Background: With an increasing prevalence of emotional dysregulation in contemporary lifestyles, anxiety, stress, depression, and poor well-being have become widespread. yoga, an ancient mind-body practice, has increasingly gained interest in Western scientific research as a potential intervention for emotional well-being. Objectives: The objective of this systematic review is to investigate and integrate the existing literature evidence on the impact of yoga and associated practices on emotional regulation and emotional well-being.
Methods: A systematic review using a PRISMA protocol. An electronic search of relevant databases such as PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, PsycINFO, Google Scholar, and Research Gate was performed to identify peer-reviewed literature published from 2010 to 2025. The literature reviewed focused on experimental studies, quasi-experiments, randomized controlled trials, and other observation studies dealing with emotions such as emotion regulation, affect, anxiety, stress, mindfulness, and emotional reactivity.
Conclusion: Overall, a total of nine studies fulfilled the criteria for inclusion. The results clearly showed that yoga interventions including asana, pranayama, meditation, and integrated yoga practices were effective in improving emotional regulation, increasing positive affect, reducing negative emotions, anxiety, and stress, and improving mindfulness and self-compassion. Additionally, neurophysiologic parameters indicated better autonomic function and reduced cognitive-emotional conflict processing in yoga practitioners.
International Journal of Yogic, Human Movement and Sports Sciences
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