Scientific Research on Yoga as a Contemplative Practice Yoga - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
Harvard Medical School Brigham & Womens Hospital Scientific Research on Yoga as a Contemplative Practice Yoga Alliance Webinar June 25, 2020 Sat Bir S. Khalsa, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School Director of
Brigham & Women’s Hospital
Harvard Medical School
Assistant Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School Director of Yoga Research, Yoga Alliance Director of Research, Kundalini Research Institute Editor in Chief, International Journal of Yoga Therapy Research Associate, Benson Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine Research Affiliate, Osher Center for Integrative Medicine
⚫ Arousal reduction, physical/mental well-being ⚫ Mind/body awareness, resilience, self-regulation ⚫ Psychological / philosophical transformation
“They are transient states of consciousness, usually lasting for only a few minutes and distinctly different from normal consciousness. The person typically experiences them passively, not a product of personal will or control, and has a difficult time expressing the experience in words. They usually are intensely positive, joyful experiences, and often the person senses the presence of an awe-inspiring transcendent
From: The phenomenon of quantum change. Miller WR, Journal of Clinical Psychology 60:453-60, 2004.
Samadhi Sahaja Nirvana Turiya Moksha Bodhi Satori Oneness Union Nonduality Ecstacy Bliss Absorption Merger Consummation Rapture Mystical State Unitive State Enlightenment Kundalini Awakening Spiritual Awakening Transcendence Peak Experience Cosmic Consciousness Universal Consciousness Noetic Experience Flow State Insight Quantum Change
From:A cartography of the ecstatic and meditative states. Fischer R, Science 26;174(4012):897-904, 1971.
⚫ Psychoactive drug studies ⚫ Clinical case studies (spontaneous, triggered) ⚫ Retrospective surveys in practitioners ⚫ Real-time capture with EEG or neuroimaging ⚫ Prospective study with contemplative practices
From: Mystical and other alterations in sense of self: An expanded framework for studying nonordinary
From: Attention and affective concomitants of meditation: A cross-sectional study, Davidson RJ, Goleman DJ, Schwartz GE, Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 85:235-238, 1976.
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0205740&type=printable
“Far less research has been conducted on more challenging domains to measure, such as … transpersonal and mystical … and post- conventional stages of development associated with meditation. However, these components of meditation may be crucial to people’s psychological and spiritual development, could represent important mediators and/or mechanisms by which meditation confers benefits, and could themselves be important outcomes of meditation practices. In addition, since large numbers of novices are being introduced to meditation, it is helpful to investigate experiences they may encounter that are not well understood.”
From: Future directions in meditation research: Recommendations for expanding the field of contemplative science. Vieten C, Wahbeh H, Cahn BR, MacLean K, Estrada M, Mills P, Murphy M, Shapiro S, Radin D, Josipovic Z, Presti DE, Sapiro M, Chozen Bays J, Russell P, Vago D, Travis F, Walsh R, Delorme A, PLoS One 7;13(11):e0205740, 2018.
From: Classic psychedelics: An integrative review of epidemiology, therapeutics, mystical experience, and brain network function. Johnson MW, Hendricks PS, Barrett FS, Griffiths RR. Pharmacology and Therapeutics, 197:83-102, 2019.
“Although the most fundamental questions regarding mystical experiences presently evade a reductive neuroscientific explanation, analysis of the biological correlates suggestive of underlying mechanisms of mystical experiences are tractable. We have highlighted an intriguing overlap in neural findings on classic hallucinogens and neural findings on meditative practices that may occasion mystical
neural oscillatory processes in regions of the default mode network may underlie dimensions of mystical experience, especially decreased self- referential processing and altered sense of time and space that accompany introvertive mystical experiences.”
From: Classic Hallucinogens and Mystical Experiences: Phenomenology and Neural Correlates. Barrett FS, Griffiths RR, Current Topics in Behavioral Neuroscience 36:393-430, 2018.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6707356/pdf/nihms-1044542.pdf
From: Schizophrenia Patient or Spiritually Advanced Personality? A Qualitative Case Analysis. Bhargav H, Jagannathan A, Raghuram N, Srinivasan TM, Gangadhar BN, Journal of Religion and Health 54:1901-18, 2015.
“A common response, when we asked people what had changed, was “everything.” …however, there were some common areas of transformation in our narratives.” “…they often reported a sense of settled peacefulness and safety as an immediate and enduring aftereffect.” “Another major change that quantum changers reported was in their values and priorities…an abrupt and enduring shift in their most central values…“They were no longer possessed by their possessions. Often, characteristics that had been valued least became most important, and those that had ranked as highest priorities fell to the bottom. Spirituality, though not necessarily religion, became central for many.”
From: The phenomenon of quantum change. Miller WR, Journal of Clinical Psychology 60:453-60, 2004.
From: Mystical-type experiences occasioned by psilocybin mediate the attribution of personal meaning and spiritual significance 14 months later, Griffiths RR, Richards WA, Johnson MW, McCann UD, Jesse R, Journal of Psychopharmacology, 22:621–632, 2008.
From: Psilocybin-
experience in combination with meditation and other spiritual practices produces enduring positive changes in psychological functioning and in trait measures of prosocial attitudes and
Johnson MW, Richards WA, Richards BD, Jesse R, MacLean KA, Barrett FS, Cosimano MP, Klinedinst MA, Journal of Psychopharmacology, 32:49-69, 2018.
From: Brady A, The Chopra Center website: https://chopra.com/articles/religion-vs-spirituality-what-is-the-difference, accessed 6/22/20.
Yoga Practices
Postures, Breathing, Relaxation, Meditation
Fitness
↑Flexibility ↑Strength ↑Coordination/Balance ↑Respiratory Function ↑Self-Efficacy
Global Human Functionality
↑Physical & Mental Health, ↑Physical Performance ↑Stress & Emotion Regulation, ↑Awareness/Mindfulness, ↑Meta-cognition ↑Positive Behavior, ↑Wellbeing, ↑Values, ↑Life Purpose & Meaning, ↑Spirituality
Self-Regulation
↑Stress Regulation ↑Emotion Regulation ↑Resilience ↑Equanimity ↑Self-Efficacy
Awareness
↑Attention ↑Mindfulness ↑Concentration ↑Cognition ↑Meta-cognition
Spirituality
↑Unitive State ↑Transcendence ↑Flow ↑Transformation ↑Life Meaning/Purpose
From: Variations de l’activite electrique du cerveau, du coeur et de muscles squelettiques au cours de la meditation et de l’extase yogique [Variations in the electrical activity of the brain, heart, and skeletal muscles during yogic meditation and trance], Das N, Gastaut H, Electoencephalography and Clinical Neurophysiology, Suppl. 6:211-219, 1955.
From: Mindful Eating: Connecting With the Wise Self, the Spiritual Self. Kristeller JL, Jordan KD, Frontiers in Psychology, 14;9:1271, 2018. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6102380/pdf/fpsyg-09-01271.pdf
From: The Self-Directed Biological Transformation Initiative and Well-Being, Mills PJ, Wilson KL, Pung MA, Weiss L, Patel S, Doraiswamy PM, Peterson CT, Porter V, Schadt E, Chopra D, Tanzi RE, Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 22:627-34, 2016. Change in Sense of Nondual Awareness and Spiritual Awakening in Response to a Multidimensional Well-Being Program, Mills PJ, Peterson CT, Pung MA, Patel S, Weiss L, Wilson KL, Doraiswamy PM, Martin JA, Tanzi RE, Chopra D, Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 24:343-351, 2018.
Nondual Embodiment Thematic Inventory
From: The effectiveness of yoga for the improvement of well-being and resilience to stress in the workplace. Hartfiel N, Havenhand J, Khalsa SB, Clarke G, Krayer A. Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment and Health, 37:70-6, 2011.
Average Score
3.0 3.2 3.4 3.6 3.8 4.0 4.2 4.4 4.6 4.8
From: Restorative yoga for women with breast cancer: findings from a randomized pilot
EA, Psychooncology, 18:360-8, 2009. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3930083/pdf/nihms-553157.pdf
Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy Spiritual Well-Being Scale (meaning/peace subscale)
Baseline Week 10 Average Score
20 22 24 26 28
Yoga
p = 0.0009
From: Effects of Maharishi Yoga Asanas on Mood States, Happiness, and Experiences during
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5769201/?report=printable
30
From: The Flow Scales Manual, Jackson SA, Eklund RC, 2004.
“…an optimal psychological state, flow represents those moments when everything comes together for the performer. Flow is often associated with high levels of performance and a very positive experience.” “…Flow occurs when one is totally involved in the task at hand. When in flow, the performer feels strong and positive, not worried about self or of
better than average in some way, where the individual is totally absorbed in what she or he is doing, and where the experience is very rewarding in and of itself…Flow represents optimal experience...”
(the intrinsically rewarding experience that
flow brings to the individual…the end result
31
From: The Musician and the Creative Process, Hagman G, Journal of The American Academy of Psychoanalysis and Dynamic Psychiatry, 33:97–117, 2005.
…the experience of performing can in some cases take on the qualities found in the state of archaic merger. For example, Storr (1992) noted: Musicians sometimes describe feelings of “being taken over, or “possessed” during a performance; a type of ecstasy. There may be an experience of being so much at one with the music that it seems to be playing
common with the oceanic experience; but it is qualitatively different, because it lacks the sense of utter tranquility that is so characteristic of the latter. (p .96) Even when there is no loss of personal boundaries, performing a musical piece can entail the experience of a special state of being in which there is a sense of heightened self-cohesion, continuity, and vitality.
From: Yoga Enhances Positive Psychological States in Young Adult Musicians, Butzer B, Ahmed K, Khalsa SB, Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback, 41:191-202, 2016.
Dispositional Flow Scale Total
p < 0.05
p = 0.08
Time
p = 0.05
Autotelic Merging
13.4 13.2 13.0 12.8 12.6 12.4 12.2 12.0
From: Heart Rate Variability, Flow, Mood and Mental Stress During Yoga Practices in Yoga Practitioners, Non- yoga Practitioners and People with Metabolic Syndrome, Tyagi A, Cohen M, Reece J, Telles S, Jones L, Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback, 41(4):381- 393, 2016.