How Body Awareness Promotes Mental Health During Yoga and Physical Exercise

February 23, 2021 updated by: Sara W Lazar, Massachusetts General Hospital
The integrity of interoceptive networks is linked to resilience against depressive symptoms, whereas degradation of these networks is linked to apathy and deficits in emotion processing. The goal of this study is to compare two major styles of yoga and cardiovascular exercise through a 10-week training program to promote interoceptive awareness. The researchers hypothesize that improvement in affective symptomatology will be correlated with better interoceptive development. Changes in mood related symptoms and interoception will be assessed at baseline, week 12 and week 14, in a cohort of adults aged 18-55.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

A recent annual survey of U.S. college freshman has found consistently declining levels of emotional health over the past 25 years. Exposure to such stress can have profound longitudinal effects on well being, influencing risk for disease later in life. Physical exercise is linked to benefits across a variety of physical and psychological domains. While the affective and physiological consequences of exercise are well-documented, how they work to improve subjective well-being is unclear. It has been suggested that exercise promotes well-being by increasing interoception. The integrity of interoceptive networks is linked to resilience against depressive symptoms, whereas degradation of these networks is linked to apathy and deficits in emotion processing. The goal of this study is to compare two major styles of yoga and cardiovascular exercise through a 10-week training program to promote interoceptive awareness. The researchers hypothesize that improvement in affective symptomatology will be correlated with better interoceptive development. Changes in mood related symptoms and interoception will be assessed at baseline, week 12 and week 14, in a cohort of adults aged 18-55.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

71

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Massachusetts
      • Boston, Massachusetts, United States, 02129
        • Massachusetts General Hospital

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years to 55 years (ADULT)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • 18-55 years of age
  • Have negative mood symptoms (depression, anxiety, stress)
  • Is healthy and independent enough in daily life to attend study classes

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Pregnant women or women who are planning to become pregnant during the study period
  • History of structural brain disease, mass lesion, stroke, epilepsy
  • History of addictive disorder or significant substance abuse
  • Neurological disorders or reversible causes of dementia
  • Suicidality or history of psychosis
  • Currently attending regular yoga or aerobic exercise practice, or participated in more than 6 formal meditation, aerobic, or yoga classes in the past 12 months
  • Self-reported cognitive impairment and other disorders which may preclude safe participation in the program including acute major depression, bipolar or severe personality disorder

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: BASIC_SCIENCE
  • Allocation: RANDOMIZED
  • Interventional Model: PARALLEL
  • Masking: TRIPLE

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Gentle Yoga Program
Program will meet twice a week for a 10-week period. Participants will be a part of gentle yoga sessions led by instructors specializing in the area.
Behavioral: Gentle Yoga Intervention
10-week exercise program structured around gentle yoga practice.
Experimental: Rigorous Yoga Program
Program will meet twice a week for a 10-week period. Participants will be a part of rigorous yoga sessions led by instructors specializing in the area.
Behavioral: Rigorous Yoga Intervention
10-week exercise program structured around rigorous yoga practice.
Experimental: Cardiovascular Exercise Program
Program will meet twice a week for a 10-week period. Participants will be a part of cardiovascular exercise sessions led by instructors specializing in the area.
Behavioral: Physical Exercise Intervention
10-week exercise program structured around cardiovascular exercise.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change in Interoceptive Acuity
Time Frame: 14 weeks
Interoceptive acuity will be assessed at baseline, week 12 and week 14. Data collection at three time points will be used to assess changes in interoceptive acuity over the timeline.
14 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Peripheral Inflammatory Markers of Stress by collecting Dried Blood Spot (DBS)
Time Frame: 14 weeks
Dried Blood Spot (DBS) will be collected at baseline, week 12 and week 14. This will be used to assess changes in levels of peripheral markers of inflammation (C-reactive protein, cytokines [IL-6]) in the blood as an indicator of stress.
14 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Massachusetts General Hospital

Collaborators

University of Toronto
Yoga Science Foundation

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

March 1, 2018

Primary Completion (Actual)

February 23, 2021

Study Completion (Actual)

February 23, 2021

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

March 1, 2018

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 30, 2018

First Posted (Actual)

June 12, 2018

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

February 25, 2021

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

February 23, 2021

Last Verified

February 1, 2021

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 2017P001710

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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