Effect of 3 month Anaadhi Retreat on Visual Attention

Behavioral studies suggest a positive effect of meditation on attentional tasks. To investigate the effect of Isha Yoga on the brain’s ability to process visual information, 82 practitioners were tested at the beginning and end of the 3-months residential retreat. The retreat involved daily meditation and yoga practices, accompanied by a vegetarian diet and along with daily activities. Daily regimen included approximately 2 hours of sitting meditation practices, 1–2 hours of yoga practice with a meditative component and 1 hour of chanting. Researchers used three visual tests to monitor temporal attention, executive attention and spatial attention. They found a significant increase in cognitive flexibility and a decrease in autonomic response indicating an increase in executive attention. These results suggest that Isha Yoga can be used to further study neuroplasticity of visual attention in relation to yogic practices and can be used as an effective method for training visual attention in future studies.

Anaadhi Visual Paper