Yoga is a multifaceted spiritual tool with enhanced health and well-being as one of its positive effects. The components of yoga which are very commonly applied for health benefits are asanas (physical postures), pranayama (regulated breathing) and meditation. In the context of asanas, yoga resembles more of a physical exercise, which may lead to the perception that yoga is another kind of physical exercise. This article aims at exploring the commonalities and differences between yoga and physical exercise in terms of concepts, possible mechanisms and effectiveness for health benefits. A narrative review is undertaken based on traditional and contemporary literature for yoga, along with scientific articles available on yoga and exercise including head-to-head comparative trials with healthy volunteers and patients with various disease conditions. Physical exercises and the physical components of yoga practices have several similarities, but also important differences. Evidence suggests that yoga interventions appear to be equal and/or superior to exercise in most outcome measures. Emphasis on breath regulation, mindfulness during practice, and importance given to maintenance of postures are some of the elements which differentiate yoga practices from physical exercises.
A specific yoga-based module for schizophrenia was designed and validated by experts. Further studies are needed to confirm efficacy and clinical utility of the module. Additional clinical validation is suggested.
Some yoga-based practices have been found to be useful for patients with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). The authors could not find a validated yoga therapy module available for OCD. This study attempted to formulate a generic yoga-based intervention module for OCD. A yoga module was designed based on traditional and contemporary yoga literature. The module was sent to 10 yoga experts for content validation. The experts rated the usefulness of the practices on a scale of 1-5 (5 = extremely useful). The final version of the module was pilot-tested on patients with OCD (n = 17) for both feasibility and effect on symptoms. Eighty-eight per cent (22 out of 25) of the items in the initial module were retained, with modifications in the module as suggested by the experts along with patients' inputs and authors' experience. The module was found to be feasible and showed an improvement in symptoms of OCD on total Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (YBOCS) score (p = 0.001). A generic yoga therapy module for OCD was validated by experts in the field and found feasible to practice in patients. A decrease in the symptom scores was also found following yoga practice of 2 weeks. Further clinical validation is warranted to confirm efficacy.
Providing a context to the action modulates MNS-activity. This modulation is diminished in schizophrenia patients, suggestive of a diminished sensorimotor associative learning process. This novel, ecologically valid paradigm to tap into the MNS may serve as a neuro-marker of social cognition performance in schizophrenia.
Background:Yoga as a mind–body therapy is useful in lifestyle-related disorders including neuropsychiatric disorders. In schizophrenia patients, yoga has been shown to significantly improve negative symptoms, functioning, and plasma oxytocin level.Aim:The aim of the study was to study the effect of add-on yoga therapy on social cognition in schizophrenia patients.Materials and Methods:In a single pre-post, study design, 15 schizophrenia patients stabilized on antipsychotic medication for 6 weeks were assessed for social cognition (theory of mind, facial emotion recognition, and social perception [SP]) and clinical symptoms (negative and positive symptoms and social disability) before and after twenty sessions of add-on yoga therapy.Results:There was a significant improvement in the social cognition composite score after 20 sessions of yoga (t[13] = −5.37, P ≤ 0.001). Clinical symptoms also reduced significantly after twenty sessions of yoga.Conclusion:Results are promising to integrate yoga in clinical practice, if proven in well-controlled clinical trials.
Background:
Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a debilitating disorder with dysfunction in daily activities and psychological consequences like anxiety as well as depression impacting the quality of life substantially. Existing treatments focus mainly on rehabilitation, symptom reduction, and secondary complications. However, psychological, social, and existential issues are least addressed in the prevailing models.
Aims:
To study the role of meditation in addressing psychological impairment and any resultant improvement in functional outcomes in SCI patients.
Methods:
Nonrandomized controlled study was conducted in a tertiary care center for SCI patients. Hospital inpatients were recruited into either experimental intervention group (add on easy
rāja yoga
with conventional rehabilitation-ER
n
= 50) or control intervention group (conventional rehabilitation alone-CR
n
= 50). Patients in the ER group received easy
rāja yoga
for 1 month, along with conventional rehabilitation and the CR group patients received only conventional rehabilitation. All the subjects were assessed for psychological (perceived stress scale [PSS], Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale [HADS]) and functional impairment (spinal cord independence measure (SCIM), numeric pain rating (NPR) and WHO quality of life-BRIEF (WHOQOLBREF)] at baseline and after 1 month.
Results:
After 1 month of add-on easy
rāja yoga
, there was significant decrease in the scores of HADS (F[1,88] = 272.92,
P
< 0.001), PSS (F[1,88] = 274.41,
P
< 0.001) and NPR (F[1,88] = 60.60,
P
< 0.001) and significant increase in the scores of WHOQOLBREF (F[1,88] = 349.94,
P
< 0.001) and SCIM (F[1,88] = 29.09,
P
< 0.001) in the ER group compared to CR group in analysis of covariance.
Conclusion:
One-month add-on easy
rāja yoga
improves psychological and functional outcomes (HADS, PSS, NPR, WHOQOLBREF and SCIM) in patients with SCI. Future studies with robust designs are needed to validate the results.
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