Practicing yoga can lessen anxiety, heighten concentration and improve motivation in as little as eight weeks, according to research presented in New Orleans at the 54th Annual Meeting of the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM). Researchers sought to quantify benefits that go beyond the strength and flexibility typically associated with yoga in the western world.

ACSM members Traci A. Statler, Ph.D., and Amy Wheeler, Ph.D., tested 84 students during the second and eighth weeks of four, 10-week Hatha yoga classes at California State University San Bernardino. Most participants were female (93 percent); 45 percent were Hispanic, 35 percent Caucasian, seven percent African-American, and two percent Asian. The students averaged 24 years of age; most had at least three months of consistent yoga experience prior to the class.

Yoga Improves Concentration, Motivation