Vahid Rafie - Department of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, Islamic Azad University, Marvdasht Branch, Marvdasht, Iran

Introduction: Mental health is one of the important components of health, the ability to balance in life and resist problems. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of eight weeks of yoga training on mental health of male and female university students.Methods: In this quasi-experimental study, ۶۰ students of Islamic Azad University of Marvdasht Branch were selected and divided into two groups: yoga training and control. The yoga training group performed yoga training for eight weeks, three sessions per week, and each session for ۹۰ minutes. The control group only had their daily activities during this period. Before the beginning of the study and at the end of the study period, mental health was measured by the GHQ questionnaire. To analyze the findings, Kolmogorov-Smirnov, paired sample t-test and analysis of covariance were used (p≤۰.۰۵). Results: Eight weeks of yoga training had a significant effect on the increase in mental health score of male and female students (p = ۰.۰۰۱); the level of mental health following eight weeks of yoga training in female students was more favorable than male students (p =۰.۰۳). Eight weeks of yoga training have a significant effect on the improvement of physical symptoms (p= ۰.۰۰۱), insomnia anxiety (p= ۰.۰۰۱), and depression symptoms in male and female students (p= ۰.۰۰۲). However, eight weeks of yoga training have no significant effect on the improvement of social dysfunction in male and female students (p= ۰.۵۳). Conclusion: It seems that eight weeks of yoga training can improve mental health of students.

Yoga, Mental Health, student