Research spanning a decade highlights the significant stress-reducing effects of yoga, revealing that even brief engagement can lead to meaningful health benefits in both educational and professional settings.
Ingunn Hagen, a professor at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), and her team conducted studies in 2023 and 2024 that explored how teenagers and working professionals benefit from yoga as a stress-relief tool. Their findings show that yoga can substantially lower stress in both schools and workplaces, offering valuable insights for mental health improvement in these environments.
Rapid Impact on Teens
The 2023 study, which involved teenagers participating in just eight yoga sessions, yielded surprising results. “I was amazed by how significant the stress reduction was after just a few sessions,” said Hagen. “Yoga’s impact on relaxation was far more pronounced than I had anticipated.”
The research was part of a larger European project focused on mental health intervention through yoga, especially targeting disadvantaged youth in secondary schools. Teenagers involved in the study were encouraged to keep diaries documenting their thoughts and feelings before and after each session. The logs revealed a clear shift towards greater relaxation and less stress, correlating with a noticeable increase in their overall well-being.
“Yoga allowed the young people to relax and cope with stress more effectively,” Hagen explained, noting that even a limited number of sessions helped them feel more grounded and at ease.
Yoga’s Role in Reducing Work-Related Stress
Stress in the workplace is another area where yoga has proven beneficial. Hagen’s research on working professionals found that yoga significantly alleviated work-related stress, which can negatively impact job performance, work-life balance, and overall health.
“In today’s world, the constant demand for high performance, coupled with the stress of modern technology, keeps the sympathetic nervous system overly activated,” Hagen explained. “Yoga, by activating the parasympathetic nervous system, helps balance this, enabling relaxation and better mental recovery.”
Participants reported feeling greater well-being and improved stress-coping abilities after incorporating yoga into their routines. Many workers even adopted yogic breathing exercises to prepare for meetings or to unwind during the day, which helped them feel more approachable and at ease with colleagues.
“Stress reduction through yoga can significantly improve workplace dynamics,” Hagen said, pointing out the potential for enhanced collaboration and job satisfaction.
The Importance of Addressing Underlying Stress
While yoga offers substantial benefits, Hagen cautioned that it should not be used as a substitute for addressing systemic issues in workplaces or schools. For instance, poor working conditions or understaffing cannot be resolved by simply recommending yoga. “If structural issues are contributing to stress, they must be addressed at their root,” she emphasized.
Positive and Negative Aspects of Yoga
Despite its benefits, yoga is not without its potential downsides. As yoga becomes more popular, especially in the West, the pressure to perform or embody a particular image can lead to stress rather than relaxation. Hagen expressed concern over the trend of yoga becoming overly performance-oriented, particularly in media portrayals that often feature young, slim individuals in acrobatic poses. “When yoga turns into a competitive sport or a show of flexibility, it can lose its therapeutic value,” she warned.
Physical injuries, another overlooked aspect of yoga, can also occur if practitioners push themselves too far in pursuit of perfect poses. “Yoga-related injuries are often downplayed in research and the yoga community itself,” Hagen said, highlighting the need for a balanced, mindful approach to practice.
Call for More Research
Hagen advocates for further investigation into which types of yoga are most beneficial for general health and stress reduction. “Our current studies are just the beginning,” she said. “Understanding the specific forms of yoga that contribute to health will allow us to make more informed recommendations.”
As yoga continues to gain popularity in both educational and professional settings, Hagen believes that further research could help integrate it as a tool for improving mental health and overall well-being. She also envisions incorporating yoga into the psychology curriculum at NTNU, where students could learn to use yoga for both self-care and therapeutic practice.
“Psychologists are at risk of burnout if they don’t take care of themselves,” Hagen noted. “Yoga could serve as a valuable tool for self-care, and I hope to see it incorporated into professional education before I retire. Even if I only help get the ball rolling, it would be worth it.”
With growing interest in yoga as a holistic approach to stress management, Hagen’s research highlights its potential as a simple yet effective tool for improving mental health in schools and workplaces.
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