Therapeutic role of yoga in hypertension

Systemic hypertension is an established risk factor for coronary artery disease and cerebrovascular accident and control of blood pressure reduces the risk of a major cardiovascular event.Both non-pharmacological and pharmacological treatment options are available to treat hypertension.Yoga,recently received more attention as a treatment modality for various lifestyle disorders,even though practiced in India since ancient times.In this review,we are analyzing the role of yoga in the treatment of systemic hypertension.

Evaluation of facial temperature distribution changes during meditation using infrared thermal imaging:An experimental,cross-over study

Objective:To investigate the differences between meditation and resting states using infrared thermal imaging(IRTI)to determine facial temperature distribution features during meditation and annotate the patterns of facial temperature changes during meditation from the perspective of traditional Chinese medicine facial diagnosis.Methods:Each participant performed 10 min meditation and 10 min resting but in different sequences.A concentration test was set as the task load,followed by a meditation/resting or resting/meditation session,during which the participants'facial temperatures were observed using IRTI.Participants were scored on the Big Five Inventory(BFI)and Mindful Attention Awareness Scale(MAAS).Results:Forehead temperatures decreased more during meditation than during the resting state.The chin temperature increased only during meditation(P<.0001).For the subjects with meditation experience,there were significant differences in the temperatures of the left forehead(P<.01),right forehead(P<.01)and chin(P<.05)between the meditation and resting state at the 10~(th)min.In the nontask state,the BFI-Extraversion showed a negative correlation with the temperature of the left forehead(R=-0.41,P=.03).In the post-task state,the temperature of the left forehead was negatively correlated with scores on the MAAS(R=-0.42,P=.02).Conclusion:Using IRTI to study meditation offers a practical solution to the challenges in meditation research.The results indicate that an increase in chin temperature may be a representative feature of a meditation state,and forehead temperature is also a potential indicator.

Effects of mindfulness-based interventions on depressive symptoms in patients with substance use disorders:a systematic review and meta-analysis

Objective:We examined the effects of mindfulness-based interventions(MBIs)on depressive symptoms in patients with substance use disorders(SUDs)and explored the moderating effects of participant,method,and intervention characteristics.Methods:We systematically searched 8 databases from their inception till November 2021.The inclusion criteria were primary studies evaluating MBIs in patients with SUDs with depression measured as an outcome,those including a control group,and those written in English.We used a random-effects model to compute effect sizes(ESs)using Hedges’g,a forest plot,and Q and I2 statistics as measures of heterogeneity;we also examined moderator analyses.Results:Nineteen studies included 1352 participants(age:38.6±7.0 years).Overall,MBIs showed significantly improved depression(g=0.67,95%confidence interval[CI]:0.29,1.05,I2=89%)compared to controls.With regard to moderators,providing MBIs as an individual plus group intervention had a greater effect(g=2.13)on reducing depressive symptoms than providing MBIs as a group intervention(g=0.64)or an individual intervention only(g=0.33,P=0.034).Using concealed allocation tended to reduce depressive symptoms(g=1.22)as compared to not using concealed allocation(g=0.48,P=0.086).No other quality indicators were demonstrated to have a moderating influence on the value of the ES.Conclusions:MBIs improved depressive symptoms in patients with SUDs.MBIs might be used as an adjunctive or alternative to conventional treatment for depressed patients with SUDs.

Effect of Mindful Meditation, Physical Activity, and Diet to Reduce the Risk to Develop or Reduce Severity of Cardiovascular Diseases in Saudi Arabia: A Systematic Review

Background: Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) is one of the leading chronic diseases in Saudi Arabia (SA) that cause disability and death. CVD predisposition risk varies according to age, gender, education, socioeconomic factors, and place of residency. In addition, CVD risk factors include physical inactivity, sedentary lifestyle, saturated fatty acid high diet, smoking, and stress. Aim: This is a systematic review study that aims to determine the effect of mindful mediation, physical activity, and diet on CVD in SA. Materials and Methods: This is a systematic electronic search method in Google scholar, PubMed, and Medline. Papers collected are papers that have been published since 2015. The search uses the following keywords: (Cardiovascular disease OR physical activity OR Physical inactivity OR meditation OR diet) AND Saudi Arabia. Data were extracted from each study through a narrative summary of each study. Results: Forty papers collected from 2015 to 2022 were included in the narrative study. Physical activity, diet, and mindful meditation are among the factors that can reduce the risk of development of CVD or severity of disease in patients with a CVD. Conclusion: This systematic review emphasized risk factors like physical inactivity, poor diet, and low level of awareness among Saudis and CVD Saudi patients. The findings show the role of physical activity, mindful meditation, and diet in reducing the onset or severity of cardiovascular disease.

Analysis of the Effect of Mindfulness Meditation on Patients with Burning Mouth Syndrome

Objective:To explore the effect of mindfulness meditation on patients with burning mouth syndrome.Methods:60 patients with burning mouth syndrome in our hospital who were treated from January 2021 to December 2022 were selected for this study.The patients were divided into two groups of thirty cases each using the randomized numerical table method.The observation underwent psychological intervention and mindfulness meditation training,while the control group only received symptomatic care.The condition of the patients of both groups was observed and compared.Results:Upon receiving treatment,the patients in the observation group had lower Hamilton Anxiety(HAM-A)scores,and Hamilton Depression(HAMD)scores compared to the control group(P<0.05).The visual analog scale(VAS)scores of the observation group were also lower than those of the control group(P<0.05).Moreover,the efficacy of the nursing intervention in the observation group was higher than that of the control group(P<0.05).Conclusion:Psychological intervention and mindfulness meditation training can effectively improve the clinical symptoms of patients with burning mouth syndrome.Therefore,this treatment method should be popularized.

Neural mechanisms of mindfulness and meditation: Evidence from neuroimaging studies

Mindfulness is the dispassionate,moment-by-moment awareness of sensations,emotions and thoughts.Mindfulness-based interventions are being increasingly used for stress,psychological well being,coping with chronic illness as well as adjunctive treatments for psychiatric disorders.However,the neural mechanisms associated with mindfulness have not been well characterized.Recent functional and structural neuroimaging studies are beginning to provide insights into neural processes associated with the practice of mindfulness.A review of this literature revealed compelling evidence that mindfulness impacts the function of the medial cortex and associated default mode network as well as insula and amygdala.Additionally,mindfulness practice appears to effect lateral frontal regions and basal ganglia,at least in some cases.Structural imaging studies are consistent with these findings and also indicate changes in the hippocampus.While many questions remain unanswered,the current literature provides evidence of brain regions and networks relevant for understanding neural processes associated with mindfulness.

Does mindfulness meditation improve attention in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder?

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder(ADHD) manifests by high levels of inattention, impulsiveness and hyperactivity. ADHD starts in childhood and results in impairments that continue into adulthood. While hyperactivity declines over time, inattention and executive function difficulties persist, leading to functional deficits. Adolescents and adults with ADHD have pervasive impairment in interpersonal and family relationships. They may develop addiction, delinquent behavior and comorbid psychiatric disorders. Despite advances in diagnosis and treatment, persistent residual symptoms are common, highlighting the need for novel treatment strategies. Mindfulness training, derived from Eastern meditation practices, may improve self-regulation of attention. It may also be a useful strategy to augment standard ADHD treatments and may be used as a potential tool to reduce impairments in patients with residual symptoms of ADHD. Clinically, this would manifest by an increased ability to suppress task-unrelated thoughts and distractions resulting in improved attention, completion of tasks and potential improvement in occupational and social function.

Breath-based meditation: A mechanism to restore the physiological and cognitive reserves for optimal human performance

Stress can be associated with many physiologicalchanges resulting in significant decrements in human performance.Due to growing interests in alternative and complementary medicine by Westerners,many of the traditions and holistic yogic breathing practices today are being utilized as a measure for healthier lifestyles.These state-of-the-art practices can have a significant impact on common mental health conditions such as depression and generalized anxiety disorder.However,the potential of yogic breathing on optimizing human performance and overall well-being is not well known.Breathing techniques such as alternate nostril,Sudarshan Kriya and bhastrika utilizes rhythmic breathing to guide practitioners into a deep meditative state of relaxation and promote self-awareness.Furthermore,yogic breathing is physiologically stimulating and can be described as a natural"technological"solution to optimize human performance which can be categorized into:(1)cognitive function(i.e.,mind,vigilance);and(2)physical performance(i.e.,cardiorespiratory,metabolism,exercise,whole body).Based on previous studies,we postulate that daily practice of breathing meditation techniques play a significant role in preserving the compensatory mechanisms available to sustain physiological function.This preservation of physiological function may help to offset the time associated with reaching a threshold for clinical expression of chronic state(i.e.,hypertension,depression,dementia)or acute state(i.e.,massive hemorrhage,panic attic)of medical conditions.However,additional rigorous biomedical research is needed to evaluate the physiological mechanisms of various forms of meditation(i.e.,breath-based,mantra,mindfulness)on human performance.These efforts will help to define how compensatory reserve mechanisms of cardiovascular and immune systems are modulated by breath-based meditation.While it has been suggested that breath-based meditation is easier for beginning practitioners when compared to other forms of meditation more research is needed to elucidate these observations.A breath-based meditation sequence suchas Sudarshan Kriya has the potential to help develop an individual’s self-awareness and support better integration of the brain(i.e.,mind)with other organ systems(i.e.,body)for enhanced human performance.

Potential Power of the Pyramidal Structure II

Research on “pyramid power” began in the late 1930s. To date, many documents on “pyramid power” have been published. We have been conducting scientific research on the unexplained “power” of a pyramidal structure (PS) since October 2007. The research focuses on the detection of a non-contact effect of the unexplained “power” of the PS on biosensors (i.e., edible cucumber sections of Cucumis sativus “white spine type”) placed at the top of the PS. In this paper, in particular, we compared the non-contact effect of upper and lower biosensors placed in two layers on the PS apex, and we analyzed the difference of the non-contact effect due to the difference in the layers. The magnitude of the non-contact effect was represented by the calibrated psi index Ψ(E-CAL) calculated from gas concentrations emitted from the biosensors. A method to determine the presence or absence of the non-contact effect by analyzing the gas concentrations was developed by the International Research Institute (IRI). Ψ(E-CAL), which represents the magnitude of the non-contact effect, was the average value of the respective non-contact effect of the upper and lower biosensors stacked in two layers on the PS apex. We conducted the analysis on the assumption that the non-contact effect on the upper and lower biosensors might be different. Therefore, we considered that upper and lower biosensor calibration was required for Ψ(E-CAL), and we introduced a new calibrated psi index Ψ(E-CAL)Layer. Scientifically rigorous experiments to date have detected Ψ(E-CAL) with statistical significance and have demonstrated potential power of the PS (p = 6.0 × 10-3;Welch’s t-test, two-tails, the following p values are also the Welch’s t-test values). Based on data demonstrating the potential power of the PS, we analyzed the non-contact effects on the upper and lower biosensors of the PS apex. We obtained a surprising result that the non-contact effect on the upper biosensors (farther from the PS) was larger than that on the lower biosensors (closer to the PS) (p = 4.0 × 10-7). This suggested that the characteristic of the potential power of the PS, which is considered to exist near the PS apex, is distinctive. We also found that the non-contact effect due to the potential power of the PS varies with the season, and is large in summer and small in winter. In our discussion, we proposed a model that could theoretically explain the experimental results that the non-contact effect on the upper biosensors at the PS apex is larger than the lower biosensors. In proposing this model, we assumed that there were two different types of potential power at the PS apex and that the biosensors had two different gas-generating reactions. In a simulation using the model, the experimental results were well approximated in which the non-contact effect on the biosensors differs depending on the difference between the upper and lower layers. The results of this paper are the world’s first to prove aspects of the “pyramid power” through scientifically rigorous experiments and analysis. These results will become a new field of science in the future, and their broad applications are expected.

Effects of mindfulness meditation on anxiety, depression, stress, and mindfulness in nursing students: a meta-analysis and trial sequential analysis of randomized controlled trials

Objective:The aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness of mindfulness meditation(MM)on anxiety,depression,stress and mindfulness in nursing students.Methods:A comprehensive search and screening procedures were conducted to locate all MM interventions implemented with nursing students.For randomized controlled trials(RCTs)in accordance with the inclusion criteria,a search was conducted in PubMed,Embase,Web of Science,Medline,PsycINFO,Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health(CINAHL),Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials(CENTRAL),China Biology Medicine(CBM),Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure(CNKI)and Wanfang.Databases were retrieved from inception through August 2018.Additional studies were identified through hand searches and Internet searches.Two reviewers collected relevant data of eligible articles according to the data extraction tables.Based on Cochrane Handbook,critical appraisal of the methodological quality was assessed by two other reviewers.An Excel form was used to extract main characteristics of included RCTs.Meta-analysis and trial sequential analysis(TSA)were carried out using software RevMan 5.3 and TSA 0.9.Results:Five RCTs with 257 nursing students were included.Only two studies were assessed as high quality and three studies were evaluated as moderate quality.Meta-analysis showed that,comparing with the control group,MM could significantly improve anxiety(SMD=?0.45,95%CI?0.73 to?0.17,P=0.001)and stress(SMD=?0.69,95%CI?0.97 to?0.40,P<0.001).TSA results confirmed that the outcome of the merger is credible.It could also significantly improve depression level of nursing students after 8 weeks intervention duration(SMD=?0.70,95%CI?1.14 to?0.26,P=0.002).However,there was no beneficial effect on depression level of nursing students with 1 week intervention duration(SMD=0.09,95%CI?0.42 to 0.59,P=0.74)and its effects on mindfulness level of nursing students also did not show statistical significance(SMD=0.37,95%CI?0.04 to 0.77,P=0.07).No definitive conclusions were drawn from the TSA.Conclusions:The results of this meta-analysis indicated that MM could effectively reduce the level of anxiety and stress of nursing students.TSA confirmed that the results of meta-analysis are credible.For depression,it could also significantly improve depression of nursing students with 8 weeks intervention,but there was no significant effect on nursing students with 1 week intervention duration.There was also no beneficial effect on mindfulness level of nursing students.However,TSA indicated that the accumulated evidence is still inconclusive.We suggest that more well-designed clinical trials with large sample and higher quality would be required in future to draw a definitive conclusion.

Potential Power of the Pyramidal Structure III: Discovery of Pyramid Effects with and without Seasonal Variation

Since October 2007, we have been conducting rigorous scientific research on the unexplained “power” of a pyramidal structure (PS). From our research results so far, we could classify the pyramid effects by the PS into the following two types. (i) The pyramid effects in which the PS converted the test subject’s unexplained energy to affect biosensors when the test subject entered the PS and meditated. (ii) The pyramid effects in which the potential power of the PS affected biosensors if the test subject had not been inside the PS for at least 20 days and the test subject’s unexplained energy was excluded. In this paper, we report new results regarding (ii). As a result of dividing a year according to the four seasons of winter, spring, summer, and autumn and analyzing the pyramid effect of each period, the following points were found. 1) There was a pyramid effect without seasonal variation. The pyramid effect on the lower and upper layers was different throughout the year for the biosensors placed at the PS apex in two layers, regardless of the season. 2) There was a pyramid effect with seasonal variation. The value of the psi index, which indicates the magnitude of the pyramid effect, changed as the seasons changed, while different pyramid effects were maintained on the lower and upper layers. Regarding the change in the pyramid effect depending on the season, the psi index in summer was larger than that in winter in both the lower and upper layers. From these results, we found that there are two types of potential power at the PS apex: seasonal potential power and non-seasonal potential power.

Efficacy of mindfulness-based meditation therapy on the sense of coherence and mental health of nurses

The primary goal of the study was to assess the efficacy of mindfulness-based meditation therapy on the psychological well-being and sense of coherence of nurses with respect to coping with stress. The participants were 28 nurses working in a ward for elderly patients, with 15 included in the intervention group and 13 in the control group. Nurses in the intervention group received two sessions of mindfulness-based meditation therapy, including breathing, yoga movement and meditation. Each nurse was taught the program in the first session, then exercised at home with a CD, and subsequently met with an interviewer in a second session after two weeks. Nurses in the control group did not receive any interventions. The participants completed the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ), including subdomains of physical symptoms, anxiety and sleep disturbance, interference with social activities, and depression;and the Sense of Coherence (SOC) questionnaire, which includes three subdomains of comprehensibility, manageability, and meaningfulness pre- and post-intervention. The GHQ scores of the intervention group showed a significantly greater decrease than those of the control group. The SOC scores of the intervention group showed a significantly greater increase after the intervention compared to those in the control group, with the highest score for the meaningfulness subdomain. These results indicate that mindfulness-based meditation therapy is effective for improving the psycho-logical well-being and sense of coherence of nurses, which helps them to cope with stress.

Potential Power of the Pyramidal Structure

There have been various traditions and books which describe a so-called “pyramid power”, but there have been almost no reliable academic studies and no statistically significant data about it. We have continued scientifically rigorous experiments using biosensors to elucidate unexplained functions of a pyramidal structure (PS) since 2007. We used edible cucumber sections as biosensors and measured the concentrations of gas emitted from the sections by a technique developed by our group. From them we have demonstrated with high statistical accuracy the existence of the “pyramid power”, which was often recognized as having no scientific basis. We reached two conclusions from the work. 1) The PS converted the unconsciousness of a human (the test subject) more than 6 km away to energy detectable by the biosensors (1% significance). 2) The PS accumulated the influence that a human (the test subject) had when meditating within the PS. Then the PS converted the influence into the energy detectable by the biosensors (10-3% significance). These two conclusions showed that the functions of the PS were detected when “the PS and a human were related”. On the other hand, we hypothesized that the potential power of the PS could be detected even when “the PS and a human were not related”. In this paper, our purpose is to verify the existence of the potential power of the PS alone by experiment when “the PS and a human were not related”. The following three results were obtained by experiment. 1) The presence of the potential power of the PS was demonstrated with 1% significance. 2) The potential power of the PS changed in value between summer and winter, and it was clear that the non-contact effect on the biosensors was larger in summer and smaller in winter. 3) The potential power of the PS affected only the biosensors placed at the PS apex, and did not affect the biosensors placed at the calibration control point 8 m away from the PS. This paper is the first report in the world to show this type of effect by scientific measurements. Our research results may open up a new science field of “pyramid power”, from which we expect further development of fields applying this “pyramid power”.

Potential Power of the Pyramidal Structure IV: Discovery of Entanglement Due to Pyramid Effects

Since October 2007, we have been conducting rigorous scientific research on the unexplained “power” of a pyramidal structure (PS). From our research results so far, we could classify pyramid effects by the PS into the following two types: (i) the pyramid effects due to the potential power of the PS and (ii) the pyramid effects due to the influence of the test subject meditating inside the PS. We have been using edible cucumber sections as the biosensors. The pyramid effect existence was clarified by measuring and analyzing the concentration of volatile components released from the biosensors. The biosensors were arranged as a pair: one member of the pair was placed at the PS apex and the other was placed at the calibration control point 8.0 m away from the PS. In this paper, we report a new discovery regarding the type (i) pyramid effects. We discovered a phenomenon considered to be entanglement between the biosensor pairs detecting the pyramid effects. In other words, the biosensors at the PS apex, which were affected by the potential power of the PS, affected the biosensors at the calibration control point. We also confirmed that the effects on the biosensors placed at the calibration control point were not due to the potential power of the PS. Furthermore, we showed that the magnitude of the effect of entanglement changed with the seasons. We expect that our research results will be widely accepted in the future and will become the foundation for a new research field in science, with a wide range of applications.

The Somnogen Visual Training a New CBT to Fight Insomnia through Closed Eyes and fNIRS Neuroimaging

The use of a red light observed through closed eyes is a new CBT Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to fight insomnia. Its principles are based on the high transmission of the colour red through eyelids, the great sensitivity to light of the retina when it is adjusted to darkness and the mental distraction obtained by the perception and attentive observation of variations of intensity. The prefrontal and occipital fNIRS recordings document this method which is correlated to the sleep EEG state II.

Potential Power of the Pyramidal Structure V: Seasonal Changes in the Periodicity of Diurnal Variation of Biosensors Caused by Entanglement Due to Pyramid Effects

Since October 2007, we have been conducting rigorous scientific experiments to elucidate the so-called “pyramid power”. The experiments use a pyramidal structure (PS). In order to detect the PS effects, a biosensor is made from cucumber fruit sections and the released volatile components are analyzed as gas concentration. We reported the phenomenon of entanglement between biosensors in part IV of the paper series, Potential Power of the Pyramidal Structure. The entanglement affected the gas concentration of the biosensors 8 m away, but not the biosensors at the PS apex. In this paper, we report another characteristic of the entanglement. The results and our conclusion are as follows. Result 1: The periodicity of diurnal variation in gas concentration changed with entanglement. Result 2: As a result of analyzing the gas concentration data separately for the four seasons of winter, spring, summer, and autumn, the seasonal dependence of the periodicity of diurnal variation due to entanglement was clarified. Conclusion: We reaffirmed the existence of the entanglement between biosensors due to the pyramid effects by a phenomenon different from Part IV of the paper series, Potential Power of the Pyramidal Structure. We expect that our research results will be widely accepted in the future and will become the foundation for a new research field in science, with a wide range of applications.

Macrostate and Microstate of EEG Spatio-Temporal Nonlinear Dynamics in Zen Meditation

Macrostate and microstate characteristics of interregional nonlinear interdependence of brain dynamics are investigated for Zen-meditation and normal resting EEG. Evaluation of nonlinear interdependence based on nonlinear dynamic theory and phase space reconstruction is employed in the 30-channel electroencephalographic (EEG) signals to characterize the functioning interactions among different local neuronal networks. This paper presents a new scheme for exploring the microstate and macrostate of interregional brain neural network interactivity. Nonlinear interdependence quantified by similarity index is applied to the phase trajectory reconstructed from multi-channel EEG. The microstate similarity-index matrix (miSIM) is evaluated every 5 millisecond. The miSIMs are classified by K-means clustering. The cluster center corresponds to the macrostate SIM (maSIM) evaluated by conventional scheme. Zen-meditation EEG exhibits rather stationary and stronger interconnectivity among frontal midline regional neural oscillators, whereas resting EEG appears to drift away more often from the midline and extend to the inferior brain regions.

The Foundation of Traditional Chinese Medicine

In this paper, the authors examine and interpret the concept of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) whom the Chinese believes and practices for so many centuries. The authors also explain the ancient Chinese con-cepts of Chi and Tao (Yin and Yang) which are the foundation of the TCM. This paper also seeks to discuss the ways of attaining a healthy body with the clarity of mind as well as to demonstrate the benefits of such healthy lifestyle.