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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
Manoj Sharma, PhD, School of HPER, University of Nebraska at Omaha & Walden University, 6001 Dodge Street, Omaha, NE 68182-0216, 402-554-3245, msharma@mail.unomaha.edu, David Bouda, MD, Complementary Alternative Medicine Program, University of Nebraska Medical Center & VAMC - Western Iowa & Nebraska, 987680 Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE 68114-2162, Amy Musser, PhD, PE, Architechtural Engineering, University of Nebraska - Lincoln, 1110 S. 67th St., 203C Peter Kiewit Institute, Omaha, NE 68182-0681, and Aleksey Holloway, PhD, Applied Physics, University of Nebraska at Omaha, 6001 Dodge Street, Omaha, NE 68182.
Yoga is an ancient systematic practice aimed at fostering physiological homeostasis, mental peace, and ecological harmony. All schools of yoga utilize some combination of eight essential steps from Asthangayoga. These steps are: rules for personal conduct (yama and niyama), low impact physical activity postures (asanas), breathing techniques (pranayama), detachment of mind from senses (pratihara), concentration skills (dharana), meditation (dhyana), and unification with existential consciousness (samadhi). For instruction of yoga two educational modalities are currently popular in the United States. One of these modalities is providing once or twice weekly instruction of selected yogic techniques approximately for an hour for six to twelve weeks. This is the traditional and more popular approach used in the US. The second modality that is not commonly used in the US but is more popular in India, utilizes a rigorous instruction that blocks out all sensory distractions for a period of time and provides the practitioner an intensive experience in the yogic techniques. The period of instruction usually ranges from two-three days to two-three weeks. Our analysis compared these two delivery modalities for Kundalini Yoga intervention on self-reported attitudinal and behavioral variables such as perceived knowledge, outcome expectations, outcome expectancies, self-efficacy, and recall of yoga-related behaviors. The results indicated comparable utility and acceptance of both modalities. Therefore, yoga instruction through the less popular, “intensive course” approach also needs to be utilized more in the US context. This will be more appealing to certain subsections of the potential target population of yoga users.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Alternative Medicine/Therapies, Wellness
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.