Part-I: Yoga and Hindu philosophy and Part-II: A comparative study of three different yoga modules on intelligence quotient in normal children

Abstract

Yoga as a science has been present in india since times immemorial and over the years there has been a revival of interest in it. The report commences with a brief introduction to this ancient science and moves forward to give historical survey as far as yoga is concerned.The present study was aimed to assess the intelligence quotient (IQ) in children’s after intensive practice of Integrated Approach of Yoga and to compare the effects of three different yoga modules through Draw-a-man test. Subjects included normal healthy English-medium school children (n = 207) aged between 9-12 years (Mean ± SD, 10.86 ± 0.91). They were randomly assigned to three groups, Såñöi i.e. for Creativity Development (CR), Sthiti i.e. for IQ Development (IQ), and Laya i.e. for Physical Stamina Development (PS). They were taught three different yoga modules of Äsana (yoga postures), Präëäyäma (breathing exercises), kriyä (cleansing techniques), meditation, games and lecture by trained instructors. But daily time schedule for all the three groups remained the same. Draw-a-man Test was administrated to children in all three groups on the first and ninth days of a residential program. Paired‘t’ test was used to compare the change in IQ scores in the three groups. Results showed that there was significant improvement (p < 0.001) in the IQ group. The improvement in the IQ group was 3.91%, 0.44% in the CR group, and 0.10% in the PS group. Analysis between the three groups was done by means of one-way ANOVA, followed by post-hoc multiple comparison (Tukey test), which showed that the group, which practiced IQ-specific yoga module, showed significant improvement, compared to CR and PS groups. Result from a gender analysis showed that there is no significant difference in any group.