EVIDENCE BASED STUDY ON GENERAL WELL BEING THROUGH HATH YOGA

Evidenced Based Study on General Wellbeing Through Hath Yoga

Dr. Sudhanshu Verma¹, Dr. Kamakhya Kumar², Ruby Meena³

¹ Assistant Professor, Dept. of Yoga and Health, Dev Sanskriti Vishwavidyalaya, Haridwar,

² Professor & Head, Dept. of Yoga, Uttarakhand Sanskrit University, Haridwar, U.K.

³Teaching Assistant, Dept. of Yoga and Health, Dev Sanskriti Vishwavidyalaya, Haridwar,

Abstract:

Introduction: Well-being is a positive outcome that is meaningful for people and for many sectors of society, because it tells us that people perceive that their lives are going well. many indicators that measure living conditions fail to measure what people think and feel about their lives, such as the quality of their relationships, their positive emotions and resilience, the realization of their potential, or their overall satisfaction with life—i.e., their “well-being.”^{1, 2} Well-being generally includes global judgments of life satisfaction and feelings ranging from depression to joy. ^{[3, 4]}

According to the US Department of Health and Human Services, mental illness is characterized by alterations in thinking, mood or behavior associated with distress and impaired function. ^[5] It could refer to one or more mental disorders at a time. Mental illness is a global public health concern. According to the World Health Organization, one out of four (25%) persons is affected with some kind of mental illness. ^[2] The prevalence of mental disorders is higher in developed countries, but the global burden of untreated mental disease is higher in developing nations. ^[6,7] Eighty percent (80%) of the population suffering with mental illness lives in low-and middle-income (LAMI) countries. ^[6,8,9,] The presence of mental illness does not affect only the individual and his personal, social, educational and occupational life, but it also makes his entire family to suffer from negative consequences. ^[10,11]

Aim: The purpose of this study is “To assess the efficacy of Selective hath yogic Practices on General Wellbeing of mankind”.

Method: For this study we had selected randomly 50 Sanskrit students with age ranging between 18 to 26 years of age. Practicing 51 minute/ day yogic intervention particularly and only those students were considered who were willing to participate in such type of practices. The students are male and almost equal in the term of education, mental status, socio economic status and types of work. Then at the initiation of practice 0^th day pre-data was collected by team on general wellbeing questionnaire given by N. N. Wig and S. K. verma (P.G.I. Chandigarh, General wellbeing questionnaire, 1973) and at the end of session on 45^th day of intervention post data was taken by the same.

Result: According to obtained data we found that there was statistically significant difference at 0.01 levels between pre-and post conditions in the level of General wellbeing of the adults. This reveals the effectiveness of Hath yoga practices in enhancement of General wellbeing in special reference of adults.

Conclusion: finally, we can firmly state that Hath yoga practices can play an efficient role in the enhancement of positive General wellbeing in the adults.

Keywords: General wellbeing, Positive general wellbeing, Hath yoga.

Corresponding Author: Dr. Sudhanshu verma, Assistant professor, Dept. of Yoga and Health, Dev Sanskriti Vishwavidyalaya, Haridwar, India E-Mail: shudverma@gmail.com

Introduction:

Before we start talking about measurement of efficacy of hath yogic practices on Positive general wellbeing, we had to understand the meaning and necessity of general wellbeing in human life. In general, we can say general wellbeing means overall Health and overall health means one should be healthy in all the aspects of health i.e. physical, mental, social and spiritual health.

According to Wikipedia, wellbeing, or wellness is a general term for the condition of an individual or group. A high level of well-being means in some sense the individual or group's condition is positive. ^[12]

According to Naci and Ioannidis, Wellness refers to diverse and interconnected dimensions of physical, mental, and social well-being that extend beyond the traditional definition of health. It includes choices and activities aimed at achieving physical vitality, mental alacrity, social satisfaction, a sense of accomplishment, and personal fulfillment. ^[13]

 Traditional definitions of physical health prior to the onset of modern medicine would have considered someone physically healthy if he or she was not stricken with a serious illness. With modern medical innovations came longer life spans, which changed the way we define physical health. Today's definition can consider everything ranging from the absence of disease to fitness level. ^[14]

The World Health Organization (WHO) defined health in its broader sense in its 1948 constitution as "a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity."^[15,16]

 WHO defines Quality of life (QOL) is the general well-being of individuals and societies, outlining negative and positive features of life. It observes life satisfaction, including everything from physical health, family, education, employment, wealth, religious beliefs, finance and the environment. ^[17]

Moreover, many techniques are defined in hath-yogic ancient scripture for the enhancement of positive overall well-being, we include few techniques from the ancient scriptures here in this study which has specialized effect for overall wellbeing to assess the efficacy of these yogic techniques which is further described as yogic intervention below.  

Methodology:

Sample:

            The total sample of 50 Sanskrit students ranging in age from 18-26 years was selected from a Sanskrit college of district Haridwar, Uttarakhand, India. tis sample consists of 50 students in experimental group. A random sampling was done to select the best and interested candidates who are willing to participates in general wellbeing enhancement program, once sample was selected by the research team the hath yogic intervention started before starting the intervention pre-test were done by us and post-test were taken after 45 days of intervention.

Experimental Sessions:

            The intervention program of yogic practices was given to the experimental group. participants assigned to the group and they performed well the selective yogic practices in group early in the morning at 6:30 a.m. for 50 min. and for just 45 days including Sundays and holidays, the intervention schedule are shown in the given table, during the course of this study they instructed not to do any other yogic practices as well.

Yogic Intervention:

S.n.	Yogic practices given to the sample	Round/ day	Duration
1.	Savita dhyan	28 min	28 min
2.	Gayatri mantra chanting	12 time	06 min
3.	Pragya yoga practice	05 round	10 min
4.	Pranakarshan Pranayama	05 round	05 min
5.	Shantipath	01 round	01 min
	Total	---------------------	50 min

Design:

Pre test and post test research design was used in the present study; groups are practicing the yogic practices along with the Gayatri mantra chanting as intervention. At the end of the treatment, group is measured again to evaluate the difference between pre and post condition as a result of the treatment or intervention.

Tools:

General wellbeing questionnaire given by N. N. Wig and S. K. verma (P.G.I. Chandigarh, General wellbeing questionnaire, 1973) has been used for the measurement of General wellbeing of the student in the pre and post condition.

Statistical analysis:

Obtained data were tabulated and analyzed. The initial values on 0th day of parameter were compared with the final values obtained on 45^th day’s measurement. Paired t- test was used for the statistical analysis with the help of SPSS ver. 23

Table and Graph:

Paired Samples Statistics
		Mean	N	Std. Deviation	Std. Error Mean
Pair 1	pre	22.7600	50	5.52383	.78119
	post	25.3800	50	4.10022	.57986

Paired Samples Correlations
		N	Correlation	Sig.
Pair 1	pre & post	50	.866	.001

Paired Samples Test
		Paired Differences					t	df	Sig. (1-tailed)
		Mean	Std. Deviation	Std. Error Mean	95% Confidence
					Lower	Upper
Pair 1	pre - post	2.620	2.842	.401	3.427	1.812	6.51	49	.001

Result:

The mean & standard error of mean (M± S_Ed) of pre test and post test on level of general wellbeing of the experimental group were consecutively found to be 22.76 ± 0.78 and 25.38 ± 0.57. The correlation (r) .86 and pre SD 5.52 and post SD 4.10 as well. Obtained t-value is 6.51 which are statistically significant at 0.01 level of confidence.

On the basis of obtained result it can be concluded that yogic intervention along with the practice of Gayatri mantra chanting is significantly (at .01 levels) increases the level of general wellbeing of the secondary level students in the experimental group.

Conclusion:

On the basis of the findings of this study it can be concluded easily that this package can enhance the meditative state of mind which can further improves the overall performance and wellbeing of the secondary level students.

According to a research by Cornell university of New York, mental health problems affect one in every five-young people at any given time. Since to face all the problems such as: strain, tension, depression, anxiety and more our intellectual level adolescents are targeted first. So, for any type of mental as well as physical disorders yoga, along with asana, Super Brain Yogic technique and Surya Namaskara i.e. Sun Salutation proves it best of all. ^[18,21]

Physician James Gordon, clinical professor of psychiatry at the Georgetown University School of Medicine, teaches deep breathing to most of his patients. For example, it has helped adults reduce the suffering from advanced cancer and crippling arthritis, and aided young person’s coping with attention deficit disorder. ^[19,] “Slow, deep breathing is probably the single best anti-stress medicine we have,” says Dr. Gordon. “When you bring air down into the lower portion of lungs, where oxygen exchange is most efficient, everything changes. Heart rate slows, blood pressure decreases, muscles relax, anxiety eases and the mind calms. Breathing this way also gives people a sense of control over their body and their emotions that is extremely therapeutic. ^[20,21]

While this study resulted in important findings, the results have to be considered in light of several limitations. Representation of males while females are not included in this study and small sample size does not allow for generalization of the findings to a realistic population. Moreover, neither psychological measurements nor the lasting effect of intervention was assessed. Furthermore, the study used a mix of novice and long-term yoga practitioners who were part of an on-going residential yoga course. Therefore, it is unclear what effect the yoga practice had in influencing the participant’s performance and psychological states. The long-term impact of the intervention remains to be studied.

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