Publication:

Effect of Shiva Samkalpa Sooktha chanting on stress among ayurveda college students: an open label randomized trial design

Backgrounds: Stress is physical or mental tension in response to life demands. In medical sectors, the surplus stress may decrease the students’ abilities to establish good relationships with patients resulting in feeling of clinical dissatisfaction.

Methods In this open label interventional study, 160 students from an Ayurveda college, India who were suffering from moderate stress, after screening with perceived stress scale (PSS 10) were selected. They were instructed to complete the inventory of college student’s recent life experiences (ICSRLE) scale and satva sara assessment. The participants were randomly allocated into two groups of 80 each. Test group was administered shiva samkalpa sooktha chanting continuously for 30 minutes for 48 days at 6 AM in yoga hall of the institution. Control group did not follow any of the practices followed by mantra group. After 48 days; both groups were evaluated for stress and satva sara.

Results Post hoc analysis with Wilcoxon signed rank test showed statistically significant reduction of stress in test group soon after mantra chanting. Mann-Whitney U test showed a difference in perceived stress between groups after mantra chanting; but the result is statistically not significant (U=2446.5, p=0.167). Statistically significant reduction in ICSRLE stress score is observed in test group compared to control group after chanting (U=2268, p=0.040).

Conclusions Short term mantra chanting can reduce the stress among undergraduate students. Reduction is more appreciated in stressors like relationship related problems, time factor and in social isolation factors.