Role of yoga in managing the consequences of work stress—a review

Summary The purpose of this study is to systematically review the literature on the role of yoga in managing the consequences of work stress to examine the current body of knowledge in this field and to provide directions for future research in this domain. A comprehensive literature search of 14 databases using 12 different search term combinations in the area of ‘yoga and work stress’ was carried out till the period January 2022 following the PRISMA guidelines to select the relevant English-language peer-reviewed SCImago Ranked articles for review. Two broad classification areas were considered to understand the research question of interest in this study: (i) consequences of work stress [which includes—(a) behavioural; (b) physical; and (c) psychological] and; (ii) schools of thought in yoga for work stress management [which includes—(a) Hatha yoga (HY); (b) Vini yoga (VY); (c) Dru yoga (DY); (d) Integrated yoga (IY); (e) Kundalini yoga (KUY); (f) Kripalu yoga (KRY); (g) Iyengar yoga; (h) Ashtanga yoga (AY); (i) Power yoga (PY); and (j) Yoga (General)]. The main contribution of this study is that it is the first of its kind comprehensive review in the area of ‘yoga and its role in managing the consequences of work stress’ collating the dispersed knowledge in this area by indicating the various understudied stand-alone and combined consequences of work stress and the less researched schools of thought in yoga and yoga practices administered to manage these consequences of work stress, to provide promising avenues for further examination for the development of this research field.