No significant difference was found between yoga and exercise .
Conclusions There is promising evidence of yoga on improving cardio-metabolic health .
Background Yoga , a popular mind-body practice , may produce changes in cardiovascular disease ( CVD ) and metabolic syndrome risk factors .
Effective and viable mind-body stress reduction in the workplace: a randomized controlled trial.
Highly stressed employees are subject to greater health risks , increased cost , and productivity losses than those with normal stress levels . To address this issue in an evidence -based manner , worksite stress management programs must be able to engage individuals as well as capture data on stress , health indices , work productivity , and health care costs . In this r and omized controlled pilot , our primary objective was to evaluate the viability and proof of concept for two mind-body workplace stress reduction programs ( one therapeutic yoga-based and the other mindfulness-based ) , in order to set the stage for larger cost-effectiveness trials . A second objective was to evaluate 2 delivery venues of the mindfulness-based intervention ( online vs. in-person ) . Intention-to-treat principles and 2 ( pre and post ) × 3 ( group ) repeated- measures analysis of covariance procedures examined group differences over time on perceived stress and secondary measures to clarify which variables to include in future studies : sleep quality , mood , pain levels , work productivity , mindfulness , blood pressure , breathing rate , and heart rate variability ( a measure of autonomic balance ) . Two hundred and thirty-nine employee volunteers were r and omized into a therapeutic yoga worksite stress reduction program , 1 of 2 mindfulness-based programs , or a control group that participated only in assessment . Compared with the control group , the mind-body interventions showed significantly greater improvements on perceived stress , sleep quality , and the heart rhythm coherence ratio of heart rate variability . The two delivery venues for the mindfulness program produced basically equivalent results . Both the mindfulness-based and therapeutic yoga programs may provide viable and effective interventions to target high stress levels , sleep quality , and autonomic balance in employees
No significant difference was found between yoga and exercise .
Conclusions There is promising evidence of yoga on improving cardio-metabolic health .
Background Yoga , a popular mind-body practice , may produce changes in cardiovascular disease ( CVD ) and metabolic syndrome risk factors .