Yoga (asana-based mind–body practice)

Scope

Yoga (asana-based) means postural yoga curricula evaluated in randomised trials—session length, style (Hatha, Iyengar, integrated), and home practice minutes are within-protocol variation like Tai chi dose schedules.

Evidence anchors (PubMed)

• Depression in DSM-classified mental disorders (physically active yoga MA): Brinsley et al. 2021 (Br J Sports Med; PMID 32423912; brinsley-2021-yoga-depressive-symptoms-mental-disorders-meta-bjsm) — ≥50% asana-focused yoga vs waitlist / TAU / attention controls; pooled SMD ~−0.41 on depressive symptom scales across meta-analysed RCTs (p < 0.001) with session frequency meta-regression signal—disorder-mixed population; not interchangeable with Cramer anxiety-only pool.
• Anxiety MA: Cramer et al. 2018 (Depress Anxiety; PMID 29697885; cramer-2018-yoga-anxiety-meta-depress-anxiety) — 8 RCTs (n = 319); anxiety SMD −0.43 (95% CI −0.74 to −0.11) vs no treatment; SMD −0.86 vs active comparators (wide CI; P = 0.02); small depression signal vs no treatment (SMD −0.35).

Distinct protocols

• Mindfulness meditation (meditation-practice) — attention-dominant curricula without the same physical loading dose.
• Tai chi & Qigong (tai-chi-qigong) — choreographed martial movement families with separate pooled hypertension literature.
• Progressive muscle relaxation (progressive-muscle-relaxation) — tense–release somatic cycles.

Evidence hygiene

Active comparator arms in yoga trials include diverse therapies—negative SMD here does not automatically mean “yoga beats everything,” read forest plots.