Inculcation of Yoga as a Self-care Practice for Improving Mental Health among Healthcare Professionals in a Hospital Setting: Addressing through Metacognition

Factually speaking, most healthcare professionals suffer from stressburnout. Burnout is a state wherein one experiences work stress, whichalong with a heavy workload, leads to poor metacognition and mentalhealth. Yoga acts as a well-known mind-body intervention which touchesa deeper layer of the mind and purifies thoughts and emotions thatmay lead to better health. This article suggests evidence-based yogapractices which can be self-administered to improve metacognition andmental health. The detailed instructions regarding yoga practices canbe referred to using resources mentioned in the article. Yoga exercisescan be performed quite easily at the desk during breaks, session gaps,and brief time gaps. Though healthcare professionals can perform yogaexercises during office breaks at the workplace in a chair, the articlerecommends that they should practice yoga exercises in their homeson yoga mats. These practices will keep them fresh, aware, happy,energised and revitalised throughout the day as these practices resultin the release of endorphins i.e., feel-good chemicals in the humanbrain. Yoga practice also improves metacognition, creating a copingability to fight against work stress. Based on the findings, the articlesuggests inculcating yoga as a self-care practice for improving mentalhealth among healthcare professionals in clinical settings. How to cite this article:Kumar N, Singh U. Inculcation of Yoga as a SelfcarePractice for Improving Mental Health amongHealthcare Professionals in a Hospital Setting:Addressing through Metacognition. ChettinadHealth City Med J. 2023;12(4):103-109. DOI: https://doi.org/10.24321/2278.2044.202379