Healthy
Conditions
Keywords
microbiome, meditation, arhatic yoga, beneficial microbes
Brief summary
The goal of the study is to evaluate the Changes in Microbiota Markers in Healthy Subjects Before, During and After Meditation Practices in a Controlled Environment. This study provides a unique opportunity to test the hypotheses that (1) Arhatic Yoga practices will affect both oral and gut microbiome; (2) the oral and gut microbiome will shift dynamically in a short period; and (3) the overall shift resulting from the changes in the gut microbiome members will be associated with known benefits to health and well-being.
Detailed description
The present study was designed as a single-arm pilot scale to understand the temporal changes in both gut and oral microbiome of the practitioners at a meditation-cum-spiritual retreat in a controlled environment. There was open communication between all the participants before, during and after the retreat. As all the practitioners followed group practices in one location under the supervision of the senior instructors, separate assessment of the adherence of the practitioners to the protocol was not performed. Oral and fecal samples of practitioners were collected at the start (Day0: T1), middle (Day3-5: T2) and end (Day7-9:T3) of the retreat in a sterile containers. Amplicon sequencing was performed from extracted DNA to study changes in microbiome profile during retreat.
Interventions
OTHERMeditation practice
physical and breathing exercises
Sponsors
Pranic Healing Research Institute
Study design
Allocation
NA
Intervention model
SINGLE_GROUP
Primary purpose
OTHER
Masking
NONE
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* must provide written informed consent prior to initiation of any study procedures * was able to understand and agreed to comply with planned study procedures (agreed to the collection of specimens (saliva and fecal) before, during and after the study * male or non-pregnant female greater than 18 years of age at time of enrolment * must have a distinct Arhatic level (0-5 level) and performed meditation and MTH practices from once a week to more than 3 times a week prior to this retreat
Exclusion criteria
* concomitant disease that requires any medical treatment * pregnancy * any antibiotic treatment in the past two weeks * pediatric population * clinical apparent infectious disease
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Assessing the changes in gut and oral microbiome profile of the participants during retreat | Timepoint1: 1 day (Baseline), Timepoint2: 3-5 days, and Timepoint3: 7-9 days | Stool and oral samples were collected from the participants for three timepoints (T1: 1 day, T2: 3-5 days, and T3: 7-9 days) and changes in gut microbiome and oral microbiome were assessed through 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing. T1 was considered as baseline data. |
Countries
United States
Outcome results
None listed