women.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.731645/full?utm_source=F-AAE&utm_medium=EMLF&utm_campaign=MRK_1790561_a0P58000000G0YfEAK_Psycho_20211214_arts_A ) Herbert recruited female college students and had them perform 30 minutes of yoga exercises. One randomly assigned group was instructed to “exercise any movement with heightened body awareness and breathing control” while the other received no further instruction. They were measured before and after the 30 minutes of yoga for cardiac activity including heart rate variability with an electrocardiogram, positive and negative emotions, interoceptive awareness, self-referential processing, empathy, affective judgement, and heartbeat counting.

 

They found that cardiac activity was, not surprisingly, increased by yoga, but the two groups did not differ. Also, compared to pre-yoga, after yoga the heart rate was significantly lower during the affective task. In addition, after practicing yoga the participants were significantly faster and more accurate in their affective judgements to emotional stimuli and higher levels of body awareness (heartbeat counting). Hence, there were significant effects of yoga on cardiac activity, emotion regulation, and body awareness, but there was no significant effect of the instruction to be aware of the body and breathing during yoga.

 

The results suggest that a single 30-minute yoga session, like any other exercise, affects cardiac activity and it improves emotional processing and body awareness regardless of body awareness instruction. These findings are not new as it has been established in previous research by other researchers studying different groups that yoga practice improves body awareness and emotion regulation. That this happens after a single 30-minute practice is new and interesting.

 

The lack of a control group participating in another form of exercise, however, limits the conclusions regarding the effects of yoga per se. It is possible that any form of exercise would produce similar effects. In addition, a single 30-minute session may not be sufficient to observe effect of an intention to be aware of the body and breathing. More practice may be necessary. Alternatively, participating in yoga may heighten body and breathing awareness regardless of whether there was an explicit instruction. Nevertheless, short-term exercise appears to be healthful for the heart, body awareness, and the emotions.

 

So, increase body awareness and emotional regulation in college women with yoga.

 

“Change your posture and you change the way you breathe. Change your breathing and you change your nervous system. This is one of the great lessons of yoga: Everything is connected.” – Timothy McCall

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

This and other Contemplative Studies posts are available on Twitter @MindfulResearch

 

Study Summary

 

Herbert C (2021) Can Yoga Boost Access to the Bodily and Emotional Self? Changes in Heart Rate Variability and in Affective Evaluation Before, During and After a Single Session of Yoga Exercise With and Without Instructions of Controlled Breathing and Mindful Body Awareness in Young Healthy Women. Front. Psychol. 12:731645. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.731645

 

Exercise is indispensable for a healthy lifestyle. Yoga exercise can have positive effects on well-being and on cardiac autonomic activity making it an ideal intervention for improving mind-body interactions and resilience to physical and mental stressors. Emotions trigger especially strong bodily and affective-cognitive responses because of their social relevance for the self and their biological relevance of mobilizing the organism for action. This study investigates whether changes in emotion processing related to self-other referential processing and changes in cardiac autonomic activity, reflected by heart rate variability (HRV), occur immediately after already a single session of yoga exercise when yoga postures are practiced with or without breathing- and mindful body awareness instructions. Women, all university students (N = 34, final sample: n = 30, n = 25 naïve to yoga practice) were randomly assigned to two experimental groups who performed the same yoga exercises with or without controlled breathing and mindfulness instructions. Emotional, self-other referential processing, awareness of bodily signals and HRV indicators were investigated before and after the exercise using standardized experimental tasks, standardized questionnaires, and mobile recording devices. Exercising for 30 minutes changed cardiac activity significantly. HRV measures showed adaptability of cardiac activity during the exercise as well as during the affective task post- to pre-exercise. Exercising with breathing instructions and mindful body awareness had no superior effects on cardiac, particularly parasympathetic activity, compared to practicing the same movements without such explicit instructions. Self-referential processing did not change; however, participants were faster and more accurate in their affective judgments of emotional stimuli [regardless of their reference (self/other)], and showed better awareness of bodily signals after compared to before the exercise session. The results support immediate, adaptive effects of yoga exercise on cardiac and affective-cognitive processing in an all-female healthy sample. Therefore, yoga exercise could be recommended as a physical activity for boosting cardiac and emotional resilience in this target group.

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.731645/full?utm_source=F-AAE&utm_medium=EMLF&utm_campaign=MRK_1790561_a0P58000000G0YfEAK_Psycho_20211214_arts_A

 

Reduce Complications from Type-2 Diabetes with a Yoga Lifestyle

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Reduce Complications from Type-2 Diabetes with a Yoga Lifestyle

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“Yoga can be used as an effective therapy in reducing oxidative stress in type 2 diabetes. Yoga in addition to standard care helps reduce BMI and improve glycemic control in type 2 diabetic patients.” – Shreelaxmi V Hegde

 

Diabetes is a major health issue. It is estimated that 30 million people in the United States and nearly 600 million people worldwide have diabetes, and the numbers are growing. Type-2 Diabetes results from a resistance of tissues, especially fat tissues, to the ability of insulin to promote the uptake of glucose from the blood. As a result, blood sugar levels rise producing hyperglycemia. Diabetes is heavily associated with other diseases such as cardiovascular disease, heart attacks, stroke, blindness, kidney disease, and circulatory problems leading to amputations. As a result, diabetes doubles the risk of death of any cause compared to individuals of the same age without diabetes.

 

Type 2 diabetes is a common and increasingly prevalent illness that is largely preventable. One of the reasons for the increasing incidence of Type 2 Diabetes is its association with overweight and obesity which is becoming epidemic in the industrialized world. A leading cause of this is a sedentary lifestyle. Unlike Type I Diabetes, Type II does not require insulin injections. Instead, the treatment and prevention of Type 2 Diabetes focuses on diet, exercise, and weight control. Recently, mindfulness practices have been shown to be helpful in managing diabetes. A mindfulness practice that combines mindfulness with exercise is yoga and it has been shown to be helpful in the treatment of Type II Diabetes.

 

In today’s Research News article “A Prospective Study on Type-2 Diabetic Complications and Efficacy of Integrated Yoga: A Pan India 2017.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8558979/ ) Patil and colleagues recruited a large randomized cluster sample in India of adults with type-2 diabetes and had them complete a questionnaire regarding complications with the disease. They found that there were high incidence rates of complications including stroke, neuropathy, cardiac surgeries, kidney disease, eye diseases, claudication, and foot ulcers. The incidence of complications was generally higher in women than in men.

 

They then randomly assigned a subset of the sample to a no-treatment control condition or to yoga lifestyle intervention including the practice of yoga for an hour daily for 3 months along with dietary restrictions.  They report that in comparison to baseline and the control group the group that practiced yoga and dietary restrictions had significant reduction in all of the types of complications.

 

These results are very encouraging. But the lack of an active control condition limits the conclusions that can be reached. Placebo and attentional effects are alternate explanations for the results. In addition, the complex yoga lifestyle intervention, involving many component parts, makes it impossible to know what component or combination of components were effective. Nevertheless, previous controlled research has demonstrated the yoga practice is effective in reducing the symptoms of type-2 diabetes. So, the present findings are likely due to the ability of yoga to reduce complications from type-2 diabetes.

 

This is an important conclusion as the complications of type-2 diabetes are very serious and produce serious medical conditions that often lead to death. The reduction in these complications produced by the yoga lifestyle should result in improvements in the health, longevity, and quality of life in patients with type-2 diabetes.

 

So, reduce complications from type-2 diabetes with a yoga lifestyle.

 

“yoga-based practices may have significant beneficial effects on multiple factors important in [type 2 diabetes] management and prevention, including glycemic control, insulin resistance, lipid profiles, body composition, and blood pressure. “ – Kim Innes

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

This and other Contemplative Studies posts are available on Twitter @MindfulResearch

 

Study Summary

 

Patil, S. S., Raghuram, N., Singh, A., Rajesh, S. K., Ahmed, S., & Hongasandra, N. (2021). A Prospective Study on Type-2 Diabetic Complications and Efficacy of Integrated Yoga: A Pan India 2017. Annals of neurosciences, 28(1-2), 21–28. https://doi.org/10.1177/09727531211016271

 

Abstract

Background:

Type 2 diabetes (T2DM) contributes to high mortality and morbidity because of its major complications related to kidney, heart, brain, and eyes. It also poses a high risk for mortality because of COVID-19. Studies suggest the possible implications of Yoga in delaying or attenuating such complications.

Methodology:

This was a pan-India multi centered cluster-randomized (4 level) two-armed trial in the rural and urban population of all populous states of India. Data were obtained using mobile app in all adults in the household of the selected clusters.

Results:

We report the diabetes related complications in 16623 adults (48% males, 52% females) from 65 districts (1 in 10 districts, 2011 census) of 29 (out of 35) states and Union Territories of India; mean age was 48.2 ± 12.46 years. Out of this 40% lived in rural and 62% in urban locations. In high risk diabetes individuals (scored ≥ 60 points on Indian diabetes risk score key), 18.0% had self-reported history of (peripheral neuropathy, 6.1% had h/o major strokes, 5.5% had minor strokes (transient ischemic episodes), 18.1% had lower limb claudication, 20.5% leg ulcers, 4.4% had h/o cardiac surgery, 4.8% angioplasty, and 15.1% had diabetes retinopathy. Complications were higher in rural than in urban areas, higher in people with extended duration of diabetes. Integrated yoga module for three months (one hour daily) showed significantly better reduction in symptoms related to complications as compared to control group (P < .001)

Conclusion:

The alarming high prevalence of complications in diabetes population calls for urgent action, where yoga may show the benefits in reduction of symptoms of complications.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8558979/