Yoga and psychology: A brief overview of
research at Swami Vivekananda Yoga Research Foundation

Shirley Telles
Swami Vivekananda Yoga Research Foundation
Bangalore

In this presentation three main aspects of the research will be mentioned:

1.Yoga for the promotion of positive mental health in normal persons based on psycho-physiological studies. This research has shown that diverse yoga practices (e.g., asanas, pranayamas & meditation)1 as well as specific practices (e.g., nadisuddhi pranayama) bring about a state of equilibrium.

2.Yoga for the individual psychological needs of 'special' groups such as the visually impaired, mentally challenged, juvenile delinquents, the aged, and schizophrenics.

3.Yoga for the enhancement of higher brain functions such as spatial memory, planning, spatial learning and perception.

4.Recent (unpublished) laboratory research on whether yoga practitioners are endowed with special abilities e.g., to influence a machine (i.e., mind machine interactions using a random event generator).

This paper was presented at the
National Conference on
Yoga and Indian Approaches to Psychology
Pondicherry, India, September 29 - October 1, 2002

Yoga and psychology: A brief overview of research at Swami Vivekananda Yoga Research Foundation

This paper was presented at the National Conference on Yoga and Indian Approaches to Psychology Pondicherry, India, September 29 - October 1, 2002

Yoga and psychology: A brief overview of
research at Swami Vivekananda Yoga Research Foundation

This paper was presented at the
National Conference on
Yoga and Indian Approaches to Psychology
Pondicherry, India, September 29 - October 1, 2002