Introduction: Numerous international studies have shown that yoga practice has a positive effect on the physical and mental condition of healthy people and can play a role in the complementary treatment of certain diseases with appropriate guidance. Research on yoga practitioners has found positive correlations between several health indicators and the frequency of yoga practice and, in part, the yoga practice time. In terms of women s health, yoga has been shown to have a positive effect in relieving depression, anxiety and stress and several somatic symptoms. Objective: The aim of our study is to assess the subjective mental and physical symptoms of the health of Hungarian women practicing yoga, and to examine the associations between these variables between groups separated by yoga time and frequency. Methods: The study sample consisted of 457 healthy women with a mean age of 42.28 years (SD = 11.72), yoga practitioners 72%, and yoga instructors 27.7%. The Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21), Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS), Self-rated Health, and the Patient Health Questionnaire Somatic Symptom Severity Scale (PHQ-15) were used to measure the variables. Differences between the formed groups were analyzed by Kruskal-Wallis H and Mann-Whitney U tests. Results: We found a statistically significant difference between the three yoga time groups (beginner 1-6 months, intermediate 7-35 months, advanced ≥3 years) in depression (x2(2, n = 457) = 23.205, p < 0.001), anxiety (x2( 2, n = 457) = 9.489, p = 0.009), stress (x2(2, n = 457) = 27.224, p < 0.001), positive affect (x2(2, n = 456) = 7.689, p = 0.021), negative affect (x2( 2, n = 456) = 46.177, p < 0.001), self-rated health (x2(2, n = 457) = 28.862, p < 0.001) and somatic symptoms (x2(2, n = 455) = 26.022, p < 0.001) score. We also found a significant differences between the two yoga frequency groups (1-2 times per week and 3-7 times per week) in depression (U(1) = 19148.50, n1 = 161, n2 = 295, Z =-3.508, p < 0.001), stress (U(1) = 19588.50, n1 = 161, n2 = 295, Z =-3.107, p = 0.002), positive affect (U(1) = 18189.00, n1 = 161, n2 = 294, Z =-4.090, p < 0.001), negative affect (U(1) = 18456.50, n1 = 161, n2 = 294, Z =-3.894, p < 0.001), self-rated health (U(1) = 18244.00, n1 = 161, n2 = 295, Z =-4.873, p < 0.001) and somatic symptoms (U(1) = 19777.50, n1 = 160, n2 = 294, Z =-2.817, p = 0.005). A medium effect size difference was observed for negative affectivity and small effect size differences were observed for the other measured variables. Conclusions: Yoga could be recommended for relieving depression, anxiety, stress, and somatic symptoms, as well as a possible coping strategy for dealing with stress for healthy women. The results suggest that prolonged yoga practice (in years) or repeated physical exercises of yoga (asana) several times a week (3 or more times) may provide the greatest health benefits.

Theoretical background: There are several measuring instruments in the international literature for measuring spirituality. One of the most widely used and reliable self-reported questionnaires is the Spiritual Health and Life-Orientation Measure (SHALOM). The questionnaire captures spiritual well-being holistically and is therefore well-suited to both religious and non-religious individuals. Aims: The primary objective of our study is to adapt SHALOM to Hungarian and to perform detailed psychometric analysis, including testing factor structure, reliability, and validity. Methods: The questionnaire package used for validation (SHALOM, WBI-5 / WHO Well-Being Questionnaire /, SWLS / Life Satisfaction Scale /) was completed by a total of 437 university students (male: 24.2%, female: 75.8%, mean age = 21.6 years; SD = 1.8 years). Results: Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyzes on the items of the SHALOM questionnaire confirmed the bifactor structure (4 primary and 1 general factors), supporting the theoretical factor structure of the instrument. The primary factors are: Personal, Social, Environmental, and Transcendent Scales for both aspectsof evaluation (ideal and experienced). However, there were 6 items that did not fit perfectly into the four primary factors: 4 items for ideal assessment and 2 items for experienced. In the ideal assessment, the items in the questionnaire explain 66.6% of the total variance and 64.9% in the case of experienced. Factor structures gave acceptable fit indicators for both evaluation aspects (CFIideal = 0.99 and CFIexperienced = 0.97; and RMSEAideal = 0.057 and RMSEAexperienced = 0.068). The Cronbach-α value ranges from 0.69 to 0.97, indicating an overall acceptable internal consistency and the stability in time of the questionnaire is also adequate. According to our validity study, the scales for the two evaluations of SHALOM are significantly positively correlated with the WHO Well- Being Index and the Satisfaction with Life Scale (with the exception of the Personal scale for ideal evaluation), with correlations ranging from weak to moderate. Conclusions: Our results support the bifactor structure of the SHALOM questionnaire, confirm the internal consistency of the scales, and support the validity of the Hungarian version of the measurement tool. However, further studies in the field of construct validity testing are warranted in the future.

BACKGROUND: The present COVID-19 epidemic has had a considerable impact on the mental health of individuals worldwide. Research projects suggests potential benefits of yoga practice for prevention, or as medical supplementation in relation to the present pandemic. This study investigated the association between yoga and health status, and how the frequency of yoga practice affected the mental well-being (MWB) of the respondents. METHODS: Hungarian yoga practitioners (N.=379) aged 20 to 75 years (93.4% female) were asked about their personal health, perceived usefulness of yoga practice for COVID-19 cases and their MWB. Data were collected between April 17 and May 17, 2021. The measurement tool used was an online questionnaire including sociodemographic data, characteristics of yoga practice, COVID-19 and health related questions, and WHO Well-being Index (WBI-5). Associations were examined through ANOVA and X2 tests. RESULTS: There was a significant difference among the yoga practice groups by weekly frequency (once a week, 2-3 times a week, 4-5 times a week, daily) on the total mean score of well-being (WBI-5), F (3, 373) =12.97, P<0.001, ηp 2=0.094. The daily practice of yoga showed the highest MWB. CONCLUSIONS: According to our findings, it can be stated that regular yoga practice is associated with higher level of MWB which can be successful in dealing with COVID-19 issues such as stress and depression.