The Influence of Hatha Yoga and Day of the Week on Salivary Cortisol Levels

Additional Funding Sources

The project described was Supported by an Institutional Development Award (IDeA) from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences of the National Institutes of Health under Grant #P20GM103408.

Abstract

Mindfulness-based practices such as yoga are thought to reduce the adverse effects of chronic stress. We measured cortisol, a reliable marker of stress, in participants before and after an hour of Hatha yoga. We collected 38 saliva samples before and after yoga and assayed them for cortisol. We found that cortisol levels significantly decreased from pre to post-yoga samples. We also investigated the possibility that weekend cortisol would be lower than weekday cortisol, but we found no significant difference. These results suggest that yoga may be an effective method for dampening the physiological stress response.

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The Influence of Hatha Yoga and Day of the Week on Salivary Cortisol Levels

Mindfulness-based practices such as yoga are thought to reduce the adverse effects of chronic stress. We measured cortisol, a reliable marker of stress, in participants before and after an hour of Hatha yoga. We collected 38 saliva samples before and after yoga and assayed them for cortisol. We found that cortisol levels significantly decreased from pre to post-yoga samples. We also investigated the possibility that weekend cortisol would be lower than weekday cortisol, but we found no significant difference. These results suggest that yoga may be an effective method for dampening the physiological stress response.