Table 1 Characteristics of the selected studies

Nº of patients

152

46

19

23

211

167

Population

Prison population

Meditators expertises

8–13 years boys

Children diagnosed with ADHD

Children with 4 or more

attention-

deficit hyperactivity disorder

(ADHD) symptoms

Prison population

Intervention

Combination of asanas (yoga postures),

breathing exercises, deep relaxation, and meditation

To achieve the state of mental silence or thoughtless awareness, where thoughts are either suppressed or substantially reduced

Twenty weekly 1-h yoga instructional group sessions

30-min group yoga sessions

were held

twice a week plus

30-min yoga protocol themes

according to

instructions in a yoga DVD

32-session of the

Kripalu Yoga

Classes were held in a quiet

room and consisted of a standardised

set of hatha yoga postures and

stretches. To complement the poses,

the final 10–20 min

of each class were spent doing

relaxation

Session time

90 min

84 min

1 h

30 min

45 min

2 h

Nº of sessions

10

-

20

12

32

10

Control group

Waitlist

Non-meditators

Cooperative activities

Waitlist

physical education-as-usual

Prisioners without experience

on meditation

Median follow-up

10 weeks

-

20 weeks

6 weeks

6 months

10 weeks