Associations between attention, affect and cardiac activity in a single yoga session for female cancer survivors: an enactive neurophenomenology-based approach.
Consciousness and cognition July 1, 2014 Michael J Mackenzie, Linda E Carlson, David M Paskevich et al. 38 citations
A single yoga session for female cancer survivors was linked to steady increases in focused attention and positive mood, while changes in heart activity matched the intensity of each yoga sequence. Shifts in attention and mood were predicted by concurrent cardiac activity. Participants reported that awareness of breathing, physical movement, and increased relaxation were possible reasons for yoga's benefits. Yoga may work mainly as a meditative method for regulating attention and affect, distinct from exercise or relaxation alone.