The impact of yoga on teachers' self-rated emotions

Objectives To assess (i) if teachers' age or gender could predict their baseline levels of mental well-being and anxiety and any change after yoga. (ii) Whether mental well-being or anxiety changed following 15 days of yoga in primary school teachers. Primary school teachers took part in this single group longitudinal trial (n = 302, group mean age +/- SD; 41.8 +/- 5.90 years). They received 240 min of yoga practice and 120 min of yoga theory each day. At baseline and after 15 days of yoga the assessments were (i) mental well-being (Warwick-Edinburgh scale) and (ii) state anxiety (Spielberger's State Trait Anxiety Inventory). Results Gender acted as a significant predictor for mental well-being scores (P = 0.001) and state anxiety (P = 0.005) in the group at baseline. Females showed higher anxiety scores and lower mental well-being scores. Following yoga the teachers showed a significant increase in mental well-being by 5.84% and a decrease in state anxiety by 4.48%. Trial registration The trial was registered retrospectively (August 15, 2019; Trial Registration Number: ISRCTN90253431).