Does yoga help quickly with stress?

72.8 % of respondents indicated moderate to severe psychological distress according to a fall 2021 survey from the American College Health Association, of a reference group of 33,204 college students across the country (1).

Previous posts discuss a variety of strategies to help with stress.

A recent study looked at the immediate and lasting benefit of yoga for stress (2).

What was the study (2)?

Tong and colleagues (2) studied healthy undergraduate students from four yoga and four fitness classes in Study 1 (n = 191) and Study 2 (n = 143), respectively.

How much yoga was done? (2)

Study 1 evaluated the immediate effect (a 60-minute practice) while Study 2 evaluated the durable effect (a 12-week intervention) (2).

What type of yoga was done in this study (2) ?

Both studies involved Hatha yoga which comprised of meditation (5 min), breathing (5 min), posture-holding exercise  (including 12 postures after warm-up such as waist rotating, downward facing dog, cat stretch, warrior, 40 min), and 10 minutes of relaxation practice (2).

What were the results (2)?

Study 1 Showed that immediate stress reduction and mindfulness was greater in the yoga group than in the fitness group (2).

Study 2 showed that effect of yoga on stress reduction through mindfulness was a lasting one (2).

Both yoga and exercise showed benefits in reducing stress (2).

What are some caveats?

  • Further study is needed.
  • There are many forms of yoga. Students may find some forms of yoga more helpful than others.
  • Check with your healthcare provider to make sure that doing yoga is safe and appropriate for you.
  • Additional resources:
  • Yoga classes through OSU Wellness
  • Group fitness classes through OSU RPAC
  • Online resources for yoga
  • Yoga classes in the community

 

By R. Ryan S Patel DO, FAPA OSU-CCS Psychiatrist

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 Disclaimer: This article is intended to be informative only. It is advised that you check with your own physician/mental health provider before implementing any changes. With this article, the author is not rendering medical advice, nor diagnosing, prescribing, or treating any condition, or injury; and therefore claims no responsibility to any person or entity for any liability, loss, or injury caused directly or indirectly as a result of the use, application, or interpretation of the material presented.  Permission to use/cite this article: contact patel.2350@osu.edu

References:

  1. American College Health Association. American College Health Association-National College Health Assessment III: Reference Group Executive Summary Fall 2021. Silver Spring, MD: American College Health Association; 2022.
  2. Jiajin Tong, Xin Qi, Zhonghui He, Senlin Chen, Scott J. Pedersen, P. Dean Cooley, Julie Spencer-Rodgers, Shuchang He & Xiangyi Zhu (2021) The immediate and durable effects of yoga and physical fitness exercises on stress, Journal of American College Health, 69:6, 675-683, DOI: 10.1080/07448481.2019.1705840

Virtual Hope Box for stress and emotional regulation

While there are many options to help with mental health, one particular app called the Virtual Hope Box (VHB) can be useful for coping with unpleasant emotions and thoughts which can impact a variety of mental health symptoms.

Is there research to show that this app is helpful?

  • This app can help with emotional regulation and reducing stress according to a randomized controlled trial (1). Future studies are ongoing.
  • Numerous research studies support many features of the app like relaxation skills and distraction techniques.

What is the cost?

  • Free. It was developed via a government grant and was awarded the DoD Innovation Award in 2014.

What are the features of the VHB app?

  • It comes with preloaded features like inspirational tools, relaxation skills, coping tools, distraction techniques, emergency contact numbers.
  • It can also be customized to include your own music, images, phone numbers of supportive contacts, and reminders of reasons for living.
  • You can fill out coping cards and activity planners with help of a mental health professional.
  • These features are shown in the image below:

Screenshot ImageScreenshot ImageScreenshot Image

Additional resources:

By R. Ryan S Patel DO, FAPA OSU-CCS Psychiatrist

Disclaimer: This article is intended to be informative only. It is advised that you check with your own physician/mental health provider before implementing any changes. With this article, the author is not rendering medical advice, nor diagnosing, prescribing, or treating any condition, or injury; and therefore claims no responsibility to any person or entity for any liability, loss, or injury caused directly or indirectly as a result of the use, application, or interpretation of the material presented.

References:

  1. Bush NE, Smolenski DJ, Denneson LM, Williams HB, Thomas EK, Dobscha SK. A virtual hope box: randomized controlled trial of a smartphone app for emotional regulation and coping with distress. Psychiatr Serv. 2017 Apr 1;68(4):330–6. doi: 10.1176/appi.ps.201600283.

Stress and what to do about it

Hand squeezing stress ball

As we begin the new semester, the campus is buzzing with energy.  There is also stress as you adjust to new people, new places/routines, and new class schedules, etc.  Stress is unavoidable.

What will you do to manage this stress?

Many college students reported feeling highly stressed (61 percent), and more students failed to do much about it (72 percent) reported low use of stress management techniques according to a recent study1 of college students performed by King and colleagues.

Here are 10 effective stress management techniques:

  1. Pause for a moment and take
  2. a deep breath. Relax those tense muscles.  When you’re stressed, proper breathing techniques can be powerful.
  3. See the bigger picture. Ask yourself, “How big a deal is this? How does this fit in the grand scheme of things?”
  4. Don’t let it build up. Reach out to a friend or a counselor and talk it out so you do not hold on to painful feelings.  Seek out a professional: ccs.osu.edu
  5. Daily “me time.” Just afew minutes of leisure activity can be quite relaxing.
  6. Plan it out: Take a few moments each day to plan out the rest of the day. It can bring a calm sense of control.
  7. Listen to relaxing music.
  8. Physical activity. Go for a relaxing walk, take a yoga meditation class or spend a few minutes at the RPAC.
  9. Remember the basics: Get 7-9 hours of sleep.
  10. Avoid alcohol/tobacco/drugs and avoid excessive caffeine. These unhealthy coping methods only worsen your stress.
  11. Eat nutritious food.

King KA, et al. The Journal of Happiness & Well-Being, 2014, 2(2), 132-144

  1. A study of stress, social support, and perceived happiness among college students.

Disclaimer: This article is intended to be informative only. It is advised that you check with your own physician/mental health provider before implementing any changes.  With this article, the author is not rendering medical advice, nor diagnosing, prescribing, or treating any condition, or injury; and therefore claims no responsibility to any person or entity for any liability, loss, or injury caused directly or indirectly as a result of the use, application, or interpretation of the material presented.