International Journal of Research in Medical Sciences | May 2018 | Vol 6 | Issue 5 Page 1699 International Journal of Research in Medical Sciences Kumar K et al. Int J Res Med Sci. 2018 May;6(5):1699-1703 www.msjonline.org pISSN 2320-6071 | eISSN 2320-6012 Original Research Article Effect of yoga and meditation on serum cortisol level in first-year medical students Kislay Kumar 1 , Vinay Singh 1 *, Devesh Kumar 1 , A. B. Asthana 1 , Divya Mishra 2 INTRODUCTION Yoga is a traditional technique to conserve and purify body, mind and soul. It is a mind-body bridge which involves relaxation, meditation and a set of physical exercises performed in association with respiratory events. In this new era of evolution, most of the population are depressed or in stress, irrespective of their age and gender. Depression is well-recognized to be associated with hypercortisolemia as a result of hyperfunctioning of hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis. 1 The most common aspects of Yoga today are different techniques of concentration (Meditation), bodily postures(Asanas) and breathing exercises (Pranayamas). Being holistic, it is the best means for achieving physical, mental, social and spiritual wellbeing of the practitioners. 2 Yoga produces consistent physiological changes and has sound scientific basis. Yoga may be as attractive as an alternative to traditional aerobics and strength training program because it requires little space and virtually no 1 Department of Physiology, BRD Medical College, Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, India 2 Department of of Biochemistry, IIMSR, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India Received: 25 February 2018 Accepted: 29 March 2018 *Correspondence: Dr. Vinay Singh, E-mail: vinaysinghdr12@gmail.com Copyright: © the author(s), publisher and licensee Medip Academy. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License, which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. ABSTRACT Background: Yoga is a traditional technique to conserve and purify body, mind and soul. It is a mind-body bridge which involves relaxation, meditation and a set of physical exercises performed in association with breathing. In this new era of evolution, most of the population are depressed or in stress, irrespective of their age and gender. Methods: This study is performed on 1 st yr. medical students whose stress level is in higher side due to academic burden. An 55 medical students were selected as participants through counseling and were divided into yoga group (n= 27) and control group (n=28). Their morning serum cortisol level was assessed, and yoga group were instructed to practice yoga (1hr/day for 12 weeks) under supervision of yoga instructor. No such instruction was given to control group. Results: Serum cortisol level is the marker of stress and inflammation. Higher cortisol level means high stress level. Yoga and meditation is documented to reduce stress level in regular practitioners. Statistical analysis has shown decrease in morning serum cortisol level (572.18±168.03 to 544.98±139.89, 4.8% decrease, P value ˂0.05, significant) in yoga group after study. Control group have shown marked increase in cortisol level (558.89±162.69 to 577.26±254.5, 3.4% increase, P value = 0.74, not significant) after three months of study. Conclusions: This study concludes that practicing Yoga has a significant effect on the reduction of stress and anxiety level in medical students. Keywords: Cortisol, Medical students, Stress, Yoga DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.18203/2320-6012.ijrms20181762