The Effect of Kapha Yoga Exercise on Concentration and Quality of
Life
Yenni Andari, Adang Suherman and Komarudin Komarudin
Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia, Jln. Dr. Setiabudhi No. 229, Bandung, Indonesia
yenniandari@student.upi.edu
Keywords: Yoga, Concentration, Life Quality.
Abstract: Increased age can lead to decreased body physiological function, it will be worsening if the aging is not
accompanied by physical activity. Yoga is one of the physical activities that are beneficial both physical and
psychological. The purpose of this study is to determine the effect of yoga practice on the concentration and
quality of life. This research used a causal-comparative method, the population in this study was 22 female
teachers at SMPN 1 Bandung, they were chosen by using purposive sampling technique. The data collection
technique for concentration variables was grid concentration exercise test (Harris, 1998) and the instrument
used to measure quality of life was in the form of World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQOL) -
BREF questionnaire. The data analysis was carried out through version 20 of SPSS. The data processing
procedure used Independent sample test statistic, the result of the research showed that 1) KAPHA Exercise
gave a significant influence on the concentration, 2) KAPHA practice gave a significant influence to the
quality of life. KAPHA yoga exercise can be one way to improve concentration and quality of life.
1 INTRODUCTION
The life span is divided into nine periods, i.e. before
birth, newly born (until second week), infancy
(second week end to end of second year), early
childhood (2-10 years), puberty (10-13 years),
adolescents (13-18), early adulthood (18-40 years),
middle age (40-60 years), and old age (60 years to
death) (Hurlock, 2002). Aging is a natural biological
process (normal). It is characterized by the growth
and development to achieve maturity at the age of ±
30-35 years later followed by a decline by the
progressive and gradual degenerative changes of
body shape and function due to the wear of the cell
accompanied by decreased physiological capacity.
One characteristic of the decline in physiologic
capacity in middle-age women is menopause, most
women begin experiencing menopausal symptoms at
the age of 40s and the peak is achieved at the age of
50 (Kronenberg, 1990; Utian, 2005; Freeman and
Sherif, 2007). Generally, a woman will experience
menopause around the age of 45-50 years.
Menopause not only results in changes in ovarian
function that affect hormones and affects women's
organs in general but it also affects a woman's
psychological state. Psychological problem is highly
individualized, influenced by socio-cultural,
educational, environmental and economic (Rostiana,
2009). Some menopausal women experience severe
menopausal symptoms that can affect their daily
activities that can ultimately degrade their quality of
life (Larasati et al., 2007). Some studies have proven
that psychic pressure arising from the social value of
postmenopausal women contributes to physical
symptoms during the menopausal period (Princess,
Wati and Yunus Ariyanto, 2014). Physical symptoms
are perceived to trigger the emergence of
psychological problems. The usual feelings in this
phase include fragile, sad, and depressed
(Srimulyanti, 2013). As a result, women during
menopause become depressed, not concentrated and
irritable (Srimulyanti, 2013).
Yoga is a very popular sport today, yoga practice
is a comprehensive health system that is beneficial to
improve physical health, provide peace of mind and
soul. Yoga in sanskrit is yuj which means the
unification of the breath, body and soul (Ramesh,
2016; Iyengar, 1982; Henry, 2003; Junkin, 2007;
Melorose et al., 2015). Yoga comes from Sanskrit
which means to unite or harmonize body, mind and
soul. Yoga is divided into 9 types, among others;
Jnana yoga, Karma yoga, Bhakti yoga, Yantra yoga,
Mantra yoga, Tantra yoga, Kundalini, Hatha yoga and
king yoga (Shindu, 2014). The most popular yoga
done today is Hatha yoga, Hatha yoga is a training
system that uses various techniques of body posture
(asana) accompanied by breathing techniques
(pranayama) (Henry, 2003).
Hatha yoga continues to grow and grow into
various types along with the development of the era,
194
Andari, Y., Suherman, A. and Komarudin, K.
The Effect of Kapha Yoga Exercise on Concentration and Quality of Life.
In Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Sports Science, Health and Physical Education (ICSSHPE 2017) - Volume 2, pages 194-198
ISBN: 978-989-758-317-9
Copyright © 2018 by SCITEPRESS – Science and Technology Publications, Lda. All rights reserved
one of which is KAPHA yoga. KAPHA yoga was
created as a new Hatha yoga system in Indonesia that
aims to enrich and become a part of modern yoga
Hatha in this world. KAPHA is an advanced
technique of Hatha yoga, the benefit of KAPHA
technique is to produce the asana (posture) that shri
(beautiful) sthira (strong / sturdy) and sukham
(comfortable) (Koko, 2013).
The effects of yoga practice on health have been
demonstrated through numerous studies, including
the reduction of psychological pressure and mucosal
immunity in middle and elderly women (Nobuhiko,
et al, 2017) other studies have shown that with the
addition of a 16-week yoga practice program
combined with Conventional therapy in patients with
type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM2) can bring precise
control of glycosylated hemoglobin, blood sugar,
lipid profile in elderly subjects on a long-term basis
(Vaishali, 2012).
Referring to the results of the above research, that
yoga practice provides many benefits to the body,
mind and soul, but researchers have not found any
research of the benefits of KAPHA yoga exercise to
improve concentration and quality of life are studied
scientifically, hence to fill the void in research and to
corroborate some theories of the benefits of yoga
practice, the researchers feel interested to examine
these issues empirically in one scientific study, given
the importance of concentration and quality of life for
the survival of a person, especially women entering
middle age, with the practice of yoga, it is expected
to increase concentration and quality of life, therefore
researchers are interested in conducting further
research on "The Effect of KAPHA Yoga Exercises
on Concentration and Quality of Life".
2 METHODS
The researchers used causal comparative method.
This was done since the researchers was interested in
investigating a problem deeply by comparing two
different group situations.
Causal relation is a correlation that has cause and
effect impact. There will be independent variable and
dependent variable (Sugiyono, 2012) Comparative is
comparing the existence of one or more variables in
two or more different samples. The basic causal-
comparative method involves selecting two or more
distinct groups of variables and comparing them to
other variable or variables (Fraenkel, Wallen and
Huyn, 1993).
2.1 Participants
The population of the study was 22 female teachers at
SMP Negeri 1 Bandung. By using purposive
sampling technique, the total population who follow
KAPHA yoga exercise 16 people ranging from 45-57
years old and the comparison group was 17 female
teachers with the same characteristics that did not
follow KAPHA yoga exercise. Relating to the
number, Fraenkel and Wallen (1990, p. 294) claimed
that “The minimum acceptable sample size for a
correlational study is considered by most researchers
to be no less than 30”. This is in line with Suherman's
(2002) opinion that, "The number of samples for
comparative causal research is the same as for
experimental research of at least 15 people while
samples for correlational research are at least 30
people". The reason researchers use purposive
sampling technique is in accordance with the
characteristics of the sample that became the object
of research, namely middle-aged female teacher with
age range 45-57 years and middle-aged female
teachers who actively participate in yoga practice.
2.2 Measures
2.2.1 Concentration Test
This test is to determine the concentration of the
players by using the grid concentration exercise test
adopted from Dorothy V. Harris and B.L Harris
(1998). Tools that need to be prepared are a
questionnaire of grid concentration exercise,
stopwatch and stationary. The way of conducting this
test is that the participants are given a concentration
questionnaire, after which they are ordered to sort the
numbers 00-99 arranged randomly within 1 minute.
Assessment of the scores was obtained from the
results of sorting the numbers. If the value is low, then
the concentration level is low and if the value is high
then the concentration level is high.
Figure 1: Grid Concentration Exercise Questionnaires.
The Effect of Kapha Yoga Exercise on Concentration and Quality of Life
195
2.2.2 Quality of Life Test
The instrument used in this study was made in the
form of a questionnaire adopted from the World
Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQOL) -
BREF. This instrument uses 26 question items where
the tool uses four dimensions: physical,
psychological, social and environmental relations.
All questions are based on a five-point likert scale (1-
5) and five different answer options. Questions 1 and
2 are about overall quality of life and general health,
whereas for other questions are questions from each
of the WHO domains.
Table 1: WHOQOL-BREF Questionnaires.
2.3 Procedures
To find out the results of data that has been obtained,
then the authors processed the data. The data analysis
was carried out through statistical computation
analysis. Calculation and analysis of data in a study
was intended to determine the meaning of data
obtained in order to solve the research problems. The
procedures of the analysis were described as follows:
Choosing 16 people from the population of 22
people with purposive sampling technique, 16
middle-aged female teachers (age range 45-57
yrs.) who follow KAPHA yoga exercise and as
the comparison 17 middle-aged female teacher
who did not follow KAPHA yoga;
Administering concentration and quality of life
tests.
Testing data normal distribution and
homogeneity;
Comparing the concentration and the quality of
life tests from those participating KAPHA and
those who are not. The tests were conducted to
determine whether there is a significant effect
of KAPHA yoga exercise on the concentration
and quality of life
3 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
After being tested for a sample group of middle-aged
female teachers who attended KAPHA yoga
exercises and middle-aged female teachers who did
not take KAPHA training by performing a
concentration test using a grid concentration exercise
test and a quality of life test in the form of a
questionnaire adopted from the World Health
Organization Quality of Life (WHOQOL) -BREF and
get the results, the next step is to process the data so
that the score that has been obtained can be
interpreted.
The results of data analysis of the concentration
of groups who do yoga exercises and groups who do
not do yoga exercises that is on the concentration test
results, for the yoga practice group, the sample was
16 people. The mean of concentration test result for
yoga practice group obtained score 14,5000 and
standard deviation 1,89737 and group that did not
follow yoga practice totaled 17 people, got average
score 9,0000 with standard deviation 2,85044. While
the quality of life test results, for the yoga practice
group, the average score was 97.0625 and standard
deviation 7.44284, and groups that do not follow the
yoga practice of 17 people, the test results average
was 87.9412 with a standard deviation 8,25735.
After obtaining the means for both groups,
hypothesis testing was carried out preceded by
normal distribution and homogeneity test. It was
revealed that the data were normally distributed and
homogeneous. The data analysis was performed
through Independent t test to compare the means from
the groups. The result is presented as follows.
Table 2: t Test.
Two means t-test
Description
T
df
Sig.
(2-tailed)
Concentration
6,481
31
0,000
Significant
The Quality
of Life
3,326
31
0,002
Significant
On the concentration score, the t observed value
for concentration with df n-1=31 was 6,481 (Sig.) =
0,000. Since (Sig.) 0,000 < 0,05, then Ho was
rejected. It means that there is a significant difference
on the concentration score between the group with
yoga exercise and the group without yoga exercise
based on the observed score. the score of group with
yoga is higher than that without yoga (14,5 > 9,0). It
implies that the concentration from the group with
yoga is better than the group without yoga.
On the quality of life score, the observed value for
the quality of life with df n-1 = 31 was 3,326, (Sig.) =
0,002. Since (Sig.) 0,002 < 0,05, then Ho was
WHOQOL-BREF
The
Number
of items
Physical Domain
7
Psychological
Domain
6
Social Interaction
Domain
3
Society Domain
8
Quality of Life
Perception
1
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rejected. It means that there is a significant difference
on the quality of life score between the group with
yoga exercise and the group without yoga exercise
based on the observed score. the score of group with
yoga is higher than that without yoga (97,06 > 87,94).
This means that the quality of life of the group given
KAPHA yoga exercises is higher than in groups that
are not given KAPHA yoga exercises.
Based on the results of the study, it can be
concluded that (1) KAPHA yoga exercises have a
significant effect on the concentration, as well as on
the results of the average score of quality of life, the
group given yoga practice has a score higher than the
group without yoga practice, it can be concluded that
KAPHA yoga exercise had a significant effect on
quality of life (2).
Concentration plays an important role in every
span of life (Wilson, Peper and Schmid, 2006),
because in normal daily normal human activities
ranging from children to the elderly, the body and
mind will always move and work constantly to strive
toward and get something needed. Concentration is
needed by students to carry out their learning tasks
(Kintari et al, 2014) with high concentration level,
then the students will receive the learning material
easily. The yoga program can help students become
more calm and focused, be able to control behavior as
well as increase social participation and help students
to engage in classroom learning (OTR / L, OTR / L
and PhD, 2010).
Concentration is also much needed for an athlete
in a sporting event, concentration disorder can be a
problem such as lack of accuracy in throwing,
kicking, punching and shooting, which may
subsequently lead to failure to achieve predetermined
targets (Komarudin, 2017) then reinforced by
Mukhtar et al (2017) on the importance of training
concentration on archery athletes. In line with other
studies of athletes, without high concentration, the
accuracy when athletes perform floating service will
be affected (Septiyanto, Suharjana and Suharjana,
2016).
Yoga is one of the philosophies of life based on a
universal science, the knowledge of the art of
breathing, the anatomy of the human body, the
knowledge of how to regulate breathing accompanied
by gymnastic motion or limbs, how to train
concentration, unite thoughts and so forth (Gruber,
2008; Medina et al., 2015; Junkin, 2007; Melorose,
Perroy and Careas, 2015).
Based on the results of data processing shows that
there is a significant influence KAPHA yoga exercise
on quality of life, in addition to trained muscles in the
body, stimulate the organ system in the body to work
better, and to remove toxins in the body also provides
benefits to psychology, the mind becomes more
relaxed and calm, furthest from degenerative diseases
as well as psychiatric illness so that indirectly can
improve the quality of life This is in line with the
results of the study (Lakkireddy et al., 2013) revealed
that the results of the study by giving treatment of
yoga exercises 60 minutes twice a week during 3
months can significantly improve the quality of life,
anxiety and depression in atrial fibrillation patients
(abnormal heart beat, characterized by rapid and
ineffective atrial activity and irregular ventricular
contractions). The benefits of yoga can be felt for
cancer patients in psychological health improvement
and also provide important information for
practitioners that yoga is an additional therapy for
cancer patients to help overcome psychological
pressure and to improve quality of life (K. Y. Lin et
al., 2011).
In yoga intervention to cancer patients
undergoing chemotherapy, it was found that the
psychological condition score was higher than
physical health (K.-Y. Lin et al., 2011). In contrast to
the results of research (Paper, 2016) where the results
of his research the highest value of physical and
environmental domains. Differences in the value of
each aspect of the quality of life can occur because it
is caused by differences in characteristics of the
research subjects. Subjects in this study did not have
chronic illness with an average age of 50 years, and
the benefits most felt for them were on social and
environmental aspects.
4 CONCLUSIONS
This study shows that KAPHA yoga exercises can
improve concentration and quality of life
significantly, in yoga practice there are exercises to
control the breath, focusing on one particular object
by bringing awareness during yoga practice to the
whole body, in addition to the practice of yoga also
there are exercises stability of the body for example
raises one foot to exercise balance, balance exercise
will be successful if done with full concentration,
therefore stability exercise in yoga can increase
concentration. It can be seen from the result of data
processing, the result of the average score of group
given KAPHA yoga training is higher than the group
without KAPHA yoga exercise (14,5 & gt; 9,0). This
means that the group's concentration test given by
yoga practice is higher than the group that is not given
yoga practice, so based on the results of data
processing shows that KAPHA yoga exercise can
give a significant effect on the concentration.
The benefits of yoga practice not only train the
muscles in the body but also provide benefits to the
psychological aspects such as the mind becomes more
relaxed and calm, so it can prevent from degenerative
The Effect of Kapha Yoga Exercise on Concentration and Quality of Life
197
diseases and also can cure psychiatric illness so that
indirectly can improve the quality of life, this
reinforced with the results of data processing, based
on the average score of the two groups, the average
score of the yoga practice group was higher than the
group without the yoga practice (97.06 & gt; 87.94).
This means that the quality of life of the group given
KAPHA yoga exercises is higher than in groups that
are not given KAPHA yoga exercises.
One's life and health are affected by physical,
mental, emotional and spiritual conditions, through
one's yoga practice it is better to know the body, mind
and soul. So by practicing yoga on a regular basis all
the benefits of yoga practice will be obtained
thoroughly including with increased concentration
and quality of life.
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