Elsevier

EXPLORE

Volume 9, Issue 3, May–June 2013, Pages 171-180
EXPLORE

Clinical article
Original research
Qualitative Evaluation of a High School Yoga Program: Feasibility and Perceived Benefits

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.explore.2013.02.001Get rights and content

This is the first published qualitative assessment of a yoga program applied in a high school setting. This qualitative interview study was nested in a randomized, controlled trial studying the effects of a yoga program offered in place of a semester of physical education classes at a rural public high school. Student interviews were conducted after taking part in a semester of the yoga program. A formal passive consent with information about the qualitative study was sent home to parents/guardians of all students in the parent study before the interviews. Most students enjoyed the yoga classes and felt benefits. Negative reports of yoga practice were associated with gender as most males sensed peer pressure against practicing yoga. Despite this finding, most students wanted to continue yoga and would continue if it were offered in school. Positive reports include a greater kinesthetic awareness, which some students associated with a greater respect for the body and improved self-image. Among students reporting psychological benefits, many cited stress reduction; many used yoga to manage negative emotions; and some propagated more optimism. Most thought yoga could reduce interest in the use of drugs and alcohol and increase social cohesion with family and peers. We found that a yoga program is feasible in this sample of 9th and 10th graders, especially after benefits are perceived. We also found evidence that yoga may lead to emergent positive benefits in health behaviors not directly prescribed by the program. These results suggest that school-based yoga programs may be appropriate for promoting healthy behaviors at a societal level by focusing on the prevention of negative patterns during the adolescent transition.

Introduction

Yoga is a comprehensive mind−body practice that involves physical postures and movement, breathing exercises, relaxation, and meditation to develop self-observation without judgment while the body moves and breathes, with the ultimate goal of unifying the self at physical, emotional, cognitive, spiritual, and social levels.1, 2, 3 During the past decade, yoga has become extremely popular among Americans, including American youth. In 2007, 2.1% of children younger than 18 practiced yoga.4 Although many adults seek yoga to improve psychological well-being and manage stress,5 there is little information presently available examining why youth may practice. Most of the emerging scientific evidence for yoga as a therapeutic intervention is based on samples of adults rather than children. Basic research on adults practicing yoga and its component techniques has indicated effectiveness in reducing stress and arousal.6, 7, 8 Yoga may be most effective in treating disorders that have a strong psychosomatic, psychological/psychiatric, or stress-related component9, 10, 11; for example, outcomes studies in adults have shown benefit of yoga for stress,12, 13 depression,14, 15 anxiety,15, 16, 17, 18 and insomnia.19, 20, 21 Although much less research has been published on yoga for youth, emerging outcomes are similar to adults. For example, three recent systematic reviews indicate that mental health improvements in healthy children and adolescents included improved mood (particularly anxiety and negative emotional states) and reductions in stress.22, 23, 24 Previous work with our program in 11th-and 12th-grade high school students randomly assigned to either a yoga program for 12 weeks during Physical Education (PE) or PE-as-usual showed significant pre/postimprovements in resilience to stress, negative affect, anxiety, and anger control relative to controls.25

The practice of yoga is a complex holistic intervention in which each student can find his/her unique trajectory of change and improvement. Yoga practitioners frequently report nonspecific positive effects, those being changes in addition to or different from what drew them to begin a practice.26 Qualitative research, which collects data on the lived experiences of participants, is the perfect tool for exploring such complex, unique experiences,27 enriching our scientific knowledge beyond what can be gained quantitatively.28 The purpose of the present qualitative analysis is to gain a deeper understanding of individual perspectives of students participating in the treatment arm of our yoga trial. Specifically, we collected student perspectives about: (1) the practice of yoga within the school curriculum, (2) perceived benefits of yoga, (3) participating in a research study. Results will guide further development of the yoga program under study, provide new or more specific hypotheses about quantitative outcomes, and improve study administration.

Section snippets

Parent Study

In this randomized, controlled trial we examined the effects of the Institute for Extraordinary Living, Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health “Yoga in the Schools” program offered in place of a semester of PE classes at a rural public high school in Western Massachusetts. Recruitment consisted of sending study information home to parents and describing the study verbally to students. We used a passive consent, opt-out procedure; study approval and oversight was performed by the Partners Human

Results

Twenty-eight students from the yoga group participated in the interviews (Table 1). This subset included two noncompleters; one male interviewee dropped out halfway through the yoga program, whereas another interviewed male dropped out after baseline questionnaires. All of the students randomly selected for interviews participated in the interviews.

Twenty-five of the 26 students that completed interviews also completed the program evaluation form. One student had missing data for this form.

Insights on Designing Yoga Programs in this Context and Population

Bringing yoga into a school environment has unique challenges and opportunities. Questions of implementation, such as, “should classes be mandatory” and “at what time of day should the classes be offered,” came up during several of the interviews.

Insights into Research in this Population

Our last set of interview questions queried the students' experience with the study and the measurement techniques used. The qualitative interview data revealed some areas of weakness and strength in our research design and techniques for working with this population.

Discussion

Little is known about the use of yoga by youths. This qualitative analysis explores the experiences of students participating in the treatment arm of a 12-week in school yoga trial. We asked students about: (1) the practice of yoga within the school curriculum, (2) perceived benefits of yoga, and (3) participating in a research study. The students reported individual benefits (such as improved academic and athletic performance), social benefits (such as reduced reactivity to stressful social

Acknowledgments

Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health funded this qualitative substudy. The project leader was Lisa Conboy. Study coordination was performed by Jessica Noggle; interviews by Jessica Noggle, Kristen Reinhardt, Elena Monsour, and Dan Litrownik; and interview coding by Jessica Frey and Ravi Kudesia. No other relationships or activities that could appear to have influenced the submitted work. Work for the parent project was supported by a gift from Steve Glick and additional funding from the Kripalu

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