Yoga is an ancient systematic practice aimed at fostering physiological homeostasis, mental peace, and ecological harmony. The practices entail low impact physical activity postures (asanas), breathing techniques (pranayama), concentration skills (dharana), and meditation (dhyana). While different practitioners start learning the practices they are unable to sustain motivation levels primarily because of inadequate experiential base. Therefore, in order to overcome this problem and enhance the practical base of yoga practitioners, an intensive experiential course in different meditations was designed and its efficacy tested in a group of interested volunteer practitioners (n=20). The course was implemented at a Midwestern university and yogic meditation techniques were taught that included candle gazing (lau dharana), mirror gazing (pratibimb dharana), recitational meditation (mantra dharana), primordial sound meditation (nada dhyana), Kundalini meditation (Kundalini dhyana), and Absolute meditation (Thuriyateeth dhyana) under the guidance of an experienced master trainer. A psychometric scale was developed that measured perceived knowledge, outcome expectations, outcome expectancies, self-efficacy for performing asanas, relaxation, and meditation and recollection of the frequency of these behaviors performed in the past week. Using a repeated measures design statistically significant changes were found in all the study variables. After six months of the course ninety percent of the participants were regularly practicing meditation. The intensive course approach of the intervention developed in this study needs to be applied in testing the efficacy of yoga-related research influencing the outcomes of several disease recovery and health promotion programs.
Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of this presentation the participants will be able to: 1. Describe the basic types of yogic meditations for wellness. 2. Evaluate the intensive yogic meditation course approach and the psychometric tools developed to measure behavioral constructs. 3. Identify possible explorations of this approach in influencing the outcomes of several disease recovery and health promotion programs.
Keywords: Alternative Medicine/Therapies, Wellness
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
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