Mental and physical changes in athletes through yoga

Abstract

This study conducted an experiment on 18 university rugby players in order to verify the effects of yoga on mental and physical aspects of athletes. Nine participants were assigned to the yoga group, in which they took part in yoga in a laboratory for about 30 minutes, while the others were assigned to the control group, in which they stretched in the same way. Range of motion(ROM) of each participant was measured as an index of flexibility before and after yoga or stretching exercises. Their ROM of hip and knee joints were calculated by measuring their change of angles using a motion capture system when the participants were holding the pose of “putting one's knees on one's chests” and “the Garland Pose,” both of which belong to Asana yoga. In addition, five participants in the yoga group continued practicing yoga for about an hour once a week for two months. After that, an interview survey on them was conducted to clarify the effect of yoga on the athletes' mind, body, competition and training. The results of the experiment showed that the participants' ROM of hip and knee joints increased significantly only after experiencing yoga. On the other hand, the results of the interview indicated that the participants' awareness of their bodies increased through yoga, which may improve their concentration, and they felt improvement of their flexibility as well. From these results, it may be concluded that yoga is beneficial as a mental and physical training method for athletes.