At-Home Yoga Can Reduce Anxiety and Improve Memory

The results of a virtual yoga program show that navigating one’s space a little differently and being conscious of breathing reduces anxiety and prevents memory loss.

Assessing the levels of stress and anxiety in a virtual eight-week moderate-intensity yoga program designed for stressful full-time working adults showed overall decreases in stress and anxiety. This finding was published in Journal of Behavioral Medicine.

Some literature has directly compared yoga to aerobic exercise, and it is known for quite a long time that aerobic exercise has benefits for the brain (). This research investigates not just complex movements such as riding a bicycle or walking in a straight line, but also multi-planar movements such as yoga.

Impact of Remote Yoga Intervention on Stress and Executive Functioning in Working Adults

Self-paced instructional videos guided participants through sun salutations in the comfort of their own homes. Gradually, participants were encouraged to become more self-sufficient by completing the exercises independently.

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‘Doing activities with multiple sequences like yoga might help stressed-out workers to find relief in the comfort of their own homes.’

Researchers wanted to know if learning new chains of yoga sequences could improve working memory, similar to the brain benefits of learning a new dance.

Having to move through multiple active postures, as opposed to static holds, should theoretically improve attentional abilities or inhibition control Going through the flow could potentially improve spatial memory ().

The study also aimed to investigate individuals’ adherence to a virtual exercise program. While the study was initially designed for remote execution, it is coincidental timing with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic provided additional insight.

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The reductions in anxiety and improvements in short-term working memory suggest that it is possible to practice moderate-intensity yoga at home and still reap the benefits of reducing stress and anxiety without compromising safety ().

Researchers will continue to test mind-body interventions and promote adherence to exercise by developing more technologies to gamify activities like yoga, kickboxing, and other movements that are more cognitively challenging than standard aerobic exercise.

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References:

Effect of Yoga on Stress, Anxiety, Depression, and Spinal Mobility in Computer Users with Chronic Low Back Pain - (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36329769/)
Yoga Effects on Brain Health: A Systematic Review of the Current Literature - (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6971819/)
Feasibility and impact of a remote moderate-intensity yoga intervention on stress and executive functioning in working adults: a randomized controlled trial - (https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10865-022-00385-4#citeas)

Source-Eurekalert

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