[The effect of Hatha yoga on poor posture in children and the psychophysiologic condition in adults].

Hatha Yoga's effects on the posture of 15 ten year-old children and also its effects on the psychophysical condition of 15 grown-ups was studied. As symptoms, during the first examination, 12 of the 15 children had head protrusion, 14 had shortened back extensors, all 15 had bent shoulders, relaxation of the frontal abdominal wall and shortened flexors of both the calf and thigh. The condition of all the children was remarkably better after six months of practice, some of the symptoms having completely disappeared (head protrusion, asymmetry of the shoulders, mamillas and hips, shortening of the pectoralis and back extensors), 9 children still had slight to medium relaxation of the frontal abdominal wall, 8 children still had bent shoulders, and 1 child still had shortened calf and thigh extensors. The adults were in a weak or very weak psychophysical condition, they tired easily, they complained of sleep disturbances, fluctuation of emotional state and irritability. After 3 months of practice, the vital capacity of 8 of the adults tested (53.3%) had increased by 435 ml. The time duration of apnoea had lengthened for all of the practicing adults, but with a truly large variation among them (a median of 14%). The deep waist-bend length of all the practicing adults had lengthened by an average of 9.5 cm, and the average length increase for the 3-minute running test was 42 m. All those who practiced, had experienced an alleviation of psychic difficulties.