Breath, Stress, and Health: A Biocultural Study of Psycho-Physical (Hatha-Rāja) Yoga Restricted; Files Only

Abstract

Yoga is situated between how culture gets “under the skin” and, more specifically, “into the mind.” In a very real sense, people live daily, not fully satisfied, not experiencing robust health and wellbeing, yet not so impaired as to warrant full medical care. They turn to seek help within, what I term, the “Post-Medical-Care-wellbeing-space”. Yoga, in all its various interpretations, plays a large role in this space. The ‘Yoga Process’ conceptually is a ‘going internal,’ attended by a combination of ‘ubiquitous key components’ and a ‘systematized method’. The latter presented and unpacked in this present study is a comprehensive psycho-physical (hatha-rāja) ‘yoga’ method, essentially a subset within the overarching and historical field of Yoga, and in contrast to “yoga” in the more common and generic, physical-associated sense.

Yoga as a transformational process, paradoxically, involves all that is material, found in the intimate elements of life such as one’s body, one’s breath, one’s mind, human relations, and life circumstances, to potentially bring about balance and harmony behaviorally, both autonomic and psychological. However, a scholarly approach to what constitutes yoga is essential prior to scientific assessment. Part One of this study attempts to detail the ‘Yoga Process’ and operationalize its ontology, philosophy, and praxis, graphically delineated as the Translational Model of Yoga. Part Two addresses a specific evaluative research question ofthe effect of a comprehensive psycho-physical ‘yoga’ practice on empirical measures of mental and physical health for an average healthy adult population. 

The key hypothesis posited that regulation of respiration with inner focus through sustained training over time would be associated with altered metabolic and autonomic performance as well as improved psychological outcomes, indicative of a reduction in allostatic load. To assess this a three-arm, randomly assigned clinical trial study was carried out. Outcomes from this analysis reveal that metabolic and autonomic improvement trends positive but requires time in practice, and that abdominal tension can reduce through engaged practice. Most significantly, in concurrence with Yoga’s emic ideal where the physical and physiological are designed to support the psychological, significant change in improved mental health outcomes of the intervention group was identified.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Introduction ........................................................................................... 1

Part One – Description: An Understanding of Yoga and ‘Yoga’ from Emic and Etic Perspectives

Chapter 2: Yoga’s Background .............................................................................. 32

Chapter 3: Yoga’s Emic Function .......................................................................... 113

Chapter 4: Yoga Systematized ............................................................................... 177

Chapter 5: Human Biology Related to The Yoga Process ..................................... 226

Chapter 6: Yoga in Action ...................................................................................... 279

Part Two – Evaluation: A Study of Yoga 

Chapter 7: Study Design ......................................................................................... 309

Chapter 8: Methodology ......................................................................................... 335

Chapter 9: Statistical Results Report of Collected Data ......................................... 382

Chapter 10: Discussion ........................................................................................... 437

Chapter 11: In Conclusion .......................................................................................478

References ............................................................................................................. 486 

Glossary of Terms .................................................................................................. 528 

Appendices Table of Contents ................................................................................. 535 

Appendix A: Supplemental Materials to Part One-Analysis of Yoga ............................ 538 

Appendix B: Supplemental Materials to Ch.5-Human Biology Related to Yoga ............ 601 

Appendix C: Supplemental Materials to Part Two-Empirical Study of Yoga ................. 708

About this Dissertation

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School	Laney Graduate School
Department	Anthropology
Degree	Ph.D.
Submission	Dissertation
Language	English
Research Field	Religion, Philosophy of Psychology, Physiological Anthropology, Physical
Mot-clé	inflammation rājayoga abdominal tension metabolic imbalance mental health emotion regulation anxiety spirituality oxidative stress hathayoga psychology heart rate variability stress physiology yoga autonomic imbalance biology philosophy body posture respiration
Committee Chair / Thesis Advisor	Carol Worthman, Emory University
Committee Members	Jim Rilling, Emory University Robert Paul, Emory University

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