The researchers found that deep breathing, stretching, posing and meditating lowered blood pressure and heart rate at least as well as laughing or reading.
College students are often stereotyped as having it made, with plenty of good health, free time and disposable income on their hands. However, for many young adults attending university, their days are jam-packed with classes, homework and studying, making any attention to their mental health a must.
Recently, a study published in the Journal of College Teaching and Learning explored the possibility that doing yoga can relieve stress in the same way that laughing or reading recreationally can.
The authors, who hailed from Seton Hall University, asked 22 college-age volunteers to take one weekly anxiety-relieving intervention that involved yoga, reading and humor. All participants were masters-level students of physical or occupational therapy.
The researchers found that deep breathing, stretching, posing and meditating lowered blood pressure and heart rate at least as well as the two other interventions.
"This finding is important since these interventions resulted in a significant reduction in stress in a relatively short amount of time, allowing educators to begin to consider different stress management strategies to offer to students," the group concluded.
