International Journal of Yoga最新文献

{"title":"Impact of Yoga and Naturopathy on Refractive Error and Visual Acuity in a Patient with Myopia.","authors":"R Sangamithraa, A Vijay, A Moovendhan, N Manavalan","doi":"10.4103/ijoy.ijoy_189_25","DOIUrl":"10.4103/ijoy.ijoy_189_25","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Myopia, or near-sightedness, is a common refractive error characterized by difficulty in seeing distant objects clearly, caused by the elongation of the eyeball. Although various yoga techniques, diet, and mud therapy are effective in improving refractive error, the impact of yoga and naturopathy (YN) interventions on visual outcomes in myopia remains largely unexplored. A 22-year-old male visited our outpatient department with complaints of blurred distant vision. Clinical evaluation confirmed a diagnosis of myopia, with no associated systemic comorbidities. The participant underwent YN interventions for 25 days. An improvement in spherical power, cylindrical power, spherical equivalent, and visual acuity was found after the intervention. It suggests that 25 days of YN interventions were useful in improving refractive error and visual acuity in individuals with myopia. However, as this is a single case report, more randomized controlled trials are recommended to validate the findings of this study.</p>","PeriodicalId":14436,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Yoga","volume":"19 1","pages":"112-116"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13183278/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147972647","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Yoga for Burnout in Nurses: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.","authors":"Athar Javeth, Sanchari Roy, Uma Shanker Agrawal, S Salina, Poonam Joshi","doi":"10.4103/ijoy.ijoy_87_25","DOIUrl":"10.4103/ijoy.ijoy_87_25","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Nurses often experience significant physical and psychological stress, leading to various individual, familial, social, and organizational issues that predispose them to burnout. Burnout has detrimental effects on the health and well-being of nurses. This systematic review and meta-analysis estimates the effectiveness of yoga on burnout among nurses. Four electronic databases - PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature were systematically searched for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that evaluated the effect of yoga on burnout among nurses. The preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses guidelines were utilized. A total of 88 studies were screened, and 3 RCTs were retained for the meta-analysis. The standardized mean differences (SMDs) were estimated using a random and fixed-effect model with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). There was a significant effect of yoga on three components of burnout: emotional exhaustion (SMD -0.71; 95% CI -1.27--0.15 [<i>P</i> < 0.01]), depersonalization (SMD -0.59; 95% CI -0.88- -0.30 [<i>P</i> < 0.01]), and personal achievement (SMD 0.76; 95% CI 0.26-1.25 [<i>P</i> < 0.01]). Moreover, the research studies showed high heterogeneity (<i>I</i> ² = 0%-72%), and of the 3 trials, 2 were considered to be at low risk based on the Cochrane risk of bias 2 tool. Therefore, yoga is an effective and economical method that nurses can use to reduce burnout and improve the quality of care provided to patients. Integration of yoga-based practices into the healthcare routine has promising benefits, but more substantial findings are essential for developing evidence-based guidelines (International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews registration: CRD42024591915).</p>","PeriodicalId":14436,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Yoga","volume":"19 1","pages":"21-31"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13183276/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147972618","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Impact of Rajayoga Meditation on Anxiety, Serum Cortisol, and Hemodynamic Parameters in Patients Undergoing Modified Radical Mastectomy - Prospective Randomized Control Trial.","authors":"P Sreelakshmi, Neha Maheshwari, Neel Kamal Mishra, Rajni Gupta, Jitendra Kushwaha, Pooja Ramakant, Gitika Nanda, Wahid Ali","doi":"10.4103/ijoy.ijoy_141_25","DOIUrl":"10.4103/ijoy.ijoy_141_25","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Rajayoga meditation is form of meditation that is offered by Rajayoga Education and Research Foundation of Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University. It is free of ritual and mantras and can be performed anywhere and anytime. The Rajayoga meditation practice can have beneficial effects on modulating anxiety and cortisol levels in breast cancer patients undergoing surgery.</p><p><strong>Aims: </strong>To evaluate the impact of Rajayoga meditation on preoperative and postoperative anxiety, hemodynamic parameters, and serum cortisol levels in patients undergoing modified radical mastectomy (MRM).</p><p><strong>Materials and methods: </strong>The study was randomized controlled trial carried out in a tertiary care center. Sixty female patients of the American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status II, aged 30-70 years, scheduled to undergo elective MRM under general anesthesia were included. The patients were randomized into two groups namely, Group R, Rajayoga group (<i>n</i> = 30) and Group C, Control group (<i>n</i> = 30) who did not receive any intervention. Anxiety was measured using State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI-S) before the start of Rajayoga training and on second postoperative day. Serum cortisol, hemodynamic parameters (heart rate, systolic, and diastolic blood pressure) and respiratory rate were also noted before initiating Rajayoga meditation and on second postoperative day.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>In this study, it was observed that anxiety levels, serum cortisol, and hemodynamic parameters of the patients before the surgery were comparable between the two groups. However, on second postoperative day, patients who underwent Rajayoga meditation had significantly reduced anxiety, heart rate, blood pressure, respiratory rate, and serum cortisol levels. These results suggest that Rajayoga meditation may be an effective nonpharmacological intervention for stress reduction and physiological stabilization in surgical patients.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Rajayoga meditation significantly reduces anxiety, heart rate, blood pressure, respiratory rate, and serum cortisol levels in patients undergoing MRM.</p>","PeriodicalId":14436,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Yoga","volume":"19 1","pages":"106-111"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13183279/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147972677","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Yoga for Cancer Symptom Management: A Review of its Therapeutic Benefits on Breast Cancer, Quality of Life, and Psychological Distress.","authors":"Nikita Sharma, J S Nidhishree, Sunil Singh Yadav, Raghavendra M Rao","doi":"10.4103/ijoy.ijoy_83_25","DOIUrl":"10.4103/ijoy.ijoy_83_25","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Cancer diagnosis and treatment often cause psychological distress and reduced quality of life (QoL). Research suggests that patients with depressive symptoms have lower survival rates. Mind-body interventions, such as yoga and meditation, have been recognized for their potential to alleviate symptoms of burden and distress in cancer patients. This narrative review examines the role of yoga in managing symptoms and improving the QoL in breast cancer patients. It synthesizes findings from studies conducted during treatment and in the survivorship phase. A literature review was conducted using the PubMed database search. The search, filtered for clinical trials, identified 216 studies on yoga and meditation. Only randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were included to ensure methodological rigor. Yoga and Meditation interventions show significant benefits in reducing stress, improving mood states, and enhancing QoL in cancer patients. Despite methodological limitations, several large, multicentric trials have demonstrated robust evidence supporting the efficacy of yoga and meditation in improving psychological well-being and QoL in breast cancer patients. Further high-quality research is needed to establish standardized protocols and enhance clinical implementation.</p>","PeriodicalId":14436,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Yoga","volume":"19 1","pages":"32-40"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13183282/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147971810","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Evidence-based Review of Yoga Interventions for Adolescent Health and Well-being in US Schools.","authors":"Chia-Liang Dai, Ying Guo, Manoj Sharma, Ching-Chen Chen, Jacquelyn Rodriguez","doi":"10.4103/ijoy.ijoy_54_25","DOIUrl":"10.4103/ijoy.ijoy_54_25","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The adolescent behavioral health crisis has intensified pressures to foster both physical health and mental well-being, particularly in the post-COVID-19. Yoga, as a holistic approach, has been integrated into existing curricula and positive behavioral interventions. This review examines the implementation and impact of yoga interventions in the U.S., with a focus on adolescent students in secondary schools, to identify effective strategies and provide recommendations to ensure the sustainable integration of yoga into school-based behavioral health initiatives. The articles were systematically searched from EBSCOhost, PubMed, and Web of Science databases. Inclusion criteria were: yoga component with physical elements, implemented in U.S. secondary schools as part of PE curricular or school interventions, and published in English in peer-reviewed journals. This review synthesizes findings from 17 studies on yoga interventions, highlighting notable benefits across physical and psychosocial outcomes. While most interventions are integrated into the school day, some alterations, including the afterschool and virtual formats, have emerged, providing insight into accessibility to school health promotion. The review suggests that ongoing research to refine intervention designs, address implementation barriers, and expand the reach of yoga interventions to racially and ethnically diverse populations is warranted. Overall, this review advocates for integrating yoga into health promotion initiatives, which provide adolescents with practical tools to enhance their well-being in the educational setting.</p>","PeriodicalId":14436,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Yoga","volume":"19 1","pages":"10-20"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13183262/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147972660","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Effects of Yoga on the Efficiency of the Attentional Networks in Competitive Archers: A Randomized Controlled Trial.","authors":"Abhijit Baishya, Darshana Hazarika, Kashinath Metri","doi":"10.4103/ijoy.ijoy_24_25","DOIUrl":"10.4103/ijoy.ijoy_24_25","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Attention is fundamental to optimal performance in precision sports such as archery. While yoga has consistently been linked to cognitive enhancements, no study has explored its effects on attentional processes in archers. This study evaluated the impact of an 8-week yoga intervention on the Attention Network Test (ANT) outcomes, focusing on the alerting, orienting, and conflict control networks in competitive archers.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>This trial enrolled 92 state-level competitive archers aged 12-20 years, randomized into yoga and control groups. The yoga group participated in a 60-min validated yoga module comprising loosening exercises, breathing techniques, asanas, pranayamas, kriyas, meditation, and relaxation, conducted thrice weekly for 8 weeks. The controls continued routine training. The ANT was administered at baseline and post-intervention. Primary outcomes included the efficiencies of the alerting, orienting, and conflict control networks. Secondary outcomes comprised overall accuracy, overall reaction time (RT), and RTs across four cue and three flanker types. Paired <i>t</i>-tests and Wilcoxon signed-rank tests assessed within-group differences, while repeated measures ANOVA examined between-group differences.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Eighty-three participants completed the study (yoga: 43, control: 39). The yoga group exhibited significant improvements in the orienting network (MD = 18.68 [11.69, 25.67], <i>P</i> < 0.001, η_p ² = 0.261), conflict control network (MD =-36.72 [-44.81, -28.62], <i>P</i> < 0.001, η_p ² = 0.505), overall accuracy, RTs across all cue types, and the incongruent flanker condition compared to controls. Within-group differences showed significant improvements in all outcome measures for the yoga group, while the control group exhibited improvements only in certain RTs.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>The 8-week yoga intervention significantly enhanced the orienting and conflict control networks, highlighting the potential of yoga in improving attention in state-level competitive archers. These preliminary findings suggest that yoga is an effective intervention for managing cognitive and emotional distractions during competitions. Future research should examine these effects in elite archers and explore the mediating role of these networks in the relationship between yoga and archery performance.</p>","PeriodicalId":14436,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Yoga","volume":"19 1","pages":"85-93"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13183273/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147972675","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Enhancing Yoga Pose Recognition through a Multimodal Hybrid Approach with Attention Mechanism and Late Fusion on Yoga For All-30.","authors":"Jayasurya Marasani, Dhanvanth Reddy Yerramreddy, S Don","doi":"10.4103/ijoy.ijoy_11_25","DOIUrl":"10.4103/ijoy.ijoy_11_25","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Context: </strong>The project focuses on yoga pose recognition, a critical task in computer vision and AI, to enhance physical and mental well-being by improving posture analysis. It addresses challenges such as the lack of benchmark datasets and limitations in both landmark-augmented and landmark-free methods.</p><p><strong>Aims: </strong>1. Developed a hybrid model combining landmark-based and landmark-free techniques for accurate yoga pose recognition 2. Introduced YFA-30, a comprehensive dataset with 30 yoga poses to benchmark pose recognition models 3. Conducted a comparative analysis of existing models with the proposed hybrid model.</p><p><strong>Settings and design: </strong>The project operates within the domain of computer vision and artificial intelligence, specifically focusing on yoga pose recognition. It involves a controlled computational environment for training, validating, and testing deep learning models using datasets of yoga poses. The settings emphasize creating a system capable of real-time pose recognition and correction for practical applications in fitness, health, and education.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>• Hybrid Model: Combines MoveNet (landmark detection) and ResNet50 (image feature extraction) using a scaled dot-product attention mechanism and late fusion • Statistical Evaluation: Analyzes accuracy, loss, and performance metrics across multiple datasets (YFA-30, YFA-20, YFA-10, Kaggle, and Google CG) • Comparative Study: Benchmarks against models such as Mediapipe, YOLO-V8x, and Xception • Visualization: Uses Grad-CAM heatmaps for feature extraction insights.</p><p><strong>Material: </strong>Datasets: • YFA-30: Newly introduced dataset with 30 yoga poses with approximately 8000 images • Kaggle Dataset: Small dataset with 5 yoga poses • Google CG Dataset: Synthetic images of 5 yoga poses. Models: • Landmark-based: MoveNet, Mediapipe, and YOLO-V8x • Landmark-free: ResNet50, VGG16, EfficientNetB0, and Xception.</p><p><strong>Statistical analysis used: </strong>The statistical analyses used in your yoga pose recognition project include: 1. Performance Metrics: Accuracy, loss (training, validation, and test), and loss curves across datasets (YFA-30, YFA-20, YFA-10, Kaggle, and Google CG) to evaluate model efficiency 2. Comparative Analysis: Benchmarking the hybrid model (MoveNet + ResNet50) against other models such as Mediapipe, YOLO-V8x-pose, and landmark-free models (e.g., VGG16 and Xception) 3. Cross-Validation: Testing on YFA dataset subsets to ensure robustness across data variability 4. Attention Mechanism: Scaled dot-product attention and late fusion to integrate and prioritize relevant features and landmarks 5. Visual Analysis: Heatmaps (Grad-CAM) to interpret keypoint detection and feature extraction 6. Dataset Testing: Evaluation on synthetic and real-world datasets to ensure adaptability. These analyses validate the hybrid model's performance and robustness.</p>","PeriodicalId":14436,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Yoga","volume":"19 1","pages":"72-84"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13183277/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147972668","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Yoga for Caregivers of Patients Suffering from Chronic Diseases such as Cancers and Neurological Disabilities: A Systematic Review.","authors":"Sofia Mudda, Suresh Kumar Thanneeru, M Sukumar, Santosh Wakode, Saikat Das, Amit Agrawal, Santenna Chenchula","doi":"10.4103/ijoy.ijoy_278_24","DOIUrl":"10.4103/ijoy.ijoy_278_24","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>To review the role of Yoga in improving the psychological and physical aspects of caregivers of patients with chronic conditions such as neurological disabilities and cancer. A systematic search was conducted on PubMed, ScienceDirect, and Cochrane according to the PRISMA guidelines. Randomized controlled trials exploring the role of Yoga for caregivers were included; case series, case reports, conference presentations, and non-English literature were excluded. Eight studies involving 252 participants were included in this systematic review. Five studies reported psychological outcomes, of which three reported significance. Quality of life was reported to improve in one study, while other studies reported mixed results. Physical outcomes demonstrated significant improvements in two studies. Most of the included studies were pilot studies with small sample sizes and with methodological limitations. This systematic review findings has shown that, Yoga has a potential role in improving the physical and psychological well-being of caregivers, particularly in neurorehabilitation and cancer care settings. Due to the heterogenicity in interventions and reported outcomes, a definitive conclusion cannot be made. Further research should focus on large well-designed trials with different yoga modules, and standardized outcomes should support the role of integrating yoga in a holistic approach to treat these patients.</p>","PeriodicalId":14436,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Yoga","volume":"18 3","pages":"262-268"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12931639/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147306018","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Long-term Yoga Experience Predicted a Facilitated Attentional Disengagement from Fearful Faces.","authors":"Gabriela Campelo, Goiara Mendonça de Castilho","doi":"10.4103/ijoy.ijoy_199_24","DOIUrl":"10.4103/ijoy.ijoy_199_24","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Facilitated attentional engagement to, and impaired disengagement from, negative stimuli are centrally involved in maladaptive psychological states, anxiety and mood disorders. Theoretical frameworks propose that yoga-based practices modulate attention to emotion via bottom-up and top-down processes which could shape attentional engagement and disengagement patterns over time, respectively, and thus promote healthier emotion processing.</p><p><strong>Aims and objectives: </strong>This study examined whether long-term yoga practice and current weekly practice load predicted reduced emotional bias in predominantly bottom-up and top-down emotional attention, as indicated by attentional engagement and disengagement performance in two emotional spatial cueing tasks.</p><p><strong>Materials and methods: </strong>Twenty long-term yoga practitioners (gender: 60% feminine; mean age: 46.60 ± 12.37 years; mean yoga experience: 16.40 ± 13.02 years; yoga/meditation teachers: 70%) completed two emotional spatial cueing tasks, under exogenous or endogenous orienting. Engagement and disengagement biases are derived from reaction times to fearful vs. neutral facial expressions.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The results indicated that only long-term yoga experience, and not current weekly hours of practice, interacted with performance in the spatial cueing tasks. Specifically, long-term yoga experience was associated with facilitated attentional disengagement from fearful faces under endogenous orienting, which represent conditions largely dependent on top-down attentional control and regulatory skills.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>These findings suggest that long-term regular yoga practice primarily modified top-down processes of emotion regulation in our sample. This study helps to address research gaps in the field by employing behavioral methods, uncovering mechanisms underlying long-term contemplative practices, and indicating how behavioral health interventions can shape cognitive-affective processes.</p>","PeriodicalId":14436,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Yoga","volume":"18 3","pages":"275-283"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12931651/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147289808","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Comparing the Effects of Yoga Nidra and Body Scan Meditation on Pain Outcomes.","authors":"Violette Gibbs, William J Hanney, Abigail W Anderson","doi":"10.4103/ijoy.ijoy_2_25","DOIUrl":"10.4103/ijoy.ijoy_2_25","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Chronic pain significantly impacts quality of life. Mind-body interventions (MBIs), such as yoga nidra and body scan, show promise in managing pain. Yoga nidra incorporates intention-setting, visualization, and relaxation, whereas body scan focuses on somatic awareness. While prior literature has applied meditation as a therapeutic intervention in individuals with chronic pain, limited literature has compared the effects of yoga nidra and body scan on pain outcomes.</p><p><strong>Aims: </strong>The aim of the study was to compare the immediate effects of yoga nidra and body scan on pain intensity, pain anxiety, well-being, and optimism in adults with chronic pain.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>A quasi-experimental study with 23 participants experiencing chronic pain was conducted. Participants underwent either a 45-min yoga nidra (<i>n</i> = 12) or body scan session (<i>n</i> = 11). Outcomes were assessed pre-, post-, and 24-h post intervention.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Both interventions significantly reduced pain intensity and pain-related anxiety over time (<i>P</i> < 0.01), with reductions observed regardless of group. Yoga nidra demonstrated greater improvements in well-being immediately post intervention compared to body scan (<i>P</i> = 0.01). No significant differences or main effects were found between groups for optimism (<i>P</i> = 0.60).</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Both yoga nidra and body scans reduce pain intensity and pain-related anxiety. Yoga nidra uniquely enhances well-being, supporting its use as a therapeutic MBI for chronic pain.</p>","PeriodicalId":14436,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Yoga","volume":"18 3","pages":"342-347"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12931642/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147305886","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}