Effects of Yoga Asanas on Student Stress
School Name
Chapin High School
Grade Level
11th Grade
Presentation Topic
Physiology and Health
Presentation Type
Non-Mentored
Abstract
Student stress has been studied immensely and can be a detriment to many aspects of their lives. Yoga is system of exercise that involves meditation, breathing, and specific poses called Asanas. Hypothesis: By implementing an 8 week program of 20 minutes of yoga a week the participants (ages 13-18) will have a temporary decrease in stress those days that they participated. This was an observational study. A voluntary response was evaluated. Participants could either choose to be in the control or experimental group. For 8 weeks on Tuesdays during the homeroom period (11:39am- 12:03 pm) the experimental group participated in a 20 minute yoga class led by a certified instructor. Surveys were issued before and after the 8 week program and on Tuesdays when the yoga was done. Stress levels were evaluated on a Likert scale of 1 to 10 (1 being the least stress possible and 10 being the most). Data was collected using the surveys issued in which other variables were accounted for. The voluntary response may have altered the data and created a bias. The difficulty was in attaining the participants especially in the control group. The results showed, using a match paired t-test, that students who participated in yoga had a lower stress level compared to the control group. However the p values were greater than .05 which means the hypothesis cannot be supported. Using these results, awareness of the implication of yoga in a school setting should be broadened and to create a more statistically sound result, a greater sample size could be obtained. A permanent and possibly student led yoga group could be established. Students can use yoga as a beneficial outlet to decrease stress.
Recommended Citation
Heintz, Cherilyn, "Effects of Yoga Asanas on Student Stress" (2015). South Carolina Junior Academy of Science. 176.
https://scholarexchange.furman.edu/scjas/2015/all/176
Start Date
4-11-2015 9:15 AM
End Date
4-11-2015 9:30 AM
Effects of Yoga Asanas on Student Stress
Student stress has been studied immensely and can be a detriment to many aspects of their lives. Yoga is system of exercise that involves meditation, breathing, and specific poses called Asanas. Hypothesis: By implementing an 8 week program of 20 minutes of yoga a week the participants (ages 13-18) will have a temporary decrease in stress those days that they participated. This was an observational study. A voluntary response was evaluated. Participants could either choose to be in the control or experimental group. For 8 weeks on Tuesdays during the homeroom period (11:39am- 12:03 pm) the experimental group participated in a 20 minute yoga class led by a certified instructor. Surveys were issued before and after the 8 week program and on Tuesdays when the yoga was done. Stress levels were evaluated on a Likert scale of 1 to 10 (1 being the least stress possible and 10 being the most). Data was collected using the surveys issued in which other variables were accounted for. The voluntary response may have altered the data and created a bias. The difficulty was in attaining the participants especially in the control group. The results showed, using a match paired t-test, that students who participated in yoga had a lower stress level compared to the control group. However the p values were greater than .05 which means the hypothesis cannot be supported. Using these results, awareness of the implication of yoga in a school setting should be broadened and to create a more statistically sound result, a greater sample size could be obtained. A permanent and possibly student led yoga group could be established. Students can use yoga as a beneficial outlet to decrease stress.
