Yoga, a holistic practice of mind and body, is known for its stress relieving and mental health benefits. A recent study that evaluated the efficacy of heated yoga, which involves practicing yoga in a heated room, suggests that it could help reduce symptoms of depression in two months, with just around 10 sessions.
The clinical trial led by researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital indicates the possibility of using heated yoga as a viable treatment option for depression, as 44% of the participants who took up the sessions showed signs of remission.
The participants in the trial with moderate-to-severe depression revealed “significantly greater reductions” in symptoms of depression in comparison to a waitlist group after eight weeks, as per the findings published in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry.
During the trial, 80 participants were divided into two groups: 33 of them received sessions of Bikram yoga in a room maintained at 105 degrees Fahrenheit while 32 participants were on a waitlist.
Bikram yoga or heated yoga involves practicing 26 specific poses of yoga in a specific order over 90 minutes in a very hot environment.
The participants in the waitlist completed the yoga intervention after their waitlist period. The yoga group was prescribed at least two sessions per week, but overall, they attended an average of 10.3 classes over eight weeks.
“After eight weeks, yoga participants had a significantly greater reduction in depressive symptoms than waitlisted participants, as assessed through what’s known as the clinician-rated Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology (IDS-CR) scale,” the Harvard Medical School said in a news release.
“Moreover, 44% in the yoga arm achieved such low IDS-CR scores that their depression was considered in remission, compared with 6.3% in the waitlist arm,” it added.
Even when the participants took part in only half of the prescribed two sessions, they still showed reduced symptoms of depression.
“Yoga and heat-based interventions…
Read the full article here
