Ten Years after the Great East Japan Earthquake—Natural Disasters and Spiritual Growth, from a Yoga Perspective

Abstract

In the Great East Japan Earthquake, a large number of areas were destroyed by the tsunami. In addition, there was a loss of houses, familiar hometown scenery, and bereavement of family and friends. The victims are thought to have a complex experience of loss. The purpose of this study is to investigate the mental growth of the victims ten years after the disaster from the perspective of yoga, and to explore the possibility of overcoming various mental problems of victims in the natural disasters that are expected to occur in the future. The yoga therapy which was used to support the victims of the disaster includes the three pillars of yoga: breathing, meditation, and exercises. They helped the victims to develop their ability to control emotions and to look at things and themselves objectively. This study conducted semi-structured interviews with 20 people in their 60s to 80s living in Iwate prefecture, including 10 people who had participated in yoga therapy after the earthquake (group of participants experienced in yoga therapy) and 10 people who had not experienced the yoga therapy (group of participants not experienced in yoga therapy). For the interview items, this study set up large categories based on the items of the PTG. The verbatim transcripts were analyzed by means of text mining to create co-occurrence network diagrams as “the words 10 years after the earthquake”. Further analysis was carried out while reading the verbatim transcripts to clarify the co-occurrence relationship of words. The participants’ responses in both groups were generally positive, because the region is often hit by tsunamis, and the lessons of over-coming many disasters have been handed down from generation to generation. However, the participants not experienced in yoga therapy showed not only compassion and appreciation for others but also negative feelings in their responses. They appear to accept the current situation, yet they also have complicated feelings about the situation. Among the participants experienced in yoga therapy, there were responses about self-awareness and life in the midst of the unprecedented situation of the earthquake. Some of them said that the influence of the yoga teacher was significant, suggesting that awareness gained through yoga therapy added to the strength that had originally been passed along to them and had an impact on their mental health. It is possible that yoga can help the mental growth of victims of future natural disasters.