The subjects lay, one at a time, in the PET scanner. We limited the research to those who practised Kriya Yoga regularly - they were to do Kriya Yoga in the morning, before going to the hospital to have brain scans. This also ensured that all those who were measured did exactly the same thing. We therefore agreed with the researchers to measure people practising Yoga Nidra from the CD Experience Yoga Nidra, guided by Swami Janakananda. However, at present, it is only possible to lie down in a PET scanner, so a person sitting in a meditation pose cannot be measured. This is a meditation which has given very distinct results in other studies (see Mapping the brains activity after Kriya Yoga). To actually measure consciousness and how the brain functions by conscious control of awareness, was, however, quite new for us.Īt first, we proposed that people doing Kriya Yoga could be measured. We have also measured participants for six consecutive years, at Haa Retreat Center, to determine the effects of the Three Months Retreat on the level of cholesterol in the blood, on the body's hormone balance, and on the balance between the two brain halves as well as the result of awareness training, for instance, on the reduction of fear in a normal person. When they contacted us, they said they wanted to measure awareness! But how do you do that? At the Scandinavian Yoga and Meditation School, we have previously collaborated with a number of researchers who were examining the effects of yoga's breathing exercises on blood pressure, among other things. Troels Kjær from the Kennedy Institute in Copenhagen. The pictures were taken by one of the most advanced medical research instruments, the PET scanner, at The State University Hospital in Copenhagen. Researchers have, for the first time, succeeded in taking pictures of the brain during a meditative deep-relaxation, with as short a scanning time as one minute per image. ![]() ![]() Only the person being measured is in the room when the scan begins. Now, all that are needed are headphones for Yoga Nidra. The 21 electrodes connected to the EEG are in place on the head. Preparation for the scanning at The State University Hospital in Copenhagen. (Brain researcher Troels Kjær, The Kennedy Institute, Copenhagen, Denmark) "We had not expected the meditators to be able to control their consciousness to such an extent." Pictures of the brain's activity during Yoga Nidra ![]() Yoga, Tantra and Meditation in Daily Life
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