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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Mar 6, 2026

Resting-State Connectivity and Neuroimaging of Prefrontal Cortex Activity During a Block-Design Yoga Asana Practice Using fNIRS
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Treating major depression with yoga: A prospective, randomized, controlled pilot trial.

Sudha Prathikanti1, Renee Rivera2, Ashly Cochran3

  • 1Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California, United States of America.

Plos One
|March 17, 2017
PubMed
Summary

Hatha yoga significantly reduced depression severity in adults with mild-to-moderate major depression. This 8-week intervention showed clinical benefits, offering a promising alternative to conventional treatments.

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Area of Science:

  • Psychiatry
  • Mind-Body Medicine
  • Clinical Psychology

Background:

  • Conventional treatments for major depression have limitations in adherence and remission rates.
  • Rigorous studies on yoga as a depression treatment are scarce.
  • Hatha yoga is explored as a potential alternative therapy for major depressive disorder.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To evaluate the efficacy of an 8-week hatha yoga intervention as monotherapy for mild-to-moderate major depression.
  • To compare depression severity changes between hatha yoga and an attention control group.
  • To assess secondary outcomes including self-efficacy and self-esteem.

Main Methods:

  • 38 adults with mild-to-moderate major depression were recruited.
  • Participants were randomized to either an 8-week hatha yoga intervention or an attention control education group.
  • Depression severity was measured using the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI) bi-weekly.

Main Results:

  • Hatha yoga participants showed a significantly greater reduction in BDI scores over 8 weeks compared to controls (p=0.034).
  • A higher proportion of yoga participants achieved depression remission (BDI ≤ 9) (p=0.018).
  • A large effect size (Cohen's d = -0.96) was observed for yoga's depression-reducing effects.

Conclusions:

  • An 8-week hatha yoga intervention significantly reduced depression severity in adults with mild-to-moderate major depression.
  • Hatha yoga demonstrates both statistical and clinical significance as a depression treatment.
  • Yoga may serve as a viable therapeutic option for managing major depressive disorder.