Yoga may benefit prisoners psychologically

Yoga can improve the mood and mental well being of prisoners and may also effect their impulsive behaviour, a study has revealed.

The researchers at the Oxford University have found that prisoners after a ten-week yoga course reported improved mood, reduced stress and were better at a task related to behaviour control than those who continued in their normal prison routine.

"We found that the group that did the yoga course showed an improvement in positive mood, a decrease in stress and greater accuracy in a computer test of impulsivity and attention," Dr Amy Bilderbeck and Dr Miguel Farias, who led the study at the Departments of Experimental Psychology and Psychiatry at Oxford University, said.

"The suggestion is that yoga is helpful for these prisoners," they further explained.

The study has been presented in the Journal of Psychiatric Research.