Schizophrenia Patient or Spiritually Advanced Personality? A Qualitative Case Analysis.

Many aspects of spiritual experience are similar in form and content to symptoms of psychosis. Both spiritually advanced people and patients suffering from psychopathology experience alterations in their sense of 'self.' Psychotic experiences originate from derangement of the personality, whereas spiritual experiences involve systematic thinning out of the selfish ego, allowing individual consciousness to merge into universal consciousness. Documented instances and case studies suggest possible confusion between the spiritually advanced and schizophrenia patients. Clinical practice contains no clear guidelines on how to distinguish them. Here we use a case presentation to help tabulate clinically useful points distinguishing spiritually advanced persons from schizophrenia patients. A 34-year-old unmarried male reported to our clinic with four main complaints: lack of sense of self since childhood; repeated thoughts questioning whether he existed or not; social withdrawal; and inability to continue in any occupation. Qualitative case analysis and discussions using descriptions from ancient texts and modern psychology led to the diagnosis of schizophrenia rather than spiritual advancement.

Impact of yoga in facilitating muscular functioning among asymptomatic male cricket players: Longitudinal randomized controlled study.

BACKGROUND: Cricket is one of the prominent global team sports. With an emergence of Twenty20 tournaments, the physical preparation of elite cricket players has become complex with high match injury incidence. Yoga as a body-mind training is associated with having positive effects on a person's physical and psychological conditions, bringing in better mind-body equilibrium. OBJECTIVES: Evaluating the impact of yoga in facilitating muscular functioning and mindfulness among asymptomatic male cricket players. METHOD: First-class domestic male cricket players in the age group of 18-35 years were randomized into yoga group n=42 and wait-list control group n=40. Players received the yoga module for five days per week for a duration of six weeks. Primary outcome measures of muscular functioning were core stability, flexibility, range of motion, static balance, dynamic balance and proprioception of the ankle. Assessments were held at baseline, immediate post-intervention, and a follow-up after six months of intervention. RESULTS: A statistical significance with p < .001 was observed for most of the variables at T2 and T3. Comparison of the model fit shows a highly significant p < 0.001 difference between the model as compared to the baseline model among most of the variables. CONCLUSION: This yoga module was appropriate for enhancing muscular functioning variables of this study. Continuous practice of this yoga module can reinforce sustainable benefits for male cricket players.

A Comparative Study between Vedic and Contemporary Education Systems using Bio-Energy Markers.

BACKGROUND/AIM: "The destiny of the whole world depends on the children. If you want to see the silver lining on the horizon it is not you and me, but the children who have to be spiritualized" says Swami Satyananda Saraswati. Sri Aurobindo states "Education to be complete must have five principal aspects corresponding to the five principal activities of the human being: the physical, the vital, the mental, the psychic and the spiritual." Vedic education system (VES) focuses on inculcating all facets for overall development of personality. This study is an attempt to understand the lore of Vedic education followed by yoga as a way of lifestyle for physiological well-being and for successful unfoldment of children's personality. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The sample size was 378 (108 VES and 270 contemporary education system [CES]). We have excluded volunteers who had minor health problems from the study. The ethical clearance was taken from SVYASA University Ethics Committee, and informed consent was obtained for each individual undergoing the study. As it was aimed to collect one-time data, the yoga as a lifestyle in VES itself considered as an intervention. Thus, the two systems of educations are compared. The variables are measured using the Electro-photonic Image Bio-Well instrument. RESULTS: Bio-Well variables for VES and CES were compared. There was a significant difference in VES and CES energy level scores, left-right symmetry scores, organ balance, and entropy coefficient scores. CONCLUSIONS: Results suggest that Vedic Education System to be better in the measured parameters compared to Contemporary Education System.

Classification of Electrophotonic Images of Yogic Practice of Mudra through Neural Networks.

BACKGROUND: Mudras signify a gesture with hands, eyes, and the body. Different configurations of the joining of fingertips are also termed mudra and are used by yoga practitioners for energy manipulation and for therapeutic applications. Electrophotonic imaging (EPI) captures the coronal discharge around the fingers as a result of electron capture from the ten fingers. The coronal discharge around each fingertip is studied to understand the effect of mudra on EPI parameters. METHODS: The participants were from Swami Vivekananda Yoga Anusandhana Samsthana and Sushrutha Ayurvedic Medical College, in Bengaluru, India. There were 29 volunteers in the mudra group and 32 in the control group. There were two designs: one was a pre-post design with control the other was pre-post with repeated measures with 18 individuals practicing mudra for 3 days. The duration of intervention for the pre-post design was 10 min on the 1st day, 15 min on the 2nd day, and 20 min on the 3rd day. A neural network classifier was used for classifying mudra and control samples. RESULTS: The EPI parameters, normalized area and average intensity, passed the test of normality Shapiro-Wilk. The Cohen's d, effect size was 0.988 and 0.974 for the mudra and control groups, respectively. Neural network-based analysis showed the classification accuracy of the post-intervention samples for mudra and control varied from 85% to 100% while the classification accuracy varied from 55% to 70% for the pre-intervention samples. The result of the mudra intervention showed statistically significant changes in the mean values on the 3rd day compared to the 1st day. CONCLUSIONS: The effect size of the variations in mudra was more than that of the control group. Mudra practice of a longer duration showed statistically significant change in the EPI parameter, average intensity in comparison to the practice on the 1st day.

Effect of Lotus Posture on Acupuncture Meridian Energies: A Controlled Trial.

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.

Diabetes Mellitus Type 2 and Yoga: Electro Photonic Imaging Perspective.

BACKGROUND: Yoga is the most popular form of alternative medicine for the management of diabetes mellitus type 2. The electro-photonic imaging (EPI) is another contribution from alternative medicine in health monitoring. AIM: To evaluate diabetes from EPI perspective. OBJECTIVES: (1) Compare various EPI parameters in normal, prediabetic and diabetic patients. (2) Find difference in controlled and uncontrolled diabetes. (3) Study the effect of 7 days diabetes-specific yoga program. MATERIALS AND METHODS: For the first objective, there were 102 patients (normal 29, prediabetic 13, diabetic 60). In the second study, there were 60 patients (controlled diabetes 27, uncontrolled diabetes 33). The third study comprised 37 patients. EPI parameters were related to general health as well to specific organs. RESULTS: In the first study, significant difference was observed between (1) Diabetics and normal: average intensity 5.978, form coefficient 3.590, immune organs 0.281 all P < 0.001; (2) Diabetics and prediabetics: average intensity 6.676, form coefficient 4.158, immune organs 5.890 P < 0.032; (3) Normal and prediabetes: immune organs (-6.171 P = 000). In the second study, remarkable difference was in the immune organs (0.201, P = 0.031). In the pre- and post-study, the mean difference was: area 630.37, form coefficient 1.78, entropy 0.03, liver 0.24, pancreas 0.17, coronary vessels 0.11, and left kidney 29, with all P < 0.02. CONCLUSION: There is a significant difference in EPI parameters between normal, prediabetics and diabetics, the prominent being average intensity, form coefficient, and immune organs. Between controlled and uncontrolled diabetes, immune organs show significant change. Intervention of yoga results in change in most parameters.

Acute effects of mobile phone radiations on subtle energy levels of teenagers using electrophotonic imaging technique: A randomized controlled study.

BACKGROUND: Mobile phones induce radio frequency electromagnetic field (RF-EMF) which has been found to affect subtle energy levels of adults through Electrophotonic Imaging (EPI) technique in a previous pilot study. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We enrolled 61 healthy right-handed healthy teenagers (22 males and 39 females) in the age range of 17.40 ± 0.24 years from educational institutes in Bengaluru. Subjects were randomly divided into two groups: (1) (mobile phone in ON mode [MPON] at right ear) and (2) mobile phone in OFF mode (MPOF). Subtle energy levels of various organs of the subjects were measured using gas discharge visualization Camera Pro device, in double-blind conditions, at two points of time: (1) baseline and (2) after 15 min of MPON/MPOF exposure. As the data were found normally distributed, paired and independent samples t-test were applied to perform within and between group comparisons, respectively. RESULTS: The subtle energy levels were significantly reduced after RF-EMF exposure in MPON group as compared to MPOF group for following areas: (a) Pancreas (P = 0.001), (b) thyroid gland (P = 0.002), (c) cerebral cortex (P < 0.01), (d) cerebral vessels (P < 0.05), (e) hypophysis (P = 0.013), (f) left ear and left eye (P < 0.01), (g) liver (P < 0.05), (h) right kidney (P < 0.05), (i) spleen (P < 0.04), and (j) immune system (P < 0.02). CONCLUSION: Fifteen minutes of RF-EMF exposure exerted quantifiable effects on subtle energy levels of endocrine glands, nervous system, liver, kidney, spleen, and immune system of healthy teenagers. Future studies should try to correlate these findings with respective biochemical markers and standard radio-imaging techniques.

Effect of uninostril yoga breathing on brain hemodynamics: A functional near-infrared spectroscopy study.

OBJECTIVES: To measure the effect of the right and left nostril yoga breathing on frontal hemodynamic responses in 32 right handed healthy male subjects within the age range of 18-35 years (23.75 ± 4.14 years). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Each subject practiced right nostril yoga breathing (RNYB), left nostril yoga breathing (LNYB) or breath awareness (BA) (as control) for 10 min at the same time of the day for three consecutive days, respectively. The sequence of intervention was assigned randomly. The frontal hemodynamic response in terms of changes in the oxygenated hemoglobin (oxyHb), deoxygenated hemoglobin (deoxyHb), and total hemoglobin (totalHb or blood volume) concentration was tapped for 5 min before (pre) and 10 min during the breathing practices using a 16 channel functional near-infrared system (FNIR100-ACK-W, BIOPAC Systems, Inc., U.S.A.). Average of the eight channels on each side (right and left frontals) was obtained for the two sessions (pre and during). Data was analyzed using SPSS version 10.0 through paired and independent samples t-test. RESULTS: Within group comparison showed that during RNYB, oxyHb levels increased significantly in the left prefrontal cortex (PFC) as compared to the baseline (P = 0.026). LNYB showed a trend towards significance for reduction in oxyHb in the right hemisphere (P = 0.057). Whereas BA caused significant reduction in deoxyHb (P = 0.023) in the left hemisphere. Between groups comparison revealed that oxyHb and blood volume in the left PFC increased significantly during RNYB as compared to BA (oxyHb: P =0.012; TotalHb: P =0.017) and LNYB (oxyHb: P =0.024; totalHb: P =0.034). CONCLUSION: RNYB increased oxygenation and blood volume in the left PFC as compared to BA and LNYB. This supports the relationship between nasal cycle and ultradian rhythm of cerebral dominance and suggests a possible application of uninostril yoga breathing in the management of psychopathological states which show lateralized cerebral dysfunctions.

Effect of Mobile Phone-Induced Electromagnetic Field on Brain Hemodynamics and Human Stem Cell Functioning: Possible Mechanistic Link to Cancer Risk and Early Diagnostic Value of Electronphotonic Imaging.

The mobile phones (MP) are low power radio devices which work on electromagnetic fields (EMFs), in the frequency range of 900-1800 MHz. Exposure to MPEMFs may affect brain physiology and lead to various health hazards including brain tumors. Earlier studies with positron emission tomography (PET) have found alterations in cerebral blood flow (CBF) after acute exposure to MPEMFs. It is widely accepted that DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) and their misrepair in stem cells are critical events in the multistage origination of various leukemia and tumors, including brain tumors such as gliomas. Both significant misbalance in DSB repair and severe stress response have been triggered by MPEMFs and EMFs from cell towers. It has been shown that stem cells are most sensitive to microwave exposure and react to more frequencies than do differentiated cells. This may be important for cancer risk assessment and indicates that stem cells are the most relevant cellular model for validating safe mobile communication signals. Recently developed technology for recording the human bio-electromagnetic (BEM) field using Electron photonic Imaging (EPI) or Gas Discharge Visualisation (GDV) technique provides useful information about the human BEM. Studies have recorded acute effects of Mobile Phone Electromagnetic Fields (MPEMFs) using EPI and found quantifiable effects on human BEM field. Present manuscript reviews evidences of altered brain physiology and stem cell functioning due to mobile phone/cell tower radiations, its association with increased cancer risk and explores early diagnostic value of EPI imaging in detecting EMF induced changes on human BEM.

Biomechanical basis of optimal scoliosis surgical correction.

For an optimal approach to surgical correction of scoliosis, it was deemed desirable to biomechanically simulate the set of corrective forces applied by alternative internal fixation systems, so as to determine and apply the internal fixation system producing the best correction under safe levels of forces applied by the fixation systems to the spinal structures. To this end, we have developed, and presented here, (1) a spinal finite-element model relating the applied corrective forces to the corrected spinal configurations, (2) a method for determining the stiffness of the patient's spine prior to surgery, (3) computerized finite-element analysis simulation of alternative internal correction-fixation systems, so as to determine the most efficacious system, (4) instrumentations for surgically implementing the recommendations of the surgical simulation analysis and (5) comparisons of the model-simulated and surgically-obtained corrected spinal configurations. These procedures together constitute the biomechanical foundations of scoliosis surgical correction.

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

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.