A single yoga session for anxiety and stress in adults with or without mental illnesses: A scoping review

While brief physical activity may be appealing to patients with mental illnesses who avoid multiple sessions, a comprehensive systematic evaluation of single yoga sessions remains unavailable. This scoping review aims to map the existing evidence on single yoga sessions for anxiety and stress in adults with and without mental illnesses.

A systematic search of multiple electronic databases was conducted using keywords; "yoga," "single session," "anxiety," and "stress." Studies assessing the effects of a single yoga session on anxiety and stress in healthy adults and patients with mental illnesses were included.

Of the 3024 initial records, 30 studies were included in the qualitative synthesis: twenty-five focused on healthy adults and five on patients with mental illnesses. Most studies were conducted in India (36.7 %) and the U.S.A. (36.7 %), targeting younger participants in over 45-minutes group sessions, primarily Hatha yoga. Among patients with mental illnesses, three studies (75 %) reported significant anxiety reduction, and two studies (66.7 %) reported stress reduction. In healthy adults, seven studies (70 %) showed significant anxiety improvement, and 12 studies (66.7 %) reported stress reduction. Common yoga asanas included corpse pose, cat and cow stretch, and balancing poses in addition to breathing exercises, while sessions by medical staff incorporated fewer poses and lower intensity for patients with mental illnesses.

A single Hatha yoga group session over 45 min may effectively reduce anxiety and stress in adults with or without mental illnesses. Lower-intensity group sessions supervised by medical staff may be clinically more effective for patients with mental illnesses.