Embodied Cognition in Meditation, Yoga, and Ethics: An Experimental Single-Case Study on Differential Effects of Four Treatments

Yoga is an embodied contemplative practice entailing multiple components, such as ethical teachings, postures, breathing practices, and meditation. Little is known to date how these different components affect aspects of embodied cognition. This single-case multiple-baseline study explored the differential and incremental effects of four different combinations of yoga components on body awareness, emotion regulation, affectivity, self compassion, and distress tolerance. Fifty-seven healthy participants with no regular yoga or meditation practice were randomly assigned to three baselines (7, 14, and 21 days) and four conditions: Mantra meditation alone (MA), meditation plus physical yoga (MY), meditation plus ethical education (ME), and meditation plus yoga and ethical education (MYE). All the interventions lasted for 8 weeks. Forty-two participants completed the treatment and were included in the analyses that involved visual inspection, effect size estimation, and multilevel modeling. All four treatments improved body awareness, emotion regulation, self-compassion, and distress tolerance to a similar extent. Body awareness and emotion regulation developed continuously and simultaneously over time. The MA condition had the least favorable effect on affective experience, while the ME condition enhanced valence the most and the MY condition was the most effective in preventing negative affective responses. Even though mantra meditation on its own negatively influenced daily affect, it can be assumed to be the driving force behind the improvement of the other variables. This points to the central role of meditation in increasing interoception, self-awareness and the processing of bodily and emotional stimuli.

Differential Effects of Ethical Education, Physical Hatha Yoga, and Mantra Meditation on Well-Being and Stress in Healthy Participants—An Experimental Single-Case Study

Traditionally, yoga is a multicomponent practice consisting of postures, breathing techniques, meditation, mantras, and ethics. To date, only a few studies have tried to dismantle the effects of each of these components and their combinations. To fill this gap, we examined the incremental effects of ethical education and physical Hatha yoga on mantra meditation using a single-case multiple-baseline design. This study was part of a project evaluating the new mind–body program Meditation-Based Lifestyle Modification. Fifty-seven healthy participants with no regular yoga or meditation practice were randomly assigned to three baselines (7, 14, and 21 days) and four conditions using a random number generator. The conditions were mantra meditation alone (MA), meditation plus physical yoga (MY), meditation plus ethical education (ME), and meditation plus yoga and ethical education (MYE). All the interventions lasted for 8 weeks and were run consecutively according to baseline length. During the baseline and treatment phases, participants received daily questionnaires measuring their well-being (WHO-5 Well-Being Index), stress (Perceived Stress Scale), and subjective experiences. Forty-two participants completed the treatment and were entered in the analyses. We analyzed our data using visual inspection, effect size estimation (Tau-U), and multilevel modeling. Almost all participants showed a longitudinal increase in well-being. Regarding between-group differences, participants who received ethical education exhibited the largest increases in well-being (Tau-U = 0.30/0.23 for ME/MYE), followed by participants in the MY condition (Tau-U = 0.12). Conversely, participants in the MA condition showed no change (Tau-U = 0.07). There was a tendency for the combined treatments to decrease stress. This tendency was strongest in the MY condition (Tau-U = –0.40) and reversed in the MA condition (Tau-U = 0.17). These results emphasize the incremental and differential effects of practicing meditation in combination with other practices from the eight-fold yoga path. This approach is valuable for better understanding the multifaceted practice of yoga.Clinical Trial Registration:www.ClinicalTrials.gov, identifier: NCT04252976.

GARBHASANSKARA: A MIRACLE TO WOMAN

Garbhasanskara means reforming, polishing and ultimate moulding and cultivating the unborn. Simply, we can say, it is a process of selecting and transmitting positive influence by means of Yoga, reading, thinking, praying including healthy eating and cheerful behaviour. There is special bond between mother and baby due to Garbha sanskara. It is a process of training the baby as well as mothers mind during pregnancy. Pre-planning for pregnancy (Supraja janan), preparing the body in advance before conceiving helps greatly in having a healthy progeny. Sanskara is Sanskaro hi Gunaantaradhanam means to substitute bad traits by superior ones. In this review, a complete description about the Garbhasanskara has been discussed, along with these essential factors for conception, Sodhana (purificatory process), Rasayan and Vajikarana, Ahara vihara, Garbhini paricharya, Mantra, meditation, stress and Pranayama.

What makes yoga effective? Differential effects of ethical education, physical yoga, and mantra meditation on well-being and stress

Traditionally, yoga is a multicomponent practice consisting of postures, breathing techniques, meditation, and ethics. To date, only a few studies have tried to dismantle the effects of each of these components and their combinations. To fill this gap, we examined the incremental effects of ethical education and physical yoga on mantra meditation using a single-case multiple-baseline design. This study was part of a project evaluating the new mind–body program Meditation-Based Lifestyle Modification. Forty-two healthy participants were randomly assigned to four conditions—meditation alone, meditation plus physical yoga, meditation plus ethical education, and meditation plus yoga and ethics. All the interventions lasted for 8 weeks and were run consecutively according to baseline length. During the baseline and treatment phases, participants received daily questionnaires measuring their well-being, perceived stress, and subjective experiences. We analyzed our data using visual inspection, effect size estimation (Tau-U), and multilevel modeling. Almost all participants showed an increase in well-being, except participants in the meditation-only condition. This increase was most prominent in participants who received ethical education. There was a tendency for all treatments to decrease stress. However, there was a marked reduction in stress for participants in the yoga-plus-meditation condition. These results emphasize the incremental and differential effects of practicing meditation in combination with other practices from the eightfold yoga path. This approach is valuable for better understanding the multifaceted practice of yoga.

Convergence Neuroscience of Meditative Mind–Body Therapies for Mental Health

Mind–body therapies that include meditation (e.g., mindfulness-based therapies, transcendental meditation, mantra meditation, and yoga) have demonstrated efficacy for enhancing mental health in a range of clinical and healthy populations. Of the forms of meditation, empirical research has most commonly focused on mindfulness-based approaches. Existing evidence suggests that, on average, both meditative movement (e.g., yoga) and multicomponent mindfulness-based interventions (e.g., mindfulness-based cognitive therapy and mindfulness-based relapse prevention) appear at least as effective as other active treatments for disorders such as major depression and substance use disorder. Results of studies with healthy adults suggest that multicomponent interventions such as mindfulness-based stress reduction have potential to increase empathy, self-control, self-compassion, relationship quality, and spirituality as well as decrease rumination. Translational neuroscience of mind–body therapies has also begun to evaluate the neurobiological mechanisms by which meditative therapies enhance resilience to mental health disorders, and several promising mechanistic domains (neural, hormonal, immune, cellular, and cardiovascular) have been identified. Directions for future research and implications for clinical practice are discussed.