Comparing the Psychological Effects of Meditation- and Breathing-Focused Yoga Practice in Undergraduate Students.

Xin Qi,Zhonghui He,Senlin Chen,Xiangyi Zhu,Jiajin Tong

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2020.560152

Xin Qi, Zhonghui He + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.560152

Copy DOI

Abstract

ObjectivesThe present study aimed to compare the psychological effects of meditation- and breathing-focused yoga practice in undergraduate students.MethodsA 12-weeks yoga intervention was conducted among a group of undergraduate students enrolled in four yoga classes at an academically prestigious university in Beijing, China. Four classes were randomized to meditation-focused yoga or breathing-focused yoga. A total of 86 participants finished surveys before and after the 12-weeks intervention, measuring work intention, mindfulness, and perceived stress. The repeated-measure multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) followed by univariate analyses were conducted to examine the differences in work intention, mindfulness, and stress between the two yoga intervention groups over the semester, after controlling for age and gender.ResultsThe repeated-measure MANCOVA revealed significant group differences with a median effect size [Wilks’ lambda, Λ = 0.90, F(3, 80) = 3.10, p = 0.031, η2 = 0.104]. Subsequent univariate analyses showed that students in the breathing-focused yoga group had significant higher work intentions [F(1, 82) = 5.22; p = 0.025; η2p = 0.060] and mindfulness [F(1, 82) = 6.33; p = 0.014; η2p = 0.072] but marginally lower stress [F(1, 82) = 4.20; p = 0.044; η2p = 0.049] than students in the meditation-focused yoga group.ConclusionYoga practice with a focus on breathing is more effective than that with a focus on meditation for undergraduates to retain energy for work, keep attention and awareness, and reduce stress.

Highlights

Yoga has different components including postures, movements, meditation, and breathing (Brown and Gerbarg, 2005)
Meditation can be divided into two categories as focusing on mental processes or focusing on bodily processes (Hendriks, 2018), meditation-focused yoga practice in this study focused on the mental processes including focused attention, open monitoring, and visualization (Jindal et al, 2013)
Significant group by time interaction effects were observed for work intention [F(1, 82) = 5.22, p = 0.025, η2p = 0.060), mindfulness [F(1, 82) = 6.33, p = 0.014, η2p = 0.072], and stress [F(1, 82) = 4.20, p = 0.044, η2p = 0.049], respectively

Summary

Introduction

Yoga has different components including postures, movements, meditation, and breathing (pranayama) (Brown and Gerbarg, 2005). Prior research has shown that yoga postures and movements can reduce depression (Carter and Byrne, 2004), but meditation and breathing may be more important to other mental health outcomes including stress and mood (Wheeler et al, 2019), sustained attention (Schmalzl et al, 2018), working memory capacity (Quach et al, 2016) posttraumatic stress disorder, hyperarousal symptoms of sleep disturbance, flashbacks, or anger outbursts (Carter and Byrne, 2004). There are evidences for potential differences between meditation and breathing in literature such as the levels of energy (Joshi and Telles, 2009; Zaccaro et al, 2018), attention, and practice difficulty (Brown and Gerbarg, 2009). Our findings may help disclose the nature of yoga components and provide unique guidance for novices with mental work in yoga practices

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion