{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,8]],"date-time":"2026-04-08T17:42:20Z","timestamp":1775670140926,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":33,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,6,22]],"date-time":"2021-06-22T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1624320000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Psychiatry"],"abstract":"<jats:p><jats:bold>Background:<\/jats:bold> Depression, anxiety, and disordered sleep are some common symptoms associated with sub-optimal mental health. During the COVID-19 pandemic, mental health issues have grown increasingly more prevalent in the population. Due to social distancing and other limitations during the pandemic, there is a need for home-based, flexible interventions that can improve mental health. The Yoga of Immortals (YOI) mobile application provides a structured intervention that can be used on any mobile device and applied from the user's home.<\/jats:p><jats:p><jats:bold>Methods:<\/jats:bold> A total of 1,505 participants were enrolled in the study and used the YOI app for an 8-week period. Participants were asked to fill out three questionnaires: The Patient Health Questionnaire, 8 items (PHQ-8), the Generalized Anxiety Disorder questionnaire (GAD-7) and the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI). These three items were completed by 1,297 participants a total of four times: before starting YOI, two more times during use, and a fourth time after the 8-week usage period. Changes in PHQ8, GAD7 and ISI in participants were compared to a control group, who did not use the YOI app but completed all questionnaires (590 controls finished all questionnaires).<\/jats:p><jats:p><jats:bold>Results:<\/jats:bold> Participants reported significant decreases in depression and anxiety-related symptoms. Compared to baseline, PHQ-8 scores decreased 50% on average after the 8-week period. GAD-7 scores also decreased by 40\u201350% on average, and ISI scores decreased by 50%. These changes were significantly greater (<jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic> &amp;lt; 0.05) than that observed in the control group. Participants who reported a previous diagnosis of depression and generalized anxiety reported significantly larger decreases in PHQ-8 and GAD-7 as compared to participants with no prior diagnosis (<jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic> &amp;lt; 0.05).<\/jats:p><jats:p><jats:bold>Conclusions:<\/jats:bold> Regular use of the YOI intervention over an 8-week period led to significant decreases in symptoms of both depression and anxiety, as well as alleviation of insomnia.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyt.2021.648029","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,6,22]],"date-time":"2021-06-22T04:34:10Z","timestamp":1624336450000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":14,"title":["Yoga of Immortals Intervention Reduces Symptoms of Depression, Insomnia and 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