The effect of mindfulness-based yoga exercises on resilience and anger control of female student-athletes

The determining role of psychological factors in the success of athletes has been confirmed in many studies. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of a mindfulness-based yoga practice course on resilience and anger control in athletes with different skill levels. For this purpose, 72 student-athletes who are members of sports teams (mean age  20.67± 1.44 years, mean sporting experience 5.88 ± 3.26 years) were selected based on inclusion criteria and divided into three intervention groups. (Skilled, semi-skilled and inexperienced) and three control groups (skilled, semi-skilled and inexperienced) were divided. In the present study, Connor and Davidson (2003) and Betty Young and Rodney Hammond (1995) questionnaires were used for two variables of resilience and anger control. First, all participants (control and intervention) in the pre-test stage completed resilience and anger control questionnaires; The intervention group then participated in 12 mindfulness-based yoga exercises for 90 minutes. At the end of the course, the two groups (intervention and control) were retested. The findings of covariance analysis showed that the main effect of mindfulness-based yoga practice intervention was significant in both resilience and anger control variables. The main effect of skill level in both variables did not show a significant difference. But the interactive effect of the intervention and the skill level were significant in both variables. On the other hand, paired t-test for comparison within the group showed that in the resilience variable, all three intervention groups had significant progress in the post-test and in the anger control variable, only the semi-skilled group showed significant progress in the post-test. According to the results of the study, it is suggested that coaches use psychological exercises such as mindfulness-based yoga to promote psychological variables such as resilience and anger control in athletes.