International Indexed & Referred Research Journal, October,2012. ISSN 0974-2832, RNI- RAJBIL 2009/29954; VoL.

IV * ISSUE- 45

Research Paper - Education

To assess the effect of meditation and yoga on Anxiety level of B.Ed students
October ,2012 * Lecturer,Swami Devi Dyal College of Education, Barwala (Goalpura), Panchkula A B S T R A C T
Improvement in reducing Anxiety and enhancing alertness has been reported in several yogic studies. The present study included 60 B.Ed students. Experimental group and control group were given pre-test to check their anxiety level. A yoga module consisting of yoga asanas, pranayama, meditation, and a value orientation program was administered on experimental group for 4 weeks. The experimental and control groups were post-tested for their performance on the level of anxiety. The results show that the students who practiced yoga showed low anxiety as compared to control group.

* Dr. Veenu Khurana

Introduction: Studies reveal that even low or moderate levels of anxiety can interfere with degree of competence related to task performance(1,2,3). Cognitive reactions of anxiety result in the inability to concentrate (4). Yoga, which is a way of life, is characterized by balance, health, harmony, and bliss(5).Meditation, being part of yoga, which is the seventh limb of Ashtanga Yoga(6)a state of alert rest as stated by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi(7) who founded a new technique of meditation, popularly known as transcendental meditation. By practicing yoga, a person is supposed to reach a state of mental equanimity, where responses to favorable or unfavorable external events are well under the individual's control, and responses are moderate in intensity (8).The science of yoga is a powerful stream of knowledge, which enables the practitioners to achieve radiant physical health, serene mind, continues spiritual uplift, and creates the ability for harmonious social living(9). Hatha yoga practices, like asanas (i.e., postures), pranayama (i.e., breathing practice intended to influence vital forces), kriyas (cleaning processes), mudras (i.e., certain interval attitudes), and bandhans (i.e., neuromuscular locks) are mostly taught as physical practices. While various meditational techniques work at the mental level, all these practices are intended to develop a certain type of awareness within oneself, which in turn brings about a change in emotional and visceral functions, and through them, a change in intellectual and somatic functions of the individual takes place (10). Six months of yogic practices (meditation, asanas, and pranayama) brings a feeling of well-being, a reduction in body weight, increased vital capacity, acceleration in endocrinal functions, and improvement in memory (11). Three months practice of Savasana has demonstrated an improvement in 86 patients, who had

problem of headache, insomnia, and nervousness (12). Udupa et al (13) revealed that yoga has the potential to influence the stress disorder and it helps the sufferer to achieve physical and metabolic stability. Sahasi et al (14) has demonstrated the effectiveness of yogic techniques in the management of anxiety and reported increased attention/concentration. Yoga through its techniques of meditation, asanas, and pranayama yields a positive effect in the management of stress in adolescents(15)The processing of sensory information at the thalamic level is facilitated during the practice of pranayama(16) and meditation(17).These two practices along with physical postures (asanas), cleansing practices, devotional sessions, and lectures on the theory and philosophy of yoga were focused to bring about an improvement in the steadiness of school students following 10 days of practice. This improvement was believed to be due to improved eye-hand coordination, attention, concentration, and relaxation (19). In one study, it is found that a 4-week program of yogasanas and meditation lowers the aggressive behavior of students (20).Another study has reported that meditation (a) reduced problems related to maladaptive behaviors, (b) increased emotional and physical health and psychological well-being, (c) reduced the frequency of thought, (d) reduced substance abuse, and (e) generally improved the quality of life (21). The research done by Mind/Body Institute, Harvard Medical(22)School, and Bruce D' Hara and his team at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, U.S., revealed a positive influence of meditation on brain functioning and performance (23). Objective: The present study examines whether there is an effect of yoga on reducing the level of anxiety in B.Ed students. Hypothesis: There is no significant difference in the mean scores of Experimental and Control groups on

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International Indexed & Referred Research Journal, October,2012. ISSN 0974-2832, RNI- RAJBIL 2009/29954; VoL. IV * ISSUE- 45

Anxiety level of B.Ed students. Subjects: The study was conducted in reputed B.Ed college of District Panchkula. The scale consisted of 90 items of Yes or No responses for which the students were to be awarded accordingly. Each item is of statement type to which students were to answer by ticking their option prescribed on the answer sheet. The students were assembled in a hall and made to sit in rows. Booklets containing statement items along with answer sheets were distributed to each student. Instructions were delivered by the investigator. Statements were written in Hindi. Meaning of difficult words were explained. The students were told to finish their test within an hour.A code was provided to the students at the time of pretest to keep their personal identity closedand were assured that their achievement scores will be exclusively used for the research purpose and will not be disclosed to their peer fellows. The scoring was done as prescribed in the manual. Assessment: Yoga module was used as an intervention treatment for the experimental group for an hour daily in the morning for 4 weeks. Sinha Comprehensive Anxiety test was used as a pretest and posttest for the experimental as well as control groups to assess the effect of yoga module on the anxiety level of the experimental group and to compare it with the control group, who never practised yoga module.

Intervention: A yoga module [yogasana + pranayama + meditation + prayer + value orientation program] was shared daily for an hour in the morning with the experimental group for 4 weeks. Sinha Comprehensive Anxiety test was administered on the both groups as a posttest. Statistical Analysis: Mean, SDs and t-ratios were calculated to see the significance of mean difference between the Experimental and Control groups. Discussion of Results and Conclusion: The F-ratio for group is significant at .01 level in favour of the Experimental Group. The hypothesis of the study stating that the experimental group performed better than the control group is therefore accepted. The findings of this study reveal that the students who experienced yoga module showed comparatively low anxiety levels The results are in tune with the earlier studies, which found that meditation, practiced over long periods, produces definite changes in perception, attention, and cognition (24). Other study showed that yoga techniques are helpful in management of anxiety and improvement in concentration (14). Suggestions: It may be concluded from the finding of the study that with the intervention of yoga, anxiety level reduces, so it is suggested that yoga module should become a regular feature in the colleges.
gain 37.4667 30 6.01569 17.00 48.00 36.5000 -1.048 3.637 1.4333 30 3.15882 -5.00 8.00 1.0000 .296 -.475 19.4500 60 18.78281 -5.00 48.00 12.5000 .093 -1.849

GROUP Mean N Std. Deviation Minimum Maximum Median Skewness Kurtosis Mean N Std. Deviation Minimum Maximum Median Skewness Kurtosis Mean N Std. Deviation Minimum Maximum Median Skewness Kurtosis

Experimental Group

Control Group

Total

Table 1: Showing Mean Pretest Posttest 63.00 25.53 30 30 4.259 4.478 57 20 72 45 62.00 24.00 .531 2.990 -.634 12.154 63.03 61.60 30 30 3.755 5.110 58 52 71 70 62.50 63.00 .629 -.449 -.392 -.841 63.02 43.57 60 60 3.981 18.799 57 20 72 70 62.00 48.50 .558 .040 -.562 -1.881

SHODH, SAMIKSHA AUR MULYANKAN

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International Indexed & Referred Research Journal, October,2012. ISSN 0974-2832, RNI- RAJBIL 2009/29954; VoL. IV * ISSUE- 45
GROUP Experimental Group Control Group Experimental Group Control Group Experimental Group Control Group N 30 30 30 30 30 30 Table 2: Showing T-Test Mean Std. Deviation 63.00 4.259 63.03 3.755 25.53 4.478 61.60 5.110 37.4667 6.01569 1.4333 3.15882 Std. Error Mean .778 .686 .818 .933 1.09831 .57672

Table 3: Showing Mean and Standard Deviation of Experimental and Control Group Dependent Variable: Anxiety Level GROUP Mean Std. Deviation N Experimental Group 37.4667 6.01569 30 Control Group 1.4333 3.15882 30 Total 19.4500 18.78281 60 Table 4: Summary Table of ANOVA on Gain Anxiety Scores Type III Sum of Squares df Mean Square 19476.017(a) 1 19476.017 22698.150 1 22698.150 19476.017 1 19476.017 1338.833 58 23.083 43513.000 60 20814.850 59

S ou rc e Corrected Model Intercept GROUP Error Total Corrected Total

F 843.726 983.313 843.726

Sig. .000 .000 .000

R E F E R E N C E
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