The influence of hatha yoga on stress, anxiety, and suppression: A randomized controlled trial.
Acta psychologica November 1, 2023 Bence Szaszkó, Rebecca Rosa Schmid, Ulrich Pomper et al. 20 citations
An eight-week Hatha Yoga program for healthy yoga novices aged 18 to 40 reduced self-reported stress and stress reactivity and increased mindfulness, compared to a waitlist control group. However, the intervention did not significantly change state or trait anxiety, nor did it improve participants' ability to suppress distractions. The stress reductions were not explained by changes in distractor suppression, which remained unaffected. The findings suggest that regular Hatha Yoga practice can improve certain mental health outcomes without directly altering cognitive functions related to distraction suppression.