Boston, MA: Yoga, referred as “a living fossil”, has come to be recognized around the world as a mental and physical health discipline, for everybody to share and benefit from. Introduced and nourished by Hinduism, yoga is a world heritage and liberation powerhouse to be utilized by all. According to Patanjali who codified it in Yoga Sutra, yoga is a methodical effort to attain perfection, through the control of the different elements of human nature, physical and psychical. Yoga, whose origin goes back to around 2,000 BCE to Indus Valley civilization, is becoming more popular in the Western world today than ever before.
According to US National Institutes of Health, yoga may help one to feel more relaxed, be more flexible, improve posture, breathe deeply, and get rid of stress. According to a recently released “2016 Yoga in America Study”, about 37 million Americans (which included many celebrities) now practice yoga; and yoga is strongly correlated with having a positive self image. Yoga is said to be the repository of something basic in the human soul and psyche.
According to Oxford Dictionary of Hinduism, hatha-yoga (yoga of force) is a form of yogic practice designed to bring about liberation and immortality in this life, through the purification and manipulation of the practitioner’s body.
Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) School of Nursing will reportedly explore effect of yoga on depression during pregnancy. The US National Institutes of Health reportedly recently awarded two-year $456,579 grant to VCU School of Nursing for a pilot study that will examine how motivational interviewing and prenatal yoga might reduce or prevent depression during and after pregnancy.
Dr. Patricia Kinser, who will lead this project, says: “Nearly 20 percent of pregnant women experience depressive symptoms during pregnancy”. Depressive symptoms may significantly threaten a pregnant woman’s well-being. Kinser will work with an interprofessional team to engage 40 pregnant women, who will participate in prenatal yoga classes and at-home physical activity, reports suggest. Hindus have welcomed VCU efforts to explore multi-benefit yoga’s effects on pregnancy depression.
Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, has called the Boston University looking into the usage of multi-faceted yoga for treating anxiety “a step in the positive direction”. Zed urged all major world universities to explore various benefits yoga offers. Founded in 1839, “Boston University is an international, comprehensive, private research university”.
An abstract of the article “Effect of Hatha Yoga on Anxiety: A Meta-Analysis” published online at Journal of Evidence-Based Medicine dated May 20, stated: “Treatment efficacy was positively associated with the total number of hours practiced. People with elevated levels of anxiety benefitted the most.” To examine the effect of Hatha yoga on anxiety, the researchers (Hofmann, Andreoli, Carpenter & Curtiss) conducted a meta-analysis of relevant studies.