Yoga and its transdiagnostic applications

Abstract

Yoga, an ancient practice originating in India, has been gaining popularity in the West and has sparked interest in the world of research. Chapter 1 presents a rationale for the thesis and its overarching aim, which was to explore whether yoga has the potential to offer psychological benefits across different populations. This would subsequently help to inform the decision on whether further investigation into yoga as an alternative to talking therapies is warranted. The researcher’s reflections are included in this chapter.

Chapter 2 presents a systematic review and narrative synthesis which aimed to explore the impact of yoga on self-compassion amongst young people. Eight studies were included in the review however, the lack of rigour across study designs meant that causality could not be determined. Nevertheless, the results indicate a positive trend in self-compassion thus further exploration is warranted. Future research should adopt more rigorous study designs to allow for causal inference.

Chapter 3 presents a feasibility study of a Hatha yoga intervention for the post-bariatric surgery population (n = 40). The study explored participant experiences of the intervention and within-subject changes in body compassion, weight self-stigma, emotion regulation, and intuitive eating. The findings suggest that the intervention was experienced as acceptable and beneficial, and they provide preliminary support for the proposed pathways of change in yoga, applied to the post-bariatric population. Follow-up research is therefore warranted, and more rigorous study designs are needed to enable comparison in outcomes between yoga and traditional talking therapies.

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Identifiers

ORCID for Daria Joanna Stephani: orcid.org/0009-0002-7331-5284

ORCID for Alison Bennetts: orcid.org/0000-0003-2461-7868

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