Feasibility, acceptability and evaluation of meditation to augment yoga practice among persons diagnosed with schizophrenia.

Objective: To design a meditation protocol and test its feasibility, acceptability and efficacy in conjunction with yoga training (YT) for persons with schizophrenia (SZ).

Methods: The meditation protocol consisted of Anapana (observing normal respiration) and Yoga Nidra (supine, restful awareness). In a single-blind randomised controlled trial, medicated and clinically stable outpatients diagnosed with SZ were randomised to receive treatment as usual (TAU), TAU augmented with YT or TAU augmented with meditation and yoga training (MYT) for 3 weeks (N = 145). Acceptability, clinical, social and cognitive functions were assessed after 3-week and 3-month post-randomisation using within-group and between-group analyses with repeated measures multivariate tests.

Results: No group-wise differences in compliance, study discontinuation, major/serious side effects or adverse events were noted. For six assessed clinical variables, the direction of changes were in the desired direction and the effect sizes were greater in the MYT group compared with the TAU group at both time points. Changes in social function variables were greater at 3 months than at 3 weeks. Nominally significant improvement in individual cognitive domains were noted in all groups at both time points. All effect sizes were in the small to medium range.

Conclusion: MYT is feasible and acceptable and shows modest benefits for persons with SZ. MYT can also improve quality of life and clinical symptoms. Larger studies of longer duration are warranted.