Covid 19: Movement-based yoga can improve mental health, study
By: Team Ifairer | Posted: 27-05-2020
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In the wake of people grappling with mental health issues amid lockdown, a new study has found that movement-based yoga is likely to imporve mental health during COVID-19 crisis. Published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, the study was done by researchers from the University of South Australia in partnership with the Federal University of Santa Maria, UNSW Sydney, Kings College London and Western Sydney University.
Researchers defined it as any form of yoga where people are physically active at least 50 per cent of the time, including yoga asanas that emphasise on holding poses and flows through a sequence of poses. The study argued that movement-based yoga improved mental health of people living with a range of mental disorders, including anxiety, post-traumatic stress, and major depression, with benefits being incremental with the amount of yoga they practised.
Experts have time and again recommended exercising daily during the lockdown as it helps release stress, while keeping one physically and mentally fit. "As self-isolation escalates and people find themselves working from home and unable to physically catch up with their friends and family, we're likely to see more people feel lonely and disconnected," Jacinta Brinsley, lead researcher, from University of South Ausralia said in a statement.