Classical Yoga Research Articles

Benefits of Joint Exercise in the Practice of Classical Yoga

The International Journal on Complementary & Alternative Medicine provides a global platform for discussion, perspectives and research on healing resources that encompasses all health systems, modalities, and practices and their accompanying theories and beliefs

The Effects of Yoga on Sleep, a Depressed State, and Quality of Life, in both Working and Inactive Women

Yoga is an approach that can influence sleep quality (SQ), emotional state and quality of life (QoL). The aim was to investigate the effects of yoga on SQ, a depressed state (DS) and QoL in working and inactive women. SQ, QoL and DS were evaluated, respectively, with the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), Nottingham Health Profile (NHP) and the Beck Depression Scale (BDS). Classical yoga was applied for a period of 12 weeks. Statistical analysis used: The statistical analyses were carried out using SPSS for Windows 18.0 (SPSS Inc., ABD). The data were presented in mean and standard deviation (SD). The Nonparametric Wilcoxon Test for Two Related Samples was added to compare the differences between the before and after treatment. Any p<0.05 was considered as significant. Upon examination of SQ, with the PSQI and depression level with the BDS, the values after yoga treatment were found to be better (p<0.05). When the QoL was compared with the NHP it was determined that higher scores were acquired after yoga treatment compared with before it in terms of the total score and the sub-scores (p<0.05). It was recorded that sleep values were better after yoga treatment, especially in the NHP sub-groups (p<0.05). As a result, it was shown that yoga has positive effects on the SQ, DS and QoL, and may also bring quite effective results in terms of physical activity.

Rasāyana in Classical Yoga and Āyurveda

The present chapter deals with rasāyana in the discipline of Yoga. More specifically, it focuses on the meaning of the word rasāyana in the Pātañjalayogaśāstra (PYŚ, late fourth or early fifth century CE), the oldest surviving Sanskrit exposition of Yoga as a soteriological system of thought from a Brāhmaṇa perspective. By interpreting the two difficult and slightly obscure text passages of the PYŚ that mention rasāyana in the light of its older commentaries and on the basis of additional references to rasāyana and related conceptions in early classical āyurvedic and upaniṣadic literature, the chapter concludes that for Patañjali rasāyana was a magically longevity potion prepared from unidentified herbs. The PYŚ neither refers to rasāyana as a branch of Āyurveda nor to alchemy. Some commentators of the PYŚ, however, interpret Patañjali's mentioning of rasāyana differently. While Vācaspatimiśra in the later half of the tenth century follows the PYŚ closely, the eleventh-century commentator Bhoja relates rasāyana to alchemy. Finally, the eighth-century (?) commentator Śaṅkara relates Patañjali's rasāyana to Āyurveda. Even though this interpretation is probably at odds with the PYŚ, it is not at all a far fetched, since the obtainment of various superpowers played an important role in āyurvedic rasāyana from the time of earliest sources onwards.

Effects of Classical Yoga Intervention on Resilience of Rural-to-Urban Migrant College Students

Present study attempts to explore the effects of Classical Yoga Intervention (CYI) on the resilience of college students who migrate to cities from rural areas for the sake of education. Students in the study belonged to the age group of l6-18 years and were in their first year in the new city, Pune. They were pre-tested on the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC) (2003). Experimental and control group were equivalent on resilience before the intervention. Classical Yoga Intervention consisting of 40 sessions of Yoga was conducted on the experimental group. After 40 sessions, post testing was done. Differences in gain scores of experimental and control group on resilience were tested using independent 't' test. Results revealed that experimental group was significantly higher than the control group on factor 1 (t=-2.99, p=.00, factor 2 (t=-2.09, p=.04), factor 4 (t=-2.43, p=.02) and total score of resilience (t=-3.14,p=.00). Results showed that CYI has been helpful in enhancing students' resilience.

Development and validation of a yoga module for Parkinson disease.

Background Parkinson's disease (PD), a progressive neurodegenerative disease, affects motor and nonmotor functions, leading to severe debility and poor quality of life. Studies have reported the beneficial role of yoga in alleviating the symptoms of PD; however, a validated yoga module for PD is unavailable. This study developed and validated an integrated yoga module(IYM) for PD. Methods The IYM was prepared after a thorough review of classical yoga texts and previous findings. Twenty experienced yoga experts, who fulfilled the inclusion criteria, were selected validating the content of the IYM. A total of 28 practices were included in the IYM, and each practice was discussed and rated as (i) not essential, (ii) useful but not essential, and (iii) essential; the content validity ratio (CVR) was calculated using Lawshe's formula. Results Data analysis revealed that of the 28 IYM practices, 21 exhibited significant content validity (cut-off value: 0.42, as calculated by applying Lawshe's formula for the CVR). Conclusions The IYM is valid for PD, with good content validity. However, future studies must determine the feasibility and efficacy of the developed module.

Depth psychology through the lens of Classical Yoga: a reconsideration of Jung’s ontic reality

ABSTRACTJung, a self-proclaimed empiricist, resisted all metaphysical claims. Nevertheless his depth psychology hypothesized an unconscious agent, which we can never know directly. As a means of healing he implores us to loosen our resistance to the unconscious, for when ego-consciousness develops and maintains a relationship to the unconscious, human beings make the Creator conscious of His creation. Although not explicit in his theories, both the ego and the unconscious are more than psychological concepts for Jung; they are ontically real. Looking at Jung through the lens of Classical Yoga this paper invites a reconsideration of the Jungian ontic reality.

On the Notion of Linguistic Convention (sa\u1e41keta) in the Yogas\u016btrabh\u0101\u1e63ya

The aim of this study is to clarify the meaning of the term saṁketa, which is usually translated as ‘(linguistic) convention’, in the Yogasūtrabhāṣya, the first and the most authoritative commentary to the Yogasūtras. This paper is a contribution to the reconstruction of the classical Yoga view on the relation between word and its meaning, for saṁketa is a key term used by this darśana in discussing this relation. The textual analysis of the Yogasūtrabhāṣya has led me to the conclusion that its author’s understanding of the linguistic convention (saṁketa) is different from the notion of the linguistic convention (saṁketa/samaya) of the Vaiśeṣikas and Naiyāyikas and similar to the notion of the linguistic convention (samaya/saṁketa) of the Grammarians (as presented in Houben’s article “Bhartṛhari’s samaya/Helārāja’s saṁketa. A contribution to the reconstruction of the Grammarian’s discussion with the Vaiśeṣikas on the relation between śabda and artha”, published in the “Journal of Indian Philosophy”). These are interpretations of the term saṁketa which reflect Yogasūtrabhāṣya’s understanding of the linguistic convention: the tradition of the usage of words, established (practice/custom of the) usage of words. Saṁketa of the Yogasūtrabhāṣya, unlike saṁketa/samaya of the Vaiśeṣikas and Naiyāyikas, is not an agreement established by anyone, but an agreement in the sense of tradition, established practice, or established custom. Unlike the saṁketa/samaya of these philosophers, the saṁketa of the Yogasūtrabhāṣya, having neither beginning nor end, is not re-created (re-established), but only made known (revealed) at the beginning of each cycle of existence of the world.

Obvladovanje notranje narave po Radža jogi&lt;br&gt;The Conquering of Inner Nature according to Rāja Yoga&lt;/br&gt;

Based on the sources on which the Slovenian translation of Rāja Yoga has been done, this paper presents one of the methods of conquering one's inner nature, namely Rāja Yoga or “the royal yoga”. Although almost all of the schools of Indian philosophy and religion are related to yoga, this paper is focused on the classical yoga, as presented in Patañjali's Yoga sutras and in Swāmī Vivekānanda's (1862-1902) commentaries to them.

The Reflection Theory and Epistemological Meaning Contained in the Classical Yoga

The Reflection Theory and Epistemological Meaning Contained in the Classical Yoga

Su2054 Yoga Therapy for Children With Abdominal Pain Related-Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders. a Randomized Controlled Trial

Objectives Psychological distress is strongly associated with abdominal pain in children and plays a role in the development of abdominal pain related-functional gastronintestinal disorders (AP-FGIDs). Yoga therapy has shown its efficacy in stressmanagement and has been recommended as intervention in adults with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). The aim of this study is to compare the effect of yoga therapy and standard care on the frequency and intensity of pain and quality of life (QoL) in children with AP-FGIDs. Methods Sixtynine patients, aged 8-18 years, with an AP-FGID, were randomized to either standard medical care complemented with yoga therapy (YT) or standard medical care alone (SMC). Hatha yoga was given once a week for 10 weeks. Sessions of 1.5h each were a mixture of classical yoga poses and relaxation exercises. SMC consists of education, reassurance, dietary advice and fibers/mebeverine if considered necessary. Pain intensity (0-5) and pain frequency (04) were scored in a pain diary and QoL was measured with the KIDSCREEN-27 (5 domains). Patients were followed up for twelve months. Treatment response was defined as a 50% reduction of weekly pain scores. Between-group differences were analyzed with generalized estimating equations. Results From baseline to 1 year follow-up, mean pain intensity scores decreased from 17 to 8 (p 0.05 for all domains). A trend was reported for ‘psychological well-being' in favor of YT (p=0.06). Percentage children who reported monthly school absence decreased in both groups at 1 year follow-up, from 55% to 7% after YT and from 65% to 33% after SMC. Conclusion Yoga therapy in addition to standard medical care resulted in a significant decrease of abdominal pain, improvement of quality of life and reduction of school absence, however, yoga therapy was not superior to SMC.

The effects of yoga on the quality of life and depression in elderly breast cancer patients

ObjectiveThe aim of the study was to investigate the effects of yoga on the quality of life in patients with cancer. DesignTwenty patients (10 were in yoga program, 10 were in exercise group) between 65 and 70 years of age under going treatment for cancer were included in the study. Physical characteristics of the patients were recorded and general physiotherapy assessments performed. Eight sessions of a classical yoga program including warming and breathing exercises, asanas, relaxation in supine position, and meditation and 8 sessions of classical exercise program were applied to participants. Main outcome measuresBefore and after yoga and exercise program, quality of life assessments for the patients were conducted using the Nottingham Health Profile (NHP). Patients' depression levels were assessed using the Beck Depression Inventory. Their level of pain, fatigue and sleep quality was evaluated using the visual analog scale (VAS). ResultsIt was found that all patients' quality of life scores after the yoga and exercise program were better than scores obtained before the yoga and exercise program (p < 0.05). When the post treatment data of the groups were compared in terms of NHP and subcategories, ER, SI, S, PA and the total scores of NHP were found significantly different in favor of Group I (p < 0.05). However EL and P scores of the NHP were not different between the groups (p > 0.05). When the groups were compared in terms of depression, pain, fatigue, and sleep quality, statistically significant differences were found in all parameters between pre and post treatment values for both groups (p < 0.05). When the post-treatment values of the groups were compared, fatigue and sleep quality were found statistically different between the groups in favor of Group I (p < 0.05). ConclusionsIt can be concluded that yoga is valuable in helping to diminish depression, pain, fatigue and helps cancer patients to perform daily and routine activities, and increases the quality of life in elderly patients with breast cancer.

Yoga: Meaning and Embodiment—A Dunedin Inquiry

Using participant observation, qualitative interviews and autoethnographic research methods, I inquire into the perceptions and experience of six contemporary yoga practitioners, as well as my own, to explore some of the embodied meanings of yoga in the context of Dunedin. Suggesting that yoga's surge of popularity in the West may have more to do with aspirations for health and body maintenance than the spiritual aspirations of classical yoga's original design, I ask whether engaging with the age old postures and techniques of hatha yoga might bring about unanticipated and sometimes transformational outcomes for its practitioners. To explore the strong appeal of yoga to its Western—and more specifically, Dunedin—practitioners, I invoke Foucault's (1983) sociopolitical theories of embodiment, and address how the subjective self is constituted through alignment with dominant ideologies of health and fitness. To explore whether an embodied practice of hatha yoga might subvert ideologies which reinforce an obsession with body-image, I invoke phenomenological theories of embodiment and practice—especially the insights of Marcel Mauss ([1935]1973) and Pierre Bourdieu (1990) who elucidate how culturally shared techniques of the body are stored as bodily memory and accessed through schemas of movement. I am interested in whether the enactment of asana (yogic posture) and pranayama (yogic breathing) predisposes the practitioner to (latent) spiritual qualities embedded in yoga's original design.

THU0328 The Efficacy of Classical Indian Yoga in the Treatment of Fibromyalgia: A Randomized Controlled Trial

BackgroundFibromyalgia (FM) is a complex musculoskeletal disorder treated with multidisciplinary therapies. It is manifested by widespread musculoskeletal pain, functional disability, sleep disturbances and poor quality of life. Classical Indian Yoga...

Mindfulness and Psychological Status of Japanese Yoga Practitioners: a Cross-Sectional Study

A growing body of evidence suggests that meditation-based mental practices cause desirable changes to the psychological status. Little is known how enduring changes to multiple aspects of emotions are observed for Japanese long-term practitioners. The present study using a cross-sectional design investigated mindfulness and relevant psychological functions in a population of Japanese yoga practitioners, who routinely practiced classical hatha yoga, breathing techniques, as well as focused attention-based meditation. Training period ranged from 0.3 to 34.0 years. Participants completed a battery of five established Japanese versions of questionnaires, each of which concerned mindfulness, subjective well-being, depression, positive/negative affect, and empathy. Compared with age- and sex-matched control participants, yoga practitioners self-reported significantly higher scores on mindfulness, well-being, positive affect, and empathy, and lower scores on depression and negative affect. Among the practitioners, period and amount of yoga/meditation practice, regardless of ages, predicted higher scores on mindfulness and well-being and lower scores on depression, negative affect, and empathy. These data overall suggest desirable psychological status associated with continued yoga practice among Japanese contemplatives. Implications for comparisons with different cultures and with other traditional practices are discussed.

Stress and its Expression According to Contemporary Science and Ancient Indian Wisdom: Perseverative Cognition and the Pañca kośas.

Stress is recognised as the most challenging issue of modern times. Contemporary science has understood this phenomenon from one aspect and Indian philosophy gives its traditional reasons based on classical texts. Modern science has recently proposed a concept of perseverative cognition (PC) as an important reason for chronic stress. This has shown how constant rumination on an unpalatable event, object or person leads to various lifestyle disorders. Similarly classical yoga texts like the Taittiriya Upanishad, the Bhagavad Gita, and the Yoga Vashistha describe stress in their unique ways. We have here attempted a detailed classification, description, manifestation, and development of a disease and its management through these models. This paper in a nutshell projects these two models of stress and shows how they could be used in future for harmonious management of lifestyle disorders.

Samādhi and Healing Meditation in Classical Yoga

Samādhi and Healing Meditation in Classical Yoga

Dharma, Yoga, Tantra

In the mid-20th century, Selvararajan Yesudian (1916–1998), who was born in India to a Christian father, a physician, and spent most of his life in Switzerland, coauthored (with Elisabeth Haich) a book entitled Yoga and Health; since then, the coupling of these two words has largely defined the meaning of yoga in the West, especially in promotional literature for urban yoga schools and health-club programs. Authentic Indian traditions have indeed affirmed the therapeutic benefit of yoga, but they have consistently seen yoga as a “therapy of the soul,” a way of “quieting the agitations of the heart,” to the end of perceiving the Ultimate within the soul and, in religious terms, of realizing union with God. This paper will examine some classical yoga texts in relation to spiritual remedies for substance misuse and other forms of addiction and chemical dependency.

Improving athletic performance of basketball student team with the classical yoga exercises

The results of the study of the effect of yoga exercises on the preparedness of the student basketball team. The study involved 25 athletes aged 17-20 years. The experimental group consisted of 13 players dealt in accordance with the proposed set of yoga exercises, which were used in the introductory, preparatory and final part. In the main part of the problem solved basketball directions. Classes in both groups were conducted 4 times a week for 2 hours for 9 months. Found that the use of exercises yoga pose direct impact on the physical indicators of preparedness players. Found an increase in the level of indicators: vertical jump, speed endurance, speed, retention of equilibrium (balance), free throw, with the movement, three-point shots, free throws, tactical execution.

A Study on Narada's Bhakti-Yoga Forcusing on Classical Yoga

A Study on Narada's Bhakti-Yoga Forcusing on Classical Yoga

Yogic Rays: The Self-Externalization of the Yogi in Ritual, Narrative and Philosophy

Abstract In the late Upanishads and the Mahabharata, one begins to encounter descriptions of Yogis who are possessed of the power to exit their bodies—via “rays” (raśmi) that radiate outward from their eyes, heart, or fontanel—as a means to rising up to the sun or to entering the bodies of other creatures. In the centuries that follow, this power becomes a commonplace of yogic theory and yogic lore, with ritual, narrative, and philosophical texts describing the Yogi′s appropriation of other creatures′ bodies in both symbiotic and predatory modes. In the former case, the yogic “fusing of the channels” is the means by which a Tantric teacher initiates his disciple: exiting his own body, his mindstuff travels along a ray to enter his disciple′s body, which he transforms from within. In the latter, the practice of “subtle yoga,” as described in the ninth-century Netra Tantra, becomes a means by which a Yogi may take over another person′s body, either to inhabit it or to draw its energy back into his own body, thereby increasing his own power. Through these techniques, the Yogi is said to possess the power to enter multiple bodies simultaneously, creating armies of “himself” in the process. These practices, which are attested in hundreds of documents, fly in the face of received notions of so-called “classical yoga,” in which the emphasis is placed on turning the senses inward to isolate the mind-body complex from the distractions of the outside world. In the light of these practices of yogic self-externalization, a re-evaluation of “classical yoga” itself is in order.