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Eight weeks of heated yoga eased depression more than a waitlist did

This 2023 Journal of Clinical Psychiatry trial randomly assigned 80 adults with moderate to severe depression to Bikram yoga in a 40.6°C room or to a waitlist.

The paper

A Randomized Controlled Trial of Community-Delivered Heated Hatha Yoga for Moderate-to-Severe Depression

Nyer MB, Hopkins LB, Nagaswami M, Norton R, et al.. The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 2023;84(6):22m14621.

Read the paper ↗PubMed 37883245 ↗Free full text ↗

See the study at a glance

Design
Randomized controlled trial with a waitlist control
People
65 adults analyzed (80 randomized)
Who they were
Adults in the Boston area with moderate to severe depression. Their average age was 32.7, and 81.5% were women.
What they did
Participants took 90-minute Bikram yoga classes at community studios. Each class ran through 26 postures in a room heated to 40.6°C (105°F), and people were asked to come at least twice a week.
How long
Eight weeks

These numbers came out of it

59.3%

In the yoga group, 59.3% saw their clinician-rated depression score fall by at least half. On the waitlist, 6.3% did.

1.04

This effect size (Cohen's d) measures how much more depression scores fell with yoga than on the waitlist.

10.3

The average participant went to 10.3 classes over the eight weeks. The study had asked for at least two a week.

15 of 80

Of the 80 people randomized, 15 were left out of the final analysis.

The researchers did this

Researchers in Boston recruited 80 adults with moderate to severe depression between 2017 and 2019. They randomly assigned each person to eight weeks of heated yoga or to a waitlist.Source 1 · Randomized trialA Randomized Controlled Trial of Community-Delivered Heated Hatha Yoga for Moderate-to-Severe DepressionNyer MB, Hopkins LB, Nagaswami M, et al.. The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 2023.Read the paper ↗PubMed ↗ The classes took place at community studios and followed the Bikram format of 26 postures over 90 minutes in a room heated to 40.6°C.

People were asked to come at least twice a week. On average they made it to 10.3 classes in the eight weeks. The main outcome was the change by week 8 on a clinician-rated depression scale called the IDS-CR.

The yoga group improved far more than the people on the waitlist (effect size 1.04). Depression scores fell by at least half in 59.3% of the yoga group and in 6.3% of those still waiting.

A 2026 analysis of the same trial found that each extra class went with a 0.72-point bigger drop on the depression scale. People decided for themselves how often to attend, so the link can't prove that more classes caused the bigger drop.Source 2 · Clinical trialHeated yoga thaws depressionCopeland DI, Mac Giollabhui N, Foster S, et al.. Journal of Affective Disorders, 2026.Read the paper ↗PubMed ↗

We searched Europe PMC and Crossref for a 2025 JAMA Network Open paper on this trial and found none. This 2023 paper is the trial's main report, and follow-up papers came out in 2024 and 2026.

The study can't tell you these things

  • The comparison group was a waitlist, so the trial can't separate the heat from the exercise and the social side of a class.
  • Fifteen of the 80 people randomized weren't included in the analysis.
  • Most participants were women (81.5%) and the average age was 32.7, so the trial says little about older adults or men.
  • In a separate trial of 53 women, response rates were 61.1% with Bikram yoga and 60.0% with aerobic exercise.Source 3 · Randomized trialRandomized controlled trial of bikram yoga and aerobic exercise for depression in women: Efficacy and stress-based mechanismsLa Rocque CL, Mazurka R, Stuckless TJ, et al.. Journal of Affective Disorders, 2021.Read the paper ↗PubMed ↗

We cited these sources

  1. 01Nyer MB, Hopkins LB, Nagaswami M, Norton R, Streeter CC, Hoeppner BB, et al.. A Randomized Controlled Trial of Community-Delivered Heated Hatha Yoga for Moderate-to-Severe Depression. The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry. 2023;84(6):22m14621. doi:10.4088/JCP.22m14621 PMID 37883245
  2. 02Copeland DI, Mac Giollabhui N, Foster S, Arnold C, Wu Y, Raslan H, et al.. Heated yoga thaws depression. Journal of Affective Disorders. 2026;405:121647. doi:10.1016/j.jad.2026.121647 PMID 41850611
  3. 03La Rocque CL, Mazurka R, Stuckless TJ, Pyke K, Harkness KL. Randomized controlled trial of bikram yoga and aerobic exercise for depression in women: Efficacy and stress-based mechanisms. Journal of Affective Disorders. 2021;280(Pt A):457-466. doi:10.1016/j.jad.2020.10.067 PMID 33242717