Effect of pranayama and meditation on psychological well-being of healthcare workers during COVID-19 pandemic

INTERVENTION: Intervention1: Alternate Nostril Breathing & Guided Meditation: (1) Nadi Shodhan Pranayama â?? Alternate nostril breathing will be taught where the participant is seated comfortably with spine erect, head straight and eyes closed gently. The left hand will be placed in chin mudra with the thumb and index fingers opposing each other and in a gentle touch. The rest of three fingers are kept straight. The right hand is used to perform the alternate nostril breathing such that the thumb is on the right nostril, index and middle fingers between the eyebrows and ring and little fingers. The participants are then taught the procedure to breath through alternate nostrils for about 5 mins. (2) Panchakosha Meditation â?? The participants will be asked to sit with eyes closed and listen to the instructions given. The Panchakosha meditation is a guided meditation that takes about 15 to 18 minutes. After which participants are again asked to do the Nadi Shodhan Pranayama for about 5 minutes. The participants will then be given the instructions for daily practice of this pranayama and meditation technique by giving them the YouTube links for the other guided meditation techniques. These interventions will be delivered by the Principal Investigator who has been trained as a teacher by the Art of Living Foundation in the teaching of these techniques. The session will be conducted remotely using Zoom video calling app. At the end of two weeks period, the participants will be asked to again respond to an online questionnaire which will assess their psychological parameters, sleep quality and coping abilities. At this point, the Intervention Arm participants will be asked to return a sheet that marks their adherence to the protocol. Control Intervention1: Waitlisted Control: The control CONDITION: PRIMARY OUTCOME: Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) for sleep qualityTimepoint: 0, 2 weeks SECONDARY OUTCOME: Brief COPE for coping abilitiesTimepoint: 0, 2 weeks Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD‐7) for anxiety symptomsTimepoint: 0, 2 weeks Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ‐9) for depressive symptomsTimepoint: 0, 2 weeks INCLUSION CRITERIA: 1. Healthcare workers (doctors or nursing staff) of JIPMER, Pondicherry 2. Age between 18 to 60 years