Evaluating emotional well-being after a short-term traditional yoga practice approach in yoga practitioners with an existing Western-type yoga practice

Meissner, Maxi, Cantell, Marja H., Steiner, Ronald and Sanchez, Xavier ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3498-0276 (2016) Evaluating emotional well-being after a short-term traditional yoga practice approach in yoga practitioners with an existing Western-type yoga practice. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 2016 . pp. 1-9.

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Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to examine the influence of a traditional yoga practice approach (morning daily practice, TY) compared to that of a Western yoga practice approach (once-twice weekly, evening practice, WY) on determinants of emotional well-being. To that end, in a pre/posttest between-subject design, measures of positive (PA) and negative affect (NA), mindfulness, perceived stress, and arousal states were taken in 24 healthy participants (20 women; mean age: 30.5, SD = 8.1 years) with an already existing WY practice, who either maintained WY or underwent a 2-week, five-times-per-week morning practice (TY). While WY participants maintained baseline values for all measures taken, TY participants showed significant beneficial changes for PA, NA, and mindfulness and a trend for improved ability to cope with stress at the completion of the intervention. Furthermore, TY participants displayed decreased subjective energy and energetic arousal. Altogether, findings indicate that the 2-week TY is beneficial over WY for improving perceived emotional well-being. The present findings (1) undermine and inspire a careful consideration and utilization of yoga practice approach to elicit the best benefits for emotional well-being and (2) support yoga as an evidence-based practice among healthy yoga practitioners.

Item Type:	Article
Journal / Publication Title:	Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine
Publisher:	Hindawi Publishing Corporation / Oxford University Press
ISSN:	1741-4288
Related URL(s):	Author
Departments:	Academic Departments > Medical & Sport Sciences (MSS) > Sports and Physical Activity
Additional Information:	Copyright © 2016 Maxi Meissner et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Article Number: 7216982.
Depositing User:	Xavier Sanchez
Date Deposited:	05 Jul 2016 13:57
Last Modified:	12 Jan 2024 15:32
URI:	https://insight.cumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/2320

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