Comparative Analysis of Anxiety and Perception of Stress among Adults Practicing Yoga and Adults Who do not Practice Yoga

The aim of the study is to compare anxiety and perception of stress among young adults who are yoga practitioners, to those who do not practice yoga. In this study 120 bengali young-adult people of 25–35 years age were selected for data collection. Among them 60 (30 males and 30 females) candidates were yoga practitioners and other 60 (30 males and 30 females) candidates do not practice yoga. Participants were administered Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) to assess perceived stress and anxiety. The analysis revealed that no significant difference was obtained between male and female yoga practitioners in terms of either anxiety or perception of stress but significant difference was obtained only in case of anxiety for those who do not practice yoga (t=4.22; p<.01). When compared between yoga and non-yoga practitioners, significant difference was obtained only in case of perception of stress (t=6.39; p<.01) but not in anxiety. The study reveals an area indicating that yoga can be an effective technique in reducing some of the psychological disturbances which are not usually deep rooted in nature.