Yoga

Improve Physical Well-being with Bikram Yoga

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Yoga Bikram Hewett2

“My system works, as long as people let me do my job my way. It is not just the sequence, it is how you do it: the timing, the mirrors, the temperature, the carpet. But if people only do it 99% right, it is 100% wrong. When someone tries to mess with it, the people won’t get the yoga benefits.” – Bikram Choudhury

 

Yoga practice has been shown to improve physical well-being (see http://contemplative-studies.org/wp/index.php/category/contemplative-practice/yoga-contemplative-practice/). But, there are a large number of different types of yoga practice including Ansura, Ashtanga, Bikram, Hatha, Hot Yoga, Iyengar, Jivamukti, Kripalu, Kundalini, Prenatal, Restorative, Viniypga, Vinyasa, and yin. One problem with the research on yoga effects is that different researchers use different types of yoga. So, it is difficult to compare results. In addition, the studies do not establish the relative effectiveness of each type of yoga.

 

Bikram Yoga is somewhat unique in that it employs a set sequence of 26 poses (asanas) and two breathing exercises. It is practiced in a heated environment (105°F, 40.6°C, 40% humidity) and there is a unique programmed instructional dialogue. The hot environment is thought to soften the muscles making them more pliable and loosen the joints making them more flexible allowing the practitioner to go deeper into poses. The sweating that occurs is thought to help remove toxins and impurities.

 

In today’s Research News article “The Effects of Bikram Yoga on Health: Critical Review and Clinical Trial Recommendations”

https://www.facebook.com/ContemplativeStudiesCenter/photos/a.628903887133541.1073741828.627681673922429/1137653292925262/?type=3&theater

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4609431/

Hewett and colleagues review the published research on the effectiveness of Bikram Yoga on physical well-being. They report that in terms of physical fitness, Bikram Yoga increases lower body range of motion, balance, isometric dead-lift strength, isometric maximal voluntary contraction, total hip bone density, and balance compared to the control group. It appears to improve cardiovascular fitness, increasing carotid artery compliance and decreasing beta-stiffness, and HDL and total cholesterol. In overweight and obese practitioners Bikram Yoga improved a number of metabolic markers including blood lipids, insulin resistance, and glucose tolerance. Psychologically, this form of yoga appears to reduce perceived stress and increase mindfulness.

 

These are important findings suggesting that Bikram Yoga is effective in improving fitness, cardiovascular, health, and psychological well-being. The reviewed research studies were limited and did not investigate many other physical and mental parameters and did not investigate Bikram Yoga’s applicability to the treatment of diseases. Unfortunately, the research studies reviewed did not compare Bikram Yoga to other forms of yoga, so it is not known what if any of the reported benefits are specific to Bikram Yoga and which are in common with other practices. This review is an important first step in documenting the effects of Bikram Yoga which are shown to be widely beneficial. It is clear that much more research is warranted comparing the effects of the different forms of practice.

 

Regardless, the results are clear that you can improve well-being with Bikram Yoga.

 

“To sweat is to pray, to make an offering of your innermost self. Sweat is holy water, prayer beads, pearls of liquid that release your past. Sweat is an ancient and universal form of self healing, whether done in the gym, the sauna, or the sweat lodge … The more you sweat, the more you pray. The more you pray, the closer you come to ecstasy.”  – Gabrielle Roth
CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

This and other Contemplative Studies posts are available at the Contemplative Studies Blog http://contemplative-studies.org/wp/

 

 

Improve Mental and Physical Well-being with Yoga

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Yoga cognition Nagendra2

“The breathing and meditative exercises aim at calming the mind and body and keeping distracting thoughts away while you focus on your body, posture or breath. Maybe these processes translate beyond yoga practice when you try to perform mental tasks or day-to-day activities.” – Neha Gothe

 

If we are lucky enough to navigate life’s dangers we are rewarded with the opportunity to experience aging! The aging process involves a progressive deterioration of the body including the brain. It actually begins in the late 20s and continues throughout the lifespan. It’s inevitable. We can’t stop it or reverse it. But, it is becoming more apparent that life-style changes can slow down and to some extent counteract the process and allow us to live longer and healthier lives. This is true for both physical and mental deterioration including degeneration and shrinkage of the nervous system. Aging healthily to a large extent involves strategies to slow down the deterioration.

 

Contemplative practices including yoga practice (See links below) have been shown to reduce the physical deterioration that occurs with aging (see http://contemplative-studies.org/wp/index.php/category/research-news/aging/). Yoga practice has many physical and mental benefits including protection of brain structures from degeneration with aging (see http://contemplative-studies.org/wp/index.php/2015/07/17/age-healthily-protect-the-brain-with-yoga/). These structural changes have been demonstrated by neuroimaging techniques with yoga practitioners. They document change in the size and connectivity of brain structures that result from yoga practice.

 

Yoga is a mind-body practice that involves both physical and mental exercises. This is accompanied by changes in the activity of virtually every component of the body including general physiology and the peripheral and central nervous systems. So, another potential method to investigate yoga’s effects on the nervous system is to measure the electrical signals emanating from the nervous system.

 

In today’s Research News article “Cognitive Behavior Evaluation Based on Physiological Parameters among Young Healthy Subjects with Yoga as Intervention”

https://www.facebook.com/ContemplativeStudiesCenter/photos/a.628903887133541.1073741828.627681673922429/1136173913073200/?type=3&theater

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4339827/

Nagendra and colleagues trained naive adults in yoga practice for a period of five months for 1.5 hours per day and compared physiological measure to a no-treatment control group. They found that yoga practice produced an increase in parasympathetic (vegetative) and decrease in sympathetic (activation) activity in the peripheral nervous system including a decrease in heart rate and heart rate variability. This indicates a calming and relaxing effect of yoga on the physiology.

 

Nagendra and colleagues also found significant differences in EEG activity of the central nervous system. The changes were complex and varied. But they are indicators that yoga practice produces alterations of brain activity in ways that are indicative of improved vigilance, alertness, attention, concentration ,memory, visual information processing, sense of wellbeing, responsiveness, emotion process, cognition, and executive function and reduced stress and strain. In other words the changes in the brain activity indicated vast improvements in mental processing produced by yoga practice.

 

It should be noted that these are indirect measures and the researchers did not directly measure the psychological variables. So, although suggestive they are not conclusive. They are, however, similar to findings of yoga effects in other research with direct measures (see http://contemplative-studies.org/wp/index.php/category/contemplative-practice/yoga-contemplative-practice/). But, even with this caution, the results suggest that yoga practice has widespread beneficial effects on the mental and physical well-being of the individual.

 

So, practice yoga and improve mental and physical well-being.

 

“True yoga is not about the shape of your body, but the shape of your life. Yoga is not to be performed; yoga is to be lived. Yoga doesn’t care about what you have been; yoga cares about the person you are becoming. Yoga is designed for a vast and profound purpose, and for it to be truly called yoga, its essence must be embodied.” — Aadil Palkhivala

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

 

Yoga and aging links

Yoga reduces physical degeneration in the elderly http://contemplative-studies.org/wp/index.php/2015/07/17/age-healthily-yoga/

Yoga reduces cellular aging http://contemplative-studies.org/wp/index.php/2015/07/17/aging-healthily-yoga-and-cellular-aging/

Yoga practice improves the symptoms of arthritis in the elderly http://contemplative-studies.org/wp/index.php/2015/08/14/age-healthily-yoga-for-arthritis/

 

 

Sleep Better Mindfully

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“I spend several days at a time without enough sleep. At first, normal activities become annoying. When you are too tired to eat, you really need some sleep. A few days later, things become strange. Loud noises become louder and more startling, familiar sounds become unfamiliar, and life reinvents itself as a surrealist dream.” – Henry Rollins

 

We require on average 8 hours of sleep a night. But that average number is deceptive as different individuals require different amounts of sleep. If you feel rested and alert you probably had enough sleep regardless of the number of hours. Sleep also varies with age. As we mature we need less sleep but as we get older we require more sleep. Indeed, over half of those over the age of 65 experience disturbed sleep.

 

Modern society has become more around-the-clock and more complex producing considerable pressure and stress on the individual. The advent of the internet and smart phones has exacerbated the problem. The produced stress can lead to impaired sleep. Indeed, it is estimated that over half of Americans sleep too little due to stress. Not having a good night’s sleep has adverse effects upon the individual’s health, well-being, and happiness. Yet over 70 million Americans suffer from disorders of sleep and about half of these have a chronic disorder. These disorders include insomnia, sleep apnea, narcolepsy, and restless leg syndrome.

 

Beyond problems with sleep disorders, simply not getting enough sleep impairs behavior during wakefulness including constant yawning, the tendency to doze off when not active for a while; for example, when watching television, grogginess when waking in the morning, sleepy grogginess experienced all day long, poor concentration, and mood changes with the individual becoming more irritable. Obviously, people in modern society need to get more and better quality sleep. About 4% of Americans revert to sleeping pills. But, these do not always produce high quality sleep and can have problematic side effects. So, there is a need to find better methods to improve sleep even in the face of modern stressors.

 

Contemplative practices have been reported to improve sleep amount and quality and help with insomnia (see http://contemplative-studies.org/wp/index.php/category/research-news/sleep/). In today’s Research News article “The Effects of Mind-Body Interventions on Sleep Quality: A Systematic Review”

https://www.facebook.com/ContemplativeStudiesCenter/photos/a.628903887133541.1073741828.627681673922429/1131594823531109/?type=3&theater

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4487927/

Neuendorf and colleagues review the literature on the effectiveness of mind-body practices for the improvement of sleep. They reviewed findings for biofeedback, guided imagery, hypnotherapy, meditation, relaxation, and yoga, qi gong, and tai chi effects on sleep. They found overall mixed results. But, hypnotherapy, meditation, yoga, and qi gong and tai chi appeared to be somewhat effective in promoting sleep.

 

How do these mind-body practices improve sleep? One obvious possible mechanism is by stress reduction. Mind-body practices have been shown to reduce both physiological and psychological responses to stress (see http://contemplative-studies.org/wp/index.php/category/research-news/stress/) and stress is known to interfere with sleep. Another possibility is that these practices are known to reduce mind wandering and intrusive thoughts which are often a problem in trying to go to sleep. Additionally, these practices are known to improve emotion regulation (see http://contemplative-studies.org/wp/index.php/category/research-news/emotions/), and powerful emotions can interfere with sleep. Regardless, of the mechanism, these practices are inexpensive and safe, having very few adverse effects, and have many other beneficial effects in addition to improving sleep. There is not much to lose and potentially a great deal to gain.

 

So, engage in mind-body practices and sleep better mindfully.

 

“I’ve always envied people who sleep easily. Their brains must be cleaner, the floorboards of the skull well swept, all the little monsters closed up in a steamer trunk at the foot of the bed.”  ― David Benioff

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

When Nothing Else Works for Depression Mindfulness Can!

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“When I see new patients with treatment-resistant depression, I tell them that if they want to borrow some of my optimism, they’re welcome to it. . .Despite how it feels, lots of people have been through this and lots of people get better.” – Ian Cook

 

Major Depression is the most common mental illness affecting over 6% of the population. The first line treatment is antidepressant drugs. But, depression can be difficult to treat. Of patients treated initially with drugs only about a third attained remission of the depression. After repeated and varied treatments including drugs, therapy, exercise etc. only about two thirds of patients attained remission. This leaves a third of all patients treated without success. These patients are deemed to have treatment-resistant depression.

 

Being depressed and not responding to treatment is a terribly difficult situation. The patients are suffering and nothing appears to work to relieve their intense depression. Suicide becomes a real possibility. So, it is imperative that other treatments be identified that can be applied when the typical treatments fail. In today’s Research News article “Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation, and Depression Specific Yoga and Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy in Management of Treatment Resistant Depression: Review and Some Data on Efficacy”

https://www.facebook.com/ContemplativeStudiesCenter/photos/a.628903887133541.1073741828.627681673922429/1130698403620751/?type=3&theater

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4609854/

Pradhan and colleagues review the research literature on alternative treatments for treatment-resistant depression; ketamine, transcranial magnetic stimulation, and yoga and mindfulness interventions.

 

They report that infusion of the drug Ketamine, a glutamate receptor (NMDA) antagonist, has been shown to be effective quickly for treatment-resistant depression. Unfortunately its effects last only about a week and it has some troubling side effects. Another treatment, repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) stimulates the human cortex through external magnetic stimulation and can be applied non-invasively. It appears to be effective for the relief of treatment-resistant depression in about half of the patients and it has very few and mild side effects. But treatments must be provided on a daily basis in a doctor’s office. So, it is very inconvenient and thereby often impossible for the patients.

 

Contemplative practices such as meditation and yoga are low cost and generally safe with few if any side effects. They have been shown to be effective for depression and to prevent relapse (see http://contemplative-studies.org/wp/index.php/category/research-news/depression/). A combination of cognitive behavioral therapy with mindfulness and meditation techniques, Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) has been demonstrated to be effective for depression even after drugs have failed to relieve the depression (see http://contemplative-studies.org/wp/index.php/2015/07/17/dealing-with-major-depression-when-drugs-fail/).

Pradhan and colleagues perform a pilot study of a combination of MBCT and yoga they term Depression Specific Y-MBCT (DepS Y-MBCT) applied to treatment-resistant depression patients, one third of whom had suicidal tendencies. Of the 32 participants, 27 achieved remission from depression that was maintained for at least two months. These are exciting findings. A low cost and safe therapeutic technique combining mindfulness, yoga, and cognitive behavioral therapy produced and 85% remission rate for patients who did not respond to other treatments. Of course, these results need to be repeated in a randomized clinical trial. But, these results certainly justify the effort.

It is interesting that a disease like depression that is thought to be organically based in defective brain chemistry can be treated by a behavioral treatment. But, yoga and meditation have been found to alter the structure, connectivity, and chemistry of the brain. So, it may not be so mysterious how a behavioral treatment might be effective for a primarily physiological disorder. The mind and body are one. Treating the mind can also treat the body. This is one of the major messages of the alternative medical treatment movement.

 

So, apply mindfulness when nothing else works for depression.

 

“Start living right here, in each present moment. When we stop dwelling on the past or worrying about the future, we’re open to rich sources of information we’ve been missing out on—information that can keep us out of the downward spiral and poised for a richer life.” ― Mark Williams

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

Up to your Neck in Pain – Try Yoga

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“For many people, managing pain involves using prescription medicine in combination with complementary techniques like physical therapy, acupuncture, yoga and massage. I appreciate this because I truly believe medical care should address the person as a whole – their mind, body, and spirit.” – Naomi Judd

 

We all have to deal with pain. It’s inevitable, but hopefully mild and short lived. But, for many, pain is a constant in their lives. The most common forms of chronic pain are back and neck pain. Indeed, back pain is the number one cause of disability worldwide. In addition, neck pain is the number three cause of chronic pain; affecting more than a quarter of Americans. People who experience chronic back and neck pain are limited in their daily activities and may compensate in order to walk, run, sit, etc. and the compensatory postures can produce further sometimes different problems.

 

There are a myriad of causes for chronic back and neck pain, including something as simple as improper positioning while sleeping, or even sitting or standing with bad posture. It can also occur due to injuries, accidents, heavy lifting or other spinal issues. These types of pain are not only a problem for the individual but are also costly for society as they constitute the largest category of medical insurance claims.

 

Just as there are many different causes there are also a plethora of treatments for back and neck pain. The most common is the use of drugs, including over –the-counter pain relievers and at times opiates. These are helpful but have limited effectiveness. Sometimes the pain can lead to surgical interventions that can be costly and are not always effective. So, alternative treatments such as acupuncture have also been used with some success. Yoga is another promising alternative treatment for back and neck pain. Many forms of yoga focus on the proper alignment of the spine, which could directly address the source of back and neck pain for many individuals.

 

We’ve seen in previous posts that yoga can be effective for the relief of chronic low-back pain

http://contemplative-studies.org/wp/index.php/2015/11/23/treat-back-pain-with-yoga/. Indeed, Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) which includes yoga practice is effective for low back pain (see http://contemplative-studies.org/wp/index.php/2015/10/17/control-low-back-pain-with-mindfulness/).In today’s Research News article “Effectiveness of Iyengar yoga in treating spinal (back and neck) pain: A systematic review”

https://www.facebook.com/ContemplativeStudiesCenter/photos/a.628903887133541.1073741828.627681673922429/1124994394191152/?type=3&theater

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4278133/

Crow and colleagues review the published randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of the application of yoga for the relief of back and neck pain. They found that yoga produced clinically significant improvements in pain intensity. There was clear and strong evidence for effectiveness on the short term. Only three trials had long-term follow-up but were supportive that yoga has sustained effectiveness.

 

Yoga has many positive benefits for the physical and psychological well-being of the individual and can even provide spiritual benefits. It is generally safe when taught by well-trained yoga instructors, but can still have some adverse effects and practice needs to be tempered with moderation and caution. The present review, hiowever, provides strong support for its use in treating chronic back and neck pain.

 

So, practice yoga and relieve chronic back and neck pain

 

“The practices of Yoga equip us with tools for transcending this suffering – and for transcending our moments of happiness, too. Even moments of elation, contentment, and joy carry the future pain of their termination, after all.”  – Sharon Gannon & David Life

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

Treat Back Pain with Yoga

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 “Yoga teaches us to cure what need not be endured and endure what cannot be cured.” ~B.K.S. Iyengar

 

Low Back Pain affects a wide swath of humanity (6% to 15%) and is the leading cause of disability worldwide. It affects almost everyone with 80% of the population experiencing back pain sometime during their lives. There are varied treatments for low back pain including chiropractic care, acupuncture, biofeedback, physical therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, massage, surgery, opiate pain killing drugs, steroid injections, and muscle relaxant drugs.

 

The therapies are sometimes effective particularly for acute back pain. But, for chronic conditions the treatments are less effective and often require continuing treatment for years. Obviously, there is a need for effective treatments for low back pain that are low cost and don’t have troublesome side effects. Since many yoga poses focus on stretching and strengthen in the back, it makes sense that yoga practice when done properly should be helpful for low-back pain. Indeed, Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) which includes yoga practice is effective for low back pain http://contemplative-studies.org/wp/index.php/2015/10/17/control-low-back-pain-with-mindfulness/.

 

In today’s Research News article “Evaluation of the Effectiveness and Efficacy of Iyengar Yoga Therapy on Chronic Low Back Pain”

https://www.facebook.com/ContemplativeStudiesCenter/photos/a.628903887133541.1073741828.627681673922429/1120568141300444/?type=3&theater

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4393557/

Williams and colleagues examine the effectiveness of 24 weeks of Iyengar yoga practice on adults who have been suffering from low-back pain for longer than 3 months. They randomly assigned participants to either yoga practice or to receive standard medical care.

 

They found that the pain sufferers who participated in yoga had a 42% greater reduction in pain intensity than the group receiving standard medical care. This resulted in a trend toward a greater reduction in the use of pain medications in the yoga group. Importantly, the yoga participants showed a 24% greater improvement in their ability to carry on with normal activities, with a larger number of yoga participants having a clinically significant decrease in functional disability. In addition, the yoga participants showed a large, 47%, reduction in depression levels in comparison to the standard medical care participants. These effects were produced without any significant adverse effects and were still present 6-months after the conclusion of the active treatment.

 

These results confirm that yoga practice is a safe and effective treatment that produces long-term improvements in chronic low-back pain and in turn improves the patients’ abilities to carry on everyday activities and in turn reduces depression. This also appears to reduce the individuals use of drugs to treat their pain symptoms. Yoga has so many beneficial effects (see http://contemplative-studies.org/wp/index.php/category/contemplative-practice/yoga-contemplative-practice/) in addition to the assistance with pain that it would seem to be an almost ideal treatment.

 

So, practice yoga and improve low-back pain and disability.

 

“Hatha is the sanctuary for those suffering every type of pain. It is the foundation for those practicing every type of Yoga.” ~Svatmarama

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

Yoga Improves Stress Responses and Mood

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“Yoga has a sly, clever way of short circuiting the mental patterns that cause anxiety.” – Baxter Bell

 

Depression and anxiety are great scourges on humankind. They affect millions of people worldwide decreasing productivity and increasing misery. The exact etiology of these disorders is unknown. But, modern research is slowly unraveling the mystery. One promising line of inquiry is investigating the linkage of depression and anxiety with the physiological responses to stress including stress hormone responses and the inflammatory response. Depression has been long known to be associated with increased stress hormone activity and increased inflammatory response. This raises the question as to what role the stress response plays in the development of depression.

 

The most common treatment for depression is antidepressant drugs. They are effective for some people and are also known to reduce the stress response and inflammation. But, they are not effective for everyone and they can have some unpleasant side effects. So, alternative treatment for depression and anxiety that are safe, effective and with few side effects are needed.

 

Yoga practice has been shown to reduce anxiety and depression (see http://contemplative-studies.org/wp/index.php/2015/09/03/keep-up-yoga-practice-for-anxiety-and-depression/) and to reduce stress and anxiety (see http://contemplative-studies.org/wp/index.php/2015/07/29/get-your-calm-on/). Yoga has also been shown to reduce inflammation (see http://contemplative-studies.org/wp/index.php/2015/09/11/reduce-inflammation-with-yoga/) and http://contemplative-studies.org/wp/index.php/2015/08/27/control-inflammation-with-mind-body-practices/) and immune system balance (see http://contemplative-studies.org/wp/index.php/2015/07/17/healthy-balance-through-yoga/). So, it would seem that the practice of yoga is potentially an alternative to antidepressant drug treatment for depression.

 

In today’s Research News article “A systematic review of randomised control trials on the effects of yoga on stress measures and mood”

https://www.facebook.com/ContemplativeStudiesCenter/photos/a.628903887133541.1073741828.627681673922429/1115024035188188/?type=3&theater

Pascoe and colleagues review 24 randomized controlled trials investigating the effectiveness of yoga practice for depression and anxiety and their linkages to the stress and inflammatory responses. They found that the published literature provided evidence that yoga practice reduces depression and anxiety and the stress and inflammatory responses.

 

In particular, Pascoe and colleagues report that the evidence suggests that yoga practice reduces anxiety and depression and at the same time reduces the nervous systems responses to stress as indicated by reductions in heart rate and blood pressure and by reductions in the levels of the stress hormone, cortisol. There was also reported to be a decrease in cytokine levels suggesting a decrease in the inflammatory response. Hence, yoga practice appears to be effective for anxiety and depression and reduces the associated stress and inflammatory responses.

 

Since, changes in depression and anxiety occurred at the same time as changes in stress and inflammatory responses, it strengthens the case of a causal link between the two. More research is need to further investigate this promising linkage.

 

So, yoga practice is a safe and effective treatment for anxiety and depression while reducing stress and inflammation.

 

“The yoga mat is a good place to turn when talk therapy and antidepressants aren’t enough.” – Amy Weintraub

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

Make Irritable Bowel Syndrome Less Irritating with Yoga

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“The word yoga comes from Sanskrit, the language of ancient India. It means union, integration, or wholeness. It is an approach to health that promotes the harmonious collaboration of the human being’s three components: body, mind, and spirit.” – Stella Weller

 

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is the most common functional gastrointestinal (GI) disorder with worldwide prevalence rates ranging from 9–23% and U.S. rates generally in the area of 10–15% affecting between 25 and 45 million people. IBS is not life threatening but it is very uncomfortable producing changes in bowel movement patterns, bloating and excess gas, and pain in the lower belly. It is also a major source of absenteeism both at work and in school. At present there are no known cures for IBS and treatments involve symptomatic relief, often with fairly radical dietary changes.

 

It has been shown that meditation can help relieve IBS symptoms but there is a need to find more and better treatments. Yoga practice can involve particular postures that are directed at affecting the GI tract. It is also a meditative practice. So, it would seem reasonable to investigate whether yoga practice may be useful in treating IBS. In today’s Research News article “Iyengar Yoga for Adolescents and Young Adults with Irritable Bowel Syndrome”

https://www.facebook.com/ContemplativeStudiesCenter/photos/a.628903887133541.1073741828.627681673922429/1109123002444958/?type=3&theater

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4146428/

Evans and colleagues compared 6-weeks of yoga practice to care as usual for Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) in adolescents (14-17 yrs.) and young adults (18-26 yrs.).

 

They found that the yoga practice had a much greater impact in the young adults than in the adolescents. Yoga practice produced significant improvement in physical functioning in the adolescents but the young adults who practiced yoga showed significant improvements in IBS symptoms, global improvement, psychological distress, functional disability, fatigue, and sleep quality. These improvements were still significant 2 months after the end of yoga practice.

 

IBS is usually not diagnosed until adulthood. But there are a group of adolescents who also suffer from IBS. It is interesting that yoga practice for the most part did not significantly help them. This may indicate that early onset IBS may in some ways be different or more difficult to treat than adult onset IBS. It could also indicate that adolescents are not particularly good patients and due to non-compliance do not respond to otherwise effective treatments.

 

The effectiveness for the young adults is striking and potentially very significant. This raises the question, however, of how yoga practice might be affective with IBS symptoms. As mentioned above, there are yoga postures that target and manipulate the GI tract and these were emphasized in the yoga taught in the study. It is possible that these manipulations of the GI tract have a positive effect on regularizing GI transit. It was also mentioned above that meditation has been shown to be helpful for IBS and meditation is a component of yoga practice.

 

In addition, research has demonstrated that yoga decreases the inflammatory response (see http://contemplative-studies.org/wp/index.php/2015/09/11/reduce-inflammation-with-yoga/ and http://contemplative-studies.org/wp/index.php/2015/08/27/control-inflammation-with-mind-body-practices/). Since IBS involves inflammation of the GI tract it is possible that yoga is effective for IBS by reducing bowel inflammation. Future research is needed to clarify and test these ideas.

 

Regardless, it is clear that practicing yoga can be very beneficial for the treatment of IBS in adults. Since, yoga practice is generally safe, with few if any side effects, is generally a healthful practice for both the body and mind, and can be implemented at low cost, it would appear to be an excellent choice for the treatment of IBS.

 

So, practice yoga to make Irritable Bowel Syndrome less irritating.

 

“You cannot always control what goes on outside. But you can always control what goes on inside.” – Mr. Yoga

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

Keep Grades Up with Downward Dog.

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10376162_1106810286009563_5204708069038679118_n.jpg

“When you give [kids] yoga poses, use visualization, and allow them to move their bodies, their whole learning ability goes up several notches . . . When you teach kids, it’s not about telling them—it’s about creating experiences for them where they connect the dots, and create new dots.” – Marsha Wenig

 

Mindfulness training has been shown to have a wide range of benefits for the psychological and physical health of adults. If it is this useful for adults then it only stands to reason that mindfulness training in children might establish a permanent trait of mindfulness that could produce lifelong benefits.

 

On the short-term, mindfulness training has been shown to benefit elementary school children producing improvement in a wide array of academic, social, emotional, cognitive, and physical measures. (see http://contemplative-studies.org/wp/index.php/2015/08/08/building-a-better-adult-with-elementary-school-mindfulness-training/). So it is clear that contemplative practice can be beneficial for children.
Yoga is not only a contemplative practice but also a physical practice that strengthens the body while stretching tendons and muscles. Its physicality might be particularly attractive to school children because of their high energy levels that lack an outlet in the school environment. Indeed, yoga has been found to be beneficial for children. So, yoga may be an excellent contemplative practice for implementation with school children.

 

In today’s Research News article “Yoga May Mitigate Decreases in High School Grades”

https://www.facebook.com/ContemplativeStudiesCenter/photos/a.628903887133541.1073741828.627681673922429/1106809236009668/?type=3&theater

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4546979/

Butzer and colleagues had high school students either participate in a physical education class as usual or a class employing yoga and investigate school performance as measured by the students’ GPAs. They found that over the school year, GPA tended to decline in both groups. But the yoga group had a significantly smaller decline than the PE as usual group while the yoga was being taught. After the end of yoga instruction, the students’ GPAs declined so that by the end of the school year the yoga group’s GPAs were comparable to those of the PE as usual group.

 

These results suggest that yoga practice has immediate short-term benefits for the academic performance of high school students. But, the benefits do not last after yoga is terminated. This suggests that the exercise aspect of yoga was the critical component. But, the PE class was also focused on physical exercise, so it is unlikely that this accounts for the differences in the GPA declines.

 

A key difference between yoga and physical education is that yoga is known to improve self-regulatory processes, including emotional, cognitive, and behavioral self-regulation. This may result in a reduction in perceived stress and improve attention in the classroom which could improve academic performance. The results are intriguing and should be followed up with further research.

 

So, practice yoga and keep school grades up.

 

“Scientific evidence is mounting daily for what many have long sensed: that practices like mindfulness, meditation, and yoga can help us address certain intractable individual and societal problems . . . And, perhaps more importantly for our global health, for kids dealing with extreme stressors, traumas and abuse, putting these practices into schools could be the difference between failure and success.” – Alice G. Watson

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

Get Balanced Emotionally with Yoga

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“Yoga is a balancing factor, a substratum across all of your life, so you do not get shifted in one direction or another. It gives you freshness, gives you light, recharges your batteries. You become a stable person. You realize what balance is, what sukha is, what contentment is, what joy is.” ~ Birjoo Mehta

 

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.

 

In psychology, 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, emption regulation is a key to a happier life.

 

Emotion regulation is most needed during times of turmoil and early adolescence is a time of intense emotional turmoil. This results from raging hormones, difficult social interactions, development of a self-concept, and tests of competency that are so prevalent during this period. So, any method that can help to develop emotion regulation could be of great benefit during this difficult period of development.

 

Mindfulness techniques such as mindfulness based cognitive therapy (see http://contemplative-studies.org/wp/index.php/2015/09/10/take-command-and-control-of-your-emotions/) and meditation (see http://contemplative-studies.org/wp/index.php/2015/08/20/regulate-emotions-with-mindfulness/) have been shown to improve emption regulation. So, there is reason to believe that mindfulness techniques in general may improve emotion regulation. There is a need, however, to explore other contemplative practices and their applicability to the development of emotion regulation in adolescents.

 

In today’s Research News article “Yoga and Emotion Regulation in High School Students: A Randomized Controlled Trial”

https://www.facebook.com/ContemplativeStudiesCenter/photos/a.628903887133541.1073741828.627681673922429/1105035626187029/?type=3&theater

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4556863/

Daly and colleagues investigate the use of yoga to improve emotion regulation in 15-17 year olds. They compared adolescents who were taught yoga as their physical education class to adolescents who participated in the usual PE class. They found that emotion regulation increased for the yoga condition and decreased for the PE condition. In addition they found that higher levels of body awareness were associated with higher levels of emotion regulation.

 

These findings are interesting and potentially important. They demonstrate that yoga, like other contemplative practices can improve emotion regulation. This improvement is probably not due to the exercise component of yoga as it did not occur with traditional physical education classes. Importantly, yoga can improve emotion regulation in adolescence, a time when there is such a great need for emotion regulation.

 

In addition, the positive relationship between body awareness and emotion regulation suggests that yoga may be especially effective because of its emphasis on body awareness. This would seem reasonable as the first step in regulating emotions is being aware of the feelings in our bodies that are an integral part of emotion. By being sensitive to the bodies state the individual can be more aware of the presence and magnitude of an emotional reaction. Emotions can only be regulated once their presence is detected and yoga may improve this skill.

 

Of course more research is necessary before recommending that yoga be taught routinely to adolescents. But, the current research is suggestive that such a program could be very beneficial during this difficult phase of development.

 

So, practice yoga and get emotionally balanced.

 

“Yoga teaches us to cure what need not be endured and endure what cannot be cured.” ~ B.K.S. Iyengar

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

This and other Contemplative Studies posts are available at the Contemplative Studies Blog http://contemplative-studies.org/wp/