Comparative effect of Yogasana and pranayama on depression, anxiety and stress levels in adults practitioners

Background: Yoga is very ancient and globally accepted practice. Raja yoga has eight limbs with aasan, pranayama and dhyan. Practice of yoga gives various physical and mental health benefits (Sengupta P.2012). However, the effect of yogasan and pranayama practices separately on mental health problems need to be explored. Aim & Objective: Therefore, the aim of the study is to investigate comparative effect of yogasana and pranayama on mental status of adult practitioners. Method: Investigations were conducted in MDNIY with 181 Yogasan and Pranayama Certificate course participants (18-50 years, Male: 74, Female: 107). After collecting the socio-demographic data, psychological (Depression, Anxiety and stress) parameters were estimated using a Depression Anxiety Stress (DASS) (Lovi bond and Lovi bond (1995)) self-report questionnaire before and after the 3 months yoga and pranayama practices (Pre- post). Result: Data analyses suggest that Yogasana practitioners significantly reduce their stress score, anxiety score and depression score. Pranayama practitioners showed significant reduction in their stress score. Practitioners of both Yogasana and pranayama showed non-significant reduction in their scores. Conclusion: Yogasana is comparatively more effective than pranayama to keep mental health.