Sailors who practiced 45 minutes of Cyclic Meditation daily for three weeks experienced reduced anxiety and improved sleep quality, along with lower blood pressure and pulse rate, compared to a control group that continued routine activities. The control group showed no significant changes. The findings suggest that Cyclic Meditation can be a practical routine for sailors to manage anxiety and enhance sleep during long voyages.
Immediate ascent to high altitude impairs cognitive performance and mood, leading to depression, anxiety, and reduced sleep quality, general health, and happiness. Sudarshan Kriya Yoga (SKY), a cyclical breathing technique, has been shown to manage stress, depression, and anxiety, and improve sleep. This two-armed pre-post study examined psychological parameters and happiness in lowlanders at high altitude (Leh). The experimental group, with prior SKY meditation experience, completed a 4-day SKY-AMP protocol at high altitude; the control group had no yoga or meditation experience. The Oxford Happiness Questionnaire showed a significant increase in the SKY group (P ≤ .001) but no significant change in the control group.
Cyclic meditation (CM) enhanced creative cognition, specifically divergent thinking, in a randomized trial with 24 university students. After seven days of 35-minute sessions, the CM group showed improved performance on the Abbreviated Torrance Test for Adults compared to a supine rest control group. Electroencephalography revealed that CM training shifted brain activity toward predominant gamma waves during creativity tasks, while controls showed delta activity. The CM group also exhibited greater activation in frontal and parietal regions (F3, F4, P3, P4), areas of the executive network involved in creative cognition. The findings suggest CM strengthens connectivity between the default mode and executive attention networks, facilitating creativity stages like preparation, incubation, and illumination.