CATEGORY: STRESS & MIND-BODY
A 12-week yoga program was linked to lower stress and anxiety in a randomized trial of university students, who reported feeling calmer and mentally better off than classmates who did no yoga.1
How the Study Worked
Researchers randomly assigned 129 university students — much like a coin flip — to either a 12-week yoga program (two 60-minute sessions a week) or to a comparison group that did no yoga. Before and after, everyone filled out standard questionnaires measuring perceived stress, anxiety, and emotional wellbeing. Random assignment helps make the two groups similar at the start, so differences at the end are more likely tied to the yoga than to who happened to sign up.1
What Changed
After 12 weeks, the yoga group reported significantly lower stress and anxiety, and higher emotional wellbeing, than the group that did no yoga. The largest gap showed up in “trait” anxiety — a person’s general, longer-term tendency to feel anxious — rather than just momentary, in-the-moment nerves (called “state” anxiety). In other words, the practice was linked not only to feeling calmer on a given day but to a broader easing of everyday anxiousness.
Why Yoga Might Help
Yoga blends gentle movement, slow breathing, and focused attention. Slow, deliberate breathing and mindful movement are thought to nudge the body toward its “rest-and-digest” state — the branch of the nervous system that calms the stress response and slows the heart. This study measured how students felt on questionnaires rather than tracking brain or hormone changes, so it shows the experience shifted without pinning down the exact biological reason.
What to Keep in Mind
The participants were young university students, and the comparison group did nothing rather than an alternative activity, so part of the benefit could reflect the attention and expectation that come with joining a program. The trial also ran for 12 weeks, so it does not tell us whether the benefits last longer or apply to other groups of people.
Key Takeaways
- In a randomized trial of 129 university students, a 12-week yoga program was linked to lower stress and anxiety and better emotional wellbeing than no yoga.
- The biggest difference appeared in longer-term (“trait”) anxiety, not just momentary stress.
- Participants were young students and the comparison group did no yoga, so the results may not apply to everyone or over the long term.
- If stress or anxiety weighs on you, a healthcare provider can help you find approaches — which may include mind-body practices like yoga — suited to your situation.
References
- Castellote-Caballero Y, Carcelén-Fraile MD, Aibar-Almazán A, Rivas-Campo Y, González-Martín AM. Yoga as a therapeutic approach to mental health in university students: a randomized controlled trial. Frontiers in Public Health. 2024;12:1406937. link