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The escalating stress epidemic in modern society has raised concerns about its impact on physical and mental health, prompting the need for effective interventions. Yoga, a multifaceted mind–body practice, has gained recognition for its potential in mitigating perceived stress. Our meta-analysis aimed to estimate yoga’s impact on lowering perceived stress as measured by the Perceived Stress Scale. We identified 36 studies meeting inclusion criteria and found a statistically significant moderate effect of yoga on reducing perceived stress (g = 0.48, 95% CI = 0.29-0.66). Our analysis uncovered substantial heterogeneity (Q = 117.33, p < .001), with 74.90% of the variation in effect sizes attributed to study characteristics. In planned moderator analyses, we hypothesised that yoga with breathwork, relaxation, high stress symptoms, greater number of hours practiced, and studies conducted in India would yield larger effects. Stress severity was shown to be statistically significant. However, the remaining hypotheses were not supported. Additionally, we examined five exploratory moderator variables, which did not yield significant results. Further research is needed to elucidate the source of heterogeneity across studies and reveal recommendations for specific populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Obesity is considered as one of the major public health burden and it is predictor of cardiovascular risk factor. Yoga is a mind-body medicine helps to promote health. This study was aimed to explore whether Laghoo Shankaprashalana (LS) reduce the body weight in obese individuals. This was a single group pre-post study. A total of 40 subjects (9 Male, 31 Female) aged between 18 and 40 years were recruited. This study was conducted in government yoga and naturopathy medical college, Chennai. Subjects were practiced weekly once LS for eight weeks (eight sessions). Subjects were assessed pre and post on body weight, body mass index, waist circumference, hip circumference, waist hip ratio, pulse rate and blood pressure. Variables were analyzed using Paired sample t test except waist hip ratio, which were analyzed using Wilcoxon's signed ranks test. There was significant reduction in the body weight (p<0.001, 5.81 %), Body Mass Index (p<0.001, 5.88 %), Waist Circumference (p<0.001, 7.20 %), Hip Circumference (p<0.001, 5.04 %), and Waist Hip Circumference (p<0.001, 3.19 %) after LS. However, there was no statistical significance difference in pulse rate, blood pressure. Eight sessions of Laghoo Shankaprakshalana helps to reduces body weight, body mass index, waist circumference, hip circumference and waist hip ratio. Reduction in the waist circumference might helps to reduce the cardiovascular risk. LS may be one of the cost effective intervention that can be incorporated in the weight loss regimen. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose. The purpose of the study was to examine the effect of twelve-week yogic practices on stress and anxiety in school going male students. Material & Methods. A total of 30 males, aged (15.5±2.40 years) from senior secondary school were selected as subjects. The subjects were divided into two groups of fifteen each (n=15) randomly. The experimental group underwent yogic practices (asanas & pranayamas) for a period of twelve-week and control group followed a normal routine. The training intervention was for forty-five minutes, six days a week. Stress was assessed by the perceived stress scale and anxiety was assessed by Ducklow’s anxiety questionnaire. A pre-post assessment protocol was employed to determine the effect of a twelve-week yogic practice intervention. Results. Unadjusted post hoc comparison between covariate adjusted means revealed a significant difference in anxiety between the experimental, Madj=24.7, SEadj=0.78 and control, Madj=31.70, SEadj=0.78 groups after twelve-week of yoga intervention, p

When the time lows of the psychological body, about the human mind, there is a vital relationship between the psychological and somatic body leading to stress and mishaps. This could be a lack of coherence among significant components in the body, which are characterized by hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline that come into play. Cortisol and adrenaline are released when there is usually a response of fight or flight, where these hormones get ready to handle the body’s reaction, and when this happens properly, it yields stress. Stress occurs through all age groups across every ethnicity and population, as the functioning of the mind is very similar. Managing this emerging stress and anxiety condition could be done through the easy way of the modern system of medicine, allopathy. Alternatively, the traditional method comes in handy to maintain such a condition with hardly any long-term side effects. A few conventional techniques like the practice of yoga, support of the proper nutrients, and certain medicinal herbs are bent to see a change in the perspective of coping mechanisms that results in a stress-free environment within the human mind. Many patterns of practices are noticed that there are specific nutrients and supplements formulated with medicinal herbs with significant pharmacological properties and the ancient activity of yoga aid in stress management. Using and practicing regularly can help in an integrated caliber of living. This review article sheds information and collation on such significant medicinal herbs, nutrients, and renounced practices of yoga that play together in the balance of the human body to overcome the distress of the mind. Many studies have noticed that medicinal herbs, nutrients, and specific yogic asanas help handle stress and anxiety, giving a holistic living pattern.

Menstrual pain also known as dysmenorrhea is one of the most common and underrated gynecological disorders affecting menstruating women. Although the symptoms and impact might vary greatly, it is defined by cramps in the lower abdomen and pain that radiates to lower back and thighs. In some cases it is also accompanied by nausea, loose stool, dizziness etc. A primary narrative review was conducted on the impact of yoga on dysmenorrhea experienced by women. The English-language literature published until 2022 was searched across databases such as PubMed, Google Scholar and Scopus. “Yoga” and “menstrual pain” OR “dysmenorrhea” were used as keywords for the search across several databases. A total of 816 title searches were obtained across all the database searches. This review article included 10 studies based on the selection criteria. The studies examined the impact of a varied set of 39 asanas, 5 pranayamas and Yoga nidra on dysmenorrhea. The studies demonstrated a significant relief in dysmenorrhea among those who practiced Yoga (asanas/pranayama/yoga nidra) with improved pain tolerance and reduced stress levels. Regulating the stress pathways through yoga was found to be a key in regulating hormonal balance and reduction in dysmenorrhea.

Activity recognition is the process of continuously monitoring a person's activity and movement. Human posture recognition can be utilized to assemble a self-guidance practice framework that permits individuals to accurately learn and rehearse yoga postures without getting help from anyone else. With the use of deep learning algorithms, we propose an approach for the efficient detection and recognition of various yoga poses. The chosen dataset consists of 85 videos with 6 yoga postures performed by 15 participants, where the keypoints of users are extracted using the Mediapipe library. A combination of Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) and Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) has been employed for yoga pose recognition through real-time monitored videos as a deep learning model. Specifically, the CNN layer is used for the extraction of features from the keypoints and the following LSTM layer understands the occurrence of sequence of frames for predictions to be implemented. In following, the poses are classified as correct or incorrect; if a correct pose is identified, then the system will provide user the corresponding feedback through text/speech. This paper combines machine learning foundations with data structures as the synergy between these two areas can be established in the sense that machine learning techniques and especially deep learning can efficiently recognize data schemas and make them interoperable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present scenario, with the advancement in technology, the number of people getting affected by various physical and mental disorders and diseases is also increasing. The food, the habits, the exercise the lifestyle altogether could be the reasons. Yoga, Pranayama, and Mudras are playing a prominent role in helping the people in controlling diseases and thereby helping mankind. This work provides a review of the impact of various asanas of Yoga in controlling various diseases like digestive disorders and Type 2 Diabetes. The survey infers that Yoga could be implemented as a preventive as well as a treatment in controlling diseases [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of ergonomics principles can be traced back to ancient times, much before the coining of the term 'ergonomics'. Ancient civilisations of Greece, China, and India followed well laid down principles of usability and human factors. These are evident in their furniture design, tool design, and other practices to minimise workers' workload. In ancient India, most daily activities like cooking, dining, defecation, etc., and occupations like pottery making, shoemaking, education in gurukuls (traditional residential schools), etc., used one or the other asanas (postures). The aim was to maintain the body's natural shape, avoiding the ill effects of poor body posture. The present paper reviews those domains of practice viz. posture, architecture, agriculture and furniture design in ancient India (2500 BCE to 1100 CE), where modern ergonomics principles seem evident. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of History / Habaršy Tarihi Seriâsy is the property of Al-Farabi Kazakh National University and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Corona is a pandemic disease but other than the corona also so many viruses and organisms effect on the respiratory system and harm on immune system of the body. Yoga plays a important role in the life. Yoga, perhaps, is one amongst the foremost effective and tried resistance boosters that we will adopt for a healthier life. Yoga could be a holistic follow that strengthens our body physically similarly as mentally. As a result, the body's defense conjointly improves in such a condition. A healthy life may be simply achieved if we have a tendency to learn to adopt a healthy modus vivendi, healthy food decisions and regular follow of yoga and meditation. Ayurveda, yoga, and meditation square measure the perfect factors to measure a healthy life. Surya Namaskar or Sun Salutation could be a sequence of twelve powerful yoga poses. Besides being an excellent vas physical exercise, Surya namaskar includes all 12 asanas and it will help to the growth of the physical body as well as mental peace. Surya Namaskar is additionally legendary to possess an associate vastly positive impact on the body and mind. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mental health problems affect one in every five young people at any given time, says Cornell university of New York. Since to face all the problems such as: strain, tension, depression, anxiety and more our intellectual level adolescents are targeted first. Yoga in its original sense was devised as a method of spiritual awakening but of late it is being accepted as a science of health. Currently yoga is being taken as a therapeutical agent for health. It not only prevents and cures the disease but also helps in maintenance of positive health. Yoga lays great emphasis on strengthening inherent defensive mechanisms of human body and mind rather than attaching and eradicating individual offending factor. It develops immunity and resistance in human body and helps the body and mind in attaining homeostatic balance. The strengthening of defense mechanism and harmony between mind and body prevents onset of disease. The aim of yoga therefore is also the attainment of physical, mental, social and spiritual health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Many studies have assessed Yoga practices using instruments such as AcuGraph, which measures conductances at Jing-Well points of acupuncture meridians. Such studies find that participation in Yoga programs ranging from a weekend to many months systematically increases subtle energy. Here, we report comparison of Jing-Well point conductances before and after sitting in Lotus Posture with those before and after sitting in a chair. Methods: This was a controlled study conducted on 52 male Yoga practitioners (mean age in years 23.03 ± 3.23), all with> 1 year experience of Yoga practices. Participants were alternately assigned into two groups, sitting in Lotus Posture and sitting in a chair. Each was measured on 3 successive days, before and after sitting as instructed for 10 min on the 1st day, 20 min on the 2nd day, and 30 min on the 3rd day. Results: The two groups yielded completely different results: those sitting in Lotus Posture for 30 min showed increases in subtle energy levels (E_Ls) in all acupuncture meridians; those sitting in chair produced universal decreases. Results for 10 and 20 min showed how these changes in energy values took time to build up with increasing time. Conclusions: Sitting in Lotus Posture is held to strongly stimulate subtle E_Ls, so results agreed with the experimental hypothesis. Nevertheless, decreases in E_Ls of those sitting in a chair were surprising since the rest might be expected to have no effect.

Background: Although research has demonstrated the benefits of yoga to people who have been diagnosed with diabetes or at risk of diabetes, studies have not confirmed these effects can be ascribed to the specific features of the traditional postures, called asanas. Instead, the effects of asanas could be ascribed to the increase in cardiovascular activity and expenditure of energy or to the expectation of health benefits. Therefore, to establish whether asanas are beneficial, researchers need to design a control condition in which participants complete activities, called sham poses, that are equivalent to traditional asanas in physical activity and expectation of benefits. Objectives: The aim of this research was to design an appropriate suite of sham poses and to demonstrate these poses and traditional asanas are equivalent in energy expenditure, cardiovascular response, and expectations of health benefits. Methods: Twenty healthy men at medium to high risk of developing diabetes volunteered to partake in the current study. These men completed two sessions that comprised traditional asanas and two sessions that comprised sham poses—poses that utilize the same muscle groups as the asanas and were assigned fictitious Sanskrit labels. Before and after each session, heart rate, blood pressure, blood glucose levels, triglycerides levels, and oxygen saturation were measured to gauge the intensity of exercise. After each session, using a standard measure, participants also indicated the degree to which they expected the poses to improve health. Results: The degree to which the sessions affected the physiological measures (for example, pre-exercise, the heart rate for yoga and sham was 71.06 ± 4.79 and 73.88 ± 6.05, respectively, and post-exercise, the heart rate was 70.19 ± 6.16 and 73 ± 7.55, respectively) and the expectations of health improvements did not differ between the traditional asanas and the sham poses. Likewise, the degree to which each session influenced these physiological measures was negligible in both conditions. Conclusions: This study developed a series of poses that elicit similar physiological and psychological effect as traditional yoga asanas. These poses can be used in an active control group in future randomized trial studies that are designed to assess the benefits of asanas.

Introduction: In spite of a large number of drugs showing anti-hyperglycemic activities, none of them have been successful in complete management of diabetes mellitus (DM). Yoga and Ayurveda are the two schools of thought in India, which have a history of curing diseases since thousands of years. Yogic techniques and Ayurvedic herbs have proven their anti-diabetic potential without inducing untoward effects. The present study combines Ayurvedic medication with Yoga techniques as a new approach toward healing DM. Aims and Objectives: To assess the effect of Yoga therapy in the management of non insulin-dependent DM (NIDDM) and to decrease the oral drug dose requirement of guḍŪcī ghana Tablet. Materials and Methods: Thirty known NIDDM patients of both genders, who were on guḍŪcī ghana (solidified aqueous extract of Tinospora cordifolia (Willd.) Miers.) tablets from past 2 months as Ayurvedic remedy for DM were selected. Along with guḍŪcī ghana administration, the subjects were instructed to follow Yogic procedures including Āsanas , prāṇāyāma, and śuddhi kriyās . The study was conducted for 8 weeks, wherein fasting blood sugar (FBS) and postprandial blood sugar (PPBS) levels along with relief in sign and symptoms were assessed at every 2 weeks intervals, and according to relief in sign and symptoms, tapering of drug dosage was carried out. The obtained data were analyzed statistically by applying paired t-test. Results and Conclusion: The results obtained were promising as the relief in diabetic symptomatology was highly significant in terms of P value. 80.83% reduction in dose of guḍŪcī ghana tablets and 7.85% and 8.78% fall in FBS and PPBS levels, respectively, after the complete course of treatment. The obtained P value showed highly significant results.

Background: Neuropathic pain (NP) is a debilitating condition that may result from spinal cord injury (SCI). Nearly 75% of all SCIs result in NP affecting 17,000 new individuals in the United States every year, and an estimated 7-10% of people worldwide. It is caused by damaged or dysfunctional nerve fibers sending aberrant signals to pain centers in the central nervous system causing severe pain that affects daily life and routine. The mechanisms underlying NP are not fully understood, making treatment difficult. Identification of specific mo - lecular pathways that are involved in pain syndromes and finding effective treatments has become a major priority in current SCI research. Yoga has therapeutic applications that may prove beneficial in treating subjects suffering chronically from SCI-induced NP, chronic back and associated pain if necessary experimental data are generated. Summary: This review aims to discuss the implications of various mechanistic approaches of yoga which can be tested by new study designs around various nociceptive molecules including matrix metalloproteinases, cation-dependent chloride transporter (NKCC1), etc. in SCI-induced NP patients. Key Messages: Yogic practices could be used in managing SCI-induced NP pain by regulating the action of various mechanisms and its associated molecules. Modern prescriptive treatment strategies combined with alternative approaches like yoga should be used in rehabilitation centers and clinics in order to ameliorate chronic NP. We recommend practical considerations of careful yoga practice as part of an integrative medicine approach for NP associated with SCI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness of a yoga-based social-emotional wellness promotion program, Transformative Life Skills (TLS), on indicators of adolescent emotional distress, prosocial behavior, and school functioning. Participants included 159 students attending an inner-city school district who were randomly assigned to treatment or business-as-usual comparison conditions. Results suggested that students who participated in the TLS program demonstrated significant reductions on unexcused absences, detentions, and increases in school engagement. Significant concurrent improvements in primary engagement stress-coping strategies and secondary engagement stress-coping strategies were noted as well. Specifically, significant increases in student emotion regulation, positive thinking, and cognitive restructuring in response to stress were found. No effects were found for measures of somatization, suspensions, academic grades, or general affect. Student report of treatment acceptability indicated that the intervention was generally well-received and strategies were perceived as socially valid by most participants. Implications and directions for future research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Many studies have assessed Yoga practices using instruments such as AcuGraph, which measures conductances at Jing-Well points of acupuncture meridians. Such studies find that participation in Yoga programs ranging from a weekend to many months systematically increases subtle energy. Here, we report comparison of Jing-Well point conductances before and after sitting in Lotus Posture with those before and after sitting in a chair. Methods: This was a controlled study conducted on 52 male Yoga practitioners (mean age in years 23.03 ± 3.23), all with >1 year experience of Yoga practices. Participants were alternately assigned into two groups, sitting in Lotus Posture and sitting in a chair. Each was measured on 3 successive days, before and after sitting as instructed for 10 min on the 1st day, 20 min on the 2nd day, and 30 min on the 3rd day. Results: The two groups yielded completely different results: those sitting in Lotus Posture for 30 min showed increases in subtle energy levels (E_Ls) in all acupuncture meridians; those sitting in chair produced universal decreases. Results for 10 and 20 min showed how these changes in energy values took time to build up with increasing time. Conclusions: Sitting in Lotus Posture is held to strongly stimulate subtle E_Ls, so results agreed with the experimental hypothesis. Nevertheless, decreases in E_Ls of those sitting in a chair were surprising since the rest might be expected to have no effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lower back pain radiating to either on one leg or both legs along the course of sciatic nerve is a common ailment in the clinical practice, this type of peculiar symptomatology is termed as "Sciatica" in modern medicine. The medical treatment is unsatisfactory for both the patient and the neurosurgeons, as the surgical treatment has its own hazards and the cost of the surgical procedure and medical treatment is prohibitory to most of the Indian patients. Hence, most of the patients present themselves to the practitioners of Indian medicines like Ayurveda and yoga. This study was designed to evaluate the preliminary clinical effects of Bahya Snehan and Asanas in the patients of sciatica. This was a prospective randomized active control trial. A total of 60 participants showing classical symptoms of Sciatica between 18 and 65 years of age were randomly assigned to receive Ayurvedic or Yogic measure. One group received Snehan (external) with Bhujang and Shalabh Asana while another group received Bhujang and Salabh Asana only. Both groups practiced supervised intervention for 4 weeks. The signs and symptoms like Katishool (pain), tenderness, Stambha (rigidity), difficulty in walking, pain on bending forward were graded and interpreted at the end of the trail Significant improvement was observed in both groups before and after external Snehan with Bhujang and Shalabh Asana and in another group Bhujang and Salabh Asana only. Conclusions: Both groups, one with Snehan with asanas and the second with asanas only showed significant improvement in the patients of sciatica (Gridhrasi).

BACKGROUND: Aerobic exercise is helpful in reducing elevated blood pressure (BP). It was also found that yoga is useful in reducing raised BP. Thus, they both can be used in prevention and treatment of hypertension. Hence, the study aimed to observe both awareness and practice of aerobic exercise and yoga among hypertensive patients in Anand city. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted. A questionnaire was prepared containing 24 questions about awareness and practice of aerobic exercise and yoga among hypertensive patients. The questions were explained to all the patients, and 200 patients were recruited from Anand city through convenience sampling. RESULTS: Two-hundred patients were included in this study, of which 100% were aware of hypertension. 67.68% were aware of the role of aerobic exercise in hypertension, of which 58.29% practiced them. The awareness of the role of yoga in hypertension was noted in 33.67% of patients, of which only 13.07% practiced pranayama and 9.50% practiced asanas. CONCLUSION: There was a complete awareness of hypertension among hypertensive patients. A large number of patients were aware of the role of aerobic exercise in hypertension, but only few of the patients practiced them. However, there was less awareness of the role of yoga in hypertension and even lesser number practiced them.

Purpose: to determine influence of health related technology on physical condition level of primary school pupils. Material: in the research two groups of first form pupils participated: control group (n=28) and experimental group (n=26). Level of children’s physical fitness was determined with the help of isolated motor tests. At home pupils fulfilled independently and with parents the learned at classes exercises for prophylaxis of posture disorders and for stretching. During fulfillment home tasks or other work in sitting position children were involved by parents in practicing of the worked out by us physical exercises’ breaks. Results: we observed rising of pupils’ physical fitness level: flexibility, ability to keep static balance, power endurance of back and abdomen muscles. To the highest extent yoga aerobic means influenced on flexibility and static balance indicators. Conclusions: when choosing physical exercises for short break in work we considered content of pupils’ learning functioning at definite lesson. All complexes of exercises are to be fulfilled reading texts of the worked out by us verses. It facilitates pupils to better memorize sequence of exercises’ fulfillment and gives emotional coloring to physical exercises.

Psychosomatic diseases are the pathological expression of biological, psychic, and social parameters of health and illness, whereas Yogic approaches are ways to bind closely the normal interrelationships of above. Thus, the Yoga, a mystic way of life, originated 2,800 years ago in India and compiled comprehensively by Patanjali in the fourth century is remarkably vibrant, unique and successful in the management of psychosomatic diseases. The Sanskrit term 'Yoga' means the union of individual self (jiva-atman) with transcendental self (parama-atman). Patanjali defines yoga as "restriction of wheels of consciousness and path of ecstatic self-transcendence or methodological transmutation of consciousness to the point of liberation from the spell of ego-personality”. Yoga therapy emphasizes self- regulation by patients and stresses the importance of somatopsychic functioning of the individual. The spiritual itinerary of yoga is discussed and emphasis is given to its use in these psychosomatic diseases where therapeutic effectiveness can be demonstrated logically and scientifically. Besides reviewing the recent researches of yoga therapy, particular effort is made to discuss its relationship to other therapies of psychosomatic diseases. Yogic approaches have been successfully used in the management of bronchial asthma, essential hypertension, mucous colitis, peptic ulcer, cervical spondylosis, chronic sinusitis, intractable pain, personality disorder, anxiety reaction, anxiety, depression, gastritis and rheumatism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

These are the 18 accepted proposals for the three Common Interest Community (CIC) sessions at IAYT's Symposium on Yoga Therapy and Research (SYTAR), June 5-8, 2014, in Austin, Texas and published in the Final Program Guide and CIC Works for SYTAR 2014. The sessions were CIC#1 Rehab Professionals: Bridging the Past with the Future and CIC#2a & CIC#2b Mental, Emotional and Spiritual Health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the study is to study the effect of yogic practices (Pranayamas and Asana) on the level of Frustration among employees of IT sector. The word Yoga comes from the Sanskrit word ' YUJ" which means tojoin or union. The philosophy behind yoga is that in order to achieve self actualization one must have perfect harmony between the body and the mind. Frustration is an emotion that occurs in situations where a person is blocked from reaching a desired outcome. .For the purpose of present investigation, IT sector employees, age ranging between 30-35 years, with an organizational tenure of minimum 2 years, operating in National Capital Region was taken. Perceptions of Frustration were measured with Reactions to Frustration Scale by Dr. B. M. Dixit and Dr. D .N. Shrivastava. All the employees were examined twice on Reactions to Frustration Scale. Initially Pre test scores on Frustration scale of all the employees were taken. After the treatment plan of yogic practices (Pranayamas and Asanas-Halasana, Sarvangasana,Savasana) for 30 days, all the employees were reexamined on Frustration measure. Thus post test scores of the employees were noted down. Means, standard deviations, Corelations and t-test was calculated. Results came out tobe significant. It means pranayamas and Asana helps in balancing the Nervous system and thus reduces the level of frustration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lower back pain radiating to either on one leg or both legs along the course of sciatic nerve is a common ailment in the clinical practice, this type of peculiar symptomatology is termed as "Sciatica" in modern medicine. The medical treatment is unsatisfactory for both the patient and the neurosurgeons, as the surgical treatment has its own hazards and the cost of the surgical procedure and medical treatment is prohibitory to most of the Indian patients. Hence, most of the patients present themselves to the practitioners of Indian medicines like Ayurveda and yoga. This study was designed to evaluate the preliminary clinical effects of Bahya Snehan and Asanas in the patients of sciatica. This was a prospective randomized active control trial. A total of 60 participants showing classical symptoms of Sciatica between 18 and 65 years of age were randomly assigned to receive Ayurvedic or Yogic measure. One group received Snehan (external) with Bhujang and Shalabh Asana while another group received Bhujang and Salabh Asana only. Both groups practiced supervised intervention for 4 weeks. The signs and symptoms like Katishool (pain), tenderness, Stambha (rigidity), difficulty in walking, pain on bending forward were graded and interpreted at the end of the trail Significant improvement was observed in both groups before and after external Snehan with Bhujang and Shalabh Asana and in another group Bhujang and Salabh Asana only. Conclusions: Both groups, one with Snehan with asanas and the second with asanas only showed significant improvement in the patients of sciatica (Gridhrasi). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Psychosomatic diseases are the pathological expression of biological, psychic and social parameters of health and illness, whereas yogic approaches are ways to bind closely the normal interrelationship of above. Thus, the yoga, a mystic way of life, originated 2800 years ago in India and compiled comprehensively by Patanjali in the fourth century is remarkably vibrant, unique and successful in the management of psychosomatic diseases. Yoga therapy emphasizes self-regulation by patients and stresses the importance of somatopsychic functioning of the individual. The spiritual itinerary of yoga is discussed and emphasis is given to its use in these psychosomatic diseases where therapeutic effectiveness can be demonstrated logically and scientifically. Besides reviewing the recent researches of yoga therapy, particular effort is made to discuss its relationship to other therapies of psychosomatic diseases. Yogic approaches have been successfully used in the management of bronchial asthma, essential hypertension, mucous colitis, peptic ulcer, cervical spondylosis, chronic sinusitis, intractable pain, personality disorder, anxiety reaction, anxiety depression, gastritis and rheumatism. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Copyright of West Indian Medical Journal is the property of West Indian Medical Journal (WIMJ) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The article presents a reprint of the article "Effects of selected meditative asanas on kinaesthetic perception and speed of movement," by Kanwaljeet Singh and colleagues, which appeared in the electronic journal (e-journal) "Biomedical Human Kinetics." It discusses a study that examines the influence of yoga asanas on the kinaesthetic perception and speed movements of hands. The study reveals that 8-week programme of meditative asanas helps improve kinaesthetic perception and speed of movement.