Music, Exercise, and Yoga

There are several reasons people find exercising difficult including lack of motivation, lack of enjoyment, no time and no energy. One way to make exercise more enjoyable is through music because it has been associated with higher enjoyment levels while exercising. Previous research studies have examined the effect of music on exercise behavior and enjoyment, but music and yoga have not been studied together; therefore, this study sought to investigate the impact music has on mood during a single yoga session. Sixty-four college students were randomly placed in one of the three groups including (1) Music with lyrics (n = 18), (2) Music without lyrics (n = 19), and (3) No music (n = 21). Participants were guided through a 50 minute yoga session and mood was measured before and after class through a Profile of Mood States Questionnaire. Results showed that tension, anger, fatigue, depression, and confusion were reduced after the yoga session, and there was a significant increase in esteem related affect. However, there were no significant differences among the 3 groups, which indicates that we see changes in mood states regardless of type of music in the session. The results suggest that yoga played the largest role in mood improvement and it may only take one session of yoga to see short-term changes in mood. Future research should examine people with the same yoga experience and also use different types of music and beats per minute to see if there is a preference