Elevating Minds: How Yoga and Diet Transform Cognitive Functions in Engineering Students

Abstract

Objectives: To evaluate the effectiveness of four months of yoga practice and yoga with diet practice on attention, memory ability, memory satisfaction, and memory strategies among undergraduate engineering students.

Methods: 141 undergraduate engineering students were divided into three groups: Yogic Practices Group (YPG), Yogic Practices with Diet Group (YPDG), and the Control Group (CG). YPG received yoga practice, YPDG received yoga with diet for one hour for four months, and the control group did not receive any practice and maintained their usual lifestyle. Pre- and post-intervention data were collected through standardized questionnaires for all cognitive functions.

Results: Data were analyzed using ANOVA and Bonferroni post hoc test. The yoga group demonstrated significant improvement in attention, memory ability, and memory satisfaction with a p-value of 0.05. The yoga with diet group exhibited more significant improvement in attention, memory ability, and memory satisfaction than the yoga practice group, and a significant reduction in the usage of memory strategies compared to the yoga practice group, with a p-value of 0.05.

Conclusion: Both yoga and yoga with diet practice improved attention and memory among undergraduate students. However, yoga with diet was found to be superior in achieving greater improvement compared to yoga practice alone.