OBJECTIVES To explore perceived benefits, barriers, and cues to action of yoga practice among adults. METHODS Focus groups were conducted with persons who had never practiced yoga, practitioners of one year or less, and practitioners for more than one year. The Health Belief Model was the theoretical foundation of inquiry. RESULTS All participants acknowledged a variety of benefits of yoga....

The term yoga-nidra has been used in many empirical studies to refer to relaxation and guided imagery. These techniques do not represent the intention or physiological correlates of yoganidra discussed in the traditional yoga literature. We propose an operational definition of yoga-nidra that is supported by several physiologically testable hypotheses regarding its outcomes and effects. Traditi...

BACKGROUND Yoga is a mind-body exercise practiced by nearly 16 million US adults. Clinical yoga research has yielded promising findings in physical and mental health outcomes. However, research in non-patient populations is limited. The purpose of this study is to survey a non-clinical population to better understand yoga use in a real-world setting. METHODS This study used a pre-post test de...

Background/Purpose: Obesity and secondary conditions continue to disproportionally affect the health of children living in urban areas. Studies show that a lack of resources and physical activity-unfriendly communities discourage 60 minutes of daily activity, including strengthening exercises, as recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Using Social Ecological theory, the ...

This study compared acute (15 min) yoga posture and guided meditation practice, performed seated in a typical office workspace, on physiological and psychological markers of stress. Twenty participants (39.6 ± 9.5 yr) completed three conditions: yoga, meditation, and control (i.e., usual work) separated by ≥24 hrs. Yoga and meditation significantly reduced perceived stress versus control, and t...

Popular and academic interest in yoga for treatment of health conditions are increasing at an alarming rate while over 30 million people claim to practice yoga for health benefit worldwide [1]. The practice of yoga originates from 5000 BCE in India to combine specific postures (asanas), breathing techniques (pranayama), meditative techniques (dhyana), chants (mantras) and wisdom teachings (sutr...

Purpose Fatigue is an important problem in children receiving intensive chemotherapy and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). Exercise may be an effective intervention for fatigue. Individualized yoga represents an ideal intervention because it can be tailored according to an individual child's needs. Little is known about how to structure a standardized yoga program for intensivelyt...

Background. Serotonin and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) are known to be modulators of nociception. However, pain-related connection between yoga and those neuromodulators has not been investigated. Therefore, we aimed to evaluate the effect of yoga on pain, BDNF, and serotonin. Methods. Premenopausal women with chronic low back pain practiced yoga three times a week for 12 weeks. At ...

BACKGROUND Our previous randomized controlled trial demonstrated that isometric yoga in a sitting position reduces fatigue in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME). However, some patients experience difficulties sitting or practicing isometric yoga in a sitting position for long periods. To date, therapeutic interventions for patients with severe symptoms hav...

Family and friends who provide unpaid care to an individual with a disease or disability (known as informal caregivers) experience numerous threats to their physical health as a result of providing care. In spite of evidence that participation in physical and leisure activities can be health promoting, informal caregivers have reported diminished or completely absent leisure participation. Hath...