Therapeutic actions of Yoga – part 1

This week my essays are MUCH earlier than usual eh? But guess what, I’m going to attend the Art of Living workshop YES+ course for the next 4 days! Every one of you must have heard of the foundation established by Pandit Ravi Shankar. So hopefully my blog entries next week will be all about it.

But for now, let us try to see the therapeutic action of Yoga.

I’m sure every one of us remembers the terrible tsunami that hit the Indian Ocean islands Andaman and Nicobar in December 2004. Imagine how horrible the horrible situations must have been for the people who actually experienced it! We, who have only experienced it vicariously, find it so difficult. Imagine how difficult it must have been for the victims’ families and the survivors! That kind of trauma can leave a long lasting impact on people for life. It can tear families asunder, lead to complete loss of self esteem and even lead people to suicide only to escape from even the thought of the nightmare.

A team from the Swami Vivekananda Yoga Research Foundation in Bangalore, organised a stress management program for the survivors a month after the tragedy. 47 adults from different cultural backgrounds were introduced to a Yoga program consisting of loosening exercises, physical postures, regulated breathing and guided relaxation for 1 hour every day.

The effects were evaluated on the basis of self rated fear, anxiety, sadness and sleep related disturbances. There was a significant decrease in all the above stated characteristics along with decrease heart and breath rate.
Dr. Shirley Telles who led the team explained, “Yoga modifies the body's response to stress of various types, including natural calamities”.

Their research work led them to finally conclude, “"Yoga practice may be useful in the management of stress following a natural disaster in people with widely differing social, cultural and spiritual beliefs”.

You can view the entire research article online for free here in text format: http://ecam.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/4/4/503
And here in pdf format: http://ecam.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/reprint/4/4/503

References:
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/569817
http://ecam.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/4/4/503