Yoga and Meditation: Past and Present Evidence

This new book provides a holistic insight into the perennial bliss of practicing yoga on body, mind, and spirit, highlighting ways to achieve optimum mental and spiritual health. The book begins by exploring the benefits of practicing yoga on social life and humanity, discussing the impact of yoga on socioemotional development and focusing on ideas of happiness. It covers certain yogic postures that help to sustain health and enhance the level of happiness in life. It looks at the benefits of yoga and mindfulness practices for specific health issues, such as polycystic ovarian syndrome and diabetes. It also considers the beneficial impact of yoga, meditation practices, and ayurvedic herbs on the improvement of brain power of children, for enhancing the quality of life of adolescents, for arresting cognitive impairment and promoting well-being among institutionalized seniors, and more.

Sachi Nandan Mohanty, PhD, is affiliated with the School of Computer Science & Engineering (SCOPE), VIT- AP University, Amaravati, India. He has authored/edited over 40 books published by IEEE-Wiley, Springer, Wiley, CRC Press, NOVA, and DeGruyter. He is actively involved as a fellow of the Indian Society Technical Education, the Institute of Engineering and Technology, and the Computer Society of India, and as member of the Institute of Engineers and IEEE Computer Society. He is currently a reviewer for many journals, including Robotics and Autonomous Systems, Computational and Structural Biotechnology, Artificial Intelligence Review, and Spatial Information Research. He has been awarded a Best Researcher Award from Biju Pattnaik University of Technology in 2019, Best Thesis Award (first prize) from the Computer Society of India in 2015, and an Outstanding Faculty in Engineering Award from the Dept. of Higher Education, Government of Odisha in 2020. He has guided nine PhD scholars. He has also received international travel funds from Science and Engineering Research Board, Dept. of Science and Technology, Govt. of India, for chairing several sessions at international conferences (USA in 2020). Prof. Mohanty has received four best paper awards during his PhD at IIT Kharagpur from the International Conference at Beijing, China, and the other at International Conference on Soft Computing Applications, organized by IIT Rookee, in 2013. He was awarded a best thesis award first prize by the Computer Society of India in 2015. Prof. Mohanty’s research areas include data mining, big data analysis, cognitive science, fuzzy decision-making, brain-computer interface, and computational intelligence.

Rabindra Kumar Pradhan, PhD, is currently working as Full Professor of Psychology and Human Resources in the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, India. With more than 22 years in research and teaching, Prof. Pradhan has worked in different aspects of psychology and human resources. He has been a guest faculty and adjunct faculty at IIM Indore and IIM Kozhikode and many other institutes and universities. He has completed over 20 major research projects sponsored by various agencies of the Govt. of India and other international agencies. To date, 12 PhD research theses and more than 35 master-level dissertations have been awarded under his supervision. He has published five books, over 25 book chapters, and more than 80 research papers in peer-reviewed journals of international repute. Many of his academic works have been published in journals and books of Routledge, Emerald, Inderscience, Sage, Springer, Taylor & Francis, CRC Press, Apple Academic Press, Lap Lambart, and Person Education Publishers, etc. His current research interests include spirituality at work, psychological capital, emotional intelligence, yoga, resilience, and happiness and well-being. He has trained thousands of executives at different levels in diverse organizations, such as Indian Army, Navy & Air Force personnel; teachers from schools and faculties from colleges, institutes and universities; managers from industry; and professionals from NGOs and other service sectors in various aspects of human and organization development. He is a member of the International Association of Applied Psychology, Academy of Management, National Academy of Psychology (India), Indian Academy of Applied Psychology, and many others. He is a recipient of many awards, including the ISTD Best Trainer Award, Best Teacher Award in HRD, and Best Research Paper Award-ICOM, etc.

Sugyanta Priyadarshini, PhD, is Assistant Professor in the Department of Humanities, Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT) (Deemed to be University), Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India. She has successfully published approximately 20 research articles and book chapters in journals and books of high repute. She has participated in more than 30 international/national conferences and has remained a moderator for several workshops and seminars. Presently, she is guiding two doctoral candidates. Her research areas are gender economics, artificial intelligence in social issues, and behavioral economics. Recently, she revealed her interest in spiritual interventions by participating in a national conference on ＂＂spiritualism: a potential key for stress management.＂＂ She is a potent reviewer for several journals, including Human Rights Review; Lancet Regional Health Southeast Asia; Technology, Knowledge and Learning; Asian Journal of Women’s Studies; and International Journal of Qualitative Methods. She is an active member of the Odisha Economic Association (OEA). Dr. Sugyanta earned her doctorate (PhD) in 2021 and was a university topper and gold medalist in her master’s examination in 2016.