This report summarizes the current evidence on the effects of yoga interventions on various components of mental and physical health, by focussing on the evidence described in review articles. Collectively, these reviews suggest a number of areas where yoga may well be beneficial, but more research is required for virtually all of them to firmly establish such benefits. The heterogeneity among interventions and conditions studied has hampered the use of meta-analysis as an appropriate tool for summarizing the current literature. Nevertheless, there are some meta-analyses which indicate beneficial effects of yoga interventions, and there are several randomized clinical trials (RCT's) of relatively high quality indicating beneficial effects of yoga for pain-associated disability and mental health. Yoga may well be effective as a supportive adjunct to mitigate some medical conditions, but not yet a proven stand-alone, curative treatment. Larger-scale and more rigorous research with higher methodological quality and adequate control interventions is highly encouraged because yoga may have potential to be implemented as a beneficial supportive/adjunct treatment that is relatively cost-effective, may be practiced at least in part as a self-care behavioral treatment, provides a life-long behavioural skill, enhances self-efficacy and self-confidence and is often associated with additional positive side effects.

Background: The demand for clinically efficacious, safe, patient acceptable, and cost-effective forms of treatment for mental illness is growing. Several studies have demonstrated benefit from yoga in specific psychiatric symptoms and a general sense of well-being.Objective: To systematically examine the evidence for efficacy of yoga in the treatment of selected major psychiatric disorders.Methods: Electronic searches of The Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials and the standard bibliographic databases, MEDLINE, EMBASE, and PsycINFO, were performed through April 2011 and an updated in June 2011 using the keywords yoga AND psychiatry OR depression OR anxiety OR schizophrenia OR cognition OR memory OR attention AND randomized controlled trial (RCT). Studies with yoga as the independent variable and one of the above mentioned terms as the dependent variable were included and exclusion criteria were applied.Results: The search yielded a total of 124 trials, of which 16 met rigorous criteria for the final review. Grade B evidence supporting a potential acute benefit for yoga exists in depression (four RCTs), as an adjunct to pharmacotherapy in schizophrenia (three RCTs), in children with ADHD (two RCTs), and Grade C evidence in sleep complaints (three RCTs). RCTs in cognitive disorders and eating disorders yielded conflicting results. No studies looked at primary prevention, relapse prevention, or comparative effectiveness versus pharmacotherapy.Conclusion: There is emerging evidence from randomized trials to support popular beliefs about yoga for depression, sleep disorders, and as an augmentation therapy. Limitations of literature include inability to do double-blind studies, multiplicity of comparisons within small studies, and lack of replication. Biomarker and neuroimaging studies, those comparing yoga with standard pharmaco- and psychotherapies, and studies of long-term efficacy are needed to fully translate the promise of yoga for enhancing mental health.

BackgroundAn earlier study showed that a week of yoga practice was useful in stress management after a natural calamity. Due to heavy rain and a rift on the banks of the Kosi river, in the state of Bihar in north India, there were floods with loss of life and property. A week of yoga practice was given to the survivors a month after the event and the effect was assessed.MethodsTwenty-two volunteers (group average age ± S.D, 31.5 ± 7.5 years; all of them were males) were randomly assigned to two groups, yoga and a non-yoga wait-list control group. The yoga group practiced yoga for an hour daily while the control group continued with their routine activities. Both groups' heart rate variability, breath rate, and four symptoms of emotional distress using visual analog scales, were assessed on the first and eighth day of the program.ResultsThere was a significant decrease in sadness in the yoga group (p < 0.05, paired t-test, post data compared to pre) and an increase in anxiety in the control group (p < 0.05, paired t-test, post data compared to pre).ConclusionsA week of yoga can reduce feelings of sadness and possibly prevent an increase in anxiety in flood survivors a month after the calamity.Trial RegistrationClinical Trials Registry of India: CTRI/2009/091/000285

35 male volunteers whose ages ranged from 20 to 46 years were studied in two sessions of yoga-based guided relaxation and supine rest. Assessments of autonomic variables were made for 15 subjects, before, during, and after the practices, whereas oxygen consumption and breath volume were recorded for 25 subjects before and after both types of relaxation. A significant decrease in oxygen consumption and increase in breath volume were recorded after guided relaxation (paired t test). There were comparable reductions in heart rate and skin conductance during both types of relaxation. During guided relaxation the power of the low frequency component of the heart-rate variability spectrum reduced, whereas the power of the high frequency component increased, suggesting reduced sympathetic activity. Also, subjects with a baseline ratio of LF/HF > 0.5 showed a significant decrease in the ratio after guided relaxation, while subjects with a ratio < or = 0.5 at baseline showed no such change. The results suggest that sympathetic activity decreased after guided relaxation based on yoga, depending on the baseline levels.

The effect of right, left, and alternate nostril yoga breathing (i.e., RNYB, LNYB, and ANYB, respectively) were compared with breath awareness (BAW) and normal breathing (CTL). Autonomic and respiratory variables were studied in 21 male volunteers with ages between 18 and 45 years and experience in the yoga breathing practices between 3 and 48 months. Subjects were assessed in five experimental sessions on five separate days. The sessions were in fixed possible sequences and subjects were assigned to a sequence randomly. Each session was for 40 min; 30 min for the breathing practice, preceded and followed by 5 min of quiet sitting. Assessments included heart rate variability, skin conductance, finger plethysmogram amplitude, breath rate, and blood pressure. Following RNYB there was a significant increase in systolic, diastolic and mean pressure. In contrast, the systolic and diastolic pressure decreased after ANYB and the systolic and mean pressure were lower after LNYB. Hence, unilateral nostril yoga breathing practices appear to influence the blood pressure in different ways. These effects suggest possible therapeutic applications.

BackgroundPrevious studies have separately reported the effects of physical exercise and yoga in children, showing physical, cognitive and emotional benefits.ObjectivesThe present randomized controlled trial assessed the effects of yoga or physical exercise on physical fitness, cognitive performance, self-esteem, and teacher-rated behavior and performance, in school children.Methods98 school children between 8 to 13 years were randomized as yoga and physical exercise groups {n = 49 each; (yoga: 15 girls, group mean age 10.4 ± 1.2 years), (physical exercise: 23 girls, group mean age 10.5 ± 1.3 years)}. Both groups were blind assessed after allocation, using: (i) the Eurofit physical fitness test battery, (ii) Stroop color-word task for children, (iii) Battle’s self-esteem inventory and (iv) the teachers’ rating of the children’s obedience, academic performance, attention, punctuality, and behavior with friends and teachers. After assessments the yoga group practiced yoga (breathing techniques, postures, guided relaxation and chanting), 45 minutes each day, 5 days a week. During this time the physical exercise group had jogging-in-place, rapid repetitive movements and relay races or games. Both groups were assessed at the end of 3 months. Data were analyzed with RM ANOVA and post-hoc tests were Bonferroni adjusted.ResultsThere was one significant difference between groups. This was in social self-esteem which was higher after physical exercise compared to yoga (p < 0.05). All the changes reported below are based on after-before comparisons, within each group. Both groups showed an increase in BMI, and number of sit-ups (p < 0.001). Balance worsened in the physical exercise group, while plate tapping improved in the yoga group (p < 0.001). In the Stroop task both groups showed improved color, word- and color-word naming (p < 0.01), while the physical exercise group showed higher interference scores. Total, general and parental self-esteem improved in the yoga group (p < 0.05).ConclusionYoga and physical exercise are useful additions to the school routine, with physical exercise improving social self-esteem.Trial registrationThe study was registered in the Clinical Trials Registry of India (CTRI/2012/11/003112).

Depressive and anxiety disorders, also referred to as common mental disorders (CMD), are widely prevalent in primary care settings in low-and middle-income countries (LAMIC)(1) and are associated with significant levels of disability, increased health care costs and reduced economic productivity (2-4). Although substantial proportions of primary care attenders in LAMIC suffer from a CMD -estimates vary from 10 to 30% (1,5) -the vast majority of patients do not receive effective treatments (6). This treatment gap persists even as a growing evidence base demonstrates that there are efficacious treatments that are feasible in LAMIC settings (7-10). To address this treatment gap, integration of mental health services into primary care is widely acknowledged as the most feasible strategy (11). While we now have encouraging evidence that specific treatments for CMD work in LAMIC, the challenge is to integrate these in a comprehensive intervention package within routine primary care systems. This is one of the key research priorities for CMD in LAMIC (12).A recent review of evidence from high-income countries highlighted the components that are necessary for the effective integration of services for depression in primary care settings (13). These were the routine screening of patients, education for primary health care staff, skilled mental health providers delivering a stepped-care intervention and the active collaboration of mental health specialists in the programme.The adaptation of these principles in LAMIC primary care settings presents several challenges. These include limited skilled mental health resources, vastly different social and cultural contexts and an already constrained primary care system (14-16). Other barriers to possible integration include the low recognition rates of CMD by primary care doctors (17), limited primary health care staff and large numbers of patients, infrequent and/or inadequate use of antidepressants (18) and the frequent use of medications such as vitamin injections which are prescribed for their supposedly "restorative" properties (19). Low adherence to medication regimens further minimizes the gains of treatment. In addition, few patients receive psychosocial treatments, typically because of a scarcity of personnel with the time and skills to deliver these (20).The MANAS project is an effectiveness trial of a multicomponent, comprehensive intervention to integrate the treatment of CMD in primary care facilities in Goa, a state on the West coast of India which has been the setting for a

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