LITERATURE

STUDY
Yoga education can supplement school and university
education. It can prepare the students physically and
mentally for the integration of their physical, mental and
spiritual faculties so that the students can become
healthier, saner and more integrated members of the
society and of the nation.
Yoga education helps in self discipline and sel-control,
leading to immense amount of awareness, concentration
and higher level of consciousness. Briefly the aims and
objectives of Yoga education are:
1) To enable the student to have good health.
2) To practice mental hygiene.
3) To possess emotional stability.
4) To integrate moral values.
5) To attain higher level of consciousness.
. All these objectives could be dealt with in an integrated
manner.
Yoga education could help to equip oneself with basic
knowledge about ones personality, to learn to handle
oneself well in all life situations, to learn techniques of
gaining good health, to develop a discriminative mind
capable of knowing the real from the unreal and to face
the dualities of life with equanimity.

 Yoga education can enhance all the activities of the

students, be it academic or sport or social. Yoga
techniques provide improved attention in studies, better
stamina and co-ordination for sports and a heightened
awareness and balanced attitude for social activity.
Yoga education can be integrated in school education
during the time set aside for P.T. but in a calm and quiet
place creating the proper atmosphere for its proper study
and practice.
Clear concepts are necessary in teaching Yoga. Yoga
practices can be built around concepts like conditioning
(preparation), synchronization, concentration, relaxation,
self-reliance.
Yoga teaching/learning should be experience based, i.e.
the student should gain direct experience of the subject
taught. Here the skill and knowledge of the teacher come
into full play. A dedicated and dynamic teacher can create
an atmosphere for learning. The teacher should have a
deep experience of the concept he is teaching. Moreover,
he can teach only what he knows. The teacher should
have good rapport with the students. The teacher should
be trained and experienced in knowing the physical and
psychological needs of the students in various age groups.
As Yoga deals with life and learning, these concepts
should be integrated into life situations through various
methods available to the teacher.

 As the Yoga teacher gains experience, he may have to

acquire skills of a counselor for the problems the student
faces at the physical, psychological and spiritual levels of
his personality. Counseling can be done during the time
allotted for recreation.

Teachers and parents should acquaint themselves with

Yoga; they could attend a short introductory course on
Yoga. This will help them to understand the special needs
of a student practicing Yoga.

The course of Yoga for the student should be well

formulated in terms of contents, aptness and graded so
that what is learnt earlier works hand in glove with what
follows. Practices should be progressive from easy to
difficult; ideology should only be explained students of a
later class who are mature to understand it.

An ideal number for a Yoga class is 20 students; if there

are more in number, one assistant would be useful. It is
difficult to handle large numbers in a Yoga class the
teachers could lose contact with the students and the
Yoga class in turn mechanical.

 As Yoga experience is subjective any mechanical means

of evaluation may not provide a good guideline. An
experienced teacher can notice the progress of a Yoga
student through his behavior and through his life activities.
The Yoga Institute has worked on all aspects of Yoga
education and through its pioneering efforts, it has
provided the finest training for Yoga education teachers.

Literature Review and Rationale for Yoga

for Depression
Yoga has its origins in Indian culture. Hatha yoga, the
system on which most Western yoga is based
consists primarily of postures, breathing exercises and
meditation. The postures improve body
awareness, focus, flexibility and strength, the breathing
calms the nervous system, body and mind and
improves focus and relaxation, and the meditation aims to
calm and clear the mind. When combined,
the emergent benefits of Hatha yoga can be
transformative and lead to substantial improvements in a
persons quality of life.

 Yoga practice is not something that stays on the yoga mat.

What a person learns during their Hatha yoga
practice will spill over into their life. This is one of the
reasons that yoga classes are seen as having
different benefits than stretching, strengthening or cardio
classes. Yoga impacts the bodymindspirit.
Explanations of the benefits of yoga from a Western
perspective are mostly theoretical at this time. The
reductionism of Western science is new to yoga, which for
thousands of years has been more involved in
the science of one. Yoga practice has focused on self
study, individual growth, and remembering that
we are a divine being, more than on averaging the benefits
of the yoga classes or individual components
of yoga across large participant samples. Traditional yoga
was also used as a form of rehabilitation.
However there were few empirical studies of its effects.
Recently there have been scientific investigations
reporting many benefits of yoga. Theories for these
benefits tend to focus on such things as modulation of the
autonomic nervous system, reduction in

 sympathetic tone, activation of underused neuromuscular

systems, improved selfefficacy, and
stimulation of the limbic system. Basic science suggests
that these theories may be true, however few
have been scientifically validated. life is now
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Research Summary
The following is a summary of the findings of recent
scientific investigations of the effects of yoga
practice on depression.
In 2005, Pilkington et al, wrote a review of the research
evidence regarding yoga and depression. They
concluded that the initial indications are of potentially
beneficial effects of yoga interventions on
depressive disorders. They noted methodological
inadequacies and recommended that further
research was warranted due to the generally beneficial
outcomes. At this time then, the bestevidence is

 that yoga provides some benefits for some people with

depression.
Woolery et al (2004) found that after 10 one hour Iyengar
yoga classes over a five week period that
there was a significant decrease in Beck Disability Index
scores. Shapiro et al (2007) in a study of people
with major unipolar depression found that after eight
weeks of three sessions/week, 65% were
diagnosed as in complete remission. Michalson (2005)
found that after three months of two 90
minute/week Iyengar classes, there was a significant
reduction in depression, and improvements in
reported perceived stress, wellbeing, vigor, and fatigue.
The specific aspects of yoga practice that have been
reported as most beneficial vary between
investigators as well as between yoga teachers. Those
components studied and showing some benefit
are yogic breathing (Brown et al 1993,
Janakiramaiah2000), savasana/corpse pose (Khumar
1998), and

 backbends and inversions (Michalson 2005 et al, Woolery

et al 2004). Other techniques suggested as
important, though not scientifically investigated include
specific breathing techniques such as ujjayi
breathing, gentle contract relax during savasana, postures
including legsupthewall, bow pose, maha
mudra, plow pose, shoulder stand, vajrasana, and sun
salutations, and yoga meditation and yoga nidra.
Yoga meditation has not been well studied. There are
numerous techniques for this. Quieting the mind,
and becoming aware of repeated negative messages are
expected to be beneficial for those with
depression and anxiety.
Adverse Effects
Within the research reports of yoga for depression and for
anxiety, there are few comments about
adverse effects of yoga on those with either condition.
Some authors suggest that yoga participants
have access to a mental health profession to discuss
specific responses to yoga techniques. Practical

 experience has demonstrated that participants often have

responses to yoga for which they want
clarification or reassurance.
Anecdotal reports suggest that there has been an increase
in injuries during yoga classes, as yoga has
become more popular. One common explanation is that
this has been due to factors such as the limited
training and limited experience of many yoga teachers,
and yoga being treated by the participants and
teacher as just another kind of exercise in which to sweat,
push onesself and get more flexible. life is now
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Related research
Grover et al (1987) investigated whether the benefits of
yoga were related to a persons initial attitude
towards yoga. They found that initial attitude to yoga did
not predict the extent of benefits from the
yoga. They also noted that participants attitudes towards
yoga became more positive the longer they

 attended classes.
Recent brain neuroplasticity research suggests that
physical activity supports neuroplastic changes.
Learning new skills and coping strategies is enhanced in
adults when those individuals exercise. It
appears that the best exercise is that which one can
repeat, in which one finds some enjoyment and
reward, and most importantly exercise which is novel.
Increased physical activity has many benefits. Penedo &
Dahn 2005 performed a review of the literature
regarding exercise and wellbeing. Their conclusions
included that increase physical activity or exercise
increases selfefficacy, improves over sense of wellbeing
and improved selfperception. Foxx (2000)
reported similar findings of improvements in psychological
wellbeing.
Conclusion and Recommendations
The best evidence is that yoga will provide benefits for
people with depression. Yoga provides novel

 movement patterns and breathing exercises which will

enhance learning of all new skills and coping
strategies. The movement aspects of yoga can assist in
improving selfperceptions, selfefficacy and
general sense of wellbeing. Given that these benefits
have been shown to occur over weeks of yoga
classes scheduled 23 times each week, this pattern of
class attendance should be used.
There is no clear evidence which aspects of yoga are best
suited for which individuals. As such, small
classes in which participants can be given more
individualized attention would be beneficial.
Ongoing contact between the participants and their mental
health professionals is recommended for
guidance, for explanations of responses to the yoga and
for reassurance.
Finally, it is recommended that future sessions of yoga for
clients at the XXX be guided by ongoing
communications between the mental health staff, the
participants and the yoga teacher. life is now
Physiotherapy 2007

 4
References
Brown R, Gerbarg P (2005) Sudarshan Kriya Yogic
breathing in the treatment of stress, anxiety and
depression. J Altern Complement Med 11: 711717.
Foxx KR 2000 The effects if exercise on selfperceptions
and selfesteem. In S.J. H. Biddle. K.R. Fox, S.H.
Boutcher (Eds) Physical activity and psychological well
being (pp.88117) London:Routledge.
Grover P, Varma V, Verma S, Pershad D. (1987)
Relationship between the patients attitude towards
yoga and the treatment outcome. Indian J Psychiatry
29(3): 253258
Janakiramaiah N, Gangadhar BN et
al 2000.Antidepressant efficacy of Sudarshan Kriya Yoga
(SKY) in
melancholia: a randomized controlled trial of ECT and
imipramine. J Affect Disord 57:255259.
Michalsen A, Grossman P, Acil A, Langhorst J, Ludtke R,
Esch T, Stefano G, Dobos G (2005). Rapid stress

 reduction and anxiolysis among depressed women as a

consequence of threemonth intensive yoga
program Med Sci Monit11(12):555561.
Penedo F, Dahn J 2005. Exercise and wellbeing:A review
of mental and physical health benefits
associated with physical activyt. Current Opinion in
Psychiatry, 18(2) 189193.
Pilkington K, Kirkwood J, Rampes H, Richardson J. 2005
Yoga for depression: the research evidence. J
Affective Dis 89:1324.
Shapiro D, Cook I, Davydov D, Ottaviani C, Leuchter A,
Abrams M. 2007 Yoga as complementary
treatment of depression: effects of traits and mood on
outcome. eCAM 110.
Woolery A, Myers H, Steinlieb B, Zeltlzer L. 2004. A yoga
approach for young adults with symptoms of
depression. Altern Ther Health Med 10(2):6063