Yoga and meditation, an essential tool to alleviate stress and enhance immunity to emerging infections: A perspective on the effect of COVID-19 pandemic on students.
Nibedita Dalpati, Subhashree Jena, Shikha Jain, Pranita P Sarangi
Brain, Behavior, & Immunity - Health January 19, 2022 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbih.2022.100420 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Review Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Students |
| Interventions | Yoga Meditation |
| Topics | Anxiety Depression Meditation |
| Keywords | Stress Immunity Students Yoga Wellbeing |
| Key findings | Argues that COVID-19 lockdowns increased stress, anxiety, and depression among students worldwide, and that yoga and meditation may positively affect psychological, emotional, and immunological parameters relevant to student wellbeing and academic performance. The authors propose this evidence could help design better educational curriculums and routines for future epidemics. |
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic caused by the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) has negatively impacted the global healthcare and economic systems worldwide. The COVID-19 pandemic has also created an emotional and psychological pandemic among people of all ages irrespective of economic status and physical wellbeing. As a consequence of prolonged lockdowns, one of the most severely affected age groups globally is the young adults' group, especially students. Uncertainties in the academic calendar, restricted outdoor activities, and unusual daily routines during lockdowns led to higher incidences of stress, anxiety, and depression among students worldwide. In this review, we summarise the available evidence on the effect of lockdowns on students and discuss possible positive impacts of yoga and meditation on various psychological, emotional, and immunological parameters, which can significantly influence the general wellbeing and academic performance of students. Perspectives shared in the review will also bring awareness on how yoga and meditation could boost students' performance and assist them in maintaining physical and mental wellbeing during stressful conditions such as future epidemics and pandemics with novel infections. This information could help create better educational curriculums and healthy routines for students.
Comparable studies
Other narrative reviews on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mindfulness training as a clinical intervention: A conceptual and empirical review. Clinical populations | 2003 | Review | |
| Mindfulness: Theoretical Foundations and Evidence for its Salutary Effects | 2007 | Review | |
| Mindfulness Interventions | 2016 | Review | |
| Mind the Hype: A Critical Evaluation and Prescriptive Agenda for Research on Mindfulness and Meditation | 2017 | Review | |
| Mindfulness and acceptance: expanding the cognitive-behavioral tradition | 2005 | Review |
Citations in the library
Cited by 4
- Do contemplative practices make us more moral? Trends in Cognitive Sciences October 1, 2023
- Effect of Heartfulness Meditation Among Long-Term, Short-Term and Non-meditators on Prefrontal Cortex Activity of Brain Using Machine Learning Classification: A Cross-Sectional Study Cureus February 14, 2023
- The role of meditation in coping with stress during the COVID-19 lockdown: a cross-sectional study of undergraduates in India. Frontiers in Psychiatry September 24, 2025
- Mindfulness Meditation Interventions for Long COVID: Biobehavioral Gene Expression and Neuroimmune Functioning. Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment November 8, 2022
Cites 8
- Meditation Lowers Stress and Supports Forgiveness Among College Students: A Randomized Controlled Trial Journal of American College Health March 1, 2008
- Physiological effects of yogic practices and transcendental meditation in health and disease North American Journal of Medical Sciences 2012
- A Randomized, Controlled Trial of Meditation for Work Stress, Anxiety and Depressed Mood in Full‐Time Workers Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine 2011
- Molecular Signature of the Immune Response to Yoga Therapy in Stress-related Chronic Disease Conditions: An Insight International Journal of Yoga 2020
- The Effects of Meditation, Yoga, and Mindfulness on Depression, Anxiety, and Stress in Tertiary Education Students: A Meta-Analysis Frontiers in Psychiatry April 24, 2019
and 3 more in the library