Effects of Yogic Lifestyle on Human Circadian Rhythm – A Brief Review

Abstract

Yoga is an ancient Indian lifestyle which provides structured guidelines for healthy living. Yogic lifestyle helps to improve overall wellness by relieving stress, supporting good health habits, and improving mental/emotional health, sleep, and balance. (1) Modern man is adopting anti-nature lifestyle that hampers routine activities optimally results in reduction of physical, mental and social health. (2) Studies suggest yogic lifestyle is very beneficial for disease prevention and rehabilitation. (3) Yogic lifestyle emphasizes on following a disciplined guidance from waking up in the morning till going to sleep in night, one indulges in multiple routine activities. (reference) Yogic lifestyle necessarily comprises Ahara (food), Vihara (recreation), Achara (conduct), Vichara (thinking), and Vyavahara (behaviour) (4) Circadian rhythms are physical, mental, and behavioural changes that follow a daily cycle. A circadian rhythm is a natural, internal process that regulates the sleep-wake cycle and repeats roughly every 24 hours. (5) Mental alertness, hunger, stress, mood, heart function, and even immunity are also influenced by the body's daily rhythms. (6) Yogic lifestyle seems like an essential manual to balance human circadian rhythm. In despite of its importance this are is widely unexplored and lacks scientific evidence. This review papers aims to explore possible correlation of Yogic lifestyle on Human Circadian Rhythm. Aim 1. Objectives to understand the effect of yogic lifestyle on the different aspect of circadian rhythm 2. To establish the theoretical framework of circadian rhythm and yogic lifestyle 3. To check efficacy and validation of Yogic lifestyle in the management of human Circadian Rhythm Conclusion – The review it has been suggested that yogic lifestyle effects circadian rhythm in the positive manner. Sleep wake cycle is majorly fixed by the yogic lifestyle followed by behavioural modification and appetite. Apart from the evidences future directions are to perform randomised controlled trials on physiological level to access the impacts.