A 3-day retreat teaching Shambhavi Mahamudra kriya, a yogic practice combining deep breathing and meditation, followed by 21 minutes of daily practice for 6 weeks, led to lower perceived stress and higher general well-being among 142 adults (mean age 43). The findings suggest this practice may serve as a natural approach to reducing stress.
A 6-day Ayurveda-based mind-body program significantly increased nondual awareness, a shift in self-perception that was sustained one month later. The study compared 69 healthy adults (average age 53.9) who participated in the intensive program against a control group. The program addressed physical, emotional, and spiritual domains. Participants showed a significant increase in scores on the Nondual Embodiment Thematic Inventory after the program and at a one-month follow-up. The findings suggest that holistic mind-body instruction can produce lasting changes in awareness that may benefit well-being.
Integrative Health aims to treat the whole person within whole systems and practices. The authors question what constitutes the whole person and propose that transcendent aspects of human awareness, the goal of many meditative traditions, must be accounted for. Nondual awareness, characterized by nonseparation, compassion, and love, is described as a state where well-being is an innate attribute of living in nonduality, independent of experiences. Thus, nondual awareness is considered foundational to realizing the whole person and achieving optimal well-being.