Background

In view of the mental health challenges faced by university students around the globe, researchers and educators are endeavouring to determine effective student mental health promotion strategies. Two promising approaches are positive education (i.e., the teaching of applied positive psychology) and yoga, both of which have well documented mental health benefits. Nonetheless, there is a dearth of research documenting the combined effect of positive education and yoga on the three components of mental health (i.e., emotional, social, and psychological well-being).

Aims

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of a yoga program embedded within a positive education course on undergraduate students’ emotional well-being (EWB), social well-being (SWB), and psychological well-being (PWB).

Method

In this single case experimental A₁BA₂ design, seven volunteer students enrolled in the positive education course completed a 2-week baseline (A₁), followed by a 6-week yoga program including two 45-minute weekly virtual yoga classes (B), and another 2-week baseline (A₂), all while taking the positive education course. Outcome variables were assessed via the Mental Health Continuum–Short Form during phases A₁ and A₂ and examined by means of level and trend analyses.

Results

Yoga practice was found to contribute to increases in SWB (M=25.61%, SD=33.20), EWB (M=17.84%, SD=20.81), PWB (M=13.29%, SD=7.10), and overall mental health (M=16.98%, SD=14.30). 

Conclusion

Results demonstrate that practicing yoga while taking a positive education course enhances undergraduate students’ mental health, especially SWB. These findings foster the advancement of knowledge in mental health research and warrant the implementation of yoga and positive education courses on university campuses.