IRJC
International Journal of Social Science & Interdisciplinary Research
Vol.1 Issue 10, October 2012, ISSN 2277 3630
EFFECT OF YOGIC PRACTICES AND BRISK WALKING ON MENTAL
HEALTH AND SELF CONCEPT AMONG OBESE MEN
S.ILAYARAJ*; S.ADHAVAN**
*Ph.D Scholar,
Department of Physical Education,
Pondicherry University,
Pondicherry, India.
**Ph.D Scholar,
Department of Physical Education,
Pondicherry University,
Pondicherry, India.
ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION
YOGA
The word Yoga comes from the Sanskrit root 'yuj' which means 'to join'. Yoga is the science that
teaches us the method of uniting the individual soul with the Supreme Soul, of merging the
individual will in the Cosmic Will. To live in God, to commune with God is Yoga. Yoga is life
in God, life in perfection, peace, lasting happiness and eternal Bliss. Life in God brings eternal
Bliss. Yoga shows you the way, unites you with God, and makes you perfect and Immortal.
Yoga is an exact science. The science of Yoga makes a study of man himself and declares that he
is a triune being: Firstly, with a gross and bestial nature; secondly, endowed with reason but full
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KEYWORDS: Yogic practices, brisk walking, mental health and self concept.
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The purpose of the study was to find out the effect of yogic practices and brisk walking on
mental health and self concept among obese men. For the study 45 obese men were randomly
selected from Tindivanam region, and their age ranged between 40-50 years. Their life style and
living condition were not taken into consideration. The selected subject were divided into three
equal groups within 15 subjects in each group namely two experimental groups‟ (Group I) yogic
practices, (Group II) brisk walking and (Group III) control group. The experimental groups
underwent selected Yogic practices and brisk walking for 6 weeks, trained five days per week for
duration of 60 minutes every day. The training was given in the morning hours between 6.00 am
to7.00 am. The control group did not undergo any training program without their routine work.
The pre test and post test on mental health and self concept was measured and the data was
statistically analyzed by using ANCOVA to find out the significant difference among the three
groups. The finding of the study revealed that there was a beneficial effect on mental health and
self concept for both the experimental groups when compared to the control. The training was
more effective for Yogic practices and brisk walking.
IRJC
International Journal of Social Science & Interdisciplinary Research
Vol.1 Issue 10, October 2012, ISSN 2277 3630
of impurity; thirdly, with all-pure and all-perfect divine nature which lies deep within (Dorling
Kindersley1996).
BRISK WALKING
The problem of excessive weight is extremely commonplace these days. In fact, more
and more people today are suffering from expanding waistlines, thanks to their faulty living style
too much work, no time for exercise and excessive dependence on fast food. Though losing
weight is not easy, for overweight people, all hope is not lost. A regular exercise regimen and a
strict control on the diet can go a long way in helping them bring their weight back to a healthy
level. When we talk about exercise, most of the people resort to walking, since it is easy, does
not involve any dependence on gym-machines and cost nothing at all (except your time). While
many people have adopted walking for their daily exercise routine, some of them find that even
after adhering to their daily walk schedule, they are not losing weight. If you are one amongst
such people, you need to know that, for burning calories and losing weight, merely walking is
not enough. You need to make sure that your walking speed is right. A brisk walking pace
involves exercising at a moderately brisk intensity level in order to achieve cardiovascular
benefits that increase overall endurance and lower risks for developing heart disease, obesity and
stroke. Brisk walking can start out in five-minute increments to acquaint your body with moving
and gradually work up to 150 minutes weekly. Check with your doctor first since not everyone
can safely use walking as a way to improve fitness.
199
The purpose of present study was to find out the effect of yogic practices and brisk
walking on selected psychological variables among obese men. For the purpose of the study 45
obese men were selected randomly from Tindivanam region, and their age ranged between 40-50
years. Their life style and living condition were not taken into consideration. The selected subject
was divided into three equal groups within 15 subjects in each group namely two experimental
groups‟ (Group I) yogic practices, (Group II) brisk walking and (Group III) control group. The
experimental groups underwent selected Yogic practices and brisk walking for 6 weeks, trained
five days per week for duration of 60 minutes every day. The training was given in the morning
hours between 6.00 am to7.00 am. The control group did not undergo any training program
without their routine work. By Peter Becker (Questionnaire) was used to assess mental health.
By Muktha Rani Rastogi (Questionnaire) was used to assess the self concept. The results of pre
and post test were compared by using analysis of co-variance (ANCOVA). It was used statistical
technique to determine the significant difference between two groups on the selected
psychological variables at 0.05 level of confidence.
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METHODOLOGY
IRJC
International Journal of Social Science & Interdisciplinary Research
Vol.1 Issue 10, October 2012, ISSN 2277 3630
TABLE II
ANALYSIS OF COVARIANCE FOR PRE AND POST TEST DATA ON MENTAL
HEALTH AND SELF CONCEPT OF EXPERIMENTAL AND CONTROL GROUPS
(IN NUMBERS)
Test
Yogic
Practices
Group
Brisk
Walking
Group
Control
SOV
Sum of
df
Squares
Mean
Square
B
6.17
2
3.08
W
366.93
42
8.73
B
93.64
2
46.82
W
343.33
42
8.17
B
101.85
2
50.92
W
327.17
41
7.98
B
8.13
2
4.06
W
4631.06
42
110.26
B
538.53
2
269.26
Group
‘F’
Ratio
MENTAL HEALTH
Pre-test
Mean
63.93
64.80
64.60
Post-test
Mean
67.60
64.80
64.33
Adjusted
Mean
67.70
64.73
64.30
0.80
5.73*
6.38*
SELF CONCEPT
145.80
144.87
145.73
Post-test
Mean
155.53
151.00
147.07
Adjusted
Mean
155.30
151.50
0.40
3.67*
W
3074.66
42
73.20
B
532.67
2
266.33
W
285.70
41
6.96
146.90
38.22*
Required table value at 0.05 level of significance for 1 & 42 degrees of freedom = 3.23.
Required table value at 0.05 level of significance for 1 & 41 degrees of freedom = 3.21.
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Mean
200
Pre-test
IRJC
International Journal of Social Science & Interdisciplinary Research
Vol.1 Issue 10, October 2012, ISSN 2277 3630
Table-I shows that the pre test means on the mental health and self concept of the
experimental groups and control group are 63.93+145.80, 64.80+144.87 and 64.60+145.73
respectively. The obtained „F‟ ratio value 0.354 +0.40 for the pre test mean is lesser than the
required table value 3.23 for significance at 0.05 levels. Hence, it is not significant and it reveals
that there is no significant difference between the control and the experimental groups on the
mental health and self concept before the commencement of experimental period. It is inferred
that the random selection of the subjects for the three groups are successful.
The post test mean on the mental health and self concept of the experimental groups and
control group are 67.60+155.53, 64.80+151.00 and 64.33+147.07 respectively. The obtained „F‟
ratio value 5.73+3.67 for the post test data is greater than the required table value 3.23 for 2 & 42
degrees of freedom at 0.05 level of significance. It discloses that there is statistically significant
difference between the control and the experimental groups on mental health and self concept
after the experimental period.
The adjusted post test mean on mental health and self concept of the experimental groups
and control group are 67.70+155.30, 64.73+151.50 and 64.30+146.90 respectively. The obtained
„F‟ ratio value 6.38+38.22 for the adjusted post test data is greater than the required table value
3.21 for 2 & 41 degrees of freedom at 0.05 level of significance. It shows that there is significant
change on mental health and self concept as a result of experimental period. Since the result has
revealed that there is significant difference, the scheffe‟s post hoc test is analyzed to find out for
the differences between the paired means follows a significant analysis of co variance for yogic
practices and brisk walking and control groups.
TABLE II
SCHEFFE‘S TEST FOR SIGNIFICANCE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PAIRED
ADJUSTED MEAN OF MENTAL HEALTH AND SELF CONCEPT
Practices Brisk
Group
Walking Control
Group
Mean
Difference
Confidence
Interval
67.70
64.73
-
2.97*
2.69
67.70
-
64.30
3.40*
2.69
-
64.73
64.30
0.43
2.69
-
3.80*
2.44
Adjusted Mean on self concept
155.30
151.50
201
Yogic
Group
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Adjusted Mean on mental health
IRJC
International Journal of Social Science & Interdisciplinary Research
Vol.1 Issue 10, October 2012, ISSN 2277 3630
155.30
-
146.90
8.40*
2.44
-
151.50
146.90
4.60*
2.44
*Significant
Table II Shows that the scheffe‟s post-hoc method of testing the significance for the
differences between the paired means follows a significant analysis of co variance for yogic
practices, brisk walking and control group. The adjusted mental health and self concept
efficiency means in order of magnitude and the difference between this means for the control and
two experimental groups are given in the table. The mean differences between the yogic
practices and brisk walking were 2.97+3.80, which was significant at 0.05 level of confidence
interval. In the comparison between brisk walking and control group and the difference were
0.43+4.60, which was insignificant at 0.05 level for mental health and for self concept it is
significant at 0.05 level of confidence interval. The ordered adjusted mental health means and
differences between yogic practices and control group were 3.40+8.40, which was significant at
0.05 level of confidence interval. The differences in means of yogic practices, brisk walking and
control group is presented in fig- I
Self concept
pre test
post test
adj test
pre test
post test
adj test
Mental health
0
1
2
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
East
West
North
3
1st Qtr
4
2nd Qtr 3rd Qtr
FIGURE-1
5
4th Qtr
202
180
160
140
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
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GRAPHICAL REPRESENTATION OF ADJUSTED CONTROL GROUP AND
EXPERIMENTAL GROUP ON MENTAL HEALTH AND SELF CONCEPT
IRJC
International Journal of Social Science & Interdisciplinary Research
Vol.1 Issue 10, October 2012, ISSN 2277 3630
DISCUSSION
After the collection of data, appropriate statistical analysis has been done in order to
present the discussion of findings. The results of the study showed that there was significant
improvement on psychological variables such as mental health and self concept due to the
influence of yogic practices and brisk walking among obese men. The finding is in conformity
with the results of Thilagavathy (1995), and james.A, (2009).
CONCLUSIONS
1. Yogic practices is proved to be superior than brisk walking and control group in bringing
the change on selected psychological variables namely mental health and self- concept.
2. Brisk Walking is proved to be superior to control group in bringing out the change on the
selected psychological variables namely mental health and self concept.
REFERENCE
James A., “Effect of Select Yogasanas, Pranayama and Meditation on Biochemical Physiological
and Psychological Variables of Male Students”. Pondicherry University, May, 2009.
Ray U., et al., “Effect of Yogic Exercises on Physical and Mental Health of Young Fellowship
Course Trainees” Indian Journal Physiology Pharmacology, 2001; 45:37–53.
Thilagavathy, “A study of academic achievement of adolescents relation to their cognitive style,
locus of control, self esteem and mental health”, Annamalai University,(1995).
BOOKS
B.K.S. Iyengar., “Light on Yoga” harper Collins, 1995.
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Pandit shambhu nath., “speaking of yoga”sterling publishers., New Delhi-2005.