Author(s): AKIKO, K., Institution: AOYAMA GAKUIN UNIVERSITY , Country: JAPAN, Abstract-ID: 1552

Mental and physical stress increased by COVID-19, but yoga has been reported to be effective against such stress and to enhance immunity.
To test the hypothesis that yoga enhances human immunity and reduces mental stress in a major infectious disease disaster (COVID-19).

A descriptive questionnaire was administered to 27 Japanese university students aged 19-23 years who practice yoga, regarding the types of stress and the use of yoga in COVID-19.
The results of the questionnaire indicated that stress was caused by restrictions on ones activities, such as not being able to go outside due to fear of corona infection, and anxiety about the lack of relationship building and communication due to the shift to online classes. Many respondents stated that "yoga allowed me to move my body anywhere and anytime without having to go outside, which reduced my physical stress." Others stated that yoga has helped them to notice small changes and discomforts in their own bodies on a regular basis, which has been helpful for the ailments they are currently treating. Many understood that yoga improves metabolism, increases basal body temperature, and boosts immunity. On the mental side, some said that meditation and breathing exercises and improved mental health, and that it not only reduces stress, but also makes one more tolerant of stress afterwards. Some thought that yoga could be used not only for physical and mental health, but also to meet new people through online yoga classes, to reduce friction among family members by practicing yoga with them as a communication tool, and to create a new community. The lack of physical and physical exercise, which prevented them from going out and being physically active due to the fear of coronary infection and the voluntary curfew, contributed to the stress of the survey participants. Many of them were beginners to yoga, but they were willing to embrace yoga as a lifestyle because they realized that yoga could alleviate their lack of exercise under the self-restraint from going out.
Fear of viral infections, decreased physical exercise due to self-restraint, anxiety about relationships and communication due to the shift to online classes, and uncertainty about their adaptation to the new social environment and their future were thought to have physically and mentally repressed them. Yoga postures and breathing techniques have been shown to be effective in relieving such oppression, and the fact that the college students themselves were aware of and understood these benefits indicates that yoga can be used as a tool to overcome various stresses in the future.
The various anxieties brought about by COVID-19, the unprecedented large-scale infectious disease disaster that began in 2020, caused great mental and physical stress for the survey participants, and yoga was thought to reduce such mental stress.