Abstract
Mindfulness practices form the core of numerous therapeutic programs and interventions for stress reduction and the treatment of different health conditions related to stress and life habits. Ways and means to regulate oneself effectively also form the foundation of the path of yoga in the accomplishment of holistic health and well-being. The self-awareness, self-regulation, and self-transcendence (S-ART) model can be considered as an overarching neurobiological framework to explain the self-regulatory mechanisms of well-being present in mindfulness-based practices. The current study, by connecting and applying the S-ART framework to the self-regulatory mechanisms in yoga and generating related hypotheses, provides a theory-led explanation of the action of yoga practices, which is sparse in the literature. Testing the S-ART model in yoga in two culturally diverse samples, assessing the model-mapped psychological mechanisms of action, and exploring the influence of perseverance in yoga practice are the original contributions of this study. The study sample comprised 362 yoga practitioners and non-practitioners (197 Indian and 165 Spanish), who completed four tests of psychological variables indicative of the aforementioned three S-ART abilities. These tests were Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness (MAIA), Experiences Questionnaire-Decentering (EQ-D) subscale, Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS), and Relational Compassion Scale (RCS). The results indicated significantly better self-awareness and self-regulatory abilities in yoga practitioners (Indian and Spanish in a combination) than non-practitioners, reflected in higher levels of interoceptive awareness and decentering abilities. Moreover, perseverance in yoga practice acted as a significant predictor of self-awareness and self-regulation in practitioners. An analysis of each cultural sample revealed some differences. Yoga practice and perseverance in it acted as a significant predictor of interoceptive awareness and decentering in Indian practitioners having more than 1 year of sustained yoga practice, but for the Spanish participants, physical exercise and frequency of yoga practice acted as better predictors of interoceptive awareness and decentering in comparison to yoga practice and perseverance in it. The obtained results suggested that the S-ART model provided preliminary but promising evidence for the self-regulatory mechanisms of action in yoga practice within a culturally diverse sample of yoga practitioners. This study also widens the scope of generating further hypotheses using the S-ART theoretical framework for testing the self-regulatory mechanisms of action in yoga practice.
Highlights
Mindfulness and YogaMindfulness practices form the core of numerous therapeutic programs and interventions for stress reduction and the treatment of different health conditions related to stress and life habits
The Spanish sample of yoga practitioners was composed mainly of the participants from the regular yoga classes at a yoga studio located at Las Palmas, Canary Islands, Spain, whereas the NP were mainly the students of Medicine and Psychology coming from the three different national universities located in the mainland of Spain and one national university located in Tenerife, Spain
Differences Between Yoga Practitioners and NP in the Product Variables Scores When testing our first hypothesis related to the differences between yoga practitioners and NP in the product variables, the results of Multivariate ANOVA (MANOVA) showed a significant multivariate effect on the total scores of the product variables of Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness (MAIA), EQ-D, DERS, and Relational Compassion Scale (RCS) (F = 6.305; p < 0.001; df = 4; power = 0.989)
Summary
Mindfulness practices form the core of numerous therapeutic programs and interventions for stress reduction and the treatment of different health conditions related to stress and life habits. The foundation of these therapeutic programs was based on an important school of thought and practice that emerged in recent years within the western cognitive-behavioral therapeutic approach. This approach itself is rooted in ancient Buddhist practices of meditation, such as Sattipatthana meditation, involving the cultivation of the mindfulness faculty as a means for generating concentration and insight (vipassana, or clear insight). Scientific evidence as well as the effort of many yoga institutions, teachers, and therapists, which have spread genuine yoga teaching for long, have contributed to the universal essence of yoga
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