Impact of yama and niyama on psychospiritual factors in young adults: A randomized controlled trial

Abstract

Background: The ethical principles of yoga enunciated in yama and niyama are not well known and are not usually presented to students of yoga. Aim: The goal of this study was to evaluate the benefits of yama and niyama in psychospiritual well-being in young adults. Materials and Methods: A total of 100 participants were randomly assigned to the yama-niyama group and control group. Yama-niyama group underwent three months intervention and one-month follow-up assessment. Control group attended regular classes during intervention time. Participants completed baseline and post-intervention of Vedic Personality Inventory questionnaire and cakra alignment measures. Results: The outcome measures in the yama-niyama group showed a signifi'cant difference in sattva (P<0.001), rajas (P<0.001), tamas (P<0.001) and cakrās (P<0.001) after intervention compared to the control group. In the follow-up, sattva (P=0.018) and rajas (P=0.018) showed a significant difference compared to the control group. Further, in yama-niyama group showed a significant increase in sattva (P<0.001) and cakrās were significantly better aligned (P<0.001), whereas rajas (P<0.001) and tamas (P<0.001) showed a significant decrease after intervention. In the follow-up, sattva (P<0.001) showed a significant increase and cakrās were significantly better aligned (P<0.001), whereas rajas (P<0.001) and tamas (P<0.001) showed a significant decrease. Conclusion: The findings show that young adults may advance in psychospiritual growth with proper introduction to yama and niyama in their practices. The study also fills a gap in yoga research which often neglects this foundation of psychospiritual practices in yoga.