Student (and Teacher) Mental Health and Yoga

I’ve been reading an article entitled, “The Effects of Yoga on Student Mental Health”  published in late 2020 in Health Psychology and Behavioral Medicine.

The results of this study are very interesting for anyone who is seeking ways to help students (and anyone who works with them, I would argue!)  reduce their distress and improve their sleep….two important factors in mental health, the authors note.

I’ll give you the essence of the study here and share my thoughts.

This study was done in Norway in 2019 (so obviously, before the stress of the pandemic started to affect physical and mental health globally).  There were 202 healthy university students who participated. The study looked at the effects of a 12-week yoga program on several factors related to mental health.  The experimental group (100 students) did 2 75-minute yoga classes a week; the control group (102 students) did not, though all other forms of exercise were allowed.

Among the factors measured were psychological distress, mental well-being, mindfulness, and quality of sleep.

The results indicated decreased psychological distress, improvements in well-being and mindfulness, and a reduction in sleep problems in the group that did the 12-week yoga class. They suggested that those changes may last several months after the yoga class has ended.

That’s encouraging, because yoga is an accessible, inexpensive, non-toxic way to potentially improve our well-being.

What if a person doesn’t want to (or can’t)  do two 75-minute yoga sessions a week?

There’s other research showing that shorter sessions are also beneficial to our nervous system, and even very brief practices of single poses can have positive effects on our mind-body.

This is good news for anyone who wants to reduce their stress response,  improve their sleep, and support their well-being.  It’s good for students, people who work with them, and …. Anyone else!  

I’m currently creating an online course with five 15-minute practices in slow, mindful yoga intended to help you calm and balance your nervous system.  It should be ready soon.  Stay tuned!