Improvement in Moods after the Practice of Yoga: A Study
Abstract:
Objective: To analyse the change in moods after yoga practice, when compared to before its practice and to understand the influence of the characteristics of the yoga practitioners on their moods after the practice of yoga.
Methodology: The study was carried out among a sample of 50 randomly selected yoga practitioners from Kozhikode District of Kerala, India using a questionnaire containing the measure of moods, with three-point Likert responses on improvement in moods after yoga practice, when compared to before its practice, and the characteristics of the respondents such as sex, age, period of yoga practice, and whether they had experienced any psychological problems before starting yoga practice. The sum of scores of individual mood parameters was worked out as the total mood score of the respondents after yoga practice. The data was analysed as mood score, proportion reporting and through statistical test.
Results: The results of the study have brought out the positive influence of yoga practice in improving all the 34 mood parameters considered under the study. The statistical influence of age and period of yoga practice of the respondents on improvement in moods is also evident.
Conclusions: After yoga practice, all the positive and negative mood parameters considered under the study have improved. It will be useful if other yoga centres in India also carry out similar type of studies and attempt to popularize their results among the public in order to help in improving the adoption of the practice of yoga, which is not much in the country at present.
