An analytical feedback report of Siddha Yogam practice and integration perspective among the undergraduate female medical students of Tirupati

Rajalakshmi Shanmugavelan; Samraj Karunanithi; Nandhagopal Kannaiyan; Radha Sudalaimani; Arunachalam Krishnasamy; Sharvani Nerella; Kanakavalli Kadarkarai

doi:10.4103/jrsm.jrsm_3_23

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Year : 2023 | Volume : 6 | Issue : 1 | Page : 36-40

An analytical feedback report of Siddha Yogam practice and integration perspective among the undergraduate female medical students of Tirupati

Rajalakshmi Shanmugavelan¹, Samraj Karunanithi¹, Nandhagopal Kannaiyan¹, Radha Sudalaimani¹, Arunachalam Krishnasamy¹, Sharvani Nerella², Kanakavalli Kadarkarai³
¹ Siddha Clinical Research Unit, Central Council for Research in Siddha, Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh, India
² Department of Physiology, Sri Padmavathi Medical College for Women, Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh, India
³ Government Siddha Medical College, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India

Date of Submission	06-Feb-2023
Date of Decision	25-Apr-2023
Date of Acceptance	10-May-2023
Date of Web Publication	29-Aug-2023

Correspondence Address:
Rajalakshmi Shanmugavelan
Siddha Clinical Research Unit, Central Council for Research in Siddha, Tirupati, SVIMS Campus, Andhra Pradesh - 517 507
India

Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None

DOI: 10.4103/jrsm.jrsm_3_23

Abstract

Background: The application of Siddha Yogam (SY) as a healing intervention, which began early in the ancient Indian history, which has various health benefits. This is the first preliminary study to evaluate the student interest toward SY and integration. Objective: This study was aimed to assess: (i) modern medical students’ awareness (ii) knowledge, benefits and (iii) interest of medical students toward integration of SY in clinical practice. Materials and Methods: SY training was conducted for the students of Sri Padmavathi Medical College for Women, Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh, India. A total of 38 students were participated in a SY session. The training was conducted for about 2 weeks daily for a duration of 45 minutes. Feedback questionnaires were used to collect student perceptions about SY. Results: The result shows that out of 38 students, 37 (97.4%) were already aware of the benefits of SY, 28 (73.7%) practiced daily, 31 (81.6%) participated in the SY session regularly, 38 (100%) want to continue session in future, 38 (100%) had an interest in attending session, 15 (39.5%) found difficulty in doing SY during Yogam session, and 36 (94.7%) said that they will suggest Siddha Yogam for the patient approaching them. Conclusion: From the feedback data collected, it is evident that the students are interested in SY, aware of the benefits of SY, and are looking forward to an opportunity for an integrative approach in treatment strategy.

Keywords: Complementary medicine, integrative medicine, Siddha medicine, traditional medicine

How to cite this article:
Shanmugavelan R, Karunanithi S, Kannaiyan N, Sudalaimani R, Krishnasamy A, Nerella S, Kadarkarai K. An analytical feedback report of Siddha Yogam practice and integration perspective among the undergraduate female medical students of Tirupati. J Res Siddha Med 2023;6:36-40

How to cite this URL:
Shanmugavelan R, Karunanithi S, Kannaiyan N, Sudalaimani R, Krishnasamy A, Nerella S, Kadarkarai K. An analytical feedback report of Siddha Yogam practice and integration perspective among the undergraduate female medical students of Tirupati. J Res Siddha Med [serial online] 2023 [cited 2023 Oct 3];6:36-40. Available from: http://www.jrsm.in/text.asp?2023/6/1/36/384578

Introduction

Siddha system of medicine is one of the primordial systems of medicine; Siddhars said a lot about disease treatment and prevention. One such preventive aspect is Siddha Yogam, the term “Yogam” means “union.” Siddhars have defined Yogam as an art that controls the mind by preventing it from distracting through sense and sense organs and fusing it with the divinity. The eight steps or stages of Siddha Yogam are Iyamam (learning discipline), Niyamam (purity of action), Asanam (posture), Pranayamam (controlling one’s breath), Prathyaharam (controlling five senses), Dharanai (the practice of concentration), Dhyanam, and Samadhi. The third step or stage of Siddha Yogam is asanam, means posture or pose, and it is also called yogasanam. The scientific art of controlling one’s breathing is called Pranayamam. It is also called “vasi” and “vaasiyogam.”^[1]

The application of Siddha Yogam as a healing intervention, which began early in the Indian history, takes advantage of the various psychophysiological benefits of the component practices. The physical exercises may increase the patient’s physical flexibility, coordination, and strength, whereas breathing practices and meditation may calm and focus the mind to develop greater awareness and diminish anxiety.^[2]

There are limited reports of structured Siddha Yogam programs used by medical students. All those studies focused to promote students’ well-being, reduce stress levels, and mindfulness-based stress reduction.^[3] In addition to self-awareness and self-care, the primary aim of our study was to determine whether incorporating the practice of Siddha Yogam into the modern medical students will give affirmative thought toward integration. This is the first preliminary study to evaluate the student interest toward and integration. The objective of this study was to assess, modern medical students’ awareness knowledge of benefits Siddha Yogam, and integration into clinical practice.

Materials and methods

Subjects

Participants included were 38 Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) students of Sri Padmavathi Medical College for Women. All were females of the same age group 20 years.

The study period was 2 weeks (January 2020).

The study design was cross-sectional study.

Intervention (Siddha Yogam session)

Siddha Yogam session was about 45-min duration: starts with relaxation techniques, followed by asanas in common Yoga protocol, and Siddha literatures^[4] ends up with pranayamam and meditation. No predetermination of the sample size was done as it was highly depending on the number of participants. Timing of practice was kept from 4.15 PM to 5 PM daily, and it was ensured that practice did not affect the regular teaching program.

1. Relaxation techniques: 5 min.

2. Asanam (postures): 10.

Tadasanam, Vriksasanam, Padahasthasanam, Ardhachakrasanam, Trikonasanam, Bhadrasanam, Ardha ustrasanam, Sasangasanam, Bhujangasanam, and Savasanam

3. Pranayamam (breathing exercise)

4. Dhiyanam (meditation): 10 min

In the session, the common Yoga protocol was introduced to the participants, and asanas were demonstrated explaining their health benefits. The training session was conducted for 2 weeks, and on the last day, feedback forms were provided to the participants.

Questionnaire

Student feedback forms were distributed to all the participants, which consist of nine open-ended questions and one close-ended question qualitative in nature. Manually filled forms are collected, and the data were documented. The questionnaire is validated by the scientific committee of Siddha Clinical Research Unit, Tirupati.

The study asked specific questions related to their benefits of Siddha Yogam and interest toward integration. In the manual, the feedback was given individually to each of them, given 10 min to complete the feedback form. The questionnaire was transferred to an online questionnaire-building site, Google Forms. The data were statistically analyzed.

The questionnaire contains 10 questions and has three subdivisions as follows [Table 1][Table 2][Table 3]:

Table 1: Modern medical students’ awareness toward Siddha Yogam—Questionnaire

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Table 2: Knowledge of Siddha Yogam benefits for their self-health improvement—Questionnaire

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Table 3: Interest of medical students toward Siddha Siddha Yogam integration in clinical practice—Questionnaire

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i. Modern medical students’ awareness toward Siddha Yogam, items 1 and 2

ii. Medical students’ knowledge of Siddha Yogam benefits for their self-health improvement, items 3–9

iii. Interest of medical students toward Siddha Yogam integration in clinical practice, item 10

Data analysis

The data analysis process consisted of quantitative analysis and thematic content analysis. Descriptive statistics were used to demonstrate the findings of a questionnaire. The completed data forms were collected, and the data were entered manually into a spreadsheet processing program and analyzed.

Results

In the present study, all 38 (100%) medical students who participated in a Siddha Yogam session responded to the questionnaire. When we examined the negative and positive responses, the overwhelming responses were positive; the only negative response is the difficulty in doing Siddha Yogam, this study has not ruled out the type of difficulty they faced while doing Siddha Yogam, and this has to be elaborated in the future study. The most notable positive response identified in the 10-question survey included the participants practice Siddha Yogam with interest and they want to attend Siddha Yogam session in future too; another noteworthy positive response is the students will refer patients to Siddha Yogam, and this is the consider as a good sign of integration.

Discussion

Modern medical students’ awareness toward Siddha Yogam

A descriptive cross-sectional study conducted among 149 undergraduate medical students showed 30.87% had the habit of doing Yoga and 88.59% of the students had the knowledge of benefits of Yoga.^[5] Another cross-sectional study of 176 medical students showed 77.84% had the habit of practicing yoga but only 14.20% of students continued it. About 96.59% of students knew the benefits of yoga.^[6]

In the present study of 38 students, 37 were already aware of the benefits of Siddha Yogam, whereas one student was unaware of Siddha Yogam and its benefits, and 22 students already practice before attending the training session. Although 37 were aware of Siddha Yogam benefits, only 22 practice and 16 do not practice Siddha Yogam before attending the training session, which implies that they know only benefits but not the procedure and need to conduct Siddha Yogam training classes to the students [Table 4].

Table 4: Results of quantitative analysis of modern medical students’ awareness toward Siddha Yogam questionnaire

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Knowledge of Siddha Yogam benefits for their self-health improvement

Some studies of Yoga practice in medical students have shown significant changes in memory, attention, and concentration,^[7],[8] reduction in perceived stress,^[9] improvement in general and mental well-being,^[10] and improve pulmonary functions in healthy individuals.^[11]

As reported by Bhavanani^[12] regarding the introduction of lectures and practical sessions in medical professional colleges in Pondicherry, the feedback from students showed excellent response. Students reported that the sessions had helped them adjust to college life better and also that the stress management techniques enhanced their ability to do well in curricular and extracurricular activities.^[12]

The present study showed that of 38 students, 31 participate in the Siddha Yogam session regularly, 28 practice daily, and 10 students do not practice daily; these indicate that the students difficulty in doing, which was also ruled out in a separate question, 15 students find difficulty in doing Siddha Yogam during session itself. Only 36 were interested in doing Siddha Yogam regularly, but 38 want to continue a Siddha Yogam session in the future, which implies students hesitate to do by themselves, but they were willing to do Siddha Yogam when instructor is provided. A total of 32 (84.2%) students want to do a weekly once, and two (15.8%) students want to do a session 2 weeks once [Table 5].

Table 5: Results of quantitative analysis of knowledge of Siddha Yogam benefits for their self-health improvement

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Interest of medical students toward Siddha Yogam integration in clinical practice

Integrative medicine is healing-oriented medicine that takes account of the entire person, including all aspects of lifestyle. It emphasizes the therapeutic relationship between practitioner and patient, is informed by evidence, and makes use of all appropriate therapies integration, which is a future need in the medical field. For the successful integration, the basic knowledge about Siddha Yogam is needed, it is easy to achieve through medical students rather than medical practitioner. It can be integrated with various disease treatments such as musculoskeletal disorders, bronchial asthma, hypertension, depression, and insomnia.^[1] It can also be used as an adjuvant therapy for many noncommunicable diseases.

Sulenes et al.^[13] found that a personal experience is a salient factor for accepting as a referral target. They suggest the need to develop strategies to make health professionals more aware of the merits of Yoga, regardless of whether they are Siddha Yogam practitioners.^[13] In this study, 36 students expressed openness to referring patients to Siddha Yogam. However, two students did not show a willingness to refer [Table 6].

Table 6: Results of quantitative analysis of interest of medical students toward Siddha Yogam integration into clinical practice

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This study is only limited to assessing the interest of modern medical students toward Siddha Yogam practice and Siddha Yogam therapeutic integration. This study has to be extended up to a large population study to all medical college students.

Suggestions

1. It is necessary to make Yoga a part of the MBBS curriculum. The institution must provide dedicated faculty trained in Siddha Yogam and the students must participate in Siddha Yogam classes and practical sessions. The entire faculty must have sufficient capability in the knowledge and practice of Siddha Yogam so that they can influence and inspire the students.

2. Clinical departments must integrate Siddha Yogam into the treatment protocols. The integration attempts and outcomes must be highlighted (both successes and failures) in clinical teaching sessions and seminars. Hospitals must establish Siddha Yogam sessions for inpatients and outpatients in the presence of a trained Yoga teacher.

Conclusion

A favorable atmosphere must be created for the regular practice of Siddha Yogam. Experiencing its goodness will prepare medical students to encourage future patients to avail the benefits of. It could be concluded from the study that efforts to promote significant awareness about Siddha Yogam and increase the facilities to practice Siddha Yogam will make the medical professionals realize its benefits and step into an integrative approach toward ailments to improve one’s quality of life in the future as prescribed by Siddhars.

Acknowledgement

The authors are thankful for the academic cum organizing partner Prof. Dr. B. Vengamma, Director cum Vice-Chancellor, Sri Venkateswara Institute of Medical Sciences, for their guidance and support.

Financial support and sponsorship

Not applicable.

Conflicts of interest

There are no conflicts of interest.

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