IndiaPost.com - Study on Punjab de-addiction pilot to be published

NEW JERSEY: A New Jersey based medical publication, The Journal of Ethnicity in Substance Abuse, has announced its plan to publish a study on a de-addiction pilot program conducted in Amritsar, India during 2004-2005.

The study, undertaken by researchers at the Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, and the Kundalini Research Institute, documents the effectiveness of a Kundalini-yoga-based de-addiction program.

The 90-day pilot program was conducted by 3HO SuperHealth in conjunction with the Punjab state government. This program was developed by Yogi Bhajan in 1973. The study suggests that the integration of yogic and religious components into the de-addiction process was a key factor in helping the patients become healthier and more confident.

The program reduced stress, depression and anxiety; and improved their emotional and social well-being, leaving the program ready to maintain their sobriety.

According to Mukta Kaur Khalsa, Director for 3HO SuperHealth, the de-addiction pilot program in Punjab combined western therapeutic approaches with eastern spiritual practices - including Gurbani kirtan (chanting), Gatka sessions (Sikh martial arts), visits to meditate and do selfless service at the Golden Temple, and the practice of Kundalini Yoga and meditation.

Seventy percent of the people who participated in the de-addiction program were Sikhs. The study is expected to be printed in the Journal sometime this year.

It will help create awareness about the 3HO SuperHealth approach. "One of Yogi Bhajan's long-term visions was to have Sikh youth camps - where the youth who are addicted to drugs can get treatment. That's not something that can happen this month or this year. But it's something we hope to accomplish one day," it says.