Effect of yoga on the social responsiveness and problem behaviors of children with ASD in special schools: A randomized controlled trial.

CONTEXT: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is the most common neurodevelopmental disorder and is increasingly reported among school-age children in India. Many children with ASD attend special schools which extend support for learning basic functional and academic skills. Problem behaviors and lack of social responsiveness are frequently associated with children with ASD in a school environment. Many evidence-based studies have explored various interventions in mitigating the lack of social responsiveness and problem behaviors in children. Few studies have examined the impact of yoga on social responsiveness and problem behaviors in special schools. OBJECTIVE: The objective of the study was to highlight the effect of school-based yoga on the social responsiveness and problem behaviors of children with ASD in special schools. Forty-three children with ASD from four special schools participated in the study. DESIGN: A randomized controlled trial (RCT) design was employed for the study. Children with ASD (n = 43) from four special schools were assessed by their teachers for social responsiveness and problem behaviors with the Social Responsiveness Scale-2 (SRS-2) and Aberrant Behavior Checklist-2 (ABC-2) at the baseline and after the yoga intervention. INTERVENTION: Structured yoga of 45 min for 12 weeks was conducted across four special schools with simple yoga practices conducive to children with ASD. RESULTS: Significant changes were observed post-intervention in the mean scores of the social communication aspect in social responsiveness (p = .021), irritability (p = .041), and social withdrawal (p = .047) aspects of problem behaviors.

Effect of Surya Namaskara (Sun Salutation) on mental health, self-control and mindfulness of adolescent school children.

BACKGROUND: A considerable portion of adolescent school children suffer from mental health problems. Low self-control and mindfulness are positively associated with poor mental health. Therefore, the present study was designed to assess the effect of Surya Namaskara (SN) on mental health, self-control, and mindfulness among adolescent school children. METHODS: Sixty-three (39 females) students (mean age = 14.24 years and SD = 0.42 years) in grade nine from a private school in India were recruited as study participants. The design of the present study was a non-randomized two arms design. Section A (N = 33) was selected as the intervention group, whereas section B (N = 30) was considered a control group. Students in the intervention group were given SN for two weeks. The participants were administered the General Health Questionnaire-12 (GHQ-12), Brief Self-control Scale (BSCS), and Mindfulness, Attention and Awareness Scale for Adolescents (MAAS-A) questionnaires at the baseline and after two weeks of intervention. RESULTS: The within-group comparison showed a significant main effect of time in MAAS-A scores. There was also a significant group by time interaction effect for BSCS and MAAS-A scores. Post-hoc analysis showed that the SN group has significantly higher post-BSCS and MAAS-A scores than the control group. Similarly, there was a significantly high BSCS score and MAAS-A score after SN intervention compared to their respective pre-scores. There was no significant change in the GHQ-12 scores in both groups in the pre-post comparison. CONCLUSION: The present study showed that SN improves self-control and mindfulness in adolescent school children.

Effect of yoga on cognitive functions and anxiety among female school children with low academic performance: A randomized control trial.

BACKGROUND: To achieve better academic performance, students should improve their cognitive faculties and overcome anxiety. Therefore, the present research was conducted to assess the effect of yoga on the cognitive functions of female adolescents with low academic performance. METHODS: The present study is a randomized control trial (RCT). Eighty-nine female students in the age range of 12-14 years were randomly assigned into two groups [yoga (n = 45); physical exercise (n = 44)] at a school setting. Both groups were assessed before and after on Raven's standard progressive matrices (RSPM), Corsi Block Tapping Test (CBTT), Six Letter Cancellation Test (SLCT), Digit Letter Substitution Test (DLST), Stroop Color and Word Test (SCWT), and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children (STAIC). RESULTS: Findings of the present study showed significant (p < .05) differences in scores of forward CBTT, SWCT, and SLCT in group × time interaction. Both the groups showed significant (p < .05) improvement in SLCT, backward scores of CBTT, and STAIC-T. All outcomes measured were significantly (p < .05) improved in the yoga group except STAIC-S. CONCLUSION: Yoga improves general intelligence, visuospatial working memory, and attention, as well as reduces the anxiety of students with low academic performance. Similarly, physical exercise was also found to be improving visuospatial working memory, sustained attention, and reduce trait anxiety. However, the finding of the present study indicated yoga to be more effective compared to physical exercise in regards to students' fluid intelligence and executive function. Improvement in general intelligence, visuospatial working memory, and attention is expected to positively influence students' academic performance.

Effect of Yoga on the Motor Proficiency of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and the Feasibility of its Inclusion in Special School Environments.

Yoga as a movement-based intervention is increasingly considered to improve the motor skills of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, there is little evidence of the effect of yoga on their motor skills. The current study aims to explore the effect of group yoga program on motor proficiency of children with ASD and feasibility of its inclusion in special schools. Forty-three children with ASD from four special schools were randomized into yoga (n = 23) and control (n = 20) group. A structured yoga program of 45 min for 12 weeks was delivered by trained yoga teachers who also tracked their daily responses. The Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency. Second Edition was used to assess both the groups pre- and postintervention. In conclusion, the study highlighted that yoga appears to have a positive impact on the gross motor rather than fine motor proficiency of children with ASD and is feasible to be delivered as group intervention in special schools.

Physical and mental health at high altitude of individuals doing yogic practices.

Objectives: There is an increase trend in the past few years, in the number of people traveling to high altitude for recreational activities such as pilgrims, mountaineering, and climbing and for occupational purposes such as defense and mining which have resulted in increasing in hypoxia conditions and anxiety-related medical problems at high altitude. As it is known that mental stress affects brain and heart functions, a recent research performed on Sudarshan Kriya Yoga (SKY) further validated the effectiveness of SKY on participants (practicing SKY) as compared to control after quantifying mental stress. To study the physiological effect of SKY advance breathing technique when immediately ascends to high altitude, we wanted to study the level of stress and mental well-being of lowlanders at high altitude. Materials and Methods: It is an interventional study performed at high altitudes, with low landers as participants where their biochemical and psychological parameters are being assessed. Results: The result for biochemical parameter cholesterol, triglycerides, low-density lipoproteins (LDLs), high-density lipoproteins (HDLs), very low-density lipoproteins, LDL-HDL ratio, and cholesterol-HDL ratio showed a significant decrease in the pre- and post-analyses values with P ≤ 0.001. Acute mountain sickness (AMS), Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale, and State and Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) also show a decreasing trend with significant result in AMS, mental well-being, and non-significant in STAI p value is P = 0.016, P = 0.055, and P = 0.125, respectively. Conclusion: We observed positive outcome both in for biochemical and stress-related parameters with SKY advance program practitioners who have rapidly ascend to high altitude.

Yoga Practices as an Alternative Training for Physical Fitness in Children With Visual Impairment.

Physical activities provide fundamental benefits to children's health and well-being. They are vital for development and healthy life, but participation of children with visual impairment is limited. Herein, the authors report results of a 16-wk yoga program, evaluating its effects on physical fitness in children with visual impairment. Eighty-three children age 9-16 years (12.37 ± 2.19) participated in a 2-arm, single-blind wait-list-controlled study at a residential school in south India. Participants (yoga group 41, controls 42) were assessed on muscle strength, flexibility, endurance, coordination, and respiratory health. Significant improvements in physical fitness were observed after the yoga intervention (Group × Time interactions for right-hand grip strength, p < .001; sit-up, p < .001; sit and reach, p < .001; bilateral plate tapping, p < .001; and peak expiratory flow rate, p < .001). Left-hand grip strength showed main effects of time, although there were no Group × Time interactions. Results demonstrate yoga's ability to improve a wide range of physical variables in children with visual impairment.

Association between Cyclic Meditation and Creative Cognition: Optimizing Connectivity between the Frontal and Parietal Lobes.

BACKGROUND: Important stages of creativity include preparation, incubation, illumination, and verification. Earlier studies have reported that some techniques of meditation promote creativity but have not specified which stage is enhanced. Here, we report the influence of cyclic meditation (CM) on creative cognition measured by a divergent thinking task. Our aim was to determine the degree of association between the two. METHODS: Twenty-four university students were randomly assigned to an experimental group (CM) and controls (Supine Rest), 35 min/day for 7 days. Creativity performance was assessed pre and post using Abbreviated Torrance Test for Adults (ATTA), while 64-channel electroencephalography (EEG) was used to measure brain activity during both CM/SH and the creativity test. RESULTS: Results indicated that CM training improved creativity performance, producing a shift to predominant gamma activity during creativity compared controls who showed delta activity. Furthermore, the experimental group showed more activation of frontal and parietal regions (EEG leads F3, F4 and P3, P4) than controls, i.e., the regions of the executive network responsible for creative cognition, our particular regions of interest where specialized knowledge is being stored. CONCLUSION: Improvement on creativity test performance indicates that CM increases association and strengthens the connectivity between frontal and parietal lobes, the major nodes of default mode network and executive attention network, enhancing the important stages of creativity such as preparation, incubation, and illumination.

Spiritual Well-Being and Its Relationship with Mindfulness, Self-Compassion and Satisfaction with Life in Baccalaureate Nursing Students: A Correlation Study.

The present study aimed to explore the correlates and predictors of spiritual well-being among nursing students. One hundred and forty-five BSc nursing students were recruited from three nursing colleges in Bangalore, Karnataka, India. Data were collected using SHALOM, FMI, SCS-SF and SWLS questionnaires and analysed by the Pearson correlation test and multiple regression analysis. The results of our study revealed a significant correlation between variables, and a considerable amount of variance was explained by self-compassion, mindfulness and satisfaction with life on personal, communal, environmental and transcendental domains of spiritual well-being.

Effect of 1-Week Yoga-Based Residential Program on Cardiovascular Variables of Hypertensive Patients: A Comparative Study.

INTRODUCTION: Hypertension (HTN) is an important public health concern and a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Yoga is a form of mind-body medicine shown to be effective in controlling blood pressure (BP) and reduces cardiac risk factors in HTN. Integrated approach of Yoga therapy (IAYT) is a residential yoga-based lifestyle intervention proven to be beneficial in several health conditions. Aim: To study the efficacy of 1 week of residential IAYT intervention on cardiovascular parameters in hypertensive patients. METHODOLOGY: Twenty hypertensive individuals (7 females) within age range between 30 and 60 years (average; 46.62 ± 9.9 years), who underwent 1 week of IAYT treatment for HTN, were compared with age- gender-matched non-IAYT group (5 females; average age; 47.08 ± 9.69 years) in terms of systolic BP (SBP), diastolic BP (DBP), mean arterial pressure (MAP), cardiac output (CO), stroke volume (SV), baroreflex sensitivity (BRS), and total peripheral vascular resistance (TPVR), IAYT program consisted of sessions of asanas, breathing practices, meditation and relaxation techniques, low salt, low-calorie diet, devotional session, and counseling. Individuals in non-IAYT group followed their normal routine. All the variables were assessed before and after one week. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 16. RM-ANOVA was applied to assess within group and between group changes after intervention. RESULTS: There was a significant improvement in SBP (P = 0.004), DBP (P = 0.008), MAP (0.03), BRS (P < 0.001), and TPVR (P = 0.007) in IAYT, group whereas in control group, we did not find significant difference in any of the variables. Between-group comparison showed a significant improvement in SBP (P = 0.038), BRS (P = 0.034), and TPVR (P = 0.015) in IAYT group as compared to non-IAYT group. CONCLUSION: One-week IAYT intervention showed an improvement in baroreflex sensitivity, systolic BP, and total peripheral vascular resistance in hypertensive patients. However, further randomized control trials need to be performed to confirm the present findings.

Yoga-Based Postoperative Cardiac Rehabilitation Program for Improving Quality of Life and Stress Levels: Fifth-Year Follow-up through a Randomized Controlled Trial.

OBJECTIVES: This study was aimed to assess the efficacy of yoga-based lifestyle program (YLSP) in improving quality of life (QOL) and stress levels in patients after 5 years of coronary artery bypass graft (CABG). METHODOLOGY: Three hundred patients posted for elective CABG in Narayana Hrudayalaya Super Speciality Hospital, Bengaluru, were randomized into two groups: YLSP and conventional lifestyle program (CLSP), and follow-up was done for 5 years. INTERVENTION: In YLSP group, all practices of integrative approach of yoga therapy such as yama, niyama, asana, pranayama, and meditation were used as an add-on to conventional cardiac rehabilitation. The control group (CLSP) continued conventional cardiac rehabilitation only. OUTCOME MEASURES: World Health Organization (WHO)-QOL BREF Questionnaire, Perceived Stress Scale, Positive and Negative Affect Scale (PANAS), and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) were assessed before surgery and at the end of the 5th year after CABG. As data were not normally distributed, Mann-Whitney U-test was used for between-group comparisons and Wilcoxon's signed-rank test was used for within-group comparisons. RESULTS: At the end of 5 years, mental health (P = 0.05), perceived stress (P = 0.01), and negative affect (NA) (P = 0.05) have shown significant improvements. WHO-QOL BREF score has shown improvements in physical health (P = 0.046), environmental health (P = 0.04), perceived stress (P = 0.001), and NA (P = 0.02) in YLSP than CLSP. Positive affect has significantly improved in CLSP than YLSP. Other domains of WHO-QOL-BREF, PANAS, and HADS did not reveal any significant between-group differences. CONCLUSION: Addition of long-term YLSP to conventional cardiac rehabilitation brings better improvements in QOL and reduction in stress levels at the end of 5 years after CABG.

Effect of 1-month Cyclic Meditation on Perceived Stress, General Health Status, and Cardiovascular Parameters in School Teachers.

BACKGROUND: Teaching, known as a novel profession, is very stressful occupation. BACKGROUND: Methods and Materials • The sample was composed of 62 male and female Nepalese high school teachers with an age range between 25 to 55 y (M ± SD, 37.42 ± 8.59) . Only interested teachers were included, and those with physical disabilities and long-term meditation practitioners were excluded. Twenty daily sessions, lasting 30 min each, of cyclic meditation (CM) intervention were held for 1 mo. Assessment such as stress, using measures such as the perceived stress scale (PSS); blood pressure (BP); pulse through an automatic BP machine; and general health status, using the general health questionnaire (GHQ), were made on the first day and last day of the sessions. BACKGROUND: Results • After 1 mo of intervention, pulse rate (P < .01), PSS (P < .001), systolic BP (P < .001), GHQ-A (P < .001), GHQ-B (P < .001), GHQ-C (P < .001), GHQ-D (P < .001), and total GHQ (P < .001) showed significant results, but diastolic BP did not show any significant change (P ≤ .13). BACKGROUND: Conclusion • Providing deep relaxation CM helps teachers cope with stress.

Efficacy of Structured Yoga Intervention for Sleep, Gastrointestinal and Behaviour Problems of ASD Children: An Exploratory Study.

INTRODUCTION: Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neuro developmental disorder which appears at early childhood age between 18 and 36 months. Apart from behaviour problems ASD children also suffer from sleep and Gastrointestinal (GI) problems. Major behaviour problems of ASD children are lack of social communication and interaction, less attention span, repetitive and restrictive behaviour, lack of eye to eye contact, aggressive and self-injurious behaviours, sensory integration problems, motor problems, deficiency in academic activities, anxiety and depression etc. Our hypothesis is that structured yoga intervention will brings significant changes in the problems of ASD children. AIM: The aim of this study was to find out efficacy of structured yoga intervention for sleep problems, gastrointestinal problems and behaviour problems of ASD children. MATERIALS AND METHODS: It was an exploratory study with pre-test and post-test control design. Three sets of questionnaires having 61 questions developed by researchers were used to collect data pre and post yoga intervention. Questionnaires were based on three problematic areas of ASD children as mentioned above and were administered to parents by teachers under the supervision of researcher and clinical psychologists. Experimental group was given yoga intervention for a period of 90 days and control group continued with school curriculum. RESULTS: Both children and parents participated in this intervention. Significant changes were seen post yoga intervention in three areas of problems as mentioned above. Statistical analysis also showed significance value of 0.001 in the result. CONCLUSION: Structured yoga intervention can be conducted for a large group of ASD children with parent's involvement. Yoga can be used as alternative therapy to reduce the severity of symptoms of ASD children.

Effect of yoga program on executive functions of adolescents dwelling in an orphan home: A randomized controlled study.

Executive function (EF) is important for physical and mental health of children. Studies have shown that children with poverty and early life stress have reduced EF. The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of Yoga program on the EF of orphan adolescents. Seventy two apparently healthy orphan adolescents randomized and allocated into two groups as Yoga group (n = 40; 14 girls, age = 12.69 ± 1.35 yrs) and Wait List Control (WLC) group (n = 32, 13 girls, age = 12.58 ± 1.52 yrs). Yoga group underwent three months of Yoga program in a schedule of 90 min per day, four days per week whereas the WLC group followed the routine activities. They were assessed by Stroop Color-Word Task, Digit Symbol Substitution Test (DSST), Digits Span Test and Trial Making Test (TMT) at the beginning and end of the program. The repeated measures ANOVA showed significant difference in time and group interactions (p < 0.05) for all subtests of Stroop Color-Word Task and Digit Span Test and part-A of TMT whereas there were no significant difference found in DSST and TMT (part-B). The post-hoc test with Bonferroni adjustment also showed significant improvements (p < 0.001) within the Yoga group in all test scores while in wrong score of DSST did not exhibit significant reduction. Whereas the WLC group, showed significant improvement (p < 0.05) in Stroop Color, Color-Word score, net score of DSST, Digit Span forward and Digit Span Total. Three months Yoga program was found useful for the young orphan adolescents in improving their executive functions.

Quality of life improvement with rehabilitation according to constitution of the World Health Organization for coronary artery bypass graft surgery patients: A descriptive review.

This is a descriptive review focusing on trends of treatments required for postoperative coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG) patients to improve the quality of life (QOL). METHODOLOGY: The sources of literary research to understand the concepts of coronary artery disease according to Indian scriptures are Ayurveda texts, Bhagavad Gita, Patanjali Yoga Sutra. The data was typed in Sanskrit using Devanagari script and explanation in English was given. As per new research techniques, surgery, physiotherapy rehabilitation and Yoga are serving CABG patient's medical and psychological health better. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines health as physical, mental and social well-being later redefined with additional terms like environmental and spiritual health. This definition is similar to the Panchakosha concept in Yoga and Pancha Mahabhutas in Ayurveda. In cases of emergency or passive treatment, medication serves as a better option for physical health. In circumstances where the person is able to move in daily activities (just after discharge), rehabilitation serves as a better option for physical, mental and social health. Travel and reactions to climatic change serve environmental health. Last strategy, belief, cultural and traditional methods with scientific background serves as the spiritual health. These step-wise treatments are required for CABG patients to get the overall health or QOL. However, surgery and physiotherapy rehabilitation are advanced as per modern era which serves physical, mental, and social health also, but environmental health and spiritual health have yet to be addressed. As an ancient system of medicine, Yoga combines physical, mental, social, environmental and spiritual practices and it should be added as treatment along with surgery and physiotherapy rehabilitation. If all of these therapies were in the treatment protocol for CABG surgery patients, we would observe the changes of QOL and fulfill the requirements of constitution of the WHO. Integrating concepts of Yoga, Ayurveda, modern rehabilitation, surgery and patient cooperation with lifestyle change are the key to QOL improvements after CABG.

Sleep Disorder, Gastrointestinal Problems and Behaviour Problems Seen in Autism Spectrum Disorder Children and Yoga as Therapy: A Descriptive Review.

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a complex neurodevelopmental disorder with deficiencies in many developmental milestones during the infantile childhood. Recent researches have shown that apart from behaviour problems, the ASD children also suffer from physiological conditions such as disturbed sleep and gastrointestinal problems that could be the contributing factors to their daytime behaviour problems. Lots of parents have expressed that, lack of sleep among the children have resulted in high levels of stress among the family members particularly among the immediate caretakers which are in most cases the mother of the child. Early behaviour intervention is a norm for ASD children which mainly affect the psychological level. Through this paper, an effort has been made to study the contributions made by yoga in order to mitigate such problems. Yoga is a non-invasive and alternative therapy that brings change in both physiological and psychological level of an individual. High levels of stress among the caretakers of these children could make them susceptible to non-communicable diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, arthritis etc. Parental based yoga intervention can be more effective for both children and parents and subsequently to the entire family.

Yoga Practice Increases Minimum Muscular Fitness in Children with Visual Impairment.

INTRODUCTION: Muscle strength, a component for balance, gait and functional mobility is vital for children with visual impairment. Yoga has frequently been demonstrated to improve physical and mental fitness in children. This study aimed to assess the effect of 16 weeks yoga training on muscular fitness in children with visual impairment. METHODS: This was a wait-listed two-armed-matched case-control study. Eighty (41 yoga, 39 control) visual impairment students of both genders aged 9-16 years matched on age, gender and degree of blindness were assessed at pre, mid (after 8 weeks) and post (after 16 weeks) yoga intervention using the Kraus-Weber test. RESULTS: The percentage of students passed in yoga group were 12.2%, 43.9% and 68.3% whereas percentages in the control group were 23.1%, 30.8% and 30.8% in pre, mid, and post tests respectively. McNemar test showed significant differences between pre and mid, mid and post in the yoga group while those parameters were not significantly different in the control group. Yoga therapy seemed to have considerable benefits for the children's muscular fitness. CONCLUSION: The study suggests that yoga have considerable benefits for improvement of fitness level in children with visual impairment and may be recommended as and effective, alternative, inexpensive low risk training activity option for them.