Spect Reveals Yoga's Effects, Potential

According to Megan McDonough, CNMT, a nuclear medicine technologist and yoga teacher from Hardwick, Mass., historic evidence suggests the genesis of yogic roots existed as far back as five million years ago. McDonough, who speaks internationally at imaging conferences and provides yoga training sessions for diagnostic imaging groups, said the fully developed philosophical school of yoga began as a system of mental, physical and spiritual exercises in approximately 500 B.C. by the physician and sage Patanjali.

He formalized the tradition into a science involving ethical restrain, self-discipline, mental focus, physical exercise and meditation.

Yoga is defined as a "simplification of consciousness" that decreases the extraneous matter that causes pain and suffering and leaves clarity about the true nature of reality. There are different branches of yoga, McDonough said, based on the knowledge that each person is unique and will respond differently to a given practice. The most familiar branch is Hatha-Yoga, which is based on the premise that the physical body can be purified through postures leading to self-transformation. It can be used as a spiritual practice and to strengthen the body, clear the mind, increase flexibility and relieve stress and tension. Hatha-Yoga uses breathing to settle the body and focus the mind. It is easy to notice the effect breathing has on one's own state of mind. Changing that state requires an awareness of the current breathing pattern and then application of an antidote.

Medical practitioners recognize the role of stress as a major contributor to disease, and many believe a simple stress management technique such as yoga/meditation could be constructively applied in the clinical setting.