1

Grace Farren
Complimentary and Alternative Mental Health Studies
Midterm Paper
March 13, 2013

Yoga for Stress Management, Mood Disorders and Anxiety Relief

The rhythm of the body, the melody of the mind & the harmony of the soul create
the symphony of life. ~ B.K.S. Iyengar

Yoga is a practice made up of three key components: pranyama (breathing

exercises), meditation, and asana (postures). Research shows that this combination
of stretching, breathing and mind relaxation, known as hatha yoga, has positive
mind-body effects (Kirkwood, et al). The benefits of yoga range from increasing
flexibility to reducing chronic pain and helping to lower blood pressure. Yoga has
also been proven to help people suffering from anxiety, stress and mood disorders.
Yoga is well known and widely practiced, however, further research is needed to
show that a consistent practice helps to reduce anxiety and stress and help people
suffering from mood disorders find an inner calmness through their breath.
Yoga (asthanga) is a universal practice. The word itself translates to union
of our individual consciousness with the Universal Divine Consciousness in a
super-conscious state, (Sengupta). This long-standing Indian practice, that only in
the past few decades has come to be practiced with such reverence and exuberance
in the United States, is not viewed as a doorway into the religious Hindu practices
(for most). Instead, yoga is viewed as a way to look inward and reflect upon

oneself, and as a practice that allows you to synchronize the body with the breath.
Yoga is cited to have begun in India as early as 3000 B.C. Pantajali was the first to
systemize yoga through his writings of the Yoga Sutras, Between 300-200 B.C.,
which outlined the experience of self through eight steps (limbs). These limbs:
universal ethics, individual ethics, physical postures (asanas), breath control
(pranyama), concentration, control of the senses, meditation and bliss, all
intertwine and connect with the whole. These are not stages one must achieve
through rigorous practice, but instead are stages of enlightenment once reaches
through poses, breath and meditation (Sengupta).
In the article Health Impacts of Yoga and Pranyama: A State-of-the-Art
Review, featured in the International Journal of Preventative Medicine, Pallav
Sengupta writes that yoga is an ancient discipline designed to bring balance and
health to the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual dimensions of the
individual.
Yoga is practiced for spiritual, personal, mental, physical and health
benefits. It is widely believed that yoga may improve stress disorders, anxiety,
mood functioning and overall health (Sengupta). Yoga is known to decrease blood
pressure and heart rate significantly, as well as increasing social, spiritual and
emotional well being while also decreasing anxiety, thus exemplifying the
physical and psychological effects of the practice.
Since the 1970s, possible alternative treatments for anxiety and depression,
such as meditation and yoga, have been acknowledged and studied. Sengupta
writes that, yoga practices suggest they can reduce the impact of exaggerated
stress responses and may be helpful for both anxiety and depression. Yoga
appears to regulate stress response systems by reducing perceived stressors

through asana, meditation and pranyama. Evidence also shows that yoga helps to
strengthen heart rate variability, which indicates the bodys flexibility to respond
to stress (Sengupta).
Stress-induced disorders, such as hypertension, have been known to benefit
from aerobic exercise. Through the stimulation of the body, blood flow increases
and blood pressure begins to drop. This is also known to occur through yoga
practices especially pranyama. A randomized, controlled study reported that
practicing yoga for one hour per day is as effective as a conventional, medical
therapy in treating people diagnosed with hypertension. Yoga, in conjunction with
other techniques such as relaxation and meditation, has shown to produce
significant anti-hypertensive effects. Sengupta writes that this mechanism of
yoga-induced blood pressure reduction may be attributed to its beneficial effects
on the autonomic neurological function. Baroreflex sensitivity has been known to
improve through the practice of yogic postures. Significant reductions in blood
pressure were discovered through the restoration of baroreceptor sensitivity due to
yoga exercise. Yoga has also been proven to manage cardiac complications that
have occurred due to chronic hypertension. Head-down-body-up postures have
been wildly beneficial in treating hypertension and diastolic dysfunction due to
elevated blood pressure. Sengupta cites a study during which Sarvangasana (headdown-body-up) was practiced consistently for two weeks. At the end of the study,
resting heart rate reduced significantly, proving that yoga has a calming effect on
the body when practiced through pranyama, asanas and meditation.
Harinath et al. conducted a study evaluating the effects of a hatha yoga
practice over a three month time period in conjunction with melatonin secretion as
a result of meditation (Sengupta). Participants in the yoga group practiced asanas

for forty-five minutes and pranyama for fifteen minutes each morning and then
asanas for fifteen minutes, pranyama for fifteen minutes and meditation for thirty
minutes each night. After three months, results showed both psychological profile
and cardiorespiratory performance improved. These findings suggest that yoga can
be used as a stimulus to increase melatonin secretion, which may help promote an
elevated sense of well-being (Sengupta).
In a 2005 German study, women who described themselves as emotionally
distressed, participated in weekly ninety-minute yoga classes for three months
(Sengupta). Once the study was completed, the participants reported overall
improvements in depression, energy, anxiety, fatigue, stress and well-being. A
2005 New Hampshire study also looking at the benefits of yoga for people
suffering with mood disorders, involved one hundred and thirteen participants,
with reported mood disorders such as: major depression, schizophrenia and bipolar
disorder. Results show that after yoga class, factors relating to the above stated
mood disorders, such as: anger, depression, hostility, tension and fatigue were
significantly reduced (Sengupta).
This research, along with others comparable to its methodology, detail the
theory that mind-body exercise, like yoga, brings together muscular exercise and
internal focus, resulting in a temporary mental state of self-contemplation. Further
research is required to solidify the effects of mind-body practices in relation to
human disease (dis-ease). However, from all of the evidence provided in
Senguptas article, it is fair to conclude that yoga can be beneficial in the
prevention and cure of diseases.
The article, Yoga for Anxiety: A Systematic Review of The Research
Evidence, featured in The British Journal of Sports Medicine and written by G.

Kirkwood, H. Rampes, V. Tuffey, J. Richardosn and K. Pilkington, cites studies

conducted in the United Kingdom regarding the effectiveness of yoga for the
treatment of anxiety and anxiety disorders (Kirkwood, et al). In these studies, all
participants reported suffering from some form of anxiety. The first study was
conducted among a group of people suffering from Obsessive-Compulsive
Disorder. From this group, participants were divided into two sub-groups: one in
which they would practice kundalini yoga, a practice consisting of meditation as
well as an OCD-specific breathing technique, during which one only breathes out
of the left nostril. The other sub-group practiced a meditative control regimen.
These differing techniques allowed researchers to test the hypothesis that
meditation techniques in general may not be effective and that disorder-specific
techniques may be required (Kirkwood, et al). Results showed that the first
group, the yoga groups showed exceptionally higher improvements on the
Yale-Brown obsessive compulsive scale, which was used to determine the groups
results.
The second and third studies, conducted by Sharma et al, were based out of
hospitals in India. These studies investigated yoga as a means to treat anxiety
neurosis among psychiatric patients in a three-month period. The patients were
divided into two groups; one deemed the yoga group and the other, the control
group. Participants in the control group were given diazepam, an anti-anxiety
drug. However, after just the first three weeks, the yoga group showed a greater
improvement in stress levels, seeing as there was a 23.7% reduction (Kirkwood, et
al). At the end of the study, the yoga group showed a 76.7% overall improvement
while the control group only improved 50%, showing that the benefits of a yoga
practice outweighed those of a medication.

The fourth and fifth studies conducted by Vahia et al, took place over the
course of nine years. In the first study, yoga was compared to a placebo treatment,
which was the control group. The yoga group showed impressively lower stress
scores than the control group. The second study compared yoga treatment to antianxiety treatment, through the prescribed medications amitriptyline and
chlordiazepoxide. These results showed that patients who had incorporated a daily
yoga practice into their routine yielded a more significant reduction in their stress
levels, attesting again to the benefits of a mind-body practice over conventional
medication (Krikwood, et al).
There is a scientific explanation as to why yoga has such a great effect on
calming the mind and the body. As explained in the article, Effects of Yoga
Versus Walking on Mood, Anxiety and Brain GABA Levels, featured in The
Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, written by Chris C. Streeter,
MD, et al., the practice of yoga postures is associated with increased brain GABA
levels. The distribution of GABA, a neurotransmitter in the brain, is associated
with heightened mood and reduced anxiety. However, in people suffering from
mood and anxiety disorders, GABA is reduced, which is directly connected to the
outcome of mood and the presence of anxiety. Researchers believe that GABA
levels will be elevated in patients suffering from mood and anxiety disorders when
they incorporate a yoga practice, instead of walking, into their weekly exercise
routine (Streeter, et al).
In this study, participants were divided into two groups: the yoga group
and the walking group. Scales determining mood and anxiety were taken at
intervals of weeks zero, four, eight and twelve. During these twelve weeks,
participants in the yoga group participated in sixty-minute yoga classes three

times a week, while patients in the walking group walked three times a week for
the same amount of time.
After the yoga intervention, the largest increase in GABA levels was shown
in the thalamus. These levels became one of the primary outcome variables, along
with anxiety and mood scores. Results at the weekly check-ups showed that the
yoga groups scores had significantly increased over the time of the twelveweek intervention. These positive results correlated with the original scores of the
practiced yogis, seeing that their GABA levels were 27% higher after a sixtyminute asana yoga session, compared to those who had spent sixty minutes
reading (Streeter, et al). The results from this study show that increases is
thalamic GABA levels are associated with improved mood and decreased anxiety
and shows that behavioral intervention (i.e. yoga) is associated with a positive
correlation between changes in thalamic GABA levels and improvements in mood
and anxiety (Streeter, et al). The increase in GABA levels through this yoga
intervention may be due in part to the to the ability of the yoga practice to increase
activity levels in the Parasympathetic Nervous System (PNS). It is clear from
these findings that the increase in GABA levels are not strictly due to physical
activity, such as walking, or mental activity, such as reading, but instead to the
practice of yoga: bringing together the mind, body and breath (Streeter, et al).
Yoga, as a mind-body practice, calms that the mind ignites the muscles and
circulates the breath, allowing one to let go of external stressors in order to focus
solely on the Self, for yoga is not a group practice, but a personal, reflective one,
during which participants are encouraged to follow their own breath, their own
movement, and personalize their practice so it is tailored to their needs (Sengupta).
Studies support that yoga has shown to significantly reduce stress and anxiety, as

well as alleviate distress in people suffering from mood disorders. However, more
science-based evidence is needed to further illuminate the effects of mind-body
practices, such as yoga, on the human body in relation to health, disorders and
disease.

Works Cited
Kirkwood, G., Rampes, H., Tuffrey, V., Richardson, J., & Pilkington, K. (2005).
Yoga for anxiety: a systematic review of the research evidence. British
Journal of Sports Medicine. doi: 10.1136/bjsm.2005.018069
Sengupta, P. (2012). Health impacts of yoga: a state-of-the-art review.
International Journal of Preventative Medicine. Retrieved March 6, 2013,
from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3415184/
Streeter, C. C., MD, Whitfield, T. H., ScD, Owen, L., BArch, Rein, T., BA, Karri,
S. K., MD, MPH, Yakhkind, A., MS, ... Jensen, J., PhD. (2010). Effects of
yoga versus walking on mood, anxiety, and brain GABA levels: a
randomized controlled MRS study. Journal of Alternative and
Complimentary Medicine. doi: 10.1089/acm.2010.0007