COMPARISON BETWEEN THE EFFICACIES OF AGNIHOTRA MANTRA
AND AGNIKARYA MANTRA CHANTED BY MALES AND FEMALES
ON THE GERMINATION OF RICE SEEDS

SHRUTI A. KULKARNI, Post Graduate Student
Swami Vivekananda Yoga Research Foundation, Bangalore, India

Agnihotra or Agnikarya are the forms of Homa or Sacrifice. Agnihotra is the process of purifying the atmosphere through specially prepared fire. Agnikarya is the Yajna performed in Loukika Agni by Brahmacharis. Agnikarya is also known as Samidhdanam. Both these rituals are very much similar except the Mantras chanted at the time of ritual. The Mantra sung at sunrise and sunset resonates with the biorhythm. Both the rituals have to be performed daily twice, once at sunrise and next at sunset. The experiment was done for three sets, 15 days each by taking two pairs each of one male and one female volunteers for both Agnihotra and Agnikarya Mantra chanting in four different rooms and the effect was seen on the germination of rice seeds which were germinated in Petri dishes containing distilled water. The data was measured for four different variables- Fresh Weight, Dry Weight, Root Length and Shoot Length. The data were analyzed statistically with the help of SPSS 10.0 for windows package. This showed the significant result for the variables Fresh Weight and Root Length in both the cases males and females. The conclusions were that both the Mantras chanted separately either by male or female have the same effect.

EFFECTIVENESS OF SMET PROGRAM WITH RESPECT TO
EMOTIONAL COMPETENCE OF MANAGERS
AN EMPIRICAL STUDY

SONY K., Regd. Ph.D. Scholar
Swami Vivekananda Yoga Research Foundation, Bangalore, India

SMET (Self Management of Excessive Tension) program is based upon two principles: Stimulation and Relaxation. This is an initial to study the effectiveness of Self Management of Excessive Tension (SMET) program on emotional competence of managers. Research studies shown that the leaders with high emotional intelligence see changes as opportunities for something better and they cherish not stability but outgoing development of individual workers and the organization itself. Previous studies have demonstrated the link between the transformational leadership and the leader's emotional intelligence. An empirical study was undertaken with the sample size of 163, age range 25-50 years from Salora Company in New Delhi consists of executives from middle and top levels. Subjects were randomly divided into two groups-Yoga and control group. Yoga group was given one month intervention of SMET program for one hour everyday. Emotional competence scale was used to measure the emotional competence as an indicator of emotional well being. The result indicated that there is a significant difference between Yoga and Control group at p<0.000 significant level. Results imply that SMET intervention contributed to better emotional competence of the managers.

INFLUENCE OF YOGA ON PERFORMANCE IN A TAPPING TASK

SUBRAMANYA P., Regd. Ph.D. Scholar
Swami Vivekananda Yoga Research Foundation, Bangalore, India

The present study evaluated the influence of yoga on the performance in a repetitive motor task. A target tapping task was performed in 218 participants of a yoga camp (115 were patients with different ailments, 58 belonged to a wait-list control and 45 belonged to a yoga group). Assessments were made before and after a 10 day yoga based camp. The target tapping test consisted of two circles 6cm in diameter, with 24.5cm between their centers. To assess eye-hand co-ordination, participants were asked to dot both circles with an alternate and repetitive movement in a period of 2 minutes. The yoga program consisted of breathing practices (e.g., kapalabhati, nadisuddhi, ujjayi) and some simple loosening practices for three hours twice a day. The data were analyzed with a repeated measures analysis of variance. There was a significant increase in target tapping scores following yoga. The results showed an increase in tapping speed in normal volunteers (12%), patients (17%), after yoga. In the wait-list control group there was no significant change. Hence yoga practice appears to reduce fatigue associated with a repetitive motor task.