Yoga beat a moderate ride for calm. The ride won on mood.
People say: “Does gentle yoga do what a workout does?” We read the study.
Randomised controlled trial (RCT). 88 people. two lab visits one week apart; single 30-minute sessions, measured immediately before and after.
A trial. Chance decided who did what.
Who: US adults (Austin, Texas), 18-43 years, mean age 23.3, 52% female, 57% White and 38% Asian, mostly university students or graduates; not selected for psychiatric illness. 45 aerobic arm, 43 mind-body arm; 74 completed both visits; blood available for a subset (78 with at least one sample)
- Anxiety after yogadownbiggest of the 4
- Good mood after rideupmoderate pace
- Anandamide in blooduponly moderate ride
More to know, from our read of the paper:
- Short-term only: feelings measured minutes after one 30-minute session. Says nothing about weeks of practice or about depression/anxiety disorders
- No rest-only (non-exercise) group: the before/after drops in anxiety could partly be due to time passing or relief after the lab procedures. Comparisons between conditions are the stronger evidence
- People were randomized to arms, not to all four conditions: yoga vs cycling compares different people (authors' own caveat: 'between-arm comparisons should be interpreted within the constraints of this design')
- Self-reported feelings (STAI state anxiety, PANAS). Young, mostly student, non-clinical sample
- Moderate cycling was 20 minutes at 70-75% of age-predicted max heart rate (plus 5-min warm-up and cooldown). Say 'moderate ride', not 'hard workout'
Calm: gentle yoga. A lift: a moderate ride.
- Feeling tense?Anxiety fell most after yoga.
- Need a lift?Good mood rose most after a moderate ride.
- Easy pedalingCalmer, but no clear mood lift.
88 young US adults (average age 23) were randomly split into two groups: one did 30 minutes of yoga and of stretching, the other 30 minutes of easy and of moderate cycling, on two lab visits. Anxiety dropped after all four sessions, most after yoga. Good mood rose most after the moderate ride and not clearly after easy pedaling. Only the moderate ride clearly raised anandamide, one of the body's own cannabis-like chemicals. These were single sessions with no rest-only group, so it's a short-term snapshot.
Leri J, Crombie KM, Malloy L, Wang L, Broski P, Cisler JM (2026). Contributions of yoga and aerobic exercise to acute changes in state affect, circulating BDNF and eCB concentrations, and memory. Psychoneuroendocrinology.
Design: Randomised controlled trial (RCT) · randomized study-arm trial: adults randomized to an aerobic arm (moderate- and low-intensity cycling) or a mind-body arm (yoga and stretching); each did both conditions of their arm (30 min each) at two lab visits in counterbalanced order; measures taken right before and right after each session. No rest-only control condition
DOI: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2026.107817
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