neuro, graded (ep. 3) | yoga for stress & anxiety | Here's what the research actually says...
Introduction
Many of us have stepped off a yoga mat feeling calmer than when we stepped on. But is that just the placebo effect? Is it a feel-good effect from doing something intentional, or is something genuinely happening in the brain and body? A 2022 study by Phansikar & Mullen (2022).
The study
71 adults reporting everyday stress were randomly assigned to one of three 30-minute conditions: a flowing yoga session (sun salutations, video-guided), moderate aerobic exercise such as walking, or a passive control group that watched a video. Before and after the session, participants completed measures of both cognitive performance and psychological state.
The design is genuinely strong. Having both an active control (aerobic exercise) and a passive control (watching a video) means we can ask two separate questions: is yoga better than doing nothing? And is there something specifically about yoga beyond general movement that drives any changes? That’s a much more meaningful comparison than most studies in this space offer.
What the results showed
Stress & anxiety
Significantly reduced in the yoga group vs both other conditions
Cognitive function
No improvement in memory, attention, or processing speed across any group
Subjective experience
Yoga participants reported greater flow, positive feelings, and self-efficacy
The emotional effects were statistically significant with a moderate effect size, meaningful, though not transformative. Yoga outperformed both aerobic exercise and passive rest for stress and anxiety reduction after just one session.
The cognitive results, however, were clear: no differences between groups on any measure of executive function. One session wasn’t enough to shift memory, attention, or processing speed and perhaps expected as a single session of yoga may not result in permanent neuroplastic change (more on this below).
Why did stress and anxiety improve so quickly?
The study proposes several interconnected mechanisms:
1. Bottom-up regulation: the body leading the brain
Flowing yoga integrates breath with movement in a way that directly shifts your physiological state. Slow, controlled breathing is one of the few systems we can consciously regulate, and it has direct pathways to the brain’s arousal and emotional regulation circuitry. By slowing the breath, you pull the autonomic nervous system toward parasympathetic dominance, the “rest and digest” state, which dampens the stress response.
2. Top-down attention: interrupting the rumination loop
Yoga demands continuous, divided attention to movement, breath, and body position simultaneously. This occupies the attentional system in a way that naturally reduces mind-wandering and quiets the default mode network (DMN), the brain network associated with self-referential thinking and rumination. Anchoring attention in the present moment is one of the core mechanisms of mindfulness, and sun salutations essentially enforce it through the structure of the practice itself.
3. Flow state and absorption
Participants in the yoga group reported significantly higher absorption and enjoyment, which psychologists would recognise as features of a flow state. The repetitive, rhythmic nature of sun salutations may create an optimal balance of challenge and ease: familiar enough to feel effortless, demanding enough to hold full attention. Flow states are associated with reduced self-consciousness and stress perception, and increased positive affect, which maps closely onto what these participants actually reported.
4. Interoception: getting better at reading yourself
Yoga may also work by enhancing interoception, the brain’s awareness of internal bodily sensations like breath, muscle tension, and movement. The insula and Anterior Cingulate Cortex (ACC) are both key brain regions within the Salience network and play central roles in integrating internal signals (insula) and matching them against what’s happening externally (ACC). Importantly, these networks appear to be trainable: regular practice may improve your ability to detect early stress signals and, in doing so, give you a larger window in which to regulate them before they escalate.
Why didn’t cognition improve?
Executive functions such as working memory and attentional skills rely on neuroplasticity, the gradual remodelling of neural circuits through repeated experience. These don’t happen in a single session. Expecting one bout of yoga to improve cognitive performance is a bit like expecting one visit to the gym to build muscle. Longer-term practice may well produce cognitive benefits (there is emerging evidence for this), but a single acute session affects state, not traits.
Evidence grade: emerging
The randomised controlled design is the study’s greatest strength; it gives us genuine causal leverage that observational research can’t provide. The dual-control comparison is particularly well-designed for isolating yoga-specific effects.
That said, the limitations matter for how far we generalise. The sample was small (71 people) and predominantly female, so we should be cautious about applying these findings to other populations. The video-guided format also differs meaningfully from an in-person class: the social, environmental, and teacher-presence elements of a real class may amplify or alter the effects. And because this was a single session, we have no insight into what happens with repeated practice, the question that arguably matters most for anyone thinking about yoga as a long-term mental health tool.
The bottom line
A single 30-minute sun salutation session can reduce stress and anxiety compared to both aerobic exercise and rest, with a moderate effect size.
No cognitive improvements were found, although a single/acute session is perhaps too short to expect trait changes.
As with all research in this space, this is one study with a specific sample, a specific protocol, and specific conditions. It adds to an accumulating picture rather than settling the question.
Sophia
References
Phansikar, M., & Mullen, S. P. (2022). Cognitive and psychosocial effects of an acute sun salutation intervention among adults with stress. Mental Health and Physical Activity, 22, 100431. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mhpa.2021.100431
