Yoga

Improve Mental Health and Blood Biomarker Levels with Meditation and Yoga

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Improve Mental Health and Blood Biomarker Levels with Meditation and Yoga

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“The main purpose of meditation is to access, recognize and enhance the positive qualities of mind. The more we can do this, the less we need to rely on external situations for our happiness and the more we can rely on the natural, positive qualities of mind: love, contentment, well-being and peace.” – Trinlay Rinpoche

 

Over the last several decades, research and anecdotal experiences have accumulated an impressive evidential case that the development of mindfulness has positive benefits for the individual’s mental, physical, and spiritual life. Mindfulness 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.

 

It is not known exactly how mindfulness training produces these benefits. It is possible that one mechanism is by altering blood bourn hormonal levels. In today’s Research News article “Inner Engineering Practices and Advanced 4-day Isha Yoga Retreat Are Associated with Cannabimimetic Effects with Increased Endocannabinoids and Short-Term and Sustained Improvement in Mental Health: A Prospective Observational Study of Meditators.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7293737/ ) Sadhasivam and colleagues recruited healthy adults and had them attend a 4-day intensive training in yoga and meditation. Before and after the training and 1 month later they were measured for mindfulness, happiness, anxiety, depression, and psychological well-being. They also drew blood before and after training and assayed it for the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), and the biomarkers of Endocannabinoids, (anandamide, 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG), 1-arachidonoylglycerol (1-AG), docosatetraenoylethanolamide (DEA), and oleoylethanolamide (OLA)).

 

They found that after the training there were significant decreases in anxiety and depression and significant increases in mindfulness, happiness, and psychological well-being. These changes were maintained at the 1-month follow-up. There were also significant increases in all of the blood biomarkers of Endocannabinoids and also brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF).

 

It should be kept in mind that this was a pilot study that did not have a control, comparison, condition. So, the results might have been due to a number of confounding factors rather than the training itself. But previous controlled research has convincingly demonstrated that mindfulness training increases happiness, and psychological well-being and decreases anxiety and depression. So, these changes were likely due to the training.

 

There were also novel findings in the present study that Endocannabinoids and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) were significantly increased by the training. These provide objective measures of the subjective reports of psychological improvements. Endocannabinoids in the blood are associated with positive mood states. BDNF is a neurotrophic factor that is thought to signal neuroplastic changes in the nervous system. Mindfulness training has been previously shown to produce neuroplastic changes in the brain. So, the increases in these biomarkers indicate that the training not only improves the psychological health of the participants but also alters the brain, perhaps making the improvements longer lasting. This suggests a potential mechanism for the ability of meditation and yoga to improve mood, by increasing hormones that improve mood.

 

So, improve mental health and blood biomarker levels with meditation and yoga.

 

“The more you practice invoking states of well-being, the more available they are. Use the following practice to teach your mind and body to experience joy in the moment. As you invite happiness into your life in this way, you will have more access to a joyful life.” – Yoga Journal

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

This and other Contemplative Studies posts are also available on Google+ https://plus.google.com/106784388191201299496/posts and on Twitter @MindfulResearch

 

Study Summary

 

Sadhasivam, S., Alankar, S., Maturi, R., Vishnubhotla, R. V., Mudigonda, M., Pawale, D., Narayanan, S., Hariri, S., Ram, C., Chang, T., Renschler, J., Eckert, G., & Subramaniam, B. (2020). Inner Engineering Practices and Advanced 4-day Isha Yoga Retreat Are Associated with Cannabimimetic Effects with Increased Endocannabinoids and Short-Term and Sustained Improvement in Mental Health: A Prospective Observational Study of Meditators. Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM, 2020, 8438272. https://doi.org/10.1155/2020/8438272

 

Abstract

Background

Anxiety and depression are common in the modern world, and there is growing demand for alternative therapies such as meditation. Meditation can decrease perceived stress and increase general well-being, although the physiological mechanism is not well-characterized. Endocannabinoids (eCBs), lipid mediators associated with enhanced mood and reduced anxiety/depression, have not been previously studied as biomarkers of meditation effects. Our aim was to assess biomarkers (eCBs and brain-derived neurotrophic factor [BDNF]) and psychological parameters after a meditation retreat.

Methods

This was an observational pilot study of adults before and after the 4-day Isha Yoga Bhava Spandana Program retreat. Participants completed online surveys (before and after retreat, and 1 month later) to assess anxiety, depression, focus, well-being, and happiness through validated psychological scales. Voluntary blood sampling for biomarker studies was done before and within a day after the retreat. The biomarkers anandamide, 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG), 1-arachidonoylglycerol (1-AG), docosatetraenoylethanolamide (DEA), oleoylethanolamide (OLA), and BDNF were evaluated. Primary outcomes were changes in psychological scales, as well as changes in eCBs and BDNF.

Results

Depression and anxiety scores decreased while focus, happiness, and positive well-being scores increased immediately after retreat from their baseline values (P < 0.001). All improvements were sustained 1 month after BSP. All major eCBs including anandamide, 2-AG, 1-AG, DEA, and BDNF increased after meditation by > 70% (P < 0.001). Increases of ≥20% in anandamide, 2-AG, 1-AG, and total AG levels after meditation from the baseline had weak correlations with changes in happiness and well-being.

Conclusions

A short meditation experience improved focus, happiness, and positive well-being and reduced depression and anxiety in participants for at least 1 month. Participants had increased blood eCBs and BDNF, suggesting a role for these biomarkers in the underlying mechanism of meditation. Meditation is a simple, organic, and effective way to improve well-being and reduce depression and anxiety.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7293737/

 

Improve Stress-Related Neuropsychiatric Disorders with Yoga and Mindfulness

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Improve Stress-Related Neuropsychiatric Disorders with Yoga and Mindfulness

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“Mindfulness training holds promise for treating mood disorders partly because it may lead to changes in patients’ brains, improving connectivity among some brain areas and changing tissue density in key regions, research suggests.” – Stacy Lu

 

Over the last several decades, research and anecdotal experiences have accumulated an impressive evidential case that the development of mindfulness has positive benefits for the individual’s mental, physical, and spiritual life. Mindfulness 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 adolescents, 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.

 

Meditation and yoga training have been shown to be effective for a large array of medical and psychiatric conditions, either stand-alone or in combination with more traditional therapies. Meditation and yoga appear to improve the individual’s ability to cope with stress and stress is the source of or aggravates many mental disorders. There are a number of ways that meditation and yoga practices produce these benefits, including changes to the brain and physiology. It is useful to review and summarize what has been discovered regarding how meditation and yoga practices improve mental disorders.

 

In today’s Research News article “Role of Yoga and Meditation as Complimentary Therapeutic Regime for Stress-Related Neuropsychiatric Disorders: Utilization of Brain Waves Activity as Novel Tool.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7545749/ ) Kaushik and colleagues review and summarize the published research on the effectiveness of meditation and yoga for the treatment of neuropsychiatric disorders.

 

They report that the published research finds that stress is highly related to anxiety and depression and that meditation and yoga practices, including breathing exercises and postures, significantly reduce perceived stress, anxiety, and depression. They further report that meditation and yoga may produce these improvements by increasing brain activity particularly in the frontal regions of the brain. They also report that meditation and yoga produce very few if any deleterious side effects.

 

Previous research has conclusively demonstrated that mindfulness practices in general are safe and effective in altering the electrical activity of the brain and reducing perceived stress, anxiety, and depression. It can be speculated that meditation and yoga reduce the responses to stress by altering brain activity and this, in turn, produces improvements in anxiety and depression. It remains for future research to investigate this model. Regardless, the employment of meditation and yoga practices for neuropsychiatric conditions has been shown to be safe and effective alternative treatments for the relief of the suffering of these patients.

 

So, improve stress-related neuropsychiatric disorders with yoga and mindfulness.

 

“mindfulness has become a household word, and the psychiatric and psychological literature abound with publications implementing mindfulness as a treatment or self-help tool for everything that ails you.” – John J. Miller

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

This and other Contemplative Studies posts are also available on Google+ https://plus.google.com/106784388191201299496/posts and on Twitter @MindfulResearch

 

Study Summary

 

Kaushik, M., Jain, A., Agarwal, P., Joshi, S. D., & Parvez, S. (2020). Role of Yoga and Meditation as Complimentary Therapeutic Regime for Stress-Related Neuropsychiatric Disorders: Utilization of Brain Waves Activity as Novel Tool. Journal of evidence-based integrative medicine, 25, 2515690X20949451. https://doi.org/10.1177/2515690X20949451

 

Abstract

During recent decades, stress-related neuropsychiatric disorders such as anxiety, depression, chronic tension headache, and migraine have established their stronghold in the lives of a vast number of people worldwide. In order to address this global phenomenon, intensive studies have been carried out leading to the advancement of drugs like anti-depressants, anxiolytics, and analgesics which although help in combating the symptoms of such disorders but also create long-term side effects. Thus, as an alternative to such clinical practices, various complementary therapies such as yoga and meditation have been proved to be effective in alleviating the causes and symptoms of different neuropsychiatric disorders. The role of altered brain waves in this context has been recognized and needs to be pursued at the highest level. Thus, the current study provides a review focused on describing the effects of yoga and meditation on anxiety and depression as well as exploring brain waves as a tool for assessing the potential of these complementary therapies for such disorders.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7545749/

 

Improve Motor and Imitation Skills in Children with Autism with Yoga

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Improve Motor and Imitation Skills in Children with Autism with Yoga

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“children with autism, specifically, respond very positively to regular yoga practice.  Some of the encouraging physical benefits of yoga include increased strength, flexibility, balance and coordination. But there are more subtle gains as well: increased social-emotional skills, body awareness, self-regulation, focus and concentration are benefits as well!” – Rachel Costello

 

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a developmental disability that tends to appear during early childhood and affect the individual throughout their lifetime. It affects a person’s ability to communicate, and interact with others, delays learning of language, makes eye contact or holding a conversation difficult, impairs reasoning and planning, narrows and intensifies interests, produces poor motor skills and sensory sensitivities, and is frequently associated with sleep and gastrointestinal problems. It is currently estimated that over 1% of the world population has autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

 

Treatment is generally directed at symptoms and can include behavioral therapies, exercises and drug treatments. Clearly, there is a need for effective alternative treatment options. A promising treatment is mindfulness training. It has been shown to be helpful in treating ASD. A characterizing feature of ASD is dysfunction in motor behavior. Since yoga is both a mindfulness practice and an exercise it is reasonable to examine the ability of yoga to improve the motor behavior of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

 

In today’s Research News article “Creative Yoga Intervention Improves Motor and Imitation Skills of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7325451/ ) Kaur and Bhat recruited children between the ages of 5 and 13 years who were diagnosed with Autism spectrum disorder (ASD). They were randomly assigned to receive 8 weeks of 2 sessions per week of 45 minutes led by a physical therapist and 2 sessions per week of 25 minutes led at home by parents of either yoga or sedentary academic activities such as reading and arts and crafts. They were measured before and after training for motor ability and imitation. For the yoga group was imitation was measured as the accuracy of trained yoga postures while for the academic group imitation was measured as the accuracy for performing some simple tasks such as rolling, pinching, pushing, and pulling using building materials such as Play-Doh.

 

They found in comparison to baseline that the children in the yoga group had significant improvements in gross motor ability while the academic group had significant improvements in fine motor ability. Both groups had significant reductions in imitation errors. These findings suggest that children with Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) benefit from either yoga or academic practice with both improving imitation but with yoga improving gross motor movements while academic training improved fine motor movements.

 

Inactivity and problems with motor ability are characteristic of children with ASD, and these impairments are associated with social and behavioral problems. The results suggest that these children would benefit by practicing both yoga and academic skills. The improved motor ability is postulated to be translated in better social interactions and lower levels of behavioral issues. It remains for future research to investigate this speculation.

 

So, improve motor and imitation skills in children with autism with yoga.

 

‘creative movement interventions utilizing music and yoga should be an essential part of the standard of care for children with ASD.” – Kaur & Bhat

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

This and other Contemplative Studies posts are also available on Google+ https://plus.google.com/106784388191201299496/posts and on Twitter @MindfulResearch

 

Study Summary

 

Kaur, M., & Bhat, A. (2019). Creative Yoga Intervention Improves Motor and Imitation Skills of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder. Physical therapy, 99(11), 1520–1534. https://doi.org/10.1093/ptj/pzz115

 

Background

There is growing evidence for motor impairments in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), including poor gross and fine motor performance, poor balance, and incoordination. However, there is limited evidence on the effects of motor interventions for this population.

Objective

In the present study, the effects of a physical therapy intervention using creative yoga on the motor and imitation skills of children with ASD were evaluated.

Design

This study had a pretest-posttest control group design.

Methods

Twenty-four children with ASD aged between 5 and 13 years received 8 weeks of a physical therapist-delivered yoga or academic intervention. Children were tested before and after the intervention using a standardized motor measure, the Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Performance–2nd Edition (BOT-2). The imitation skills of children using familiar training-specific actions (ie, poses for the yoga group and building actions for the academic group) were also assessed.

Results

After the intervention, children in the yoga group improved gross motor performance on the BOT-2 and displayed fewer imitation/praxis errors when copying training-specific yoga poses. In contrast, children in the academic group improved their fine motor performance on the BOT-2 and performed fewer imitation errors while completing the training-specific building actions.

Limitations

The study limitations include small sample size and lack of long-term follow-up.

Conclusions

Overall, creative interventions, such as yoga, are promising tools for enhancing the motor and imitation skills of children with ASD.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7325451/

 

Breathing-Focused Yoga Practices Produce Greater Benefits for College Students than Meditative-Focused Practices

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Breathing-Focused Yoga Practices Produce Greater Benefits for College Students than Meditative-Focused Practices

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“Want to manage your anger so you don’t feel you’re always on the verge of blowing up? Want to feel less stressed and juggle all the things going on in your life? Need to focus better in class or while you do your homework? Yoga poses can help. But meditation and breathing really round out those benefits.” – Mary L. Gavin

 

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 practices while many others employ meditative-focused practices. Although the benefits of yoga practices in general are well studied there is little scientific research comparing breathing-focused versus meditative-focused yoga.

 

In today’s Research News article “Comparing the Psychological Effects of Meditation- and Breathing-Focused Yoga Practice in Undergraduate Students.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.560152/full?utm_source=F-AAE&utm_medium=EMLF&utm_campaign=MRK_1490157_69_Psycho_20201124_arts_A ) Qi and colleagues recruited college students with no yoga experience and randomly assigned them to a once a week for 80 minutes 12-week program of either breath-focused yoga or meditation-focused yoga. During each Hatha yoga class the students received either 10 minutes of meditation practice or breathing practice. They were measured before and after the program for work intention, mindfulness, and perceived stress.

 

They found that both before and after yoga training the higher the participants’ levels of mindfulness the lower their levels of perceived stress. They further found that in comparison to baseline and the other yoga group, the breath-focused yoga group had significantly higher levels of perceived stress and mindfulness while the meditation-focused yoga group had significantly lower work intention.

 

These results are interesting and document the previously reported linkage between mindfulness and lower stress levels. But they go further in demonstrating that breath-focus is an important component of yoga practice for the improvement of mindfulness and the lowering of perceived stress. This suggests that breathing practice should be emphasized in yoga instruction. These results also suggest that yoga practice may be beneficial for college students who are routinely found to have high stress levels, reducing their stress and thereby allowing them to perform their best in their studies.

 

So, breathing-focused yoga practices produce greater benefits for college students than meditative-focused practices.

 

“Mindful yoga (or the integration of yoga and mindfulness meditation techniques) provides a healthy and safe environment for individuals to practice “being with” uncomfortable emotional and physical experiences, and to eventually reunite with and fully inhabit their bodies.” – Melissa Mercedes

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

This and other Contemplative Studies posts are also available on Google+ https://plus.google.com/106784388191201299496/posts and on Twitter @MindfulResearch

 

Study Summary

 

Qi X, Tong J, Chen S, He Z and Zhu X (2020) Comparing the Psychological Effects of Meditation- and Breathing-Focused Yoga Practice in Undergraduate Students. Front. Psychol. 11:560152. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.560152

 

ABSTRACT

Objectives: The present study aimed to compare the psychological effects of meditation- and breathing-focused yoga practice in undergraduate students.

Methods: A 12-weeks yoga intervention was conducted among a group of undergraduate students enrolled in four yoga classes at an academically prestigious university in Beijing, China. Four classes were randomized to meditation-focused yoga or breathing-focused yoga. A total of 86 participants finished surveys before and after the 12-weeks intervention, measuring work intention, mindfulness, and perceived stress. The repeated-measure multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) followed by univariate analyses were conducted to examine the differences in work intention, mindfulness, and stress between the two yoga intervention groups over the semester, after controlling for age and gender.

Results: The repeated-measure MANCOVA revealed significant group differences with a median effect size [Wilks’ lambda, Λ = 0.90, F(3, 80) = 3.10, p = 0.031, η2 = 0.104]. Subsequent univariate analyses showed that students in the breathing-focused yoga group had significant higher work intentions [F(1, 82) = 5.22; p = 0.025; η2p = 0.060] and mindfulness [F(1, 82) = 6.33; p = 0.014; η2p = 0.072] but marginally lower stress [F(1, 82) = 4.20; p = 0.044; η2p = 0.049] than students in the meditation-focused yoga group.

Conclusion: Yoga practice with a focus on breathing is more effective than that with a focus on meditation for undergraduates to retain energy for work, keep attention and awareness, and reduce stress.

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.560152/full?utm_source=F-AAE&utm_medium=EMLF&utm_campaign=MRK_1490157_69_Psycho_20201124_arts_A

 

Improve Psychological Health and Quality of Life of Older Adults with Meditative Movement Practices.

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Improve Psychological Health and Quality of Life of Older Adults with Meditative Movement Practices.

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“Mindful techniques can help older adults feel a sense of connection to their body. This can be critical for creating optimal health, even as they manage the ongoing changes in their body.” – Karen Fabian

 

The aging process involves a systematic progressive decline in every system in the body, the brain included. This includes our cognitive (mental) abilities which decline with age including impairments in memory, attention, and problem-solving ability. It is inevitable and cannot be avoided. Research has found that mindfulness practices reduce the deterioration of the brain that occurs with aging restraining the loss of neural tissue. Indeed, the brains of practitioners of meditation and yoga have been found to degenerate less with aging than non-practitioners. Tai Chi and Qigong have also been shown to be beneficial in slowing or delaying physical and mental decline with aging. The research findings are accumulating suggesting that a summarization of what has been learned is called for.

 

In today’s Research News article “Effects of Mind-Body Interventions Involving Meditative Movements on Quality of Life, Depressive Symptoms, Fear of Falling and Sleep Quality in Older Adults: A Systematic Review with Meta-Analysis.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7559727/ ) Weber and colleagues  review, summarize, and perform a meta-analysis of the published randomized controlled studies (RCTs) of the effectiveness of the mind-body practices of Yoga, Tai Chi. Qigong, and Pilates to improve the psychological health and quality of life in the elderly (aged 60 and over). They identified 37 published RCTs, 21 of which employed Tai Chi. 5 Qigong, 10 Yoga, and 3 Pilates.

 

They separated studies employing Tai Chi and Qigong from those employing Yoga and Pilates. They report that the published studies found that all of the meditative movement practices significantly improved the quality of life, physical functioning, and sleep quality and reduced the fear of falling of older adults with small effect sizes. Only the Tai Chi and Qigong practices produced significant improvements in psychological functioning and social functioning while only the Yoga and Pilates produced significant improvements in depression. For Tai Chi and Qigong, they further report that practice occurring 3 or more times per week resulted in larger improvements in quality of life and depression than those with less than 3 practices per week.

 

These findings suggest that meditative movement practices have wide ranging benefits, albeit with relatively small effect sizes, on the physical, psychological, and social functioning of older adults and improve their overall quality of life. These are important benefits for the elderly helping to slow the progressive decline seen with aging. These practices when properly performed and supervised have very few adverse effects. Hence, they should be recommended for aging individuals as safe and effective practices to slow the progressive decline and improve their overall well-being.

 

So, improve psychological health and quality of life of older adults with meditative movement practices.

 

“When you age mindfully, you are fully aware and accepting of the challenges that come with the aging process, but you’re also aware of—and seizing—the opportunities that come with being blessed with what I call your ‘longevity bonus,’” – Andrea Brandt.

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

This and other Contemplative Studies posts are also available on Google+ https://plus.google.com/106784388191201299496/posts and on Twitter @MindfulResearch

 

Study Summary

 

Weber, M., Schnorr, T., Morat, M., Morat, T., & Donath, L. (2020). Effects of Mind-Body Interventions Involving Meditative Movements on Quality of Life, Depressive Symptoms, Fear of Falling and Sleep Quality in Older Adults: A Systematic Review with Meta-Analysis. International journal of environmental research and public health, 17(18), 6556. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17186556

 

Abstract

Background: The aim of the present systematic meta-analytical review was to quantify the effects of different mind–body interventions (MBI) involving meditative movements on relevant psychological health outcomes (i.e., quality of life (QoL), depressive symptoms, fear of falling (FoF) and sleep quality) in older adults without mental disorders. Methods: A structured literature search was conducted in five databases (Ovid, PsycINFO, PubMed, SPORTDiscus, Web of Science). Inclusion criteria were: (i) the study was a (cluster) randomized controlled trial, (ii) the subjects were aged ≥59 years without mental illnesses, (iii) an intervention arm performing MBI compared to a non-exercise control group (e.g., wait-list or usual care), (iv) psychological health outcomes related to QoL, depressive symptoms, FoF or sleep quality were assessed and (v) a PEDro score of ≥5. The interventions of the included studies were sub-grouped into Tai Chi/Qigong (TCQ) and Yoga/Pilates (YP). Statistical analyses were conducted using a random-effects inverse-variance model. Results: Thirty-seven randomized controlled trials (RCTs) (comprising 3224 participants) were included. Small to moderate-but-significant overall effect sizes favoring experimental groups (Hedges’ g: 0.25 to 0.71) compared to non-exercise control groups were observed in all outcomes (all p values ≤ 0.007), apart from one subdomain of quality of life (i.e., social functioning, p = 0.15). Interestingly, a significant larger effect on QoL and depressive symptoms with increasing training frequency was found for TCQ (p = 0.03; p = 0.004). Conclusions: MBI involving meditative movements may serve as a promising opportunity to improve psychological health domains such as QoL, depressive symptoms, FoF and sleep quality in older adults. Hence, these forms of exercise may represent potential preventive measures regarding the increase of late-life mental disorders, which need to be further confirmed by future research.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7559727/

 

Reduce Fatigue and Improve Quality of Life of Breast Cancer Survivors with Yoga

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Reduce Fatigue and Improve Quality of Life of Breast Cancer Survivors with Yoga

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“For women with breast cancer, research shows those who practice yoga may also have less stress and fatigue, and better quality of life.” – Stacie Simon

 

Because of great advances in treatment, many patients today are surviving cancer. But cancer survivors frequently suffer from anxiety, depression, mood disturbance, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), sleep disturbance, fatigue, sexual dysfunction, loss of personal control, impaired quality of life, and psychiatric symptoms which have been found to persist even ten years after remission. Also, cancer survivors can have to deal with a heightened fear of reoccurrence. So, safe and effective treatments for the symptoms in cancer and the physical and psychological effects of the treatments are needed.

 

Mindfulness training has been shown to help with general cancer recovery. Mindfulness practices have been shown to improve the residual symptoms in cancer survivors.  Yoga is both an exercise and a mindfulness practice that has also been shown to be helpful with the residual symptoms in cancer survivors, the psychological and physical ability to deal with cancer treatment and improves sleep. The research on yoga practice as a treatment for patients recovering from breast cancer has been accumulating. It is thus reasonable to take a step back and summarize what has been learned.

 

In today’s Research News article “The Effect of Yoga Interventions on Cancer-Related Fatigue and Quality of Life for Women with Breast Cancer: 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/PMC7580184/ ) O’Neill and colleagues review, summarize, and perform a meta-analysis of published randomized controlled trials of the effects of yoga practice on the fatigue and quality of life of breast cancer survivors. They identified 24 published randomized controlled trials.

 

They report that the published trials revealed that yoga practice produced significant reductions in cancer related fatigue and increases in the women’s quality of life. This was true overall and for the 18 trials with a passive control group such as a wait-list control, but not for the 6 trials with an active control group, such as physical exercise or supportive therapy. Hence, yoga practice appears to be beneficial for breast cancer survivors reducing fatigue and improving quality of life. But the benefits are comparable to those produced by other exercises or therapies.

 

So, reduce fatigue and improve quality of life of breast cancer survivors with yoga.

 

“A targeted yoga intervention led to significant improvements in fatigue and vigor among breast cancer survivors with persistent fatigue symptoms.” – Julienne Bower

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

This and other Contemplative Studies posts are also available on Google+ https://plus.google.com/106784388191201299496/posts and on Twitter @MindfulResearch

 

Study Summary

 

O’Neill, M., Samaroo, D., Lopez, C., Tomlinson, G., Santa Mina, D., Sabiston, C., Culos-Reed, N., & Alibhai, S. (2020). The Effect of Yoga Interventions on Cancer-Related Fatigue and Quality of Life for Women with Breast Cancer: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials. Integrative cancer therapies, 19, 1534735420959882. https://doi.org/10.1177/1534735420959882

 

Abstract

Background:

Women with breast cancer (BC) are living longer with debilitating side effects such as cancer-related fatigue (CRF) that affect overall well-being. Yoga promotes health, well-being and may be beneficial in reducing CRF. Although there have been previous systematic reviews and meta-analyses, the effects of yoga on CRF and quality of life (QOL) remain unclear, particularly in comparison with other types of physical activity (PA). Our objective is to carry out a systematic review and meta-analysis of the effects of yoga on CRF and QOL in women with BC.

Methods:

Electronic databases were searched (MEDLINE, Embase Classic+Embase and EMB Reviews, Cochrane Central CT) from inception to May 2018. Randomized controlled trials were included if they were full text, in English, included a yoga intervention, a comparator (including non-PA usual care or alternate PA intervention), and reported on CRF or QOL. Effects of yoga were pooled using standardized mean difference (SMD) via a random effects model.

Results:

Of the 2468 records retrieved, 24 trials were included; 18 studies compared yoga to a non-PA comparator and 6 to a PA comparator. Yoga demonstrated statistically significant improvements in CRF over non-PA (SMD −0.30 [−0.51; −0.08]) but not PA (SMD −0.17 [−0.50; 0.17]) comparators. Additionally, yoga demonstrated statistically significant improvements in QOL over non-PA (SMD −0.27 [−0.46; −0.07]) but not PA (SMD 0.04 [−0.22; +0.31]) comparators.

Discussion:

This meta-analysis found that yoga provides small to medium improvements in CRF and QOL compared to non-PA, but not in comparison to other PA interventions.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7580184/

 

Reduce Anxiety in Women Undergoing Fertility Treatment with Yoga

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Reduce Anxiety in Women Undergoing Fertility Treatment with Yoga

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“yoga is a relaxing activity. And there are some researched benefits regarding yoga, infertility, and the exercise’s ability to help couples release mental stress and physical tension.” – Ashley Marcin

 

Infertility is primarily a medical condition due to physiological problems. It is quite common. It is estimated that in the U.S. 6.7 million women, about 10% of the population of women 15-44, have an impaired ability to get pregnant or carry a baby to term and about 6% are infertile. Infertility can be more than just a medical issue. It can be an emotional crisis for many couples, especially for the women. Couples attending a fertility clinic reported that infertility was the most upsetting experience of their lives.

 

Women with infertility reported feeling as anxious or depressed as those diagnosed with cancer, hypertension, or recovering from a heart attack. In addition, infertility can markedly impact the couple’s relationship, straining their emotional connection and interactions and the prescribed treatments can take the spontaneity and joy from lovemaking making it strained and mechanical. The stress of infertility and engaging in infertility treatments may exacerbate the problem. Since mindfulness training has been shown to reduce depression, anxiety, and stress it is reasonable to believe that mind-body training may be helpful in reducing the distress in women with fertility issues. Yoga is both a mindfulness practice and an exercise that has been studied for its benefits for women undergoing fertility treatments.

 

In today’s Research News article “Effect of Yoga on Psychological Distress among Women Receiving Treatment for Infertility.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7336944/ ) Dumbala and colleagues review and summarize the published research studies on the effectiveness of yoga practice for the relief of the psychological symptoms produced by infertility.

 

They identified 3 published research studies all of which found that yoga practice reduced anxiety levels in women being treated for infertility. They also report that the research found that yoga improved the quality of life and reduced depression levels in these women. It has previously been shown that yoga practice reduces anxiety and depression and improves quality of life in a wide variety of healthy and ill individuals. The present review demonstrates that these benefits also extend to women being treated for infertility. The review and the included studies did not study whether yoga increased the likelihood of conception. But improving the psychological state of these women could only be helpful.

 

So, reduce anxiety in women undergoing fertility treatment with yoga.

 

“Yoga also offers a safe space for us to work through challenge and build resilience. It allows us to sit with discomfort by challenging us to hold a pose longer than we’d like, knowing it’s temporary. This is a valuable skill, not only for the fertility process, but it also helps prepare us for birth and parenthood (which combine discomfort, joy, and everything in between!)” – Kate Potvin

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

This and other Contemplative Studies posts are also available on Google+ https://plus.google.com/106784388191201299496/posts and on Twitter @MindfulResearch

 

Study Summary

 

Dumbala, S., Bhargav, H., Satyanarayana, V., Arasappa, R., Varambally, S., Desai, G., & Bangalore, G. N. (2020). Effect of Yoga on Psychological Distress among Women Receiving Treatment for Infertility. International journal of yoga, 13(2), 115–119. https://doi.org/10.4103/ijoy.IJOY_34_19

 

Abstract

Background:

Infertility among women has been associated with significant psychological distress, anxiety, and depression. yoga therapy has been found to be useful in the management of anxiety, depression and psychological distress.

Aim:

To review studies on the effectiveness of yoga in reducing psychological distress and improving clinical outcomes among women receiving treatment for infertility.

Methodology:

PubMed, ScienceDirect, and Google Scholar databases were searched for studies using the following inclusion criteria: studies published in English, those published between 2000 and 2018, published in peer-reviewed journals, and those with Yoga as an intervention. Review articles, studies without any yoga interventions for infertility, and male infertility were excluded. The keywords included for the literature search were: Yoga, Mindfulness, Relaxation technique, Stress, Distress, Anxiety, Infertility, In Vitro Fertilization (IVF), and Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART).

Results:

Three studies satisfied the selection criteria. Two studies involved Hatha yoga intervention and one study used structured yoga program. The variables assessed in these studies were: (1) anxiety, (2) depression, (3) emotional distress, and (4) fertility-related quality of life. All the studies reported an improvement in the anxiety scores after yoga intervention.

Conclusion:

Yoga therapy may be potentially useful in improving anxiety scores among women suffering from infertility. More studies are needed in this area to establish role of yoga as an adjuvant during the treatment of infertility.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7336944/

 

Manage Symptoms in Cancer Survivors with Yoga

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Manage Symptoms in Cancer Survivors with Yoga

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“when it’s used alongside conventional medical treatment, yoga may help relieve some of the symptoms linked to cancer.” – American Cancer Society

 

Because of great advances in treatment, many patients today are surviving cancer. But cancer survivors frequently suffer from anxiety, depression, mood disturbance, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), sleep disturbance, fatigue, sexual dysfunction, loss of personal control, impaired quality of life, and psychiatric symptoms which have been found to persist even ten years after remission. Also, cancer survivors can have to deal with a heightened fear of reoccurrence. This is particularly true with metastatic cancer. So, safe and effective treatments for the symptoms in cancer and the physical and psychological effects of the treatments are needed.

 

Mindfulness training has been shown to help with general cancer recovery . Yoga is both an exercise and a mindfulness practice that has also been shown to be helpful with the residual symptoms in cancer survivors, the psychological and physical ability to deal with cancer treatment and improves sleep. So, it’s reasonable to review what has been learned about the benefits of yoga practice to improve the residual symptoms of patients who have survived cancer.

 

In today’s Research News article “Yoga for symptom management in oncology: A review of the evidence base and future directions for research.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6541520/ ) Danhauer and colleagues review and summarize the published randomized controlled studies of the effectiveness of yoga practice for the treatment of the symptoms of cancer survivors. They identified 29 published randomized controlled trials, 13 conducted during treatment, 12 after treatment, and 4 both before and after.

 

They report that the published research found that yoga during treatment for cancer significantly improved the patient’s quality of life, including physical, emotional social, and cognitive quality of life. They also report that yoga significantly reduced fatigue, distress, perceived stress, and biomarkers of stress and inflammation. Yoga after treatment completion was found to significantly reduce fatigue and sleep disturbance and improve quality of life. There were no serious adverse events resulting from yoga practice reported.

 

The published research then suggests that yoga practice is a safe and effective treatment both during and after cancer treatment for the relief of the patients’ residual physical and psychological symptoms. Yoga practice is a complex of practices that includes postures, breath control, and meditation. It has not been clearly established which of these components or which combination of components are required for the benefits. So, conclusions cannot be made regarding mechanisms of action by which yoga produces its benefits. But it can be concluded that yoga practice is very beneficial for cancer sufferers.

 

So, manage symptoms in cancer survivors with yoga.

 

“yoga can combat fatigue and improve strength and range of motion for patients undergoing cancer treatment,” – Dr. Maggie DiNome

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

This and other Contemplative Studies posts are a also available on Google+ https://plus.google.com/106784388191201299496/posts and on Twitter @MindfulResearch

 

Study Summary

 

Danhauer, S. C., Addington, E. L., Cohen, L., Sohl, S. J., Van Puymbroeck, M., Albinati, N. K., & Culos-Reed, S. N. (2019). Yoga for symptom management in oncology: A review of the evidence base and future directions for research. Cancer, 125(12), 1979–1989. https://doi.org/10.1002/cncr.31979

 

Abstract

As yoga is increasingly recognized as a complementary approach to cancer symptom management, patients/survivors and providers need to understand its potential benefits and limitations both during and after treatment. We reviewed randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of yoga conducted at these points in the cancer continuum (N=29; n=13 during treatment, n=12 post-treatment, n=4 with mixed samples). Findings both during and after treatment demonstrated efficacy of yoga to improve overall quality of life (QOL), with improvement in subdomains of QOL varying across studies. Fatigue was the most commonly measured outcome, and most RCTs conducted during or after cancer treatment reported improvements in fatigue. Results additionally suggest that yoga can improve stress/distress during treatment and post-treatment disturbances in sleep and cognition. A number of RCTs showed evidence that yoga may improve biomarkers of stress, inflammation, and immune function. Outcomes with limited or mixed findings (e.g., anxiety, depression, pain, cancer-specific symptoms such as lymphedema, positive psychological outcomes such as benefit-finding and life satisfaction) warrant further study. Important future directions for yoga research in oncology include: enrolling participants with cancer types other than breast, standardizing self-report assessments, increasing use of active control groups and objective measures, and addressing the heterogeneity of yoga interventions, which vary in type, key components (movement, meditation, breathing), dose, and delivery mode.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6541520/

 

Reduce Heart Arrhythmia with Yoga

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Reduce Heart Arrhythmia with Yoga

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“the practice of yoga is good for overall heart health, and especially beneficial for afib patients. Yoga can help reduce the number of episodes, lower blood pressure, and alleviate some of the anxiety and depression that may go along with having the condition.” – Midwest Health

 

Cardiovascular disease is the number one killer, claiming more lives than all forms of cancer combined. Lifestyle changes have proved to be quite effective in reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease. These include quitting smoking, weight reduction, improved diet, physical activity, and reducing stresses. Contemplative practices, such as meditation, tai chi, and yoga, have also been shown to be helpful for heart health. These practices have also been shown to be helpful for producing the kinds of other lifestyle changes needed such as smoking cessation, weight reduction and stress reduction. Yoga is a mindfulness practice that has been shown to improve physical well-being and cardiovascular health.

 

“An arrhythmia is a problem with the rate or rhythm of the heartbeat. During an arrhythmia, the heart can beat too fast, too slowly, or with an irregular rhythm. When a heart beats too fast, the condition is called tachycardia. When a heart beats too slowly, the condition is called bradycardia.” (NIH). Arrythmias if untreated could lead to heart failure, stroke, cardiac arrest and sudden infant death. So, it is very important to identify treatments for arrhythmias. Research on the ability of yoga practice to treat arrhythmias has been accumulating, So, it makes sense to step back and review what has been learned on the ability of yoga to treat heart arrhythmia.

 

In today’s Research News article “Impact of Yoga on Cardiac Autonomic Function and Arrhythmias.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7533135/ ) Akella and colleagues review and summarized the published research on the effects of yoga practice on heart arrhythmia and its symptoms.

 

They report that the published research studies found that practicing yoga reduces heart arrhythmias. It reduces resting blood pressure and heart rate in these patients and reduces atrial fibrillation, ventricular arrhythmia and syncope. They further report that the published research suggests that these benefits results from yoga practice producing an increase in vagal tone and a reduction in fluctuations in the autonomic nervous system.

 

The autonomic nervous system is responsible for controlling the physiology of the body including the cardiovascular system. The sympathetic division of the autonomic nervous system is the component that oversees activation, including increases in heart rate and blood pressure while the parasympathetic division, controlled through the vagus nerve, oversees relaxation including decreases in heart rate and blood pressure. The increase in vagal tone observed in the yoga practitioners indicates an increase in the parasympathetic, relaxation, responses. The reduction in fluctuation in the autonomic nervous system indicates that there is less variation over time in the physiological systems, fewer wild swings in heart rate and blood pressure. In this way, yoga practice appears to improve cardiovascular function and thereby reduce arrhythmias. Needless to say that this is very beneficial for the health and even survival of these patients.

 

So, reduce heart arrhythmia with yoga.

 

“Yoga may improve quality of life in patients with paroxysmal AFib because it gives them a method to gain some self-control over their symptoms instead of feeling helpless,” – Maria Wahlström

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

This and other Contemplative Studies posts are also available on Google+ https://plus.google.com/106784388191201299496/posts and on Twitter @MindfulResearch

 

Study Summary

 

Akella, K., Kanuri, S. H., Murtaza, G., G Della Rocca, D., Kodwani, N., K Turagam, M., Shenthar, J., Padmanabhan, D., Basu Ray, I., Natale, A., Gopinathannair, R., & Lakkireddy, D. (2020). Impact of Yoga on Cardiac Autonomic Function and Arrhythmias. Journal of atrial fibrillation, 13(1), 2408. https://doi.org/10.4022/jafib.2408

 

Abstract

With the expanding integration of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) practices in conjunction with modern medicine, yoga has quickly risen to being one of the most common CAM practices across the world. Despite widespread use of yoga, limited studies are available, particularly in the setting of dysrhythmia. Preliminary studies demonstrate promising results from integration of yoga as an adjunct to medical therapy for management of dysrhythmias. In this review, we discuss the role of autonomic nervous system in cardiac arrhythmia,interaction of yoga with autonomic tone and its subsequent impact on these disease states. The role of yoga in specific disease states, and potential future direction for studies assessing the role of yoga in dysrhythmia.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7533135/

 

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Improve Low Back Pain with Walking and Mind-Body Practices

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Improve Low Back Pain with Walking and Mind-Body Practices

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“Mindfulness training teaches us to be aware of, and accept, moment-to-moment physical sensations of discomfort, while letting go of our usual negative reactions. So instead of spending hours each day thinking about how much we hate our back pain, worrying about our prognosis, and seeking relief, we learn how to be with the pain — paying attention to how it actually feels at each moment and relaxing our tendency to tense up against it, while observing our worried or distressed thoughts and feelings coming and going.” – Ronald Siegel

 

Low Back Pain is the leading cause of disability worldwide and affects between 6% to 15% of the population. It is estimated, however, that 80% of the population will experience 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. These 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 and opiate pain killers are dangerous and can lead to abuse, addiction, and fatal overdoses.

 

Obviously, there is a need for safe and effective treatments for low back pain that are low cost and don’t have troublesome side effects. Mindfulness practices are effective in treating pain and have been shown to be safe and effective in the management of low back pain. Yoga practice has been shown to have a myriad of health benefits. These include relief of chronic pain. Yoga practice has also been shown to be effective for the relief of chronic low-back pain.  Other mind-body  practices such as Tai Chi  improves spinal health and reduces pain. The evidence is accumulating, so, it would seem reasonable to summarize what has been learned regarding the ability of mind-body practices to treat chronic low back pain.

 

In today’s Research News article “Effectiveness of walking versus mind-body therapies in chronic low back pain: A systematic review and meta-analysis of recent randomized controlled trials.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7458239/ ) Nduwimana and colleagues reviewed, summarized, and performed a meta-analysis of the published randomized controlled trials comparing the effectiveness of m1nd-body practices and walking for the relief of chronic low back pain. They identified 31 published trials containing a total of 3193 participants.

 

They report that the published research found that both walking and m1nd-body practices were effective in significantly reducing low back pain. Of the m1nd-body practices, yoga was particularly effective not only reducing pain but also producing significant reductions in activity limitations resulting from low back pain. On the short-term (up to 3 months) yoga produced significant pain reductions while on the intermediate-term (3 to 6 months), walking produced significant pain reductions.

 

These results are important as low back pain is ubiquitous and produces not only discomfort but also limitations on the ability of patients to conduct their lives. So, its relief greatly reduces the suffering and improves the quality of life. The comparison of mind-body practices to walking is important as both are exercises and their relative effectiveness assessed. The results suggest that yoga practice has better short-term effectiveness while walking appears to be better for the intermediate term. This further suggests that future research should explore the effectiveness of the combination of mind-body practices and walking in the treatment of low back pain.

 

So, improve low back pain with walking and mind-body practices.

 

“Mindbody treatments (designed to change these attitudes, feeling, and beliefs about pain) can measurably reduce back pain over time.” – Curable

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

This and other Contemplative Studies posts are also available on Google+ https://plus.google.com/106784388191201299496/posts and on Twitter @MindfulResearch

 

Study Summary

 

Nduwimana, I., Nindorera, F., Thonnard, J. L., & Kossi, O. (2020). Effectiveness of walking versus mind-body therapies in chronic low back pain: A systematic review and meta-analysis of recent randomized controlled trials. Medicine, 99(35), e21969. https://doi.org/10.1097/MD.0000000000021969

 

Abstract

Purpose:

Walking and mind-body therapies (MBTs) are commonly recommended to relieve pain and improve function in patients with chronic low back pain (CLBP). The purpose of this study was to compare the effectiveness of walking and MBTs in CLBP.

Methods:

We included randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing walking or MBTs to any other intervention or control in adults with CLBP. Studies were identified through PubMed, Cochrane Library, PsycINFO, Scopus, and ScienceDirect databases. The research was limited to studies published in English and French between January 2008 and December 2018. Two reviewers independently selected the studies, extracted data, and assessed studies quality using the Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro) scale. Statistical analyses were performed under a random-effects model. We analyzed pain and activity limitation, with the calculation of standardized mean differences and 95% confidence intervals for the different treatment effects.

Results:

Thirty one randomized controlled trials involving 3193 participants were analyzed. Walking was as effective as control interventions in the short-term and slightly superior in the intermediate term with respect to pain (Standardized mean differences (SMD)  = –0.34; 95% CI, –0.65 to –0.03; P = .03) and activity limitation (SMD = –0.30; 95% CI, –0.50 to –0.10; P = .003). In contrast, yoga was more effective than control interventions in the short term in terms of pain (SMD = –1.47; 95% CI, –2.26 to –0.68; P = .0003) and activity limitation (SMD = –1.17; 95% CI, –1.80 to –0.55; P = .0002). Yoga was no longer superior to the control interventions for pain at the 6-month follow-up.

Conclusion:

MBTs, especially yoga, seem to be more effective in the short term, and walking seems to be more effective in the intermediate term, for the relief of pain and activity limitation in patients with CLBP. A combination of walking and MBTs fits the biopsychosocial model and might be valuable therapy for CLBP throughout follow-up due to combined effects.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7458239/