Sony Kumari

Psychophysiological effects of yoga on stress in college students

College students are vulnerable to a critical period in developmental maturation, facing rigorous academic work, and learning how to function independently. Physical activities such as running and bicycling have been shown to improve mood and relieve stress. However, college students often have low levels of physical activity. Yoga is an ancient physical and mental activity that affects mood and stress. However, studies examining the psychophysiological effects of yoga are rare in peer-reviewed journals. The aim of this study is to establish preliminary evidence for the psychophysiological effects of yoga on stress in young-adult college students. The present study suggests that yoga has positive effects on a psychophysiological level that leads to decreased levels of stress in college student. Further research is needed to examine the extent to which different types of yogic practices address the needs of different college subpopulations (e.g., overweight, sedentary, and smokers).

Effect of yoga on positive–Negative affect and self-esteem on tribal male adolescents- A randomized control study

Aim: Effect of yoga on positive–negative affectivity and self-esteem in tribal adolescents. Material and Methods: This is a pilot randomized control study. Several chits were made in which the name of all the available students was written. The youngest boy from the group selected 30 chits for yoga group and the remaining students were included in the control group. The yoga group included 30 male adolescents between the age of 10 years and 18 years (M = 14.4, SD = 3.51). Control group included 25 male adolescents between the age of 10 years and 18 years (M = 13.3, SD = 1.90). PANAS-C and Rosenberg self-esteem scales were used to measure the positive–negative affectivity and self-esteem, respectively. Data was collected before and after interventions. Results: Study shows significant increase in positive affect (P = 0.008) and negative affect (P = 0.047) in experimental group as compared to control groups positive affect (P = 0.468) and negative affect (P = 0.156). Self-esteem in experimental group slightly reduced (P = 0.927). Similarly, self-esteem in control group reduced (P = 0.019). Conclusion: Study suggests that two weeks of yoga practice has a significant impact on positive-negative affect in tribal adolescents.

Impact of Integrated Yoga Module (IYM) on Decision-Making Style of Managers-Randomised Controlled Trial Study

Decision-making by managers in the technology-driven, information-rich business world today is crucial as human beings have cognitive and thinking process anomaly evolved to make them systemically unpredictable. Training modules are not available that can be used to develop the effective decision-making style in managers addressing cognitive and physiological aspects. In this paper, we studied that respective human variable that are relevant to business organisations indicate decision-making style of manager and that are improved through regulation of energies in body-mind-complex based on willpower and self-control. We conducted the 90-day randomised controlled trial and introduced the intervention for the two groups. One group joined integrated yoga module-IYM (Yoga) (n = 63) and other group practised physical exercise (PhyEx) (n = 63). Repeated measures (RM) analysis of variance, conducted at the interval of every 30 days, show significant main effect of IYM intervention on decision-making domains (p < 0.001), whereas PhyEx did not show any significant main effects (p < 0.066). IYM has more reliable and consistent with long-term effect on decision-making style than PhyEx, though both are effective in short term.

Yoga and its impact on counterproductive work behavior

Background: Counterproductive work behavior (CWB) is a matter of concern for many organizations because it represents a potential for an extensive range of negative performance and psycho-social outcomes for organization and its members and it results in enormous losses to organizations. Objectives: To assess the effect of yoga on working professionals and its role in the reduction of CWB by overcoming issues of stress, anxiety, aggression, and negative emotions. Materials and Methods: A randomized controlled pre- and post-test study conducted. Study sample included yoga group ( n = 80) and control group ( n = 80). Yoga module that included asanas, pranayama, meditation, and yogic theory lectures were taught to the yoga group. Mild to moderate physical exercises and management lectures were taught to the control group. Both groups received intervention for ten weeks, covering 1 hour daily, 5 days a week. Measurements of self-reported CWBs were taken as baseline and post intervention for assessment. Within group, comparison was performed in paired t -test and between group comparisons was performed in the analysis of covariance with baseline score as a covariate. Gender difference for CWB scores was measured in an independent t -test. The relationship between variables was investigated using Pearson correlation. Results: Yoga group reported statistically significant reduction in CWB in comparison to the control group. The gender difference was observed in the case of CWB scores. Conclusion: This study provides evidence of yoga practices as viable and costs effective solution in reducing CWB at the workplace and its predictors such as stress, negative affectivity, and aggression. There seems to be a great deal of assurance in the yoga session if conducted at workplace toward getting numerous benefits on the mental and physical health of employees and substantial savings for employers from losses.

Effect of yoga module on low back pain in information technology professionals

Introduction: The prevalence of back pain is on the rise. “ Throughout the medical profession, we are finding a shocking increase in both the frequency and severity of back problems,” writes Alfred O. Bonati, MD, Director of Orthopedic Center Institute and Shirley Linde, Ph.D., in their No more back pain (Pharos, 1991). A modern computer professional is a typical example of back pain. He has all three problems such as sedentary life, wrong posture and the pressure of targets. All these lead to chronic back pain. Design: Two group pre-post design is used. On first day, before giving the yoga module, Pre STAI(X1), Pre STAI(X2) and Pre BDI is measured. After giving yoga module for 10 days, Post STAI(X1), X2 and BDI is measured. Result: The data was not normally distributed hence we are using non parametric test Wilcoxon test within group and Mann Whitney test between groups. The results show that there was significant change in STAI(X1) and BDI variables between groups and no significant change in STAI(X2). Conclusion: The present study has shown significant result in STAI(X1) and BDI when compared with previous studies. There was 80% decrease in backpain using RMDI based on collective feedback report. With this, we can conclude that yoga module was effective in reducing chronic low back pain, anxiety and depression levels.

Effect of yoga practices in reducing counterproductive work behavior and its predictors

Context: Aggression and negative affectivity (NA) are known for moderating relationship between job stressors and counterproductive work behavior. Yoga has been demonstrated earlier to reduce the parameters of aggression and negative emotions. Aim: The present study examined the effectiveness of yoga practices in reducing counterproductive work behavior and its predictors such as aggression and NA. Settings and Design: A pretest–posttest randomized controlled design. Materials and Methods: The study sample included yoga group (n = 80) and control group (n = 80). Yoga module that included asanas, pranayama, meditation, and yogic theory were taught to the yoga group. Mild to moderate physical exercises and management theories were taught to the control group. Both groups received intervention for 10 weeks, covering 1 h daily, 5 days a week. Measurements of self-reported counterproductive work behaviors, aggression, and NA were taken as baseline and postintervention for assessment. Results: Yoga group reported significant reductions in aggression, NA, and counterproductive work behavior in comparison with the control group after 10 weeks. Conclusions: This study contributes by introducing a cost-effective way to prevent the heavy losses organizations are incurring due to counterproductive work behavior and its predictors. The findings support that yoga at workplace may result in positive psychological empowerment of the employees as well.

Effect of Integrated Yoga on Emotional Stability and Performance of Employees: An Action Research Study

Development of the performance of employees is an important concern for employees, employers, and the society at large. In this study, an important personality trait, that is, emotional stability, its importance in the performance of an employee, and the impact of the practice of Integrated Yoga on emotional stability and performance of an employee were studied; 51 employees were given Integrated Yoga intervention and another 51 employees, who comprised of the control group, were not given any intervention for 4 months. Using the Big Five Personality Questionnaire, data about emotional stability was collected from the yoga intervention group and control group before the study, in the middle of the study, and at the end of the study. The data was analyzed using SPSS, and a significant increase (p - value <0.001) in emotional stability among the subjects in the yoga intervention group was found (it was not found in the control group). So, it is concluded that the practice of Integrated Yoga improves the emotional stability, and thus the performance of the employees.

Is job anxiety and perceived stress modifiable in Indian IT professionals? An experimental study using yoga-based intervention

Background: Indian information technology (IT) professionals are continuously subjected to project assignment changes as well as uncertainties in existing project continuations as cancelling of projects is not uncommon. There are periods in the work life of an Indian IT professional when he/she has to cope with no project situation, before being assigned to another project. IT professionals also need to continuously upgrade their IT-relevant skills in order to deliver projects to customers with less capital. All this adds up to job anxiety and perceived stress among IT professionals. With prolonged states of job anxiety and perceived stress, these professionals may become victims of diseases driven by anxiety and stress. There is a popular perception that Yoga, an Indian ancient science, can give control over modifications of mind and hence can help reduce anxiety and stress. Objective: To study the effect of cyclic meditation ( a yoga based practice) on job Anxiety and perceived stress of Indian IT Professionals. Materials and Methods: A control study was carried out on 96 Indian age ranged from 24 to 50 IT Professionals working in Bengaluru, Karnataka, India. Pre-post design was chosen and questionnaire method of collecting data was adopted. Results: The results indicates that after a period of 8 week intervention, there is a reduction of 19.51% in job anxiety and a reduction of 34.77% in perceived stress among Indian IT Professionals. Conclusion: This study indicates that Yoga based practices help to greatly reduce Job Anxiety and Perceived stress among Indian IT professionals. This study also highlights the need to explore the role of Yoga based practices on Indian IT professionals work life in greater detail.

Effect of cyclic meditation on quality of life and perceived stress in female adolescence

Aim: Effect of cyclic meditation (CM) on quality of life (QOL) and perceive stress in female adolescence. Materials and Methods: This study was carried out in school students (58 adolescence girl). Participants age ranged from 14 to 17 years with a mean age of (mean ± standard deviation = 16.41 ± 0.56). All subjects were recruited from Bongo Sishu Balika Vidhalaya Bali Hawra (West Bengal) India. The variables (perceive stress scale and QOL enjoyment and satisfaction questionnaire) were assessed before the CM practices. All the student underwent CM practices daily for 30 min afternoon 3 pm to 3:30 pm, 5 days a week for 1-month under the guidance of a trainer yoga therapist. These CMs consisted of eight steps. The eight-step CM is the same, which is following in SVYASA Yoga University. After 30 days of intervention, the parameters were repeated. Results: The data analysis showed significant improvement in QOL (P < 0.05) and significant changes in perceive stress (P < 0.05) and there is no significant change in quality of satisfaction. The result shows significant value in both the variables month of CM one. Conclusion: These findings suggest that practice 1-month of CM showed that there is a significant impact on QOL and perceived stress in an adolescent girl.

Model of yoga intervention in industrial organizational psychology for counterproductive work behavior

Counterproductive work behavior (CWB) has long been recognized as a broad spectrum of job behaviors and its link with negative affectivity and hostile behaviors. It is a major concern practically for all organizations. Repeated exposure to workplace stressor can result in a strain, an outcome of the job stress process that can be psychological, physical, or behavioral in nature, leading to CWBs. Yoga is a technique that brings an improvement on mental and physical level by means of posture, breathing control methods, and silencing the mind through meditation. Though yoga has received less scientific consideration, there has been a significant growth in the study of yoga in the healthy population. Mindfulness and self-control practices like yoga encourage individuals to be aware and accept their aggression linked thoughts and emotions simply as a short-lived state rather than to control them. The positive effects of yoga on the improvement of personality traits are already proven. This paper introduces a simple model of cost-effective, trials of yoga intervention at the workplace which could result in the twin benefits of substantial savings from losses for the employers by reducing the CWB and health improvements for the employees by reducing the negative affectivity and aggression. Internet databases such as PubMed, Google Scholar, and APA PsycNET were accessed. The available data were systematically reviewed in a structured manner and analyzed.