Study on the nature of yoga

How does a yoga teacher education change the lives of the participants? This question was answered by a large-scale study with 1,700 subjects. Never before have personal and spiritual effects been so fundamentally and extensively researched.

06/24/2013

People who practice yoga often report lasting changes in their lives, which they attribute to their practice. A large-scale study by the University of Giessen has captured such transformation and transformation processes for the first time during a four-week yoga teacher training of Yoga Vidya e.V. The result: The intensive practice has a healthy effect on the lifestyle of the participants. The prospective yoga teachers perceived their personal resources more consciously and became more self-determined and mentally stable.

The scientific direction of the study was entrusted to Dipl. Hannes Hempel from the Bender Institute of Neuroimaging at the University of Gießen. Using personal psychology tools, Hempel captured the transformational processes of a total of 1,700 participants and then looked for links to yoga practice that averaged more than 200 minutes per day during the training period. The participants were 80 percent female, on average 39 years old and had a majority of higher education.

Self-determined and stress-resistant
The increase in self-concept and self-efficacy observed at the end of the training shows that the participants were more aware of their own abilities and experienced their lives as less alienated. Instead, they felt they could control and direct situations themselves. This ability is particularly important in stress research as an important personal resource against stress.

Mindfulness increases quality of life
Mindfulness and self-awareness also increased during the training, giving participants better access to the natural needs of their bodies. All in all, a more intense and conscious experience and thus a higher quality of life were introduced. In the process, the scientists also observed persistent changes in lifestyle - especially with regard to nutrition, consumption of consumption and intoxicants as well as other life habits.

Spirituality as a health resource
As a health-promoting, the study also evaluates the development of spirituality, with the help of which, according to Hannes Hempel, for example, dependencies overcome more easily or let fatal strikes can be processed better. Above all, the participants showed a stronger spiritual experience in everyday life. Those who practice yoga intensively do not only see more meaning in their lives. Also the basic trust and the security increase. Likewise the compassion and understanding of oneself and others.

Scientific approach to the essence of yoga
From a scientific point of view Hannes Hempel broke new ground with this study. „While the previous main interest in yoga research has been in the demonstration of therapeutic effects and the search for explanatory mechanisms, we are now approaching the very essence of yoga, which ultimately aims to provide the practitioner with insights into the nature of being“, explains Hempel. „We were able to clearly prove this gain of knowledge described by the practitioners as a process of change with this study.“ The publications of the study can be found at wiki.yoga-vidya.de.