Study Explores How Yoga Practice May Influence Personal and Psychological Well-Being

A recent qualitative study has examined how people experience yoga and the changes they associate with regular practice. The research explored the personal and psychological processes that practitioners believe develop through their engagement with yoga.

The study, published in the Journal of Health Psychology, used an online qualitative survey to collect detailed accounts from people who practise yoga. Researchers analysed the responses using reflexive thematic analysis, a method that allows recurring ideas and patterns within participants' experiences to be identified and interpreted.

Rather than focusing solely on measurable physical outcomes, the researchers looked at how practitioners describe the broader experience of practising yoga. Participants reported changes that extended beyond the physical aspects of the practice. Their accounts provided information about how yoga could become incorporated into everyday routines and influence the way individuals relate to themselves and their surroundings.

The researchers identified several recurring themes within the participants' accounts. These included changes in awareness, approaches to managing thoughts and emotions, and the development of a more deliberate relationship with everyday experiences. The findings also suggested that the perceived effects of yoga were not necessarily limited to the period spent performing physical postures or breathing exercises.

The qualitative nature of the research allowed participants to describe their experiences in their own words. This provided researchers with a detailed view of the processes that practitioners associate with yoga, although the findings represent reported experiences rather than clinical evidence of effectiveness.

The study adds to research examining yoga as a multidimensional practice involving physical movement, breathing, attention and personal reflection. The researchers noted that further work is needed to examine these processes across different groups and settings and to understand how individual experiences of yoga develop over longer periods of practice.

25-09-2026