Effects of Online Yoga Training on Self-Perceived Stress of the Students of Certificate Programme in Yoga (CPY) of IGNOU

Yoga and meditation have become widely accepted as nonpharmacologic modalities for stress and anxiety reduction as well as general health. Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) School of Health Sciences (SOHS) launched a six months-long Certificate Programme in Yoga (CPY) in July 2019 for students who have cleared their 12th class. The objective of this study was to find out the effects of online yoga training on self-perceived stress among the students of the CPY programme enrolled during the academic year 2021. This was a study with both pre- and post-tests and was carried out on the students of the CPY programme between March and December 2021. A total of 69 and 81 students participated from the January 2021 and July 2021 batches, respectively. The Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) was used as a tool to measure the level of stress. A structured close-ended questionnaire was sent by Google Forms to ascertain self-perceived stress. The total mean value of the PSS score after online yoga training decreased from 18 [plus or minus] 5.9 SD in the pretest to 13.7 [plus or minus] 6.5 SD in the post-test of students from the January 2021 batch, and from 17.4 [plus or minus] 5.8 SD in the pre-test to 13.1 [plus or minus] 5.6 SD in the post-test of students from the July 2021 batch. The difference of mean value of pre-test and post-test of both the batches of students after online yoga training were significant (p value < 0.0001). The online yoga training was effective in reduction of perceived stress score among the students of the Certificate Programme in Yoga (CPY).