Yoga as a Potential Treatment for Anxiety and Depression: A Study

Yoga is perceived to be effective in the alleviation of depression and anxiety disorders.
Multiple studies suggest that yoga can be an effective method of reducing and managing
stress. One of these studies, done by Woolery, indicates that yoga can reduce and lessen
symptoms of depression in young adults. This study was conducted to evaluate how yoga can
influence the women registered to the yoga clinic who suffered from symptoms of depression
and anxiety.
The experiment involved a convenience sample of women who were registered in a yoga
clinic from July 2006 till July 2007. The sample consisted of female patients who were
interested in receiving yoga treatment without any official recommendation from a physician
One female was signed up without any past psychological issues, and any new cases were
checked on entry. The study was measured using two methods, one of which was the Beck
depression inventory (BDI), one of the most well-known and trustworthy questionnaires for
detecting depression in a population and determining its intensity. The BDI scales from 0 to
63, the higher the scale goes, the worse the state of depression. The second test method is
Spielberger questionnaire, which is used to determine anxiety levels, and it includes 20 items
for each state and trait of anxiety. Participants were separated into two groups, an
experimental and control group. The participants were randomly divided and assigned a
group. The experimental group consisted of 34 individuals, who were asked to practice yoga
for 90 min sessions, twice weekly, for two months. On the other hand, the control group had
31 individuals, who weren’t assigned anything, but were instead put on the waiting list till
further instruction. Both groups were evaluated before and after two months. The information
gathered during the experiment was processed and analyzed by using both the T test and
Wilcoxon statistical test, using SPSS13.0 software. All past psychiatric disorders, any history