EFFECT OF ASANA PRACTICES ON SELECTED PSYCHOLOGICAL VARIABLES AMONG BREAST CANCER PATIENTS

Keywords

Yoga, Asana, Breast Cancer Patients, Stress, Anxiety and Self Confidence.

Abstract

The present random group experimental study was designed to find out the effect of Asana practices on selected psychological variables among breast cancer patients. It was hypothesized that there would be significant differences in psychological variables such as stress, anxiety and self-confidence among breast cancer patients due to the influences of Asana practices. To achieve the purpose of the study, 60 breast cancer women patients from Honk Kong aged between 40 to 50 years were selected randomly into experimental and control group of 30 subjects each. Experimental Group underwent Asana training for 12 weeks, six days a week for a maximum of one hour in the morning. The control group was kept in active rest. The pre test and post test were conducted before and after the training for all two groups. Stress was measured by Standardized stress questionnaire constructed by Dr.Latha Satish (1997) consisting of 52 questions, Anxiety was measured by Taylor`s manifest Anxiety scale Questionnaire developed by Taylor consisting of 45 questions and Self-confidence was measured by Self-confidence questionnaire developed by Rekha Agnihotri (1987) consisting of 52 questions. The data collected from the groups before and after the training period were statistically analyzed by using Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) to determine the significant difference and tested at 0.05 level of significance. The result of the study showed that the Stress and anxiety were significantly reduced and self-confidence improved as result of asana practices. Hence .the hypothesis was accepted at 0.05 level of confidence. The conclusion was that the asana practices helped to reduce the stress and anxiety and improve the self confidence among breast cancer patients.