Is the use of yoga and meditation therapy effective in improving one's long term well being?

Running head: Is the use of yoga and meditation therapy effective in improving one's long term
well being?
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IS THE USE OF YOGA AND MEDITATION THERAPY EFFECTIVE IN IMPROVING ONE'S LONG
TERM WELL BEING?

Is the use of yoga and meditation therapy effective in improving one's long term well being?
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The term Yoga and meditation is often closely interlinked as a therapeutic procedure.
The term yoga refers to the union of the body and the mind. Yoga can be defined as a series of
holistic practices that emphasise connection of mind and body. It also involves breathing,
meditation and postures. With an insurgence of clinical and surgical measures for the purpose
of enhancing life, there can be a debate in relevance to significance of therapy. Hence, the
focus of this study is to evaluate the quality of therapy to enhance one’s cognitive well-being. In
order to provide reliable data, I have presented secondary findings from meta-studies of an
article that either support or rejects the notion of yoga therapy on health.
Presentation Of Argument That Use Of Yoga And Meditation Therapy Is Effective In Improving
One's Long Term Well Being
A significant randomised study has been implemented by Sharma, Robbins, Wagner,
and Colgrove (2015) that focused on therapeutic influence of yoga on Parkinson’s disease. The
study analyzed 13 patients who were diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in either stage 1 or
stage 2. The patients were randomized in two groups, one of which was subjected to regular
yoga therapy (n = 8) and the other being a control group (n = 5). These patients from the yoga
group were introduced to twice-a-week yoga classes for 12 consecutive weeks. The participants
from both groups were then assayed at the baseline, and then after 6 and 12 weeks,
respectively through Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale, clinical and physiological
measures. The article concludes that yoga and meditation therapy can introduce progressive
results in long-term healing of Parkinson’s disease (Sharma et al., 2015).
Another study mediated by Bressington et al. (2019) involved 50 participants that were
randomized to yoga therapy intervention (n=23). This intervention included 8 sessions for 4

Is the use of yoga and meditation therapy effective in improving one's long term well being?
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weeks. The control group (n=27) included participants that continued their usual care program.
After the completion of the intervention, the researchers measured the cognitive mental health
condition with the help of Depression-Anxiety-Stress Scale and 12-item at baseline survey. Post-
intervention and 3 months of follow up has aided the researchers to understand the
implications. Patients who undertook yoga lessons showed statistically larger reduction in
improvements regarding depression and mental health. The overall quality of life of these
patients improved in comparison to control group. Clinical scores indicated favorable
satisfaction levels within interventions. Qualitative interviews can initiate effective and
modifiable aspects.
The main argument that is given by the researchers can represented the following
forms.
Premise 1: Yoga therapy can improve physical and physiological aspects in patients suffering
from Parkinson’s disease (Sharma et al. 2015).
Premise 2: The patients who participated in the yoga therapy reported positive symptoms, such
as reduction in tremors (Bressington et al.2019)
Premise 3: Signs of improvements are noted in thee depression scores, body weight and forced
expiratory volumes of the patients who attended yoga session (Wang & Hagins, 2016).
Premise 4: Yoga therapy tends to bring considerable improvement with long term application.
Premise 5: Yoga therapy is feasible for modified interventions to reduce depression in patients
(Bressington et al. 2019).
Conclusion:
Yoga therapy in this study has appeared to enhance non-motor and physiological factors