Gauging the effectiveness of music and yoga for reducing stress among engineering students: An investigation based on Galvanic Skin Response

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to examine the influence of music and yogic breathing for the management and control of stress. To discover the most effective stimuli to handle stress by measuring the effect of types of musical drills and yogic breathing on engineering students using the Galvanic Skin Response Sensor Meter (GSRSM). The present study attempts to study the effectiveness of music and yoga drills for relieving and managing stress. The study used a stratified random sampling method selecting engineering students from four streams. The GSRSM was used as a tool to record the responses after 300 seconds for the experimental and the control groups of 200 students each. Each group was comprised of 52 females (26%) and 148 males (74%). The experimental group reported reduction in mean value in Galvanic Skin Response (GSR) when they underwent deep yogic breathing, listened to religious hymns and listened to flute music. On the basis of the results, the researchers suggest that all three techniques i.e practicing yogic breathing, listening to religious hymns and listening to flute music were effective in reducing the stress level of engineering students. Listening to flute music emerged from these three drills, as the most effective stimulus for stress management.