Browsing by Subject "Yoga"
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Item Mindfulness-based Yoga intervention for women with elevated levels of depressive symptoms(2014-12) Schuver, Katie JoOne of the most common and debilitating health conditions in the United States and worldwide is major depression. Preliminary evidence indicates that Hatha Yoga may be an effective intervention for the management and treatment of depressive symptoms. Although compelling, these results are preliminary given the many substantial methodological limitations. Additional research is needed that addresses these limitations. The current study was a prospective, randomized, controlled intervention pilot study examining the efficacy of a 12-week mindfulness-based yoga intervention relative to a walking health education comparison condition among sedentary women (n=40) with elevated levels of depressive symptoms. Depressive symptoms and other wellness outcomes were assessed at baseline, post-intervention, and one-month follow-up. Both groups reported decreases in depressive symptoms from baseline to post-intervention, f (1,33)=34.83, p<.001, and from baseline to one-month follow-up, f (1,33)=37.01, p<.001. After controlling for baseline, there were no significant between group differences on depression scores at post-intervention and one-month follow-up assessments. The mindfulness-based yoga condition reported significantly lower levels of rumination than the walking health education comparison condition, after controlling for baseline levels of rumination, at post-intervention, (f (1,31)=6.23, p<0.01). Similar improvements for both groups from baseline to post-intervention were observed for increased moderate intensity physical activity, perceived stress, mindfulness, quality of life, and sleep disturbance; however, there were no differences between groups. Results indicate that yoga may be effective for reducing rumination; however, its effect on depressive symptoms is less clear. Future studies, with larger samples are needed to address the effect of yoga on depression.Item Treatment of Chronic Low Back Pain(2012-07-24) Mairose, KyleItem Treatments for PTSD(2009-05-04) Krohn, KristinaThis brochure is an easy to read pamphlet for patients about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The pamphlet includes a definition of PTSD and various treatment options. One section outlines the treatments your physician can provide, or help provide, including medications and psychotherapy. The next section provides a list of complementary therapies, including meditation, yoga and guided imagery.Item Yoga as a psychological intervention: conceptualizations and practice integration of professional psychologist-yoga teachers(2014-09) Roth, Anna LaurieYoga is being increasingly utilized as a mental health intervention in the United States (Kinser, Goehler, & Taylor, 2012; Bennett, Weintraub, & Khalsa, 2008; Khalsa, 2004). However, little research has been done examining yoga through a psychological lens and no prior research has attempted to articulate an initial psychological conceptualization of yoga. In the present study, 14 individuals dually trained as Psychologists (PhD or PsyD) and Registered Yoga Teachers participated in semi-structured telephone interviews to aid in the examination of two primary research questions: (1) How do individuals dually trained as psychologists and yoga teachers conceptualize yoga as a mental health intervention? (2) In what ways do psychologists trained as yoga teachers integrate their dual training into their current professional psychology practice? Interviews were analyzed by a research team of three researchers and two study auditors who employed a modified version of the Consensual Qualitative Research methodology (CQR; Hill et al., 1997; 2005; 2012). Five domains and 15 categories were revealed from the data to address the research questions. The derived domains were Provider Context, Conceptualization Content, Conceptualization Process, Clinical Implications, and Practice Integration. The study found four explicit yoga components to be essential for psychological benefit (in order of prevalence): breath, mindfulness/meditation, relationship with self, and connection with body. Further, three implicit essential components were classified as increased distress tolerance, openness to yoga, and using "mat as metaphor" for life. Disorders identified as benefiting most from a yoga intervention included anxiety-based disorders (including trauma), and eating, substance abuse, and mood disorders. Cautions were expressed related to Axis II and psychosis. The study also found that participants incorporate yoga in some combination of the following: individual therapy breath work, mindfulness and yoga philosophy, group therapy with a yoga component, and workshops. The ideal integration of yoga in traditional mental health was identified as a combination of yoga with traditional therapeutic modalities, a systemic shift toward a more holistic healing paradigm generally, and opportunities to practice in a holistic community of integrative multidisciplinary providers in one community setting. Major study findings, study strengths and limitations, and implications are discussed.Item Yoga for chronic pain in veterans: A mixed methods study(2018-05) Donaldson, MelvinYoga is an increasingly common practice used in the management of chronic pain, largely due to its safety and demonstrated effectiveness as an adjunctive treatment. There are important challenges to understanding the effect of yoga on chronic pain, notably yoga is rarely used in isolation and the specific content of yoga interventions varies widely between studies. Additionally, yoga and complementary practices in general are under-described in veteran populations even though veterans are more highly engaged with complementary practices than civilians. This dissertation seeks to inform the evidence base of veterans who practice yoga in three ways. First, I estimate the cross-sectional association between yoga practice and disability among veterans with pain using propensity score-matching. Yoga practice is not associated with a difference in prevalence of disability. Second, I identify differences in yoga practice between veterans with chronic pain and veterans without chronic pain. A mixed methods approach is employed with a qualitative strand that builds upon the quantitative strand to explain the differences observed. This analysis shows that yoga practitioners with chronic pain are regularly using self-directed practices more frequently than yoga practitioners without chronic pain. Interviews with study participants identify convenience as a facilitator of self-directed practice and feeling self-conscious as a barrier to instructor-led group practice among practitioners with chronic pain. Finally, I describe patterns of use of 19 different non-pharmacological health approaches among all members of the sample to show how modalities are being used in integrated ways. This dissertation makes several important contributions. I piloted of a self-report instrument for describing yoga practice, the Essential Properties of Yoga Questionnaire, and a self-report instrument of use of non-pharmacologic therapies, the Health Practices Inventory. Both instruments are ready for use by others. Also, I provide a detailed description of how veterans with pain are using and experiencing yoga.