The effects of yoga on mood were examined in 113 psychiatric in patients at New Hampshire Hospital who completed the Profile of Mood States (POMS) prior to and following participation in a yoga class (Lavey, 2005)..
All psychiatric inpatients were invited to participate in the Yoga Program which included: welcome (introduction to the class), centering (awareness of present posture, attention to breathing), warm-ups (gentle movements to open major joints and muscle groups), classical yoga postures (a sequence of yoga postures with focus on deep breathing, body sensation, relaxation, and gently pressing into the extremities of the body), and relaxation (lying in a comfortable position with attention on deep complete breathing and body sensations).
Results indicated significant improvements on all five of the negative emotion factors on the POMS, including tension-anxiety, depression-dejection, anger-hostility, fatigue-inertia, and confusion-bewilderment. Other studies have documented that yoga does indeed alter mood (Khalsa, 1998) but few have investigated what aspect of yoga does so – asanas, breathing, meditation.
In a research study investigating the effects of yoga on mildly depressed adults, Yyenger yoga was chosen because within the Yyenger tradition specific asanas and sequences of asanas are thought to impact mood, namely asanas that open and lift chest, especially back bends, inversions and vigorous standing poses Woolery, 2004). Twenty-eight college students attended 2 one-hour Iyengar yoga classes for 5 consecutive weeks. The results showed a significant reduction in depression and state anxiety which emerged halfway through the 5 weeks and was maintained until the end.
(Woolery, Allison et al, 2004). Yoga and Sleep Chronic insomniacs exhibit cognitive and physiological arousal. If yoga lowers cortisol levels and taps into the parasympathetic or calming branch of the autonomic nervous system, bringing on the relaxation response, then theoretically yoga practice should help with insomnia. Accordingly, studies of insomnia treatments aimed at reducing arousal, including relaxation and meditation have reported positive results (Koch et al, 1998; Joshi, 1992).
In a more recent study, a simple daily yoga treatment was evaluated in a chronic insomnia population consisting of sleep-onset and/or sleep-maintenance insomnia and primary or secondary insomnia (Khalsa, 2004). Participants maintained sleep-wake diaries during a pretreatment 2-week baseline and a subsequent 8-week intervention, in which they practiced the Kundalini style yoga on their own following a single in-person training session with subsequent brief in-person and telephone follow-ups.
All exercises were done in a seated posture, with eyes closed, long, slow abdominal breathing through the nose, and the spine erect and relaxed. Instructed also in the meditative, spiritual aspects of yoga, participants were asked to maintain a relaxed mental focus either on their breathing or on a silent mantra of their choice. During the inhale, the mantra “Sa, ta, na, ma” was repeated and during the exhale “Wahe guru” was repeated.
Sleep efficiency (SE), total sleep time (TST), total wake time (TWT), sleep onset latency (SOL), wake time after sleep onset (WASO), number of awakenings, and sleep quality measures were derived from sleep-wake diary entries and were averaged in 2-week intervals. For 20 participants completing the protocol, statistically significant improvements were observed in SE, TST, TWT, SOL, and WASO at end-treatment as compared with pretreatment values. Yoga and Focus.
Several studies have documented yoga to enhance mental abilities (Rani, 1994) such as improved concentration, as measured by scores on coding (Hopkins & Hopkins, 1979) and static motor performance tasks (Telles, Hanumanthaiah, Nagarathna, & Nagendra, 1993). Following ten months of regular yoga practice, college students in a 1995 study shifted towards field independence, meaning they had greater spatial awareness and ability to maneuver in space (Srivedi, 1995).
A 1995 study reported that after 10 days of yoga training, a group of college students had improved visual discrimination – they were better able to focus and process visual information (Telles, 1995). Alternate Nostril Breathing is a common yogic breathing exercise (ANB). In one research study, ANB increased spatial memory in 10 to 17 year olds (Naveen et al, 1997)). Increased spatial awareness relates to field independence, the ability to be relatively independent of the physical environment and still accurately orient and maneuver in space.
As the field independent are more centered and grounded in space, this exercise offers an important opportunity for better body awareness. For many centuries, yogis have believed that regular changes occur in nasal dominance-greater airflow in one nostril-and that this cycle correlates with mental and physical states. Many researchers hypothesize that right nostril dominance stimulates the arousal-producing sympathetic nervous system and left nostril dominance elicits the relaxation-producing parasympathetic system (Rani, 1994).
At the University of California, San Diego, CA, USA, David ShannahoffKhalsa and his team are studying how nasal dominance can alter physiological state and its affect on mood. They are investigating unilateral forced nostril breathing (UFNB) (CITE SPECIFIC STUDY – don’t have it)… This yogic breath-control technique affects the autonomic nervous system which controls basic functions like breathing and heart rate. One study found left-sided UFNB improves spatial skills whereas right UFNB increases verbal skills (Int J Neurosci 1993).
Yogis claim that one left UFNB technique (perfected at one breath per minute for 31 minutes) helps treat OCD (CAN YOU BACK THIS UP WITH A CITATION???? – no it wasn’t in the original source). Early data from a small randomised trial show that this technique significantly improved obsessive-compulsive symptoms after 3 months compared with non-yogic meditation (ObsessiveCompulsive Disorders,1997 – I can’t find the author). Conclusion The ancient mind-body practice of yoga has the power to relax the body, alleviate anxiety and stress and improve concentration.
It does so because it comprises more than just exercise in the form of asanas or postures. Yoga exercise is done with controlled breathing, which elicits the relaxation response and allows the body to restore itself, and by focusing on the present which transforms practice into a moving meditation that encourages relaxation, mood boosting, physical purification and spiritual growth. These effects have been borne out by research as this paper demonstrated. Much recent research has documented the ability of yoga to decrease mood disturbance, reduce psychic stress and anxiety, and reduce PTSD symptoms.
Yoga as well has been shown to promote self-control, attention and concentration, self-efficacy, body awareness, and stress reduction. And these effects extend to children as well. For instance, yoga practice of yoga has been shown to reduce middle school children’s state anxiety, heart rate, headaches, and general tension and stress symptoms. Along with the asanas, many of the studies employed yoga breathing and concentrated focus to guide the person into a meditative state – the spiritual aspect of yoga. It is specifically this aspect of yoga that makes it more than just exercise.