A pilot study of a mindfulness informed yoga intervention in young people with psychosis

To determine the acceptability and safety of a mindfulness informed yoga intervention as adjunct to usual care for young people with early psychosis.

People aged 16-25 years attending a community-based specialist early psychosis clinic were invited to participate in a 12-week yoga intervention. The intervention consisted of 1-h weekly classes of mindfulness informed yoga. Acceptability was measured by uptake, attendance and participants' satisfaction. Safety was measured by incidence of physical injury, participants' level of comfort, distress and anxiety during the sessions, and the following mental health outcomes: positive and negative psychotic, depression, anxiety and stress symptoms, sleep quality and functioning.

Of those who consented to the study, 80% (12) participated and on average attended 4.4 yoga classes. There were no physical injuries and participants reported minimal distress and anxiety. Post-intervention, there was a significant reduction in anxiety symptoms and an improvement in function.

Mindfulness-based yoga interventions are both acceptable and safe as an intervention for youth with early psychosis. Though numbers were small, the study shows promise for yoga as a potentially useful intervention. Importantly, there was no deterioration in mental health outcomes. A larger trial evaluating clinical effectiveness is now timely.