Short Term Physiological Effects of Yoga on Relieving Acute Stress Induced by Task-Anxiety

Abstract

Acute stress accumulated over time can lead to chronic stress resulting in many health problems, such as heart disease and depression. Through substantive evidence, it has been shown that physical exercise and meditation can reduce stress levels. Previous studies have focused on alleviating existing stress symptoms using yoga in the long-term. However, in this study, the purpose is to reduce the symptoms of acute stress induced through task anxiety, thereby reducing the development of chronic stress. All participants were asked to perform a five minute yoga session or to wait for five minutes, followed by a timed multiplication test to induce stress. We hypothesized that individuals who participated in a brief yoga session will have reduced stress levels during the test as measured by heart rate (HR), respiration rate (RR), and blood pressure (BP). However, we found that -- while there were increased levels of HR, RR, and mean arterial pressure (MAP) after taking a multiplication test -- there were no significant differences in physiological response to strongly support our hypothesis. It can be concluded that a brief session of yoga had little effect on reducing acute stress induced by task anxiety, therefore, longer periods of yoga may help to show stronger differences.