Effect of integral yoga on psychological and health variables and their correlations

OBJECTIVE: Certain psychological and health variables are commonly measured in India. This study evaluates the effects of integral yoga practices on these variables and also the consistency of correlations observed between them. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study was a pre-post intervention study. The variables were measured at the beginning and the end of a one-month yoga course. There was no control group.The study was carried out at Swami Vivekananda Yoga Anusandhana Samsthana (S-VYASA) University, in its rural campus south of Bangalore. Based on health criteria, 108 subjects were selected out of 198 volunteers to form the experimental yoga group. Ages ranged from 17 to 63 years. The yogasanas (postures), pranayama (breathing exercises), relaxation techniques, meditation, chanting and lectures were the components of yoga intervention. The variables measured were sustained attention, emotional intelligence – EQ, general health – GHQ, guna personality – sattva, rajas and tamas. RESULTS: Significant pre-post changes were found in all variables. Significant correlations were found between the following pairs: The two sustained attention variables; emotional intelligence and general health; GHQ and tamas; sattva and tamas; and rajas and tamas. CONCLUSION: The study shows that there were significant changes in all variables (P< 0.001) except in sattva. It also confirms that EQ and general health variables correlate significantly with each other and negatively with tamas. EQ and tamas form positive and negative predictors of health respectively. Sattva correlates positively with EQ suggesting that a sattvic personality indicates better self-control. This suggests that, by improving guna personality, long-term yoga practice may stabilize EQ.