Immediate effect of om meditation on brain wave coherence in normal healthy volunteers

Abstract

Background: A student under optimal stress does bring out his or her best, however extremes of stress can result in stress induced disorders and deteriorating performance. Yoga is known to bring positive effect on personality development in students. Can yoga be of benefit in enhancing orderliness of brain functioning following Om Meditation (OM) in university students? Objective: The study was designed to assess the immediate effect of OM on academic performance in university students through the analysis of Brain Wave Coherence (BWC). The OM is an advanced meditation technique which is based on Integrated Approach of Yoga Therapy developed at Swami Vivekananda Yoga Anusandhana Samsthana, Bangalore. Materials and methods: In this study of two groups (OM and control) pre-post design, 50 subjects (25 in OM group with 27.94±4.30 and 25 in control group with 22.88±4.05 control years of mean age) were participated. The BWC data were collected immediately before and after the intervention (pre recorded session of OM for OM group and sitting quietly with the eyes closed for control group) using Brain Master 2 Channel EEG version 2.0 for clinical from Bio Medical Instruments, Inc., Warren, Michigan, USA. Statistical analysis: Means, standard deviations, Shapiro-Wilk test and Paired Samples Test were used for analyzing data with the help of SPSS-19. Results: There was 24.50 % significant increase (P=0.028) in delta and 35.48 % significant increase (P=0.004) in alpha BWC. There was no significant change in other BWC rhythms of OM group as well as in its control group. Conclusion: Significant increase in both delta and alpha BWC suggests that OM is associated with more integrated, effective and balanced brain functioning which may enhance academic performance in university students. Although this preliminary research is promising, welldesigned studies are needed before a strong recommendation can be made.