11 July 2013 Last updated at 09:02 ET

Yoga can improve mood and mental wellbeing among prisoners, an Oxford University study has claimed.

Researchers aimed to see if a trial ten-week yoga course, run by the Prison Phoenix Trust charity, could ease aggression and antisocial behaviour.

Dr Amy Bilderbeck said yoga could "possibly aid in managing the burden of mental health problems in prisons".

Inmates from West Midlands' category B and C prisons, a women's prison and a young offender institution took part.

The team from Oxford University's Departments of Experimental Psychology and Psychiatry measured their mood, stress, impulsivity and mental wellbeing compared to other prisoners.

Dr Bilderbeck said: '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.

"Offering yoga sessions in prisons is cheap, much cheaper than other mental health interventions. If it has any effect on addressing mental health problems in prisons, it could save significant amounts of public money."

She cautioned that yoga lessons would not "suddenly turn prisons into calm and serene places, stop all aggression and reduce reoffending rates".

Sam Settle, director of the Oxford-based Prison Phoenix Trust, said: "Yoga and meditation helps them feel better, make better decisions and develop the capacity to think before acting - all essential in leading positive, crime-free lives once back in the community.'

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Yoga in prison can 'improve mood'

DURHAM, N.C. -

Millions of people practice yoga as a way to stay fit or for relaxation, but could it be used as medication?

Nine-year-old Aaron Schaefer spent years battling debilitating migraines caused by stress, but since starting a yoga class, his headaches are gone.

"When I started taking [the class], it was like a cure from heaven," Schaefer said.

Researchers at Duke University are studying whether a program that combines yoga and other therapies can help children's mental and physical health.

"It calms you down. It relaxes your body. It lowers your heart rate. It lowers your respiration and, in general, it reduces the effects of stress on your body," said Dr. Murali Doraiswamy, professor of psychiatry at Duke Medicine.

Doraiswamy said these relaxation responses can help mild depression and sleep disorders. Yoga may also provide additional benefits for people with schizophrenia and ADHD when combined with standard drugs.

"The benefits were of the same magnitude of the benefits we see with psychiatric medications," Doraiswamy said.

Previous studies have shown yoga-based techniques can help individuals cope with anxiety, stress, and poor mood. Researchers are studying whether these methods can be adapted for children and teens.

"Often times, [children] dont fully understand that kind of awareness of body and the awareness of how their thoughts and emotions can be tied in with how theyre feeling physically," said Anava Wren, doctoral candidate in clinical psychology at Duke University.

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Health Beat: Yoga for kids

Topics: exercise, health, mackay, wellbeing, yoga

THE DEAKINS are back in Mackay and they are bringing a new yoga business with them.

You might have noticed pictures of Katie, the yoga dog, demonstrating some poses on the outside of their new Shakespeare St studio.

Dave and Sue Deakin, who also own Deakins Home Loan Supermarket, moved abroad in 2010 with their three girls Chandler, Dakota and Tayah.

While living in New Zealand, Mrs Deakin fell more in love with yoga and began a two-year intensive Ashtanga course under the leadership of Auckland Yoga Academy director Jude Hynes.

"I used to ride my scooter into town and was practising yoga on the mat for two hours a day, six days a week," she said.

"I also used to teach on top of that.

"Jude knew my ultimate goal was to open my own studio."

Mrs Deakin described the experience as life changing.

"When I first started, it was quite hard... adjusting to the discipline," she said.

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New yoga studio to open in Mackay

London, July 11 (IANS) Yoga can improve the mood and mental well-being of prisoners, and may also have an effect on impulsive behavior, an Oxford University study published Thursday suggests.

Reporting their findings in the Journal of Psychiatric Research, researchers said prisons see rates of mental health problems that are many times higher than the general population, reports Xinhua.

Inmates from a range of ages were randomly assigned to either a course of 10-weekly yoga sessions of 90 minutes or to a control group.

"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," said Amy Bilderbeck, the study leader.

If yoga was associated with improving behaviour control, as suggested by the results of the computer test, there may be implications for managing aggression, anti-social or problem behavior in prisons and on return to society, researchers noted.

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Yoga helps prisoners, says Oxford study

July 11, 2013 Yoga can improve mood and mental wellbeing among prisoners, an Oxford University study suggests, and may also have an effect on impulsive behaviour.

The researchers 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,' say Dr Amy Bilderbeck and Dr Miguel Farias, who led the study at the Departments of Experimental Psychology and Psychiatry at Oxford University. 'The suggestion is that yoga is helpful for these prisoners.'

Dr Bilderbeck adds: 'This was only a preliminary study, but nothing has been done like this before. Offering yoga sessions in prisons is cheap, much cheaper than other mental health interventions. If yoga has any effect on addressing mental health problems in prisons, it could save significant amounts of public money.'

The researchers were supported in the running of the trial by the Prison Phoenix Trust, an Oxford-based charity that offers yoga classes in prisons. They approached the Oxford University psychologists about conducting such a study to assess the benefits, though the study was designed, analysed and published independently of the Trust.

The Oxford University researchers, along with colleagues from King's College London, the University of Surrey and Radboud University Nijmegen in the Netherlands, report their findings in the Journal of Psychiatric Research.

Prisons see rates of mental health problems that are many times higher than the general population, and high levels are often recorded of personal distress, aggression, antisocial behaviour and drug and alcohol abuse among prisoners.

Yoga and meditation have been shown be beneficial in reducing anxiety, depression and improving mood in other areas and settings, so the Oxford researchers carried out an initial exploratory study to look at a range of possible benefits of yoga among prisoners.

Inmates of a range of ages were recruited from five category B and C prisons, a women's prison and a young offender institution, all in the West Midlands, and were randomly assigned to either a course of ten weekly yoga sessions of 90 minutes run by the Prison Phoenix Trust, or to a control group.

In sessions with the researchers before and after the yoga course, all the prisoners completed standard psychology questionnaires measuring mood, stress, impulsivity and mental wellbeing. A computer test to measure attention and the participant's ability to control his or her responses to an on-screen cue was also used after the yoga course.

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Prisoners doing yoga may see psychological benefits

I spend a lot of time writing about what we put in or on our bodies and how it all affects our health. But mind-body activities like yoga are an undeniably powerful force in preventing illness, maintaining wellness and treating chronic conditions easily, naturally and affordably.

Nearly one in three adults in the U.S. suffer from high blood pressure, also known as hypertension, according to Medical News Today. While this condition, like countless others, can be controlled with medication, most of these drugs come with unwelcome side effects.

For instance, the American Heart Association notes that beta-blockers, a common class of medication used to treat high blood pressure, can cause insomnia, depression, slow heartbeat or asthma symptoms.

However, according to one recent study, yoga can also help lower blood pressure. Participants in the study were divided into three different groups. The first group followed a supervised diet and walking program; the second group practiced yoga in a studio two to three days per week for 24 weeks; the third group followed a combination program consisting of yoga and dietary intervention.

According to the study, the group doing only yoga yielded the most significant results, lowering their blood pressure by an average of three points. The study's authors attributed this notable decrease to the relaxation and mindfulness associated with yoga - qualities that are also helpful in reducing stress.

Other research from 2010 demonstrated that yoga is effective at elevating mood and easing anxiety. And a study released last month showed that people experienced significantly superior brain function after practicing yoga, compared to aerobic exercise.

Of course, as with almost any form of exercise, yoga is not without its physical risks. The American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons cautions anyone who engages in yoga to discuss any known injury or illness with their yoga instructor ahead of time.

It's also important to learn which of the many different types of yoga will suit your needs, as some practices are more strenuous than others. Most importantly, listen to your body and know your limits if something hurts or doesnt feel right, stop doing it!

Some hypertension patients will require medication regardless of lifestyle, and no one should ever stop taking these often life-saving drugs without consulting their physician.

But supplementing a healthy, heart-friendly diet with an hour or so of yoga (or other similarly meditative exercises) could do wonders in terms of improving physical and mental health or preventing your health from needing improvement in the first place.

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How yoga can improve your health