Alleviation: An International Journal of Nutrition, Gender & Social Development, ISSN 2348-9340 Volume 1, Number 1 (2014), pp. 1 - 8
© Arya PG College, Panipat & Business Press India Publication, Delhi
www.aryapgcollege.com
Impact of Pragya Yoga on Stress Level among College Students
Asim Kulshrestha
Assistant professor, School of Yoga and Health, Dev Sanskriti Vishwavidyalaya, Gayatrikunj, Hardwar, Uttarakhand 249411
Email kools.dsvv@gmail.com
Introduction
Yoga is very ancient practice that originated in India, the term refers to union or communion. For this, Yoga is viewed as a physical, mental, and spiritual discipline that confers a sound body and a sound mind (Mohan 2002). Researches in yoga shows significant positive changes in one’s attitudinal cognitive and creative endeavors (Anantraman and Rahila 1984, Bhogal et al 1993 & Kailappan et al 1982 ) The American institute for stress has implicated stress as the cause of nearly 90 per cent of doctors visits in the U.S. The total annual costs of stress to the average employee are staggering (Gibbons 2000).
Pragya yoga is developed by Pt. Shreeram Sharma Acharya (Chief patron, All World Gayatri Pariwar Trust, Shantikunj, Haridwar). Pragya yoga is a effective combination of asanas, breathing exercises and movement of the body. With the combination of these asanas, one may have proper balance of physical and mental body. With each step of asanas, one syllable of Gayatri Mantra included. Along with physical exercise one’s mental concentration and spiritual purity is exercised. It is a series of 16 steps as 1- Tadaasana, 2- Padahastasana, 3- Vajrasana, 4- Ustrasana, 5- Yogmudra, 6- Ardhatadasana, 7- Shasankasana, 8- Bhujangasana, 9- Tirykabhujangasana (left), 10- Tirykabhujangasana (right), 11- Shasankasana, 12- Ardhatadasana, 13- Utkatasana, 14- Padahastasana, 15- Tadaasana, 16- Balasana. In total there are 16 steps of asanas in the series but actually 12 asanas are there and 4 asanas are repeated in series. Pragya yoga helps organs and muscles to carry out their functions properly. Coordinated, rhythmical movements in Pragya yoga are designed for organic and functional development.
Yoga at the work place can reduce stress and promote well-being. It can also increase one’s flexibility and calmness of mind. (Valizadeh 1992). As flexibility increases, it reduces the complexities of mind, thus the stress and anxiety level of the practitioner gets reduced and increases the calmness of mind. Hence it is relevant to conduct this study to test the positive effects of Pragya yoga on Stress level of participants.
Objective
To study the effect of Pragya yoga on stress level.
Hypothesis
Yoga practice of Pragya yoga significantly decreases stress level among college students
Material and Methods
Thirty college students were sampled accidentally from the Dev Sanskriti Vishwavidhyalaya, Shantikunj, Haridwar, Uttrakhand. All the students were in condition of normal health.
Practice of Pragya yoga was given to participants for (1-30 March 2011) 30 days. Practice time was fixed 6:30-6:55 a.m. daily. Practice of warm up exercises for 5 minutes was followed by practice of Pragya yoga for 15 minutes, then Shavasana (relaxation practice) for 5 minutes was given. The post stress level of subjects was measured by using the same test as aforesaid.
Pre Post Single Group
Symbolically, A Q1 X Q2
Where
A= Single Group
Q1 = Pre- test
X = Pragya Yoga
Q2 = Post- test
The researcher used Stress Scale developed by Singh (2002) to measure pre and post measure of stress level among college students. The test includes 40 items. One mark for each ‘yes’ response. In the end all the marks were added, there were 40 maximum marks and ‘0’ minimum mark on the questionnaire.
Result
In order to test the hypothesis, t-test was applied. The result was significant (t-value= 3.57, Sig. at 0.01 level). The result showed the significant positive effect of Pragya yoga on stress of participants. Therefore, it can be concluded that Pragya yoga significantly decreased the stress level of participants.
Discussion
The above table shows that pre mean value and post mean value were 31.5 and 19 respectively. This result showed that the stress level of subjects significantly decreased through yogic intervention. There was statistically significant decrease of 12.5 units in post stress level of the subjects as compared to the pre stress levels. Eight of the participants showed positive effect on stress level, while only 2 participants were found unaffected. Hence, it is known that decreased stress level of the participants is not due to sampling fluctuations or chance factor but due to the intervened yogic practices. Further the stress level considered here in this research is of students who undergo a very small level of stress which may only be the academic or examination stress where the 30 days Pragya yoga practice is sufficient to significantly decrease the stress level of the students. Pragya yoga promotes the calmness of minds and subsidizes the stress and anxiety level. Pragya yoga is well known and vital technique within the yogic repertoire, its versatility and application make it one of the useful methods to induce healthy, vigorous and active life increase expansion of the awareness.
An integrated approach of yoga which included the (loosening exercises), suryanamaskar, yogasanas and meditation proved to be the therapeutic tool for mentally retarded childrena (Uma et al 1989). With this we can conclude that Pragya yoga plays an important role in decreasing the stress and can be proved as a significant tool to decrease anxiety, and deal with the fast growing competitiveness among students.
Conclusion
It is concluded that practice of Pragya yoga significantly decreases the stress level of college girls and it can be recommended in combating stress level among students.
Recommendations
Though the utmost care was taken in formulating design and conduction of the study yet it cannot be said with confidence that study was perfect in respects. Therefore, it is recommended that,
• For more generalization, sample size should large than taken
• The intervention time should be increased.
References
Anantraman RN and Rahila K(1984) A Study of Yoga, Journal of Psychological Researches 28: 97-101.
Bhogal RS, Gore MM and Rajapurkar MV(1993) Effect of Yoga Low Pitch on Recitation on Psycho-physiological Parameters. Yoga Mimamsa XXX (3 & 4): 194-204.
Gibbons, V.(2000). Working with High Anxiety. Taking Charge of Your Career Smart Money, August 135–136
Kaliappan KV, Gopal RR, Kumar VS(1982): Effect of Relaxation Therapy on Somatic Defense and Anxiety. Journal of Psychological Researches 26(3): 128-132
Mohan AG (2002) Yoga for Body, Breath and Mind: A Guide to Personal Reintegration. Boston MA: Shambala.
Singh M (2002) Stress Scale. Mumbai: Institute of research and Test Development.
Uma K, Nagendra HR, Nagarathna R, Vaidehi S, Seethalakshmi R (1989) The Integrated Approach of Yoga: A Therapeutic Tool For Mentally Retarded Children: A One-Year Controlled Study. J Ment Defic Res :415-21.
Valizadeh H (1992) Philosophy and Training of Yoga. Tehran: Taban.
