Impact of Yoga on Mental Health and Sleep Quality Among Mothers of Children With Intellectual Disability.

OBJECTIVES: Caring for a child with Intellectual Disability Disorder (IDD) is a tremendously stressful task for any mother, leading to poor mental health and compromised quality of life. Anxiety, depression, stress, and poor sleep quality are frequently observed in mothers with Intellectual Disability Disorder child. This study assessed the impact of a 1-month yoga intervention on anxiety, depression, stress and sleep quality in mothers of children with intellectual disabilities. METHODS: We selected 53 mothers of children with intellectual disabilities between the age of 30 and 50 years (mean age, 40.2 ± 7.1 years). Of these mothers, 28 received 1.5 hours of integrated yoga practice consisting of physical postures, breathing techniques, relaxation techniques and meditation every other day for 1 month. The remaining 25 mothers, who served as the control group, participated in a group discussion session twice a week for 1 month. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: All mothers were assessed for anxiety and depression with the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), stress with the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), and sleep quality with the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) at baseline and at 1 month. RESULTS: Significant improvements in anxiety (-24.8%; P < .001), depression (-15.9%; P < .001), sleep quality (-25.1%; P < .05) and stress (-11.4%; P < .001) were observed after 1 month compared with baseline in the yoga group. In a similar fashion, a significant decrease in anxiety (-12.3%; P < .001), depression (-8.6%; P < .001) and sleep quality (-5.6%; P < .001) was seen in the control group as well. The between-group comparison of post-intervention scores revealed a significantly better improvement in anxiety (P <.001), depression (P < .001), perceived stress (P < .001) and sleep quality (P = .012) in the yoga group compared with the control group. CONCLUSIONS: Our study indicates that yoga can be used as an effective intervention to improve psychopathology and sleep quality in mothers of children with intellectual disabilities. We recommend future randomized controlled trials with larger sample sizes and of longer duration to study the long-term effects of yoga.

Impact of Yoga on anxiety, stress and sleep quality among health care professionals during public health crisis.

BACKGROUND: Health Care Professionals (HCPs) working on the frontlines of health care emergencies/pandemics often experience elevated anxiety, stress and reduced quality of sleep. Yoga is a mind-body practice that has been proven to effective in improving physical and mental health. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effectiveness of integrated Yoga intervention on mental health measures and sleep quality among HCPs working during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: It was a quasi-experimental study on 110 HCPs, including Doctors and nursing staff, with an age range of 20 to 65 years who were recruited through a convenience sampling method and assigned to a Yoga group (n = 55) or a control group (n = 55).The Yoga group received a weekly one-hour Yoga session followed by a 30-minute self-practice three times a week at home for one month. The control group followed routine activity. Heart rate (HR), Blood Pressure, stress measures (Perceived Stress and visual analogue Scale for Stress), COVID-related anxiety, Sleep Quality, Quality of life and Preservative Thinking were assessed before and after the intervention. RESULTS: A significant decrease in stress measures, COVID-19-related anxiety and fear, and perseverative thinking was noticed in the Yoga group. Sleep quality and quality of life also improved significantly. The control group showed no significant change. At one month, the Yoga group showed significantly greater improvement in stress measures, COVID-19-related anxiety and fear, perseverative thinking, sleep quality and quality of life compared to the control group. CONCLUSION: Yoga practice during the public health crisis would help reduce anxiety and stress and improve sleep among HCPs. Further, RCT studies are warranted.

Efficacy of Integrated Tele-Yoga Intervention on Physiological and Psychological Variables in Asymptomatic COVID-19 Positive Patients: A Confirmatory Randomized Control Trial.

BACKGROUND: A study was conducted on asymptomatic COVID-19 positive patients admitted in a COVID-19 hospital in Indore, India, during first wave of the pandemic. The objective of the study was to assess the efficacy of an integrated tele-yoga intervention as an adjunct to conventional management on physiological, psychological, and mindfulness variables. METHODS: In a confirmatory randomized control trial, 60 asymptomatic COVID-19 patients in hospital confinement were randomly allocated to experimental and control groups (n = 30). The tele-yoga intervention included breathing exercise, pranayama, and meditation delivered over 30 min for 7 days to the experimental group while the control group continued treatment as usual. Assessment of physiological variables and psychological variables was carried out before intervention and on day 7 immediately after intervention. Data were analyzed using SPSS (v.16.0). RESULTS: Mann-Whitney U test shows that there was a statistically significant difference between groups regarding all variables (p < 0.001). The physiological and psychological variables which included Oxygen saturation (2.07%), Heart rate (8.21%), Respiratory rate (10.04%), Systolic blood pressure (6.14%), Diastolic blood pressure (8.38%), Visual Analog Scale for stress (62.78%), COVID-19 Peritraumatic Distress Index (68.44%), and State Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (72.72%) showed significant changes in the experimental group compared to control group. CONCLUSION: The results of this study suggest that integrated tele-yoga might have therapeutic benefits in improving physiological, psychological, and mindfulness variables in asymptomatic COVID-19 patients.

Physical Activity, Yoga, and Exercise Prescription for Postpartum and Midlife Weight Management: A Practical Review for Clinicians.

This narrative review is aimed to practically review and evaluate the existing evidence and illuminate the effectiveness of physical activity, yoga, and exercise for postpartum and midlife weight management. A comprehensive review was conducted using electronic databases such as PubMed and google scholar using search terms physical activity, exercise, yoga, postpartum, midlife, weight loss, weight reduction, and all the probable terms. This helped in generating evidence-based information and formulating practical physical activity prescriptions to be used by obstetricians, general clinicians, nutritionists, and other allied healthcare personnel. Overweight and obesity in postpartum and midlife women present long-term health risks and complications. Indulging in optimum physical activity comprising exercise and yoga will help in weight management, increasing muscular strength, and endurance thus improving overall health and well-being. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13224-022-01627-w.

Effects of yoga on stress, fatigue, musculoskeletal pain, and the quality of life among employees of diamond industry: A new approach in employee wellness.

BACKGROUND: Diamond industry employees often experience musculoskeletal pain, fatigue, and stress, contributing to a low quality of life (QoL). Yoga is an ancient discipline of mind-body practice Yoga has numerous health benefits. OBJECTIVE: This study investigated the efficacy of workplace yoga in improving stress, musculoskeletal pain, fatigue, and QoL among employees of the diamond industry. METHODS: One-hundred sixty-six employees of the diamond industry between the ages of 20 and 60 participated in the study. Participants were assigned to either yoga (n = 84) or waitlist (n = 82) groups. The yoga group received one hour of yoga, four days a week for three consecutive months. Participants in the waitlist group followed their daily routines. Musculoskeletal pain, fatigue, stress, and QoL were assessed at baseline and after three months. RESULTS: One-hundred fifty-five employees completed the study. The yoga group showed significant (p < 0.05) improvement in pain, perceived stress, fatigue, and QoL domains after three months compared to baseline. The waitlist group showed no significant improvement in any of the measures. In the post scores comparison between the groups revealed a significant difference between the groups. CONCLUSION: Workplace yoga found to be a useful, cost-effective and feasible intervention in improving stress, musculoskeletal pain, fatigues and quality of life among employees of the diamond industry. Yoga may be implemented in the workplace as a wellness program at the workplace.

Effect of yoga on depression in hypothyroidism: A pilot study.

BACKGROUND: The prevalence of hypothyroidism among Indian women is 15.8%. Depression is frequently reported in hypothyroidism. Yoga is an effective intervention for depression. However, the influence of yoga on depression in patients with hypothyroidism has not been studied. AIM: The present study investigated the effect of a 3-month integrated yoga intervention (3-IY) on depression, lipid indices, and serum thyroid-stimulating hormone (sTSH) levels among female patients having hypothyroidism, and mild-to-moderate depression. METHOD: The present single-arm pre-post design study was conducted in thirty-eight women (average age 34.2 ± 4.7 years). Participants received a 3-IY comprising asanas, pranayama, and relaxation techniques for 60 min daily (5 days a week). Depression, sTSH, lipid profile indices, Body Mass Index (BMI), fatigue, anxiety, and stress were assessed at baseline and after 12 weeks. Thyroid medication was kept constant during the study period. Data were analysed using R Studio software. RESULT: A significant (P < 0.05) reduction in depression (58%), sTSH (37%), BMI (6%), fatigue (64%), anxiety (57%), lipid profile indices (HLD increased significanty), and stress (55%) levels was observed after 3 months, compared with the corresponding baseline levels. CONCLUSION: The 3-IY is useful for reducing depression, dyslipidemia, and sTSH in women with hypothyroidism and depression. Further studies with a larger sample size and a robust research design using objective variables must be conducted to strengthen the study findings.

Effects of integrated yoga on quality of life and interpersonal relationship of pregnant women.

PURPOSE: The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of integrated yoga on the quality of life and interpersonal relationships in normal pregnant women. METHODS: One hundred and two pregnant women between 18 and 20 weeks of gestation who met the inclusion criteria were recruited from the obstetric units in Bangalore and were randomly assigned to two groups of yoga (n = 51) and control (n = 51). Women with medical conditions that could potentially lead to pregnancy complications and those with abnormal fetal parameters were excluded. The yoga group received integrated yoga while control group received standard antenatal exercises, both for 1-h three times a week from 20th to 36th week of gestation. Pre and post assessments were done using WHOQOL-100 and FIRO-B questionnaires. RESULTS: Of the six domains of WHOQOL-100, between groups analysis showed significant improvements in the yoga group compared to the control in the physical (P = 0.001), psychological (P < 0.001), social (P = 0.003), and environmental domains (P = 0.001). In FIRO-B, the yoga group showed significant improvements in 'Expressed Inclusion' (P = 0.02) and 'Wanted Control' (P = 0.009) domains compared to the control group. CONCLUSION: The integrated yoga is an efficacious means of improving the quality of life of pregnant women and enhancing certain aspects of their interpersonal relationships.

Immediate effect of three yoga breathing techniques on performance on a letter-cancellation task.

The effects of three yoga breathing practices were evaluated on performance on a letter-cancellation task which is a left-hemisphere dominant task. The three yoga breathing practices (right, left, and alternate nostril breathing) were selected because unilateral forced nostril breathing stimulates the contralateral hemisphere. There were 20 male volunteers whose ages ranged from 20 to 45 years (M age=28.4 yr., SD=5.7). All subjects were assessed before and after four sessions, i.e., right nostril yoga breathing, left nostril yoga breathing, alternate nostril yoga breathing, and breath awareness as a control. The letter-cancellation task scores were significantly improved, i.e., there were fewer errors following right and alternate nostril yoga breathing (Wilcoxon paired signed-ranks test). The improved performance may be related to the enhancement of contralateral hemisphere function found with selective nostril breathing.