Yoga Mimamsa

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Background: In Indian Universities, much attention is not given to the mental and physical fitness of the students during routine teaching-learning sessions except in the courses related to physical education, medicine, and yoga. Even general health-related lessons are mostly not included in the curricula of most of the courses. This fact becomes important in the context of increasing prevalence of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases among the younger population. Yogic training happens to be one of the promising and effective methods of training in developing mental and physical fitness. Objective of the Study: The objective of this study was to find out the effect of Pranayama on physical fitness and mental health in University-level healthy students. Method: A total of 108 adult volunteers of University-level healthy students of both gender, aged 17–28 years were included in the study. The selected individuals were divided into two groups, experimental- and control-with (n = 54) individuals in each group. The training period of Anuloma-viloma and Bhastrika Pranayama for experimental group was 12 weeks. Physical fitness parameters and mental health were assessed at the baseline and after completion of 12 weeks of the training intervention. Mental health was tested with a validated Mental Health Inventory Questionnaire. Control groups did not undergo Pranayama training. Results: The experimental group showed significant improvement in most of the physical fitness parameters after 12 weeks of Pranayama practice; however, the control group did not show significant improvement. The positive effect of Pranayama though was observed on mental health parameters in the experimental group, the difference was not statistically significant when compared with the control group. Conclusion: Anuloma-viloma and Bhastrika Pranayama appear to be effective in improving physical health parameters among healthy University students.

Objective: This study was conducted to assess (i) the relationship between stressful life events and coping strategies, (ii) how stressful life events influence stress indicators, and (iii) how variations in stress indicators occur according to the coping strategies adopted. Materials and Methods: Coping strategies, stressful life events, and stress indicators were assessed in 72 participants (group average age ± standard deviation, 31.9 ± 14.3 years; 36 males) as a single-group, cross-sectional study. Results: Participants with low, medium, and high stressful life events showed a positive correlation with disengagement (e.g., social withdrawal) (p < 0.01). A high level of stressful life events was positively correlated with physical (p < 0.05) and behavioral indicators (p < 0.05). Coping strategies such as problem-solving (p < 0.05) and cognitive restructuring (p < 0.05) showed a negative correlation with behavioral indicators; wishful thinking (p < 0.01) showed a positive correlation with emotional indicators. Engagement showed a negative correlation with behavioral indicators (p < 0.05) and disengagement was found to be positively correlated with emotional indicators (p < 0.01). Conclusion: The higher the stressful life event scores, the greater was the chance of using unhealthy coping strategies; (ii) high stressful life events correlated positively with physical and behavioral stress indicators; and (iii) healthy coping strategies (e.g., problem-solving) resulted in lower behavioral indicators of stress.

Dental education is associated with a significant amount of stress and anxiety which may lead to depression and suicidal intent in few cases. Musculoskeletal disorder is also a prevalent occupational health problem in dental professionals. This alarming situation indicates a need to modify the current education system and provide timely interventions for physical and psychological health of our future dental professionals. There is a need to develop multidisciplinary team approach of integrating dental education with yoga to promote students' health and facilitate effective health-care services to the patients. This paper attempts to identify the application of yoga in dentistry and explores the possibility of incorporating yoga in dental education. Benefits of yoga greatly contribute to preventive dentistry and oral medicine as add-on therapy complementary to standard dental procedures. Yoga offers a promising, cost-effective, complementary, preventive, and therapeutic modality. Yogic practices are useful in quitting tobacco addiction. Yoga can be beneficial for comprehensive and sustained dental care and oral health. Dental professionals with knowledge of yoga can analyze, diagnose, and prescribe yoga for therapeutic benefits to their patients and help them reduce anxiety during dental treatment. Including yoga in dental curriculum will facilitate dental students to manage patients effectively, reduce occupational hazards, cope with stress, and improve academic performance. In future, more competent dental professionals with improved work efficiency will be produced. Incorporating yoga in dental education will facilitate positive health and well-being of future dental professionals, effective patient care, and improved health-care services to the community.

According to the ancient yogic texts, the origin of suffering is the ignorance of the true nature of things (avidya). The yogasutras of Patanjali posit that the main objective of yoga is to cease the origin of suffering by a process of involution called pratiprasava, through the development of awareness and consciousness. From a psychotherapeutic point of view, the cessation of suffering could be explained as the result of a process of self-regulation based on the development of self-awareness. It proposes that yoga practice promotes an embodiment process, providing the integration of the organism's systemic unit: brain, body, and environment. This integration process could be the central mechanism of affective self-regulation.

Paramahansa Yogananda (1893–1952) founded the Yogoda Satsanga Society (YSS) of India in 1917. With the blessings of his guru Sri Yukteswar, he then traveled to the United States in 1920 where he eventually established the American branch of the YSS known as the Self-Realization Fellowship to teach Kriyā-yoga and “original Christianity.” Tracing the history of the World Brotherhood Colony movement as it made its way from India to America and back to India, this article shows how Yogananda's colonies today continue to provide a space for members of the growing global middle class to live a simpler life grounded in yogic principles. Scholars concerned with yoga's historical transmission and entrance into transnational practice will find this article useful for understanding the implications of Paramahansa Yogananda's World Brotherhood Colonies in the history of modern yoga.