A Study on the Effect of Relaxation Techniques and Shavasana on Stress and Pulse Rates of Medical Students

Medical education is perceived as being stressful and a high level of stress may have a negative effect on cognitive functioning and learning of students in medical school. The present study was aimed at comparing the efficacy of two relaxation techniques on medical students and also to study the effects of the Jacobson’s technique of relaxation and Shavasana on pulse rate & stress levels in Medical students. 90 medical students were selected and randomly assigned to three groups (N=30 each) Group A receiving Jacobson’s Technique of relaxation, Group B receiving Shavasana and Group C control. The stress level was determined using Perceived Stress Scale. Pulse rate was measured before and after training of 1 month (sessions twice a week) and home programme of the same technique daily was asked to be followed for one month. Results indicate that both the techniques are significantly effective in inducing relaxation but objectively, on comparison of both techniques, Shavasana was observed to bring enhanced decrease in pulse rate & stress levels than Jacobson’s technique of relaxation.