Yoga Research: Mental Health & Trauma

General Well-Being & Psychological Wellness

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Control trial: Improvements in stress, depression, anxiety, energy, fatigue & well-being (2005)  link

• The link is for a summary of multiple studies by Harvard Medical School. Here we highlight one report from a German study published in 2005.
• 24 women who described themselves as “emotionally distressed” took two 90-minute yoga classes a week for three months. Results were compared to a control group.
• “At the end of three months, women in the yoga group reported improvements in perceived stress, depression, anxiety, energy, fatigue, and well-being. Depression scores improved by 50%,
  anxiety scores by 30%, and overall well-being scores by 65%.”
• “Complaints of headaches, back pain, and poor sleep quality also resolved much more often in the yoga group than in the control group.”

Psychological wellness improved from a single session (2020) link

• 144 participants, average age 40, average yoga experience 7 years
• “All three positive emotions (positive engagement, revitalization, tranquility) and five psychological resources (mindfulness, body consciousness, self-transcendence, spirituality, social connectedness) increased when compared before and after a single 1-hour yoga session.”
• Complementary Therapies in Medicine

Randomized control trial: Significant reductions in stress and anxiety, and significant increase in well-being (2018)  link

• 90 subjects reporting moderate to high stress were randomly assigned to 16 weeks or 8 weeks of gym yoga and were assessed at baseline, 8 weeks and 16 weeks.
• “When compared to the control group, yoga practitioners showed significant decreases in stress, anxiety, and general psychological health, and significant increases in well-being.”
• The 8-week group served as a control, not practicing yoga for the first 8 weeks. After they began, they then, also, “showed significant decreases in stress, anxiety, depression, and insomnia after they crossed over and practiced yoga for 8 weeks.”

Improved psychological well-being (2013)  link and link

• Online survey of female yoga practitioners aged 45 or older, with many years of practice.
• Researchers found a connection to the frequency of yoga practice and psychological wellness, including such well-being measures as serenity, interest, satisfaction, sense of purpose, contentment, hope and self-confidence.
• Published in International Journal of Yoga

Mood improved in young adults (2019) link and link

• 19 men, median age 22, low physical activity level
• Tested before and after a 10-minute low intensity yoga sequence. Same group tested before and after a 10-minute rest.
• Used a cognitive function test & mood scale test.
• “Multiple measurements of mood… improved in the yoga treatment session, including: reduced tension-anxiety, reduced depression-dejection, reduced anger-hostility, reduced fatigue, reduced confusion, and increased vigor. Cognitive function improved as determined by the Stroop test. Additionally, vigor was correlated with cognitive function; as vigor increased, cognitive function improved.”
• “Conclusion: Low intensity stretching during yoga practice improved mood and cognitive function of sedentary young adults.”

Targeted meditation increased compassion & changed brain (2013)  link and link

• Study shows that adults can be trained to be more compassionate with related changes in neural systems underlying compassion. To be more compassionate is to be more caring.
• Compassion training group: “Investigators trained young adults to engage in compassion meditation, an ancient Buddhist technique to increase caring feelings for people who are suffering… Participants practiced with different categories of people, first starting with a loved one… they practiced compassion for themselves and, then, a stranger. Finally, they practiced compassion for someone they actively had conflict with…” (More detail in University of Wisconsin link above.)
• Control group: Learned cognitive reappraisal, a technique where people learn to reframe their thoughts to feel less negative.
• “The study shows adults learn to regulate their emotions so that they approach people’s suffering with caring.”
• Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was conducted before and after training. “The researchers measured how much brain activity had changed from the beginning to the end of the training, and found that the people who were the most altruistic after compassion training were the ones who showed the most brain changes when viewing human suffering. They found that activity was increased in the inferior parietal cortex, a region involved in empathy and understanding others. Compassion training also increased activity in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and the extent to which it communicated with the nucleus accumbens, brain regions involved in emotion regulation and positive emotions.”
• University of Wisconsin Madison, Center for Investigating Healthy Minds
• Published in journal, Psychological Science

See Also

• Mental Health / Emotional Balance Introduction
• Mental Health & Yoga
• Anxiety & Yoga Introduction
• Anxiety Practices to Consider
• Depression & Yoga Introduction
• Depression Practices to Consider
• Diagnosable Disorders
• Addiction, Recovery & Yoga
• Grief & Yoga

Anxiety, Depression, Bipolar, Eating Disorders

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Immediately, yoga reduced anxiety; over time, inflammation-causing proteins lowered (2010)  link  and link and link

• 50 healthy women practicing basic Hatha yoga postures; divided between yoga novices and experts.
• All reported improved mood after yoga, and lower levels of anxiety and tension.
• Researchers showed that women who routinely practiced yoga had lower amounts of the cytokine interleukin-6 (IL-6) in their blood. The women also showed smaller increases in IL-6 after stressful experiences. IL-6 is an important part of the body’s inflammatory response and has been implicated in heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, arthritis and a host of other age-related debilitating diseases.

Randomized control trial: Mindfulness-based stress reduction as effective as lexapro for anxiety (2022) link and link and link

• In an 8-week treatment trial, mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) as effective as pharmaceutical prescribed for anxiety, escitalopram (Lexapro).
• “The study, published in JAMA Psychiatry in early November, is making mainstream news headlines for being the first to compare mindfulness training with an antidepressant directly.”

Review of 47 studies: Meditation improved symptoms of anxiety and depression (2014)  link

• Review of 47 clinical trials performed through June 2013
• 3,515 participants that involved meditation and various mental and physical health issues, including depression, anxiety, stress, insomnia, substance use, diabetes, heart disease, cancer and chronic pain.
• “30 minutes of meditation daily may improve symptoms of anxiety and depression, a new Johns Hopkins analysis of previously published research suggests.”
• The survey also found mindfulness meditation alleviated pain and symptoms of stress.
• They found moderate evidence of improvement in symptoms of anxiety, depression and pain after participants underwent what was typically an eight-week training program in mindfulness meditation.
• There was not enough information to determine whether other areas could be improved by meditation. In the studies that followed participants for six months, the improvements typically continued.
• “Meditation programs appear to have an effect above and beyond the placebo.”

Teens with anxiety, trauma, or stress: Mindfulness & yoga improved mental health & behavior (2018)  link

• As reported cases of teens with clinical or pathological anxiety rise, a review of studies found that mindfulness training benefited mental health and behavior.
• The movement practices of yoga were considered beneficial, especially with teens dealing with trauma or chronic stress.
• Biofeedback and hypnosis were also found to effective techniques for managing the stress response.
• As mind-body techniques have few or no side effects, research suggests these modalities should be tried before medications. Additionally, these practices are cost effective.

Significant improvements in symptoms of anxiety & panic (1995)  link

• 22 people with diagnosed anxiety disorders
• “Clinically and statistically significant improvements in subjective and objective symptoms of anxiety and panic following an 8-week outpatient physician-referred group stress reduction intervention based on mindfulness meditation.”

Controlled trial in Germany: significant improvements in depression, anxiety and overall well-being (2005)  link

• “At the end of three months, women in the yoga group reported improvements in perceived stress, depression, anxiety, energy, fatigue, and well-being.”
• Depression scores improved by 50%, anxiety scores by 30%, and overall well-being scores by 65%.
• Complaints of headaches, back pain, and poor sleep quality also resolved much more often in the yoga group than in the control group.
• Report by Harvard Medical School

Randomized control trial: significant decreases in stress and anxiety and increase in well-being (2018)  link

• 90 subjects reporting moderate to high stress, randomly assigned to 16 weeks or 8 weeks of gym yoga
• Assessed at baseline, 8 weeks, and 16 weeks
• “When compared to the control group, yoga practitioners showed significant decreases in stress, anxiety, and general psychological health, and significant increases in well-being.”

Significant reduction in symptoms in people with “major depressive disorder”(2017) link and  link and link

• Adults age 18-55 with “Major Depressive Disorder”
• Yoga and breathing classes at least 2x weekly for 12 weeks, plus home practice
• High-dose group: three 90-min yoga classes + four 30-min home sessions per week
• Low-dose group: two 90-min yoga classes + three 30-min home sessions per week
• Yoga for Times of Change link above includes specific detail on the yoga protocols
• “The researchers noted that irrespective of the high does or low doses, the combination of yoga, Ujjayi and coherent breathing resulted in significant reduction in depressive symptoms in both groups.”
• Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine

Controlled trial: Breath practices caused decrease in depression and anxiety while group on meds saw no changes (2016)  link

• People with major depressive disorder (MDD) who didn’t get satisfactory results from pharmaceuticals,
• “Decrease in depression and anxiety after practicing Sudarshan Kriya yoga (a cyclical controlled breathing practice), while those who took meds but did not practice yoga saw no changes.”
• Conducted at the University of Pennsylvania

Review of 23 studies: effective in reducing depression (2017)  link

• Systematic review of 23 yoga interventions (published between 2011 and May 2016) aimed at improving depressive symptoms
• “Three study designs were used: randomized control trials, quasi-experimental, and pretest/posttest, with the majority being randomized control trials… The number of participants participating in the studies ranged from 14 to 136, implying that most studies had a small sample. The duration of the intervention period varied greatly, with the majority being 6 weeks or longer. Limitations of the interventions involved the small sample sizes used by the majority of the studies.”
• “Despite the limitations, it can be concluded that the yoga interventions were effective in reducing depression.”

Significant improvements in pain levels, mood and functional capacity for those with chronic pain & depression (2020) link and link and  link

• 28 participants aged 34 to 77 years who reported having chronic pain for at least one year
• 8 weeks of instruction in a mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR)
• 2.5-hour weekly instruction + home sessions with a goal of 30 min per day, 6x week.
• “Small-scale study in a semi-rural population in Oregon where issues of affordability, addiction, and access to care are common.”
• “Mindfulness meditation and hatha yoga were found to benefit patients with chronic pain and depression, leading to significant improvement in pain levels, mood, and functional capacity. “
• “Chronic pain often goes hand-in-hand with depression,” says Dr. Marske, who believes meditation and yoga are viable options for those seeking pain relief without pharmaceutical treatment. “Mindfulness-based meditation and yoga can help restore both a patient’s mental and physical health and can be effective alone or in combination with other treatments such as therapy and medication.”
• Journal of the American Osteopathic Association

Reduced depression in male veterans (2017)  link

• 21 male veterans (average age 61)
• Decreased rates of depression after an eight-week hatha yoga program
• Veterans reported great benefit in mental health and well-being when connecting with other veterans
• Other studies presented on yoga also revealed reduced symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress
• Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association

Review of 47 clinical trials on mindfulness meditation (2014) link and link

• Published in 2014, the review was of 47 clinical trials performed through June 2013
• Review encompassed 3,515 participants
• Focused on studies with meditation and various mental and physical health issues, including depression, anxiety, stress, insomnia, substance use, diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and chronic pain
• They found moderate evidence of improvement in symptoms of anxiety, depression, and pain after participants underwent what was typically an eight-week training program in mindfulness meditation.
• John Hopkins Medicine
• Published in JAMA

Improvements for people with bipolar disorder & depression (2014)  link

• Improved outcomes for people with bipolar disorder and depression
• Conducted by Alpert Medical School

Bipolar disorder: self-reports of positive emotional, cognitive and physical effects (2014)   link

• Self-reported benefits of participants with bipolar disorder
• Participants responded most commonly with positive emotional effects, particularly reduced anxiety
• Positive cognitive effects also reported (acceptance, focus, or “a break from my thoughts”)
• Positive physical effects also reported (weight loss, increased energy)
• Some respondents considered yoga to be significantly life changing
• The most common negative effect of yoga was physical injury or pain

Review of 5 bipolar disorder studies (2022) link and link

• There were mixed findings. Read the links above for details. It appears the difference in results is because “people who have bipolar disorder may be more prone to adverse effects of extreme activities, like fast-paced breathing techniques, warm environments, or slow and contemplative practices. It seems that yogic practices like hot yoga or extreme breathing practices are likely not the best techniques for individuals with bipolar disorder to practice.
• “Overall, though, the review found yoga to be relatively safe (other than a few physical injuries), and seemingly effective for those with bipolar disorder. It is still unclear whether yoga is effective as a treatment for bipolar disorder. Still, it appears as if those with bipolar disorder have little to lose by giving gentle yoga a try to see if it offers benefit to them personally.”

Randomized control trial: people with schizophrenia had significant improvements after 8 weeks of yoga therapy  (2011)  link

• 18 clinically stable patients (12 men and 6 women) with schizophrenia, randomized to an 8-week Yoga Therapy program and a waitlist group; measured at baseline and at 8 weeks
• Yoga Therapy intervention included yoga postures, breathing exercises, and relaxation.
• “Adults with schizophrenia being treated in a state psychiatric facility who participated in an 8-week therapeutic yoga program showed significant improvements in psychopathology and quality of life compared with controls.”

The following research reports were provided in Yoga RX. These are the summary results:

• In 2001, a study involving 54 young adults showed significant decrease in anxiety and depression during and after ten months of consistent yoga practices.
• A 1999 study showed that yoga reduced general anxiety levels lowered irritability, and increased subjects’ optimistic outlook on life.
• A 1995 study showed that anxiety patients who learned meditation as part of their treatment maintained the positive benefits for at least three years, showing that yoga’s benefits… can be a long-term solution.

See Also

• Mental Health / Emotional Balance Introduction
• Mental Health & Yoga
• Anxiety & Yoga Introduction
• Anxiety Practices to Consider
• Depression & Yoga Introduction
• Depression Practices to Consider
• Diagnosable Disorders
• Addiction, Recovery & Yoga
• Grief & Yoga