Breath, Stress and Health: a Biocultural Study of Hatha Yoga Practice

NCT ID: NCT03856892

Last Updated: 2023-10-06

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: COMPLETED
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 97 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2019-01-11
• Study Completion Date: 2019-09-17

Brief Summary

This study aims to contribute uniquely to stress, longevity, and mental health research in two ways: by identifying clear protocols of breath-based yoga-meditative practice based on original materials; that are subsequently assessed with established scientific stress, biochemical immunity and longevity markers, and validated psychological measures that relate to mental health.

Detailed Description

This study aims to contribute uniquely to stress, longevity, and mental health research in two ways: by identifying clear protocols of breath-based yoga-meditative practice based on original materials; that are subsequently assessed with established scientific stress markers across the sympathetic-adreno-medullar (SAM) axis, biochemical immunity and longevity markers, and validated psychological measures as related to mental health. The study couples emic perspectives from the traditional yoga knowledge base, both textual and practice, with empirical measures from science as an opportunity to bridge these worlds as a first known study of hatha yoga to be tackled by the means and methods of biocultural anthropology. It therefore highlights the importance of context and detail in terms of assessing human behavioral practices, where accuracy in terms of definitions, technique detail, and original purported intentions and outcomes are addressed as relevant when measuring and explaining empirical outcomes under modern research mixed methods.

Conditions

Stress, Physiological; Stress, Psychological

Study Design

• Allocation Method: RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Primary Study Purpose: PREVENTION
• Blinding Strategy: NONE

Study Groups

Active Study Group

Participants randomized to the Active Study Group are asked to follow a daily routine of the three protocols of psycho-physical yoga component techniques: Slow Engaged Dynamic Asana (SEDA), Breath Regulated Engaged Meditation (BREM), Sound Heart Engaged Meditation (SHEM). This intervention involves more hours in daily practice to equate to a "high dose" of breath and meditative techniques.

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

High Dose Yoga

Intervention Type: OTHER

Participants engage in an intensive full yoga practice of hatha breath-based practices and inner meditative techniques along with body-based asana. Intensive level uses breath, management of abdomen, inner focus in all practices. The "high dose" of yoga is an interpretation of the Translational Model of Yoga (TMY) and Yoga Process formula, both developed in this study's cultural research: a systematized psycho-physical yoga method of Hatha Zone (HZ) focus (below-navel, exhale, inner focus), incorporating key components of practice-focus-surrender (PFS) approach and repeat-engage-trust (RET) elements.

Active Control

Participants randomized to the Active Control study arm are asked to follow a daily routine of low-to mid-intensity body posture practice that is body-based and has minimal breath or meditative elements. This intervention involves fewer hours in daily practice to equate to a "medium dose" of body focused techniques

Group Type: ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

Medium Dose Yoga

Intervention Type: OTHER

The "medium dose" of yoga is a regular practice of primarily body-posture training with minimal reference to the breath, but with a longer period of time duration in training prior to intervention commencement. Participants have 5 months of pre-training before initiating the intervention.

Passive Control

Participants randomized to the Passive Control study arm do not receive a study intervention.

Group Type: NO_INTERVENTION

No interventions assigned to this group

Interventions

High Dose Yoga

Participants engage in an intensive full yoga practice of hatha breath-based practices and inner meditative techniques along with body-based asana. Intensive level uses breath, management of abdomen, inner focus in all practices. The "high dose" of yoga is an interpretation of the Translational Model of Yoga (TMY) and Yoga Process formula, both developed in this study's cultural research: a systematized psycho-physical yoga method of Hatha Zone (HZ) focus (below-navel, exhale, inner focus), incorporating key components of practice-focus-surrender (PFS) approach and repeat-engage-trust (RET) elements.

Intervention Type: OTHER

Medium Dose Yoga

The "medium dose" of yoga is a regular practice of primarily body-posture training with minimal reference to the breath, but with a longer period of time duration in training prior to intervention commencement. Participants have 5 months of pre-training before initiating the intervention.

Intervention Type: OTHER

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• Novice to breath-based yoga practice
• Multicultural international participant base
• Fluent in English comprehension and reading
• In general good health
• Have a smartphone or similar device in order to receive surveys on a dedicated app

Exclusion Criteria

• none

• Minimum Eligible Age: 18 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Sponsors

Emory University

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Carol Worthman

Professor of Anthropology

Responsibility Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

Paul Dallaghan, PhD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Emory University

Locations

Kaivalyadhama Yoga Institute

Lonavla, Maharashtra, India

Countries

India

Other Identifiers

IRB00107267

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id