Design: One group pre test post, test pre experimental design was selected for the study.Subjects: The participants were 60 software employees from selected companies at Bangalore. Methods: Purposive sampling technique was used to select the samples for the study. Data collection tool: A stress rating scale was used to collect data from the subjects. Data analysis: The obtained data was analyzed by using descriptive and inferential statistics. Frequency, percentage, mean and standard deviation was used to explain sociodemographic variables and to assess the level of stress. The level of significance was set at 0.05 levels. Results: In the pre intervention stage, the subjects had mild stress with a mean of 50.6% ± 7.9, where as in post intervention, there was a significant mean stress reduction of 31.0 ± 9.1. A significant association was found between age, gender, marital status, transportation facilities, awareness of pranayama and source of information and mean pre intervention stress score. Conclusion: In pre intervention, 46.7% of the subjects had moderate stress where as in post intervention all the subjects had only mild stress. The study findings indicate that the pranayama program was effective for stress reduction among software employees.

Key words: Pranayama; Stress; Software employees.