Yoga Students Research Articles

PREVENÇÃO DE LESÕES PARA ESTUDANTES UNIVERSITÁRIOS PRATICANTES DE IOGA

ABSTRACT Introduction: The research shows that most yoga students consider it a low-intensity and low-risk training, evidencing the lack of awareness related to prevention and safety methods, two causal factors of sports injuries. Added to this danger is the scarce literature scientifically reporting the prevention methods for college students practicing this activity. Objective: Study the prevention of injuries during yoga practice by college students, exploring the risk management of this activity. Methods: Patients admitted to a hospital, yoga practitioners, were volunteers in a questionnaire to raise the main injuries and their causes. Data such as time of practice, frequency, and recurrence of injuries were also cataloged. A preventive protocol was elaborated based on the data of the collected accidents and tested with another 50 volunteers divided equally into control and experimental groups. The control group received no interventions. The experimental group added 10 minutes of warm-up and stretching based on the elaborated protocol. Interventions were three times weekly for eight weeks. Risk mitigation data and FMS tests were collected and compared. Results: The total FMS test score in the experimental group increased from 12.5 to 16.2, with a significant impact. The total FMS test score of college students in the control group before the experiment was 12.5 to 14.3. Conclusion: Adding warm-up exercises combined with preparation activities by stretching and basic yoga movements before the start of activities can help athletes’ physical condition and reduce the occurrence of sports injuries. Level of evidence II; Therapeutic studies - investigation of treatment outcomes.

Review: Premka: White Bird in a Golden Cage. My Life with Yogi Bhajan, by Pamela Saharah Dyson; The Inner Circle—Book One: My Seventeen Years in the Cult of the American Sikhs, by Peter Macdonald Blachly

Review: <i>Premka: White Bird in a Golden Cage. My Life with Yogi Bhajan</i>, by Pamela Saharah Dyson; <i>The Inner Circle—Book One: My Seventeen Years in the Cult of the American Sikhs</i>, by Peter Macdonald Blachly

Examining the Role of Instructor-Student Relationship Quality in Yoga

Extensive research outlines a broad spectrum of physical and mental health benefits associated with participation in yoga. In particular, yoga can increase mindfulness as well as decrease anxiety, depression, and stress. However, knowledge of the underlying mechanisms and conditions for promoting positive outcomes requires further study. Limited research has examined how the quality of the relationship between the yoga student and instructor may influence potential health benefits derived from participation in yoga. The present study investigated associations between levels of stress, emotional well-being, motives for yoga, relationship quality, and mindfulness during yoga. Analysis of data collected from 219 adults indicated that higher levels of stress and negative emotional well-being increased the likelihood that yoga was practised to address psychological motives rather than perceived physical health benefits. Additionally, relationship quality with the instructor was found to predict greater state mindfulness during the yoga session. The present study highlights the importance of the relationship quality between instructor and student; future research investigating the efficacy of yoga in optimizing mental health should consider how health outcomes might be influenced by motives for participation and interpersonal relationships.

Effect of selected asanas in hatha yoga on muscular endurance, flexibility and vital capacity among yoga students

Effect of selected asanas in hatha yoga on muscular endurance, flexibility and vital capacity among yoga students

Reaching Out by Looking Within: The #WellnessWednesdays Initiative at Texas Tech University

Academic library outreach initiatives that focus on wellness include movement-based fitness programs such as yoga. These programs offer students, staff and faculty who participate a chance to de-stress, lessening the impacts of tension, anxiety, and depression. Academic libraries are suited for these types of programs because we already provide space for other de-stress events, and research of the academic library literature shows that yoga programs in these spaces are increasing. However, the COVID19 pandemic forced changes in outreach programming. In January 2021, Texas Tech University Libraries started offering a yin and restorative yoga program that met weekly in the evenings online via Zoom. Because the university was previously offering these sessions for free to on-campus students, there was a need for a different type of yoga programming that also included online students, as well as staff and faculty. Designated “#WellnessWednesdays”, this program allowed the Texas Tech University Libraries to facilitate yoga sessions for members of the university community by creating a therapeutic environment that is both inclusive and accessible in an online setting.

Effects of Yoga on Sleep Quality, Depression, Anxiety, Stress, and Blood Glucose Levels Among Tertiary Students

Sleep is defined as an easily reversible periodic state marked by the absence of wakefulness. Studies have shown that university students tend to have a diminished amount of sleep. This would lead to the loss of concentration, daytime sleepiness, and reduced academic performances. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of yoga on overall sleep quality, depression, anxiety, stress, and blood glucose levels. A total of 88 participants with 44 students in each group, control and experimental, were recruited from Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman based on the outcome of the Godin Shephard questionnaire. A total score of less than 14 was considered mild hence falling into the control group while above 14 and had practiced yoga for a minimum of 6 weeks were placed in the experimental group. The participants were required to self-administer a set of questionnaires consisting of socio-demographic information, the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) questionnaire and Depression, Anxiety, Stress Scores. Three components of sleep, namely the habitual sleep efficiency, sleep disturbances, and daytime dysfunctions, were better in the experimental group compared to the control one. Depression, anxiety, stress, and blood glucose levels also appeared to be more desirable in the experimental group with yoga students. It was found that blood glucose levels were positively correlated to the Global PSQI score, depression, anxiety, and stress measures in this study. In conclusion, yoga-practicing students have healthier sleep patterns, negative emotional states, and blood glucose levels. In order to obtain more conclusive findings, similar studies should be carried out in different universities with larger sample size and for longer periods.

Mind-Body Practices and the Self: Yoga and Meditation Do Not Quiet the Ego but Instead Boost Self-Enhancement

Mind-body practices enjoy immense public and scientific interest. Yoga and meditation are highly popular. Purportedly, they foster well-being by curtailing self-enhancement bias. However, this “ego-quieting” effect contradicts an apparent psychological universal, the self-centrality principle. According to this principle, practicing any skill renders that skill self-central, and self-centrality breeds self-enhancement bias. We examined those opposing predictions in the first tests of mind-body practices’ self-enhancement effects. In Experiment 1, we followed 93 yoga students over 15 weeks, assessing self-centrality and self-enhancement bias after yoga practice (yoga condition, n = 246) and without practice (control condition, n = 231). In Experiment 2, we followed 162 meditators over 4 weeks (meditation condition: n = 246; control condition: n = 245). Self-enhancement bias was higher in the yoga (Experiment 1) and meditation (Experiment 2) conditions, and those effects were mediated by greater self-centrality. Additionally, greater self-enhancement bias mediated mind-body practices’ well-being benefits. Evidently, neither yoga nor meditation fully quiet the ego; to the contrary, they boost self-enhancement.

APPLIED ANATOMY: A NEW APPROACH WITH YOGA

The concept and practice of teach human anatomy through body movement has been improving the comprehension of students and teachers. With the aim to offer an anatomical consistent knowledge to Yoga teachers, we have introduced since 2014 an extension course in our school, emphasizing the knowledge of muscle actions and the joint movement based on the Yoga practice. We believe that to learn more about the body anatomy could optimize understanding and makes movements safer, aligned and more stable. Yoga can be practiced in various ways through different techniques such as mantra, pranayama, meditation and poses called Asana. During the Asana practice is important to understand the anatomical parts of the body and how these parts are connected morphological and functionally, from an operating perspective, creating safe actions and movements. Then, the challenge is not only understand the muscles, bones and movements but how applying this anatomical knowledge to different yoga poses. With the aim to offer a consistent knowledge to Yoga teachers, we have introduced applied anatomy using Yoga as a tool. Our course was programmed with the purpose to provide anatomy real applicability to yoga teachers during Yoga practices. Indeed, the anatomical study from the Asanas to highlight the origins, insertion and actions of muscle groups of interest as well as vessels and nerves facilitates understanding. A total 210 Yoga teachers from many parts of Brazil took part of this. The course is divided into six modules: 1.basic histology, and five anatomical modules: 2.upper limbs, 3.lower limbs, 4.trunk and respiratory system, 5. perineum and pelvic floor and 6.movement control by the central nervous system. In each module, during the first hour, students received a practical Yoga class with the main concepts about anatomical terminology related to joint movements like rotation, abduction, adduction, flexion, extension related to the specific module. After this, theoretical and practical contents were developed simultaneously by the same teacher which is also a Yoga teacher, able to give many practical examples correlating Yoga and Anatomy. In the end of the period of each module, students were invited to demonstrate some Asanas and discussing with the group on kinesiology, joint alignment, and muscle actions, promoting scientific background to minimize traumas and optimize performance. Improvement in Yoga teacher's performance after course was measured by an online survey that showed an increase in anatomical comprehension and better performance in Asana. Applicability was reported in 100% of surveys. In spite of many students had not had prior knowledge of anatomy, the topics were satisfactorily assimilated by all of them and concepts were applicable in teaching Asana. Additionally, students reported feeling more confident after course allowing them to effectively maximize their job. As Yoga teachers, they have an opportunity to help yoga students learn about their bodies and how all their bones, joints, and muscles that work together in harmony to create yoga poses. Using the correct anatomical terminology can simplify and streamline this process immensely. We also note that teach anatomy directly related to students jobs favors the contents assimilation and makes professional practice more efficient. Support or Funding Information none Applied anatomy class to Yoga teachers - Knee Applied anatomy class to Yoga teachers - scapula Applied anatomy class to Yoga teachers This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2018 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal.

Vocal Traditions: Vibrant Voice Technique

Vocal Traditions is a series in the Voice and Speech Review that highlights historically important voice teachers and schools of thought in the world of vocal pedagogy. This article explores the history and use of Vibrant Voice Technique (VVT) and its creator, Professor David Ley, along with a discussion of how new instructors are incorporating VVT into their teaching and coaching. Representative instructors include those who teach actors, singers, executives, and yoga students. VVT is not a stand-alone method; rather, it serves as an enhancement and tool for voice teachers.

Yoga therapy for military personnel and veterans: Qualitative perspectives of yoga students and instructors

ObjectiveMillions of military personnel and veterans live with chronic mental and physical health conditions that often do not respond well to pharmacological treatments. Serious side effects and lack of treatment response have led to widespread efforts to study and promote non-pharmacological and behavioral health treatments for many chronic health conditions. Yoga is an increasingly popular mind-body intervention that has growing research support for its efficacy and safety. Our objective was to explore the attitudes, perspectives, and preferences of military personnel and veterans toward yoga as a therapeutic modality, thus providing needed information for designing and promoting yoga interventions for this population. MethodsParticipants included 24 individuals with yoga experience and current or past military service and 12 instructors who have taught yoga for military personnel and/or veterans. A semi-structured set of questions guided interviews with each participant. ResultsFive themes emerged from the interviews: (1) mental health benefits experienced from yoga practice; (2) physical health benefits experienced from yoga practice; (3) important yoga elements and conditions that support effective practice; (4) facilitators for engaging military in yoga practice; and (5) challenges and barriers to yoga practice for military. ConclusionsThe study highlights consistent reports of mental and physical benefits of yoga practice, ongoing stigma resulting in the need for combatting and demystifying yoga and other complementary and integrative health (CIH) practices, the importance of designing interventions to address the unique mental health issues and perspectives of this population, and the importance of efforts by military leadership to bring CIH to military personnel and veterans. Rigorous research addressing these findings, along with further research on the efficacy and effectiveness of yoga interventions for treating various conditions are needed.

Perception of stress among yoga trained individuals

Background: Yoga, originated thousands of years ago in India, is now well recognized as a form of mind-body medicine. Regular practice of yoga in the form of postures and breathing techniques stabilizes the autonomic nervous system with a tendency toward parasympathetic dominance and reduces the sympathetic arousal. Aims and Objectives: To assess the stress level among regular yoga practicing individuals. Materials and Methods: Regular yoga trained students (n - 90) were recruited from Government Yoga and Naturopathy Medical College, Arumbakkam, Chennai. Based on the duration of yoga practice, students were categorized into four groups: Group A (40 months). Perceived stress scale (PSS) was administered for assessing stress level. Results: The students in Group C (10.37 ± 5.21) and Group D (11.00 ± 4.59) showed significantly (P < 0.01) less PSS score compared with other group yoga students. Conclusion: This study suggests that regular practice of yoga significantly reduces stress level among the practitioners, but further investigation into this relationship using large, well-defined population, adequate controls, randomization, and long duration should be explored before recommending yoga as a treatment option.

Do yogis have "Learning Styles"? (A somatic solution).

Background:Learning styles has captivated a great deal of attention in yoga teacher training. The triad of visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learning styles has been particularly popular; yet as Sharp et al. asserted, such an approach trivializes the complexity of learning and compromises scholarship at all levels of the education community.Aims:This paper addresses that although there is great merit in recognizing yoga students’ differences and preferences, many uses of learning styles in yoga teacher training are superficial and promote self-handicapping.Conclusion:A somatic perspective (from soma, the body in its wholeness) offers a framework to reconsider the depth of effective learning.

The Essential Properties of Yoga Questionnaire: Development and Methods.

Yoga interventions have considerable heterogeneity, are multi-dimensional, and may impact health in different ways. However, most research reports regarding the effects of yoga on health and wellbeing do not adequately describe the components of the yoga interventions being used. Thus, drawing comparisons across studies or understanding the relative effects of specific aspects of a yoga intervention are rarely possible. To address this problem, we created the Essential Properties of Yoga Questionnaire (EPYQ) Project, an NCCAM-funded set of studies to develop a translational tool for yoga researchers. Here we describe the methods and developmental processes used in the EPYQ Project in detail. The project consists of four main phases. Phase I was designed to gain a comprehensive understanding of the relevant aspects of yoga by conducting a comprehensive systematic literature review and conducting focus groups with stakeholders including a wide variety of yoga teachers and students. In Phase II, a pool of potential questionnaire items was developed for the prototypic questionnaire using information from Phase I. Cognitive interviews were conducted with the preliminary EPYQ items to assess the perceived clarity, meaning, and importance of each item. In Phase III, the prototypic questionnaire was administered to two large samples of yoga students and instructors. Military personnel and veterans who practiced or taught yoga (n = 329) were recruited to participate. Factor analysis and item response theory were used to identify factors and select the final questionnaire items. Phase IV is ongoing and will collect reliability and validity data on the final instrument. Results are expected to be available in 2016. The EPYQ will provide an objective tool for describing the amount of various components of yoga interventions, eventually allowing researchers to link specific yoga components to health benefits, and facilitating the design of yoga interventions for specific health conditions.

Influence of yoga on body image satisfaction in men.

The aim of this study was to examine the influence of yoga practice on body image satisfaction in men. Male Figure Drawings were used to explore body image satisfaction in yoga beginners (n = 26, M age = 40.3 yr., SD = 11.6), experienced yoga practitioners (n = 22, M age = 46.4 yr., SD = 11.6), and non-yoga practicing aerobic and weight training exercisers (n = 34, M age = 41.2 yr., SD = 11.9). Satisfaction was significantly higher among the yoga groups than the exercisers. There was no statistical difference between the body satisfaction scores of the experienced yoga group and the beginner yoga students. This may suggest that individuals drawn to yoga have greater body satisfaction than exercisers, and that regular yoga practice possibly further increases body satisfaction.

Why practice yoga? Practitioners' motivations for adopting and maintaining yoga practice.

We examined motives for adopting and maintaining yoga practice in a national survey of yoga practitioners (360 yoga students, 156 yoga teachers). Both students and teachers adopted yoga practice primarily for exercise and stress relief, but reported many other reasons, including flexibility, getting into shape, and depression/anxiety relief. Over 62 percent of students and 85 percent of teachers reported having changed their primary reason for practicing or discovering other reasons; for both, the top changed primary reason was spirituality. Findings suggest that most initiate yoga practice for exercise and stress relief, but for many, spirituality becomes their primary reason for maintaining practice.

Use of formative research to develop a yoga curriculum for high-risk youth: implementation considerations

The purpose of this study is to elucidate the use of formative research to adapt, develop, and pretest a mindful yoga curriculum for high-risk youth attending a nontraditional high school. The formative work was conducted in the first year of a larger project to test the efficacy of a mindful yoga program through a randomized controlled trial. The formative work included focus groups with: (1) an Advisory Board of experts in preventive interventions with high-risk youth, yoga and mindfulness and (2) students in the target population. Major themes emerging from the Advisory Board included youths' preconceptions about yoga, desirable characteristics in a yoga teacher, racial/ethnic differences in yoga participation, gender differences, and youths' likely motivations for participation. Additional themes reported by the student focus group participants included perceived motivations for participation, likely benefits of yoga, perceptions of yoga, yoga experience, and peer opinions. Additional results pertaine...

Personality correlates of mindfulness

Background: Mindfulness has received consistent attention from researchers in the last few decades due to its positive effects on physical and mental health, psychological well-being, as well as several therapeutic outcomes. In an attempt to discern its dispositional source, researchers have also looked at its relation with personality traits. Aims: The current study aims to carry the above effort ahead by looking at the relation of mindfulness to the big-five personality traits in the Indian context in an exploratory way to give some amount of cross-cultural validity to established relations in the Western context. Methods: The current study adopted the method of correlational research to fulfill the above aim. Results: Results of the current investigation on 60 plus Yoga students supported earlier meta-analysis by revealing highly significant moderate correlations, negative of -0.45 with neuroticism and positive of 0.49 with conscientiousness after controlling for demographics. Mindfulness also showed a positive relation to extraversion (r = 0.29), to a lesser extent though. The study, very surprisingly, showed no gender difference in neuroticism in the current sample of Yoga students, thereby creating a deviation to a widely present gender difference. Conclusions: The current paper discusses the above results in detail, and draws the personality mini-profile of a mindful individual to be that of one who is emotionally stable and/or well-disciplined in his/her approach toward life although, studies with larger, representative and cross-cultural samples are needed to further validate this claim.

Discrepancies Between Perceptions of Real and Ideal Yoga Teachers and Their Relationship to Emotional Well-Being

Although more individuals are adopting yoga into their lives, little research has examined practitioners' expectations and experiences of their yoga instructor's behavior. Discrepancies between real and ideal behaviors of yoga instructors may lead to unsatisfactory experiences and decrease the potential impact of yoga practice. This study investigated differences between yoga practitioners' real and ideal perceptions of their yoga teacher's behavior and the relationship between discrepant beliefs and students' symptoms of depression, anxiety,and stress. The Perceptions of Yoga Teacher Questionnaire (PYTQ), a recently developed survey of student attitudes regarding yoga teachers' behavior, was administered ina national online survey of yoga students and teachers. Greater discrepancy between real and idea yoga teacher behavior was anticipated to be positively associated with practitioners' symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress. Pearson correlations corrected for multiple comparisons revealed that yoga students and teachers are generally satisfied with their teacher's behaviors. Significant discrepancies between real and ideal teacher behavior were found for both groups. Higher discrepancy scores were associated with symptoms of stress and anxiety but not depression for students, but not for teachers. These preliminary findings provide insight into the relationship between expectancies and real yoga teacher behaviors and their links to student emotional adjustment.More research in this area is warranted.

Branding yoga: The cases of Iyengar Yoga, Siddha Yoga and Anusara Yoga

In October 1989, long-time yoga student, John Friend (b. 1959) travelled to India to study with yoga masters. First, he went to Pune for a one-month intensive postural yoga programme at the Ramamani Iyengar Memor­ial Yoga Institute, founded by a world-famous yoga proponent, B. K. S. Iyengar (b. 1918). Postural yoga(De Michelis 2005, Singleton 2010) refers to modern biomechanical systems of yoga which are based on sequences of asana or postures that are, through pranayama or ‘breathing exercises’, synchronized with the breath. Following Friend’s training in Iyengar Yoga, he travelled to Ganeshpuri, India where he met Chidvilasananda (b. 1954), the current guru of Siddha Yoga, at the Gurudev Siddha Peeth ashram. Siddha Yoga is a modern soteriological yoga system based on ideas and practices primarily derived from tantra. The encounter profoundly transformed Friend, and Chidvilasananda initiated him into Siddha Yoga (Williamson forthcoming).

Postures and Practice: A Yoga Student's Reflections

Postures and Practice: A Yoga Student's Reflections