Adults aged 18 to 60 participated in twice weekly classes for 12 weeks, and at the beginning of
each class, Acox asked participants to describe, in a word, how Yoga made them feel after the
previous class. Answers included, “alive,” “empowered,” “limber,” and “flexible.” She said that
one study participant also noticed improvement in blood sugar level, and another is thrilled
simply to be able to touch her toes.
Acox says, “I definitely think they’re getting stronger. And their balance, they are steadier on
their feet, able to focus and balance.”
Smith, Jonathan C. Personality correlates of continuation and outcome in meditation and erect
sitting control treatments. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, Apr 1978, 46(2):272-
- Also in D. H. Shapiro, and R. N. Walsh, eds., Meditation: Classic and Contemporary
Perspectives. New York: Aldine Publishing, 1984, pp. 557-564. PMID: 348733.
___. Psychotherapeutic effects of Transcendental Meditation with controls for
expectation of relief and daily sitting. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 1976,
44(4):630-637. Also in D. H. Shapiro, and R. N. Walsh, eds., Meditation: Classic and
Contemporary Perspectives. New York: Aldine Publishing, 1984, pp. 539-547.
___. Meditation as psychotherapy: A review of the literature. Psychological Bulletin,
Jul 1975, 82(4):558-564. Also in D. H. Shapiro, and R. N. Walsh, eds., Meditation: Classic and
Contemporary Perspectives. New York: Aldine Publishing, 1984, pp. 55- 61. PMID: 1099602.
Smith, Pohla. Happier through yoga: Mt. Lebanon native to speak about winning her fight
against depression. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 30 Mar 2004. Article available online:
http://www.yogafordepression.com/Happier_through_Yoga.htm.
Smith, Robert Warren. Effects of relaxation on self-regulatory depletion. Ph.D. dissertation.
Case Western Reserve University, 2002. Dissertation Abstracts International, Nov 2002, B
63/05, p. 2605. First 24 pages available online:
http://wwwlib.umi.com/dissertations/preview/3052288. UMI #3052288.
Abstract: Self-regulation is the exercise of executive control, whereby lower, shorter-term and
more concrete objectives are superceded by higher, period immediately following self-regulation,
self-regulatory capacity appears to be reduced or depleted. Furthermore, research indicates that
relaxation and meditation may enhance performance. The present research sought to determine
the degree of decrement following self-regulation as well as the incremental advantage of
relaxation over other behaviors in restoration of self-regulatory capacity. Participants were
assigned to six conditions: (1) The self-regulation condition was one in which participants were
told to not think about a white bear, based on Wegner’s (1989) technique. (2) The free-thought
(control) condition in which participants were free to think about anything. (3)Combination self-
regulation (white bear) and relaxation (using deep breathing and guided imagery) condition.
(4)Combination self-regulation and magazine perusal condition. (5) Combination self-regulation
and sitting without any task. And (6) a relaxation condition. Following the above tasks,
participants engaged in an unsolvable anagrams task. Persistence on the anagrams task was
measured and served as the dependent variable. The self-regulation condition persisted on the
anagrams significantly less than controls. Perusing a magazine and sitting doing nothing
following self-regulation offered modest benefit to self-regulatory capacity. Engaging in
relaxation following self-regulation appeared to offer significant benefit to self-regulatory
capacity. Relaxation among those who had not previously engaged in a self-regulatory act
provided no beneficial effect over controls. Thus, relaxation may help restore self-regulatory