abstract. The aim of this study was to measure the changes in stress, general health index and disorderliness in human energy pattern through Integrated Yoga Practices (IYP). Ninety four healthy volunteers (male 55 and female 39), age (mean ± sd 26.70 ±8.58) were assessed before and after four weeks of IYP. The experiment was conducted four times and the assessment was done by utilizing the Electro Photonic Imaging (EPI) technique. comparisons were made to ascertain whether energy homeostasis diverges based on genders. The parameters considered for analysis were activation coefficient (ac), Integral area (Ia) and Integral Entropy (IE). Reduction in stress levels (ac), increase in general health index (Ia) and decrease in disorderliness (IE) on the left side parameters were found reproducible in all four experiments. The results also revealed a highly significant reduction in stress levels and highly significant improvement in the health indices at the psycho-physiological level. The subgroup analysis of both male and female demonstrated a significant reduction in stress levels and significant improvement in health index (psycho-physiological). baseline comparisons between males and females showed significant difference in general health index at both psychophysiological and physiological levels. In conclusion, IYP regulates, improves and prolongs energy homeostasis of an organism. Therefore, it helps in prevention of ill health and also preserves health. The EPI outcomes are reproducible. Further, the present study also found that the energy pattern differs with gender. Hence, it is suggested that studies with male and female participants may be conducted separately.

BackgroundMeditation techniques are known to elicit relaxation response in which moving meditation which combines the practice of yoga postures and guided relaxation is known as Cyclic Meditation reported helpful in reducing the sympathetic arousal and improving health of practitioners.ObjectivesThe objective of this study was to investigate the effect of Cyclic Meditation on stress and health indices in managers as measured by Electro Photonic Imaging (EPI) technique.Materials and methodsEPI technique was used to assess participants before and after 35 min of Cyclic Meditation (CM) and equal duration of Supine Rest (SR) session. A total of sixty six male managers, age ranges from 35 to 60 years (mean ± SD 53.97 ± 5.96) were included in the study. EPI parameters, including Activation Coefficient, Integral Area left and right and Integral Entropy, left and right were taken for statistical analyses.ResultsCyclic Meditation has produced a highly significant reduction in stress level, whereas this reduction was not found significant within SR group. There was a significant improvement in health index ‘Integral Area’ values in both left and right sides within the CM group while only IA right side showed a significant improvement within the CM group. The integral entropy value right side decreased significantly within the CM group, whereas IE left was found deteriorated within the SR group. Moreover, only IE left side has shown a significant difference between the groups.ConclusionThe investigations in this study suggest that Cyclic Meditation practice reduces stress and improves psychosomatic health indices more effectively than Supine Rest in managers.

Women of LTM and STM demonstrated lesser stress than men. Both groups showed cumulative health-related improvement. Moreover, in gender-related analysis woman meditators exhibited more positive improvement in EPI parameters than men.

Background:Electro photonic imaging (EPI) technique is growing as a novel technique of health assessment and is being utilized in the fields of alternative medicine, conventional practices, psycho-physiology, psychology, and consciousness studies. The existing EPI norms are based mostly on European (EU) population. In order to enhance the practice and research through EPI in India, there is a need for developing norms for the healthy Indian population.Objective:The objective of the study was to establish the normative data of EPI for the healthy Indian population, to aid in the accuracy of EPI measurements and interpretations.Materials and Methods:A total of 1297 volunteers were assessed once, who represented different parts of India during December 2013 to December 2014. Among them, 880 volunteers were reported to be healthy (age mean ± standard deviation [SD], 33.55 ± 10.92), with 584 males (age mean ± SD, 33.54 ± 10.86) and 296 females (age mean ± SD, 33.56 ± 11.00). In this study activation coefficient (stress level), integral area (IA) (general health), and integral entropy (disorderliness in energy) parameters were analyzed.Results:As the data were not normally distributed, quartile based statistics was used for setting the norms. The 25th and 75th percentiles were calculated and they were further verified using a bootstrap procedure. Uniquely, the results showed a clear difference in IA parameters under both with filter (physiological) and without filter (psycho-physiological) conditions between the Indian and the EU population. Though other parameters were found almost similar to the EU population, inter quartile ranges were narrower in the Indian population as compared to the EU values. Similar trends were observed in the subgroup analyzes: That is, male versus female genders and age ranges 18–40 versus 40-60.Conclusion:As compared to EU population, Indian population had different range of Integral Area values and narrower range for values of other variables. EPI Studies in India should also adjust for factors such as age and gender.

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