A single session of hatha yoga improves stress reactivity and recovery after an acute psychological stress task—A counterbalanced,randomized-crossover trial in healthy individuals |
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| Institution: | 1. The Faculty of Health Sciences and Charles Perkins Centre, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia;2. Prevention Research Collaboration, School of Public Health, Sydney Medical School, Charles Perkins Centre, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia;3. Departmento de Medicina, Universidade Estadual de Maringá, UEM, Maringá, Brazil;4. Departmento de Esportes, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, UFMG, BELO HORIZONTE, Brazil;5. Department of Epidemiology & Public Health, Institute of Epidemiology and Healthcare, University College London, London, UK;1. College of Education, Criminal Justice, and Human Services, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH;2. Department of Population, Family, and Reproductive Health Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD;3. Minds Incorporated, Washington, DC;4. Department of Human Development and Family Studies, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA;5. Department of Mental Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD;1. University of Adelaide, Adelaide Nursing School, Cnr North Terrace and George St, Level 4 Adelaide Health and Medical Sciences Building, Adelaide SA 5005, Australia;2. University of Adelaide, School of Psychology, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, North Terrace, Adelaide SA 5005, Australia;1. Department of Psychology and Social Behavior, University of California, Irvine, 4562 Social & Behavioral Sciences Gateway, Irvine, CA 92697-7085, USA;2. YogaWorks, 27001 La Paz Rd, Suite 112, Mission Viejo, CA 92691, USA;3. Yoga Shakti, 4249 Campus Dr, Irvine, CA 92612, USA |
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| Abstract: | ObjectivesYoga is promoted as an anti-stress activity, however, little is known about the mechanisms through which it acts. The present study investigated the acute effects of a hatha yoga session, displayed on a video, on the response to and recovery from an acute psychological stressor.MethodsTwenty-four healthy young adults took part in a counterbalanced, randomized-crossover trial, with a yoga and a control condition (watching TV). Participants attended the laboratory in the afternoon on two days and each session comprised a baseline, control or yoga task, stress task and recovery. Blood pressure (BP), heart rate (HR) and salivary cortisol responses were measured. State cognitive- and somatic-anxiety along with self-confidence were assessed before and after the stressor.ResultsAlthough no difference in the BP or HR responses to stress were found between conditions, systolic BP (p = 0.047) and diastolic BP (p = 0.018) recovery from stress were significantly accelerated and salivary cortisol reactivity was significantly lower (p = 0.01) in the yoga condition. A yoga session also increased self-confidence (p = 0.006) in preparation for the task and after completion. Moreover, self-confidence reported after the stress task was considered debilitative towards performance in the control condition, but remained facilitative in the yoga condition.ConclusionOur results show that a single video-instructed session of hatha yoga was able to improve stress reactivity and recovery from an acute stress task in healthy individuals. These positive preliminary findings encourage further investigation in at-risk populations in which the magnitude of effects may be greater, and support the use of yoga for stress reactivity and recovery. |
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| Keywords: | Meditation Blood pressure Cortisol Self-confidence Acute stress |
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