A Single Session of an Integrated Yoga Program as a Stress Management Tool for School Employees: Comparison of Daily Practice and Nondaily Practice of a Yoga Therapy Program.

Author: Nosaka M1, Okamura H1,2.
Affiliation: 11 Graduate School of Biomedical & Health Sciences, Hiroshima University , Hiroshima, Japan . 22 Institute of Biomedical & Health Sciences, Hiroshima University , Hiroshima, Japan .
Conference/Journal: J Altern Complement Med.
Date published: 2015 Jun 12
Other: Word Count: 284


OBJECTIVES:
The aim of this study was to assess the effect of the daily practice of a yoga therapy program learnt during a single session of an integrated yoga intervention that was developed by us as a stress management tool for school employees.
SUBJECTS:
Ninety school employees.
DESIGN:
Case-control study. Three months after the intervention, the subjects were assigned to a daily practice group (case: n=43) and a nonconsecutive daily practice group (control: n=47) according to their daily practice level of the yoga therapy program.
INTERVENTIONS:
The subjects participated in a stress management education program based on an integrated yoga therapy session. The program included psychological education and counseling about stress management and yoga theories, as well as the practices of asanas, pranayama, relaxation, and cognitive structure based on Indian philosophy.
OUTCOME MEASURES:
Assessments were performed before and after the program using the Subjective Units of Distress for mind and body and the Two-Dimensional Mood Scale. The General Health Questionnaire 28 (GHQ28) was used to assess the mental health state before the intervention and at 3 months after the program.
RESULTS:
The subjects showed significant increases in their levels of calmness, comfort, and cheerfulness (p<0.001) and significant decreases in cognitive mind and body stress (p<0.001) after participating in the integrated yoga program. A comparison of the total scores on the GHQ28 using a two-way analysis of variance showed significant differences between the two groups in terms of both interaction (p=0.047) and the main effect (p=0.026).
CONCLUSIONS:
The present results suggested that a single session of an integrated yoga program was effective for reducing stress and that the mental health of school employees was promoted by the daily practice of the yoga therapy program.
PMID: 26069902