AUTHOR=Nagarathna Raghuram , Anand Akshay , Rain Manjari , Srivastava Vinod , Sivapuram Madhava Sai , Kulkarni Ravi , Ilavarasu Judu , Sharma Manjunath N. K. , Singh Amit , Nagendra Hongasandra Ramarao TITLE=Yoga Practice Is Beneficial for Maintaining Healthy Lifestyle and Endurance Under Restrictions and Stress Imposed by Lockdown During COVID-19 Pandemic JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychiatry VOLUME=12 YEAR=2021 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychiatry/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2021.613762 DOI=10.3389/fpsyt.2021.613762 ISSN=1664-0640 ABSTRACT=
Uncertainty about Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and resulting lockdown caused widespread panic, stress, and anxiety. Yoga is a known practice that reduces stress and anxiety and may enhance immunity. This study aimed to (1) investigate that including Yoga in daily routine is beneficial for physical and mental health, and (2) to evaluate lifestyle of Yoga practitioners that may be instrumental in coping with stress associated with lockdown. This is a pan-India cross-sectional survey study, which was conducted during the lockdown. A self-rated scale, COVID Health Assessment Scale (CHAS), was designed by 11 experts in 3 Delphi rounds (Content valid ratio = 0.85) to evaluate the physical health, mental health, lifestyle, and coping skills of the individuals. The survey was made available digitally using Google forms and collected 23,760 CHAS responses. There were 23,290 valid responses (98%). After the study's inclusion and exclusion criteria of yogic practices, the respondents were categorized into the Yoga (