A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF PEAK EXPIRATORY FLOW RATE & BREATH HOLDING TIME IN NORMAL and OM MEDITATORS.

CORRESPONDING AUTHOR:
Dr Gayatri Bora,
Prof. Qtr - 22, B – Block,
Adichunchanagiri Institute of Medical Sciences (AIMS),
B.G. Nagara, Dist: Mandya,
Karnataka –571448.          
Email : g.bora11@gmail.com

HOW TO CITE THIS ARTICLE:

Gayatri Bora, Jasiya Nazir, Dr. Ravi G N. “A Comparative Study of Peak Expiratory Flow Rate & Breath Holding Time in Normal & ‘OM’ Meditators ”. Journal of Evolution of Medical and Dental Sciences 2013; Vol2, Issue 23, June 10; Page: 4111-4119.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: ‘Om’ is the name or symbol of God (Ishwara, Brahman).  Either chanting  or  thinking  about  ‘Om’  is  anecdotally  reported  to  cause  a  quite  mental  state, and  improve  the  all  round  performance  of  the  brain  and  body.  OBJECTIVES:  The  study  design  aimed  to  find  the  effect  of  ‘OM  meditation’  on  Peak expiratory  flow  rate  (PEFR) &  breath  holding  time  (BHT),  among  Non-targeted  thinking (control)  &  Dhyana  (‘Om’ meditation)  groups. METHODS: Source  of  DATA: 30  healthy  male  MBBS  students  (in  the  age  group  of  18-20 years)  of  Adichunchanagiri  Institute  of  Medical  Sciences,  B.G. Nagara,  studying  1st  year MBBS,  were  included  in  the  study.  The group   was  divided  equally  into  two  sub-groups  on  a  random  basis  (each  sub-group  consisting  15  students). Each  of  these  sub-groups  was  made  to  get  familiarized  with  the  procedure.
I.  DHYANA   GROUP– performing   a   targeted   thinking   task – ‘Om’ meditation.
II. CONTROL   GROUP– performing   a   non-targeted   task, i.e.  sitting   relaxed  with  eyes closed.
              The  first  phase  of  the  recording  of  the  pulmonary  parameters  i.e. PEFR & BHT  was  done at  the  beginning  of  the  course.  The  second  phase  of  the  recording  was  done  after  two months  following  the  training.  RESULTS: The  DATA  thus  obtained  was  subjected  to  statistical  analysis  using  student  ‘t’ test &  other  relevant  statistical  tools  to  compare  the  changes  in  the  measured  parameters between  the  two groups. In   the ‘Om’ meditators, peak   expiratory flow  rate  and breath holding time were  significantly increased compared to the non meditators.
CONCLUSIONS: The  present  study  revealed  highly  significant  improvement  in  PEFR  &  Breath  Holding  Time  after  consistent  meditation  of  ‘OM’  in  experimental  group  as compared  to  control  group.  
KEYWORDS: ‘Om’ meditation; Peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR); Breath holding time (BHT).