Abstract
Studies have shown that yoga intervention can effectively relieve stress and improve mood disorders while promoting physical and mental health. However, it remains unclear regarding health promotion effect of different yoga poses. This study aimed to demonstrate the effect of different seated yoga poses in a single bout on total mood disturbance and autonomic nervous system activity in middle-aged women. In a single-blind crossover study, 12 career women, who did not regularly participate in yoga or exercise, were enrolled. Participants completed two visits each with a yoga instructor, instructing a 30-min yoga session with a seated twist pose (STP) or seated non-twist pose (SNP). Before and immediately after each yoga bout, the mood disturbance score was assessed using the Profile of Mood States (POMS) and heart rate variability (HRV) to measure the activity of the autonomic nervous system. Results showed that POMS scores were significantly decreased after STP (21.6 ± 4.8%) and SNP (20.9 ± 3.5%) training. The standard deviation of all normal to normal intervals, log-transformed total power, and log-transformed high-frequency power were also increased significantly following acute STP and SNP training. These findings conclude that a single bout of yoga training effectively reduces mood disturbance and increases HRV in middle-aged women. However, the physiological differences were not found between the yoga poses.