Effect of Yoga on the Mental State of People

Background: Yoga is considered to be effective in overcoming various physical and mental health problems. Effect of yoga on promoting mental health has been reported. Aim: This study was undertaken to analyze the effect of yoga on mental state of people, which indicates the psychological condition of the mind. Research Design: Survey method was adopted under the study. Sample: Consisted of 100 randomly selected yoga practitioners. Tools used: Used an interview schedule containing questions on how much yoga has contributed to improvement in their “mental state” through yoga, and what period of time were they able to experience the improvement in the mental state. They were given five point responses, which were scored from 5 to 1. The interview schedule also asked the respondents about the diseases / medical problems which have reduced through the practice of yoga, when compared to taking treatment alone (which was scored based on the percentage of reported diseases which have reduced), the number of years of yoga practice and the average number of days of yoga practice per week. The data was analyzed through correlation, regression and t test. Results: While about 45 % of women report maximum improvement in their mental state through the practice of yoga, only about 21% of men report maximum improvement. While 34% of women experience improvement in mental state for 75 to 90% of the time, only 18.6 % of men experience improvement for this period of time. The score for the level of improvement in mental state through yoga for women and men are 4.23 and 3.78 respectively, with statistically significant difference between them. Regression analysis indicates that 77% of the variation in the level of mental state improvement through the practice of yoga is explained by the parameters, namely, reduction in diseases / medical problems due to the practice of yoga, number of years of yoga practice, number of days of yoga practice and the time period of mental state improvement through the practice of yoga. Among these, number of days of yoga practice and time period of mental state improvement through yoga exerts more influence on the level of mental state improvement. There also exists good correlation between various parameters considered in the study. Conclusion:  The study establishes the effect of yoga in maintaining good mental state among the practitioners. Hence, practice of yoga will ultimately help in reducing various psycho-somatic disorders also due to improvement in the mental state of people