Part I Obstacles in the Path of Spiritual Practices Part II Immediate Effect of Cyclic Meditation on Fasting Blood Glucose in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Patients

Abstract

Background/Aim: Diabetes is one of the leading non-communicable diseases characterised by deregulation of blood in glucose control. Cyclic Meditation (CM) is one of the advanced yoga techniques developed by S-VYASA University, Bangalore. The main principal of CM is stimulation followed by deep relaxation. Many previous studies have shown that CM corrects the imbalance of the autonomic nervous system (reduces sympathetic tone). The present study was done to see the immediate effect of CM on Fasting Blood Glucose level (FBG) in type II diabetes patients.

Materials and Methods: This self as control study recruited 16 patients with established DM2 of > one year ( with or without good control on oral hypoglycaemic agents) registered for a week long inpatient treatment at the holistic health home, Prasahnthi Kutiram, the campus of the yoga university, Bangalore . The Study Group (SG) practiced CM for 40 minutes and Control Group (CG) also practiced Physical exercises (PE) for the same duration of 40 minutes on two different days (days 1 and 6 after admission) in fasting state ( 5:30 AM to7:00 AM) before breakfast. Venous blood samples were collected for glucose estimation immediately before and after the practice of CM and physical exercise. Data were analyzed using the SPSS version 18.

Results: The results showed a significant reduction (P=0.002, Wilcoxon matched-pair signed rank test) in FBG immediately after the practice of CM, whereas, some marginal changes were found in PE group which is not significant (P=0.159, paired samples t-test).

Conclusion: Immediate practice of CM is effective in reducing the FBG in Type II Diabetes Mellitus patients.