New Delhi, Oct. 1: Sitting continuously for long hours in front of computers is responsible for various health problems including weak eyesight and stress.
According to a study conducted at Swami Vivekananda Yoga Research Foundation, Bangalore, practicing yoga can help you overcome computer related health problems.
Under the study, various aspects like visual strain, visual perception, musculoskeletal performance and mental stress were studied.
The causes of these problems are attributed to repetitive activities like using the keyboard, prolonged looking at the monitor, working with intense concentration or alternatively, long periods of monotonous tasks.
The study was conducted on software professionals selected randomly. They were divided into Yoga group comprising of 62 professionals and control group comprising of 55.
The yoga group practiced special yoga practices for an hour daily.
The hour long yoga practices included asanas (physical postures) with emphasis on breathing, pranayama (regulated breathing practices), joint loosening postures, tratak (eye exercises) and relaxation techniques followed by a question and answer session.
At the same time, the control group spent the time in non-regulated recreation activities like working out in the gymnasium or sitting in the cafeteria, according to individual’s preference.
After a span of two months, the yoga group showed significant reduction in symptoms of visual strain, whereas there was an increase in same in the control group.
The yoga practice also improved temporal visual perceptual sensitivity while the control group showed a reduction in it.
The tapping speed in the right hand of the yoga group was higher by 5.6 per cent after two months of yoga intervention but there was no change in the left hand. The control group showed a decrease in tapping speed by 8 per cent for the left hand. It may be noted that all of them were right hand dominant.
Hand-grip strength improved in yoga group for right hand by 1.5 kg and left hand by 1.8 kg. No such improvement was observed in the control group.
The improvement in the hand-grip strength may be related to the oxygen requirement-reducing effect of yoga regulated breathing since the availability of energy and oxidation of glucose is believed to influence it, the study explains published in April-June 2006 quarterly bulletin of the Central Council for Research in Yoga and Naturopathy (CCRYN).
Improvement in the spinal flexibility was also observed in the yoga group along with reduction in right and left hand discomfort and the musculoskeletal discomfort as a whole.
Technostress or the computer related stress caused due inability to cope with the technology demands and aggravated by rapid pace of work, deadlines, and general work pressure was reduced in the yoga group.
Moreover, the efficiency of the yoga group improved on the whole with less of errors in the task. (ANI)