Gopal and colleagues recruited 60 first-year medical students (all women, aged 17-20 years) and randomly assigned them to a 12-week yoga or no-treatment control group. The yoga group practiced 35 minutes per day. Each practice included yogic prayer (two minutes), Sukshma Vyayam (physical body warm-ups, six minutes) and Sthula Vyayama (subtle body warm-ups, four minutes), asanas (yoga postures, twelve minutes), pranayama (breathing exercises, four minutes), and dhyana (meditation, five minutes). The researchers measured self-reported stress and anxiety in addition to physiological and biochemical markers of stress and immunity. Participants were assessed before the yoga began (baseline) and 12 weeks later, while taking medical mid-term exams.

Participants in the control group significantly worsened on all parameters during the exam. By contrast, the yoga group reported significant decreases in subjective stress and anxiety, while physiological and biochemical measures of stress and immunity remained stable compared to the control group.

The impact of stress on compromised immunity and many other health problems has been well documented. Because one of yoga's primary theorized pathways of action is stress reduction, it may serve as a useful tool in the arsenal against a broader array of stress-related illnesses and conditions than those tested here. As suggested by this study, yoga may also exert a powerful protective benefit, effectively functioning as a form of preventive medicine.

Little yoga research has focused on yoga's potential as such, although a 2009 report of a study comparing yoga to physical education in a high school setting parallels the findings of the study reported here. Drs. Sat Bir Khalsa and Jessica Noggle of the Brigham and Women's Hospital found the yoga group to significantly improve on measures of anger control and fatigue relative to control subjects. In support of the notion that yoga may function as preventive medicine, the control group’s mental health worsened over the course of the study, while the yoga students either showed minimal change or slight improvements.

The implications of these researchers’ results, combined with a growing body of research literature that suggests yoga may impact multiple domains of health, is both remarkable and provocative. Imagine if, as suggested by Dr. Khalsa, all students experienced yoga as a form of mind-body hygiene (similar to brushing your teeth) in order to protect against stressors and optimize health. Given that most lifestyle diseases—the leading cause of death in the US—are preventable, yoga’s potential to support health and well-being is considerable.

Have you found yoga to reduce exam stress or anxiety? Do you get sick less often when you practice yoga?

yogatwb: ...

I teach yoga at the local state college; my students often report that the yoga helps them get through the stressful parts of the semester!

1

March 06, 2012

bblask: ...

At health Directions, a wellness facility of Lexington Medical Center of Columbia, SC a class of slow flow yoga emphasizing Donna Farhi's full body breathing methods evokes participant comments of increased energy applied to physical tasks such as cleaning house. They also note that they sense emotional refreshment. This demographic is mostly female in the age range of 50-70. Meditation takes the form of 5-10 breaths while holding an asana in which comfort and stability are encouraged, as well as a closing 5-10 minute Savasana during which verbally guided relaxation and restful imagery is given.

2

March 08, 2012