Vision Management in Adolescents with Visually Impaired: The Effect of Yogic Visual Concentration

Abstract

According to World Health Organization (WHO), 314 million individuals worldwide suffer from some degree of vision impairment. Yoga is an effective intervention for the purification and preparation of the body. The leading cleaning practices such as yoga postures, breathing control, and meditation, among others. These techniques include a yogic visual concentration technique known as Trataka. According to certain studies, yogic visual concentration improves eyesight. However, the immediate effect of trataka on visual acuity in adolescents with the visually impaired has not been investigated.

Purpose. The present study investigated the effect of 6 weeks of trataka training on visual acuity in visually impaired adolescents.

Material & Methods. The study used a single group, before/after design, with ten visually challenged adolescents (Mage=16.5 years; SD=1.5; range 15-18 years) participating in a 6-week trataka training. In clinical settings, the Snellen chart is the most used tool for determining a participant's level of visual acuity.

Results. The outcome score for left eyesight (44.44 per cent) and right eyesight (50.43 per cent) improved significantly. Furthermore, paired t-test findings revealed significant improvement in both left eyesight (p<0.001; ES=0.87) and right eyesight (p<0.001; ES=0.83) following 6 weeks of trataka training.

Conclusions. The findings of this study objectively show that the yogic visual concentration training may be more effective in adolescents with the visually impaired. Future studies with larger sample size and a more substantial research design based on objective variables are required to strengthen the study's conclusions.