Yoga for Improving Mental Health during COVID-19 Pandemic: A Review

Background: Novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), a deadly viral disease is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) that has caused over a million deaths globally and still counting. Many countries are observing a nationwide lockdown since November 2019 that varied from time to time and country to country to decrease its spread and the governments are urging the people to follow safety guidelines such as face and nose masking, different hygienic habits, sanitization, repeated handwashing, avoiding crowd, not spitting in the public place, not using the tobacco products , and social distancing, etc. that may cause loneliness, mental distress, anxiety, and depression. Method : Electronic database PubMed was searched from 1 December 2019 to 25 November 2020 using the keywords "coronavirus disease, COVID-19, yoga, meditation, pranayama, mindfulness, and mental health." Out of 95 studies, 23 were selected for the review. Result: There are no studies published to evaluate the effect of yoga on mental health during the spread of COVID-19 pandemic on people. However, the studies published on the effect of yoga and meditation for improving mental health are of great importance to deal with such a challenging COVID-19 pandemic period. Conclusion: Yoga and meditation can be used as a preventive and coping measure to combat COVID-19 and to reduce the harmful psychological effects due to COVID-19.