Health-related benefits and adverse events associated with yoga classes among participants that are healthy, in poor health, or with chronic diseases

Background Our previous study demonstrated that 42% of yoga class participants in Japan had chronic diseases requiring medication. This raises the question as to whether those with chronic diseases would benefit from practicing yoga or if they are at higher risk for specific adverse events compared to healthy individuals receiving the same instruction. Methods To address these questions, 328 adults who started practicing yoga for the first time were asked to complete the Profile of Mood States (POMS), Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), and Medical Outcomes Study Short Form 8, standard version (SF-8™) and to record any adverse events on the first day of the yoga class and again three months later. The participants consisted of three groups: a healthy (H) group (n = 70), a poor health (PH) group (n = 117), and a chronic disease (CD) group (n = 141). The degree of subjective symptoms was also compared between the pre- and post-intervention period in the PH and CD groups. Results Typically, yoga classes were held once a week for 60–90 min. The programs included asanas, pranayamas, meditation, isometric yoga, and sukshma vyayama. In the PH and CD groups, the POMS tension-anxiety and fatigue scores decreased and the vigor score increased significantly after the first class. Furthermore, PSS scores decreased and the SF-8™ scores increased significantly three months later. The degree of subjective symptoms such as easy fatigability, shoulder stiffness, and insomnia also decreased over three months. Individuals in these groups experienced more frequent adverse events than those in the H group. The PH and CD groups also experienced a greater variety of symptoms, including psychological ones, not reported by the H group. Adverse events were not so serious that participants stopped practicing yoga during the class. About 60% of all participants were highly satisfied with participating in yoga classes. Conclusions If yoga classes are conducted with attention to possible adverse events, yoga practice in a yoga studio may have beneficial effects for people with functional somatic symptoms and chronic diseases, as well as healthy participants. These benefits include reductions in perceived stress and uncomfortable symptoms as well as improved mood and quality of life.

Reflexivity Through a Yoga Class Experience: Preparing for My Health Promotion Without Borders Excursion to Mongolia

In this paper, I (S. L. Deibert) share my story of discovering the relationship between reflexivity, autoethnography, and yoga through a meaningful experience. Yoga has been an important influence on my physical and mental well-being for over a decade, but I did not consider its implications in my academic life until I was asked to write a reflexive assignment for a course. The task was exploring who I am in connection to my master’s thesis project; the challenge was finding a starting point for my reflexive journey of self-discovery. Frustrated by the latter, I turned to yoga for refuge; instead of escaping the assignment, I found that my quest for self-exploration was intertwined with my yoga practice. The purpose of this paper is to delve further into my experience with yoga as a medium for developing reflexivity. Using autoethnography, I share my journey of developing critical thinking through a narrative related to my yoga class experience. Linking my research to my yoga practice allowed me to better understand myself as a person and researcher, become mindful of how my own views shape my experiences, and develop a deeper level of critical reflection. Overall, this work demonstrates the experience of a connection between yoga, reflexivity, and autoethnography, and adds to the sparse literature exploring the intersection of these three.

Mental Models of a Mobile Shoe Rack

Most people do not have direct access to knowledge about the inner workings of robots. Instead, they must develop mental models of the robot, a process that is not well understood. This article presents findings from a long-term, in-the-wild, qualitative, hypothesis-generating study of the mental model formation process. The focus was on how (qualitatively) users form mental models of the robot—specifically its perceptual capabilities, rules of behavior, and communication with other humans. Participants of diverse ages had multiple interactions with the robot over six weeks in a non-laboratory setting. The robot’s rules of behavior were changed every two weeks. A novel, non-anthropomorphic robot was created for the study with a realistic use case: storing people’s shoes during a yoga class. This article reports findings from a case study analysis of 28 interviews conducted over six weeks with six participants. These findings are organized into six topics: (1) variability in the rate at which mental models are updated to be more predictive, (2) types of reasoning and hypothesizing about the robot, (3) borrowing from existing mental models and use of imagination, (4) attributing sensing capabilities where there are no visible sensors, (5) judgments about whether the robot is autonomous or teleoperated, and (6) experimenting with the robot. Specific suggestions for future research are given throughout, culminating in a set of study design recommendations. This work demonstrates the fruitfulness of long-term, in-the-wild studies of human-robot interaction, of which mental model formation is a foundational aspect.

Guided by joy to live and work with hearing loss

It was a Monday evening, about 8 years ago, when I entered my weekly yoga class tired and in a hurry. I let out a sigh of relief and wondered myself “why I don’t do this every day” \dots . With this thought a seed was planted. It took some time to grow, but now has blossomed successfully. This is my work transition story, which succeeded and for which I am very grateful.

Health-related benefits and adverse events associated with yoga classes among subjects that are healthy, in poor health, or with chronic diseases.

Background: Our previous study demonstrated that 42% of yoga class participants in Japan had chronic diseases that required medication. This raises the question as to whether those with chronic diseases could benefit from practicing yoga or if they are at higher risk for specific adverse events compared to healthy individuals receiving the same instruction. Methods: To address these questions, 328 adults who started practicing yoga for the first time were asked to complete the Profile of Mood States (POMS), Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), and Medical Outcomes Study Short Form 8, standard version (SF-8TM) and to record any adverse events on the first day of the yoga class and again three months later. The participants consisted of three groups: a healthy (H) group (n=70), a poor health (PH) group (n=117), and a chronic disease (CD) group (n=141). The severity of subjective symptoms was also compared between the pre- and post-intervention period in the PH and CD groups.Results: Typically, yoga classes were held once a week for 60-90 min. The programs included asanas, pranayamas, meditation, isometric yoga and sukshma vyayama. In the PH and CD groups, the POMS tension-anxiety and fatigue scores decreased and the vigor score increased significantly after the first class. Furthermore, PSS scores decreased and the SF-8TM scores increased significantly three months later. The severity of subjective symptoms such as easy fatigability, shoulder stiffness, and insomnia also decreased over three months. Individuals in these groups experienced more frequent adverse events than those in the H group. The PH and CD groups also experienced a greater variety of symptoms, including psychological ones, not reported by the H group. Adverse events were not so serious that subjects stopped practicing yoga during the class. About 60% of all participants were highly satisfied with participating in yoga classes.Conclusions: If yoga classes are conducted with attention to possible adverse events, yoga practice in a studio may have beneficial effects for people with functional somatic symptoms and chronic diseases, as well as healthy subjects. These benefits include reductions in perceived stress and uncomfortable symptoms as well as improved mood and quality of life.

Task Analysis on Yoga Poses Toward a Wearable Sensor-based Learning System for Users with Visual Impairment

People with visual impairments may experience difficulties in learning new physical exercises due to a lack of visual feedback. Learning and practicing yoga is especially challenging for this population as yoga requires imitation-oriented learning. A typical yoga class requires students to observe and copy poses and movements as the instructor presents them, while maintaining postural balance during the practice. Without additional, nonvisual feedback, it can be difficult for students with visual impairments to understand whether they have accurately copied a pose – and if they have not, how to fix an inaccurate pose. Therefore, there is a need for an intelligent learning system that can capture a person’s physical posture and provide additional, nonvisual feedback to guide them into a correct pose. This study is a preliminary step toward the development of a wearable inertial sensor-based virtual learning system for people who are blind or have low vision. Using hierarchical task analysis, we developed a step-by-step conceptual model of yoga poses, which can be used in constructing an effective nonvisual feedback system. We also ranked sensor locations according to their importance by analyzing postural deviations in each pose compared to the reference starting pose.

Implikasi Latihan Yoga Asana Bagi Pembentukan Karakter Siswa Di Ashram Gandhi Puri Sevagram Klungkung

<p><em>Character is a positive values and attitude of life, which is owned by a person so that it influences behavior, way of thinking, acting and ultimately becomes a culture. A person's character will be formed if given positive touches, both physically, mentally and spiritually. One method used is through the practice of yoga asanas as applied at the Ashram Gandhi Puri Sevagram Klungkung. The practice of yoga asanas with the principle of the ashram is able to have implications for changing the character of students towards noble characters. This study focuses on issues concerning the process of forming student’s character through yoga asana exercises and character values formed in students through Yoga asana practice at Ashram Gandhi Puri Sevagram Klungkung. This type of research is qualitative. Data from informants in this research was collected using a purposive technique and to obtain data used several techniques, namely participant observation, in-depth structured interviews, literature studies and documentation studies that were analyzed descriptively qualitatively. The results found that the process of character formation of Ashram students through three stages called kriya yoga, namely Tapah, Svadhyaya, and Isvara Pranidhana. In the Tapah stage, a yoga class is conducted which is correlated with panca kramaning sembah. Character values that are formed from the process of yoga asana practice at Ashram Gandhi Puri are the values of discipline, the value of curiosity, the value of responsibility, the value of hard work, creative value, religious value, and honest values.</em></p>