Why practice yoga? Practitioners' motivations for adopting and maintaining yoga practice

Abstract

We examined motives for adopting and maintaining yoga practice in a national survey of yoga practitioners (360 yoga students, 156 yoga teachers). Both students and teachers adopted yoga practice primarily for exercise and stress relief, but reported many other reasons, including flexibility, getting into shape, and depression/anxiety relief. Over 62 percent of students and 85 percent of teachers reported having changed their primary reason for practicing or discovering other reasons; for both, the top changed primary reason was spirituality. Findings suggest that most initiate yoga practice for exercise and stress relief, but for many, spirituality becomes their primary reason for maintaining practice.

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Journal of Health Psychology
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DOI: 10.1177/1359105314541314
published online 16 July 2014J Health Psychol
Crystal L Park, Kristen E Riley, Elena Bedesin and V Michelle Stewart
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Why practice yoga? Practitioners' motivations for adopting and maintaining yoga
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Yoga practices are becoming increasingly pop-
ular in the United States and around the world
(Barnes et al., 2008). Many different types of
yoga are practiced, each with distinct qualities
and mixtures of core components including
postures (asanas), breathing practices (pranay-
ama), and meditation or relaxation (Büssing
et al., 2012; National Center for Complementary
and Alternative Medicine, 2014). In Western
culture, yoga is typically regarded as a physi-
cal health practice, although yoga’s roots are
deeply philosophical and spiritual. Some have
termed the physical health benefits “side
effects” (Varambally and Gangadhar, 2012),
while others have argued that yoga is a holistic
system for improving mind, body, and spirit
(Khalsa, 2007). Indeed, yoga’s popularity may
be due in large part to its ability to produce
psychophysiological changes that reduce the
activity of the stress response systems and
enhance self-regulation, resilience, mood,
well-being, and quality of life (Büssing et al.,
2012). Yoga has been shown to be an effica-
cious intervention for many health conditions,
including arthritis (Haaz and Bartlett, 2012),
metabolic syndrome (Innes and Vincent,
2007), asthma (Posadzki and Ernst, 2011),
pain (Posadzki et al., 2011), and depression
(Uebelacker et al., 2012). In addition, many
Why practice yoga? Practitioners’
motivations for adopting and
maintaining yoga practice
Crystal L Park1, Kristen E Riley1, Elena Bedesin2
and V Michelle Stewart1
Abstract
We examined motives for adopting and maintaining yoga practice in a national survey of yoga practitioners
(360 yoga students, 156 yoga teachers). Both students and teachers adopted yoga practice primarily for
exercise and stress relief, but reported many other reasons, including flexibility, getting into shape, and
depression/anxiety relief. Over 62 percent of students and 85 percent of teachers reported having changed
their primary reason for practicing or discovering other reasons; for both, the top changed primary reason
was spirituality. Findings suggest that most initiate yoga practice for exercise and stress relief, but for many,
spirituality becomes their primary reason for maintaining practice.
Keywords
motivation, spirituality, yoga
1University of Connecticut, USA
2 Abt Associates Inc., 55 Wheeler Street, Cambridge, MA,
USA
Corresponding author:
Crystal L Park, Department of Psychology, University of
Connecticut, 406 Babbidge Rd., Unit 1020, Storrs, CT
06269, USA.
Email: Crystal.Park@UConn.edu
541314HPQ0010.1177/1359105314541314Journal of Health PsychologyPark et al.
research-article2014
Article
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2 Journal of Health Psychology
people are pursuing yoga for stress reduction
or general wellness (Chong et al., 2011).
Yoga, therefore, appears to be an accessible
health practice that could benefit many people.
Understanding the motivation to begin practic-
ing yoga would provide useful avenues for
more effective dissemination of this healthful
activity. Furthermore, understanding motiva-
tion for continuing this practice could help indi-
viduals to maintain their practice, which may be
particularly important for those engaging in
yoga practice to ameliorate health problems.
Currently, there is very little empirical data
regarding why people adopt the practice of
yoga and virtually no data on the stability of
motives for continuing to practice yoga.
Existing studies tend to be based on focus
groups and small samples. In a focus group
study, common reasons given by community
yoga practitioners for adopting yoga included t
relieve stress, rehabilitate an injury, or become
more flexible (Atkinson and Permuth-Levine,
2009). A survey of young adult cancer survivors
who used yoga (n = 286) found that they prac-
ticed for flexibility (96.7%), relaxation (94.5%),
peace (81.3%), happiness (68.1%), depression/
anxiety relief (56%), spirituality (45.1%), pain
relief (42.9%), weight control (42.9%), and
control of side effects (27.5%; Park et al., 2013).
People participating in a yoga class in Texas
(n = 290), asked why they were beginning or
coming back to yoga, reported many reasons,
including general wellness (81%), physical
exercise (80%), stress management (73%),
seeking a spiritual experience (37%), alleviate a
health condition (28%), personal recommenda-
tion (25%), illness prevention (23%), other
(20%), seeking a hobby (18%), social interac-
tion (16%), and doctor recommendation (5%;
Quilty et al., 2013). A larger survey of yoga and
meditation practitioners in Australia (n = 2567)
asked about their reasons for adopting either
practice and reported similarly that health and
fitness, and increased flexibility/muscle tone
(both 71%) were by far the most common rea-
sons for adopting, while other commonly
reported reasons were reduce stress or anxiety
(58%), personal development (29%), specific
health or medical reason (20%) and spiritual
path (19%; Penman et al., 2012). Unfortunately,
this latter study did not distinguish between
yoga and meditation practice, but rather asked
about “yoga or meditation.” Importantly, these
studies all allowed participants to report multi-
ple motivations, apparently reflecting the many
reasons people begin to practice yoga; however,
none asked about primary motivation.
Yoga practitioners’ motivations may change
over time as their practice evolves. Understanding
what contributes to changes in motivation may
be important to understand in helping people to
maintain their practice long-term, which may
be particularly helpful for those engaging in
yoga practice to ameliorate health problems.
Preliminary evidence suggests that the length of
time someone practices yoga contributes to ben-
efits of the practice (Carbonneau et al., 2010).
In the United States and other parts of the
West, yoga is often offered as a fitness course
along with classes in Pilates, Zumba, and group
cycling (Prichard and Tiggemann, 2008). This
emphasis on its physical benefits is part of its
cultural appeal (De Michelis, 2005). However,
although people may adopt yoga as a physical
practice (e.g. fitness, flexibility), they may dis-
cover other aspects, such as yoga’s spiritual or
philosophical aspects that become more central
motivations for them with continued practice
(Büssing et al., 2012).
Such shifts in motivation have been charac-
terized in the physical activity literature as
moving from extrinsic motives to intrinsic
motives (Ingledew et al., 1998; Rothman et al.,
2004). For example, people may begin an exer-
cise program because they believe others feel
they should, or because their workplace pro-
vides financial incentives. However, after com-
mencing exercise, they may find that they are
exercising to feel better and increase their
energy and mobility (Ingledew and Markland,
2008). A small qualitative study found that par-
ticipants in a yoga intervention for people with
or at high risk for diabetes reported continuing
to practice for both intrinsic (e.g. feeling yoga
improved their health and energy levels) and
extrinsic (e.g. finding having others in the group
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Park et al. 3
reinforcing) motives (Alexander et al., 2012),
although that study did not examine change in
motivation over time.
The present study aimed to examine people’s
motivations for adopting and maintaining yoga
practice. Such shifts in motives are generally
regarded as an important aspect of health
behavioral change, as people move from the
immediate motives impelling them to imple-
ment a new behavior to the long-term suste-
nance of that change in the maintenance stage
(Prochaska, 2013; Rothman et al., 2004).
Knowing why people begin practicing yoga and
why they continue may shed light on the factors
that appeal to novices and to regular practition-
ers, with important implications for making
yoga practice a long-term lifestyle behavior as
well as promoting yoga interventions for spe-
cific health conditions.
Method
Design
We relied on a cross-sectional survey design.
We contacted approximately 110 yoga studios
and asked studio managers to forward the sur-
vey invitation via email or Facebook to practi-
tioners. Using a national directory of yoga
studios and online searches, at least one studio
in every state in the United States (randomly
selected) was invited to assist with recruitment,
using snowball sampling. Participants received
an email introduction to the study with a link to
the survey. Our survey was created using the
online survey software Qualtrics, which
encrypts data and maintains its confidentiality.
All procedures were approved by the University
of Connecticut’s Institutional Review Board.
Sample
Eligibility requirements were being at least
18 years of age and having taken at least five
yoga classes within the past 3 months. A total of
542 participants were recruited for this online
survey. Of these, 156 reported being yoga teach-
ers (114 part-time and 42 full-time). Yoga teacher
participants ranged in age from 18 to 78 years
(M = 42.21, standard deviation (SD) = 11.89),
were mostly female (93.4%), Caucasian (94%),
and well educated (84.6% had a bachelor’s
degree or higher). The 360 yoga students who
were not also yoga teachers ranged in age from
18 to 85 years (M = 45.78, SD = 14.04), were
mostly female (84.4%), Caucasian (95%), and
well educated (74.9% had a bachelor’s degree or
higher). The demographics of our sample were
similar to other national samples of yoga practi-
tioners (Birdee et al., 2008).
Measures
Participants completed a battery of question-
naires in the online survey. This analysis focuses
on the questionnaires pertaining to reasons peo-
ple reported for adopting and continuing yoga
practice.
Primary reason for adopting yoga practice. Par-
ticipants were asked, “What was the primary
reason you first started practicing yoga?” and
given a list from which they could endorse only
one option. Options included relaxation, stress
relief, pain relief, weight control, flexibility,
spirituality, depression/anxiety relief, deal with
physical health issues (e.g. back problems or
injuries), get into shape, get exercise, and other.
After that item, participants were asked “Were
there any other reasons you first started practic-
ing yoga?” and then to endorse all other reasons
that they adopted practicing yoga from the same
list of reasons. After the “Other” option, for
both questions, participants could fill in their
own response or reason for adopting or continu-
ing yoga practice.
Changes in reasons for practicing yoga. Partici-
pants were asked, “Have your reasons for con-
tinuing to do yoga changed/did you discover
new reasons since you first started practicing
yoga?” answered no or yes (coded as 0 or 1).
Those who answered this question in the affirm-
ative were presented with the question, “What
was the primary reason you continued to prac-
tice yoga?” and asked to endorse one of the
options listed above. They were then asked,
“What were other reasons that you continued to
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4 Journal of Health Psychology
practice yoga?” and to endorse all other reasons
for which they continued practicing yoga.
Yoga practice characteristics. We assessed type
of yoga practiced most frequently with a single
item that asked respondents to characterize the
typical yoga practice they had done most fre-
quently in the past 3 months using a drop-down
menu with 10 response options (Hatha, Power
yoga/Power Vinyasa, Vinyasa/Ashtanga, Iyen-
gar, Bikram, Sivananda/Integral, Kundalini,
Svaroopa and Other). Respondents were also
asked to report how long they have been prac-
ticing yoga, and the average amount of time
spent practicing yoga per week (as an indicator
of the intensity of practice).
Data analysis plan. Of the 542 participants who
completed at least part of the survey, 360 yoga
students and 156 yoga teachers completed the
section on reasons for practice; only these par-
ticipants were included in the present analyses.
Completion status of this portion of the ques-
tionnaire did not differ by demographic or
yoga-related characteristics.
We examined the primary reason and other
reasons that participants reported for adopting
practice, and for those who reported new rea-
sons for practice, we examined these newly dis-
covered reasons. We also examined the
relationship between time practicing (length and
frequency) with changes in reasons for practice.
We analyzed students and teachers separately
given that they may differ in their yoga practice
and motivation in important ways (Penman
et al., 2012). Finally, we examined the primary
reason for continued yoga practice for the entire
sample of students and of teachers (those who
found new reasons and those who did not).
These analyses were conducted using descrip-
tive and bivariate correlational statistics.
Analysis
Description of yoga practice
Students practiced a mean of 245 (SD = 178)
minutes per week in a yoga studio and a mean of
85 (SD = 82) minutes per week at home, and
reported they had been practicing yoga for a
mean length of 8 years and 5 months
(SD = 7.67 years). The type of yoga practiced
most frequently was Power yoga/Power Vinyasa
(32.1%), followed by Iyengar yoga (22.1%) and
Hatha yoga (17.8%).
Not surprisingly, teachers practiced more
frequently, particularly home practice, and were
more experienced. They practiced an average of
374 (SD = 192) minutes per week in a yoga stu-
dio and 168 (SD = 164) minutes per week at
home, and reported that they had been practic-
ing yoga for a mean time of 13 years and
2 months (SD = 9.26 years). For teachers, the
type of yoga practiced most frequently was
Power yoga/Power Vinyasa (41.0%), followed
by Hatha yoga (18.8%) and Vinyasa/Ashtanga
yoga (16.7%).
Students’ and teachers’ reasons for
adopting yoga practice
Reasons for adopting yoga practice were
almost identical for students and teachers, an
expected outcome given that all yoga teachers
adopted out as yoga students. For both teach-
ers and students, the most commonly endorsed
primary reason for adopting yoga practice was
exercise, followed by flexibility and stress
relief (see Table 1). Many selected “Other” as
their primary reason for adopting practice. In
the free-response “Other” option, respondents
reported that they adopted practicing yoga for
many other reasons, including “Curiosity,” “A
friend took me,” “Mind body connection,”
“To meet new people,” and “Relationship
decision.”
Both students and teachers endorsed many
additional reasons for beginning their practice,
with a mean number of 4.1 reasons (range = 1–
11), indicating that they were drawn to yoga for
many reasons. Over half of students and 40 per-
cent of teachers also reported that “relaxation,”
“stress relief,” and “flexibility” were additional
reasons that they adopted yoga practice, and
nearly half of the students also endorsed “get in
shape” and “get exercise.”
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Park et al. 5
Discovery of new reasons to continue
practice
The majority of both students and teachers
changed their motivation for practicing yoga or
discovered new aspects (see Table 2). Among
students, 221 (61.3%) reported yes, they had
changed their primary reason for doing yoga or
discovered other aspects, while 139 (38.6%)
reported no, they had not. The total amount of
practice (length of practice multiplied by
amount) was positively correlated with change
in the primary reason for practice (r = .12,
p = .025), suggesting that more experienced stu-
dents are more likely to discover other aspects
of yoga and to change their motivation.
For those students who discovered new rea-
sons for practice, spirituality was the most com-
mon primary reason, cited by nearly a quarter of
them. Stress relief, relaxation, depression/
Table 1. Primary reason and additional reasons students and teachers reported for adopting yoga
practice.
Original primary reason to adopt
practice
Additional original reasons to
adopt practice
Students, n (%) Teachers, n (%) Students, n (%) Teachers, n (%)
Relaxation 25 (6.9) 5 (3.2) 194 (53.9) 64 (41.0)
Stress relief 52 (14.4) 31 (19.9) 189 (52.5) 63 (40.4)
Pain relief 12 (3.3) 3 (1.9) 63 (17.5) 24 (15.4)
Weight control 16 (4.4) 4 (2.6) 98 (27.2) 25 (16.0)
Flexibility 60 (16.7) 10 (6.4) 209 (58.1) 65 (41.7)
Spirituality 13 (5.0) 11 (7.1) 87 (24.2) 50 (32.1)
Depression/anxiety relief 18 (5.0) 15 (9.6) 79 (21.9) 43 (27.6)
Deal with physical health issues 29 (8.1) 10 (6.4) 68 (18.9) 34 (21.8)
Get into shape 40 (11.1) 9 (5.8) 159 (44.2) 45 (28.8)
Get exercise 70 (19.4) 33 (21.2) 172 (47.8) 55 (35.3)
Other 25 (6.9) 25 (16.0) 63 (17.5) 39 (25.0)
Table 2. Newly discovered primary and additional reasons for continuing to practice yoga for those who
discovered new reasons to practice.
New primary reason to continue
practice
Additional new reasons to
continue practice
Students, n (%) Teachers, n (%) Students, n (%) Teachers, n (%)
Relaxation 24 (10.9) 2 (1.5) 139 (62.9) 80 (60.2)
Stress relief 35 (15.8) 17 (12.8) 137 (62.0) 77 (57.9)
Pain relief 3 (1.4) 3 (2.3) 58 (26.2) 41 (30.8)
Weight control 1 (0.5) 2 (1.5) 75 (33.9) 49 (36.8)
Flexibility 15 (6.8) 2 (1.5) 140 (63.3) 82 (61.7)
Spirituality 52 (23.5) 67 (50.4) 106 (48.0) 66 (49.6)
Depression/anxiety relief 20 (9.0) 10 (7.5) 75 (33.9) 56 (42.1)
Deal with physical health issues 8 (3.6) 0 (0) 63 (28.5) 45 (33.8)
Get into shape 15 (6.8) 2 (1.5) 102 (46.2) 49 (36.8)
Get exercise 11 (5.0) 1 (0.8) 122 (55.2) 63 (47.4)
Other 37 (16.7) 27 (20.3) 65 (29.4) 40 (30.1)
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6 Journal of Health Psychology
anxiety relief, and “other” were also commonly
cited as new primary reasons. Principal among
the free-response “Other” option was sense of
community, along with fun, enjoyment/eupho-
ria, self-discovery, and better sleep. Over half
of the students endorsed relaxation, stress relief,
and flexibility as new additional reasons that
they continued to practice, and nearly half also
endorsed get exercise and get in shape. For stu-
dents who had reported change/discovering
new reasons, the mean number of additional
reasons endorsed for continued practice was
5.05 (range = 1–10).
Among teachers, 133 (85.8%) endorsed that
they had changed their primary reason for prac-
ticing yoga or discovered other aspects, while
only 22 (14.2%) reported they had not. Similar
to the student sample, we found a positive cor-
relation between change in the primary reason
and years of experience among teachers (r = .15;
p = .065), although the correlation coefficient
was only marginally statistically significant.
Spirituality was the most common discovered
primary reason, cited by just over half of teach-
ers. Over half also endorsed relaxation, stress
relief and flexibility as additional new reasons
for practicing, and over 40 percent endorsed
exercise, depression/anxiety relief, and spiritu-
ality as additional reasons for continuing to
practice. In the free-response “Other” option,
teachers commonly reported community, along
with fun, self-knowledge, and mindfulness.
For these teachers who had reported change in
primary reason/discover new reasons, the mean
number of additional reasons endorsed for con-
tinued practice was 5.35 (range = 1–10).
Primary motivation to continue
practice
The primary reason for continuing to practice
yoga, which was the same as their original pri-
mary reason for those who did not report chang-
ing it, and was the new primary reason code for
those who did, is shown in Table 3. Among stu-
dents, spirituality and stress relief were the
most common reasons, while for teachers, spir-
ituality was by far the most common, followed
by a variety of reasons reported as other.
Discussion
As yoga practice continues to become more
widespread, both as a remedy for health condi-
tions and as a way for people to improve their
holistic wellness (Barnes et al., 2008), we need
to understand more about how and why people
engage in this practice, and what sustains prac-
tice over time. Such information will be help-
ful for those designing yoga interventions or
working to disseminate yoga more broadly and
to make it more accessible as well as for
advancing our general understanding of yoga
practice.
Table 3. Current primary reasons for practicing yoga.
Students, n (%) Teachers, n (%)
1. Relaxation 32 (8.9) 5 (3.1)
2. Stress relief 58 (15.8) 22 (13.6)
3. Pain relief 9 (2.5) 3 (1.9)
4. Weight control 5 (1.4) 2 (1.2)
5. Flexibility 47 (13.1) 2 (1.2)
6. Spirituality 59 (16.4) 72 (44.4)
7. Depression/anxiety relief 25 (7.0) 12 (7.4)
8. Deal with physical health issues 22 (6.1) 0 (0.0)
9. Get into shape 32 (8.9) 2 (1.2)
10. Get exercise 31 (8.6) 4 (2.5)
11. Other 29 (11.2) 38 (23.4)
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Park et al. 7
A focus on shifting motives from the purely
physical to those more psychological and spir-
itual in nature may also be relevant to other
activities in which people engage to enhance
their holistic well-being, including walking
(e.g. Kassavou et al., 2013; Ledford, 2012), Qi
Gong (e.g. Gaitan-Sierra and Hyland, 2013),
gardening (e.g. Van Den Berg and Custers,
2011), extreme sports (e.g. Brymer and
Schweitzer, 2013), connecting with nature (e.g.
Cervinka et al., 2012), and labyrinth walking
(e.g. Sandor and Froman, 2006). For many of
these activities, a process of deepening practice
may lead to similar shifts in the reasons for
engagement and the benefits derived.
Our results suggest that people are initially
drawn to yoga for its physical aspects, such as
getting exercise and increasing flexibility; these
were the primary reasons for adopting yoga
practice reported by both students and teachers.
Importantly, however, both teachers and stu-
dents endorsed many other motives for begin-
ning practice. In fact, people typically reported
an average of four reasons for beginning, which
suggests that even beginners see yoga as a prac-
tice with the potential to affect many dimen-
sions of their lives. These perceptions of
potential benefit may not only influence peo-
ple’s inclination to begin practicing yoga but
also the effects they perceive as a result of their
practice (Sohl et al., 2011). It would be interest-
ing to know where people acquire their ideas
about what yoga is and what it might bring to
their lives. Clearly, people come to yoga prac-
tice with pre-formed expectations and specific
goals about yoga and what it can do for them.
With continued practice, people may find
additional reasons for practicing yoga. We
found that the majority of students and teachers
endorsed having changed their primary reason
for doing yoga or discovering other reasons for
practicing. This change was related to more
lifetime practice only for students, a finding
that may be due to limited variability for the
teachers, of whom over 85 percent endorsed
having changed their reasons for practicing.
The greater shift reported by teachers relative to
students may reflect their greater length of time
practicing (13 years compared to 8 years,
respectively) or that there is something unique
about being a yoga teacher. Perhaps those who
change their reasons for practicing are more
likely to become yoga teachers or vice versa. In
addition to total lifetime “dose” of yoga, many
other characteristics of the yoga practice may
be important influences on change in motives
over time, such as the consistency and intensity
of practice along with the styles and traditions
of yoga practices and particular teachers
encountered.
As has been hypothesized elsewhere
(Büssing et al., 2012), we found that of those
who endorsed having changed their primary
reason for practicing, spirituality was the most
common new primary reason for both students
and teachers. Shifting one’s reasons for practic-
ing yoga is an intriguing process that is consist-
ent with a view of yoga as a journey (Baptiste,
2011; Fishman, 2007; Powell et al., 2008), but
this shift is heretofore wholely undocumented
in empirical research. The motives endorsed for
beginning and for continuing practice evi-
denced a shift toward more intrinsic (i.e. for
enjoyment, satisfaction, and interest inherent in
the behavior) rather than extrinsic (i.e. separa-
ble from the behavior itself such as gaining
approval from others) motives (Deci and Ryan,
2008). These shifts, for a majority of both stu-
dents and teachers, were in the direction from
primarily physical to primarily psychological
and spiritual reasons to practice, although phys-
ical reasons remained important as well. This
shift suggests that, with continued practice, the
holistic mind-body-spirit nature of yoga is
increasingly experienced.
Spirituality and stress relief were the most
common primary reasons for continuing yoga
for the yoga students in our sample, and by far
the most common reason for the yoga teachers.
These findings are similar to those of Penman
et al. (2012), who found that both students and
teachers reported higher levels of most reasons
for currently practicing yoga or meditation rela-
tive to starting. Furthermore, among students,
fitness, flexibility, and stress management
remained the highest endorsed reasons (all over
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8 Journal of Health Psychology
80%), with spirituality a reason given for con-
tinued practice for 40 percent of students, while
for teachers, spirituality was the highest
endorsed reason, with personal development a
close second.
It is not surprising that yoga’s capacity to
provide stress relief is discovered and appreci-
ated by yoga practitioners. In light of yoga’s
roots as a spiritual path, the predominance of
spirituality as a reason for practicing is also not
surprising. However, given the strong emphasis
placed on physical aspects of yoga and its pro-
motion as a physical exercise regimen in con-
temporary Western culture (De Michelis, 2005),
it is indeed noteworthy that yoga practitioners
so commonly find spirituality to be a central
motivation for continuing their practice.
Limitations
The cross-sectional nature of this study does not
allow drawing conclusions regarding causality;
all relationships observed are correlational in
nature. Our snowball sampling technique likely
introduced biases in the sample we cannot
account for. Thus, we do not know how well our
study represents yoga practitioners, although
our samples’ demographics closely mirror those
of nationally representative surveys (e.g. Birdee
et al., 2008). We only studied yoga practitioners
who continued to practice, and thus were not
able to examine those who may have adopted
and then abandoned yoga practice. This study
relied on self-report and may be subject to recall
bias, particularly regarding motivations for past
behavior (i.e. reasons for beginning practice).
This study did not attempt to fully characterize
the type of yoga practiced or other activities
beyond yoga poses (e.g. meditation, breathing
exercises) that may be incorporated in respond-
ents’ yoga practice.
Conclusion and future
directions
This study adds to the small body of literature
addressing why people adopt a yoga practice
and replicates previous findings that the
primary reason given for beginning practice is
related to physical health (Atkinson and
Permuth-Levine, 2009; Park et al., 2013;
Penman et al., 2012; Quilty et al., 2013).
Explicating the reasons for adopting a yoga
practice sheds light on the expectations people
may have regarding the impact of yoga on their
health and well-being. This study extends
beyond previous research by documenting rea-
sons for continuing to practice yoga over the
long term. The majority of respondents in this
survey—both students and teachers—reported
there had been a change in their reasons for
practice. In both groups, there was a shift from
primarily physical motives to those related to
mental well-being and spirituality.
Such shifts seem critical in maintaining a
yoga practice over a long period of time
(Ingledew and Markland, 2008). In addition to
motivation, however, long-term practice relies
on people’s ability to successfully overcome
barriers, which include time, financial
resources, and opportunities to find appropriate
classes (Quilty et al., 2013). It will be important
for future research to examine more complex
models of motivation, beliefs and expectancies,
and potential barriers to yoga practice to better
characterize people’s adoption and maintenance
of yoga practice (Schwarzer, 2008).
Some styles of yoga (and some yoga teachers
regardless of their style) emphasize consciously
setting an intention at the beginning of each
class (Deary et al., 2011). It may be that teachers
and students who practice in this way, with a
deliberate intention in mind, are more cognizant
of their reasons for practice, and perhaps more
aware of how their intentions and motives shift
over time. Although we did not assess intention-
setting in the present study, this phenomenon
warrants investigation in future research.
Yoga is becoming more widely accepted and
is increasingly promulgated as an intervention
to promote health. The literature is sparse on
what leads people to adopt a yoga practice and
virtually non-existent with regard to what leads
them to continue practicing over time. The find-
ing that people’s reasons to continue to practice
shift from physical motives to motives related
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Park et al. 9
to mental well-being and spirituality supports
the view that yoga is a holistic body–mind–
spirit practice. Even those who begin their prac-
tice for purely physical reasons (e.g. at the
recommendation of a healthcare provider to
deal with an injury) are likely to experience
effects beyond increased flexibility and
strength. This finding can help frame expecta-
tions for those who begin a yoga practice and
may yield clues about how to sustain practice
over time. Sustaining a yoga practice over time
is especially important for yoga interventions
designed for specific health conditions.
Although the majority of students and teach-
ers alike reported experiencing a shift in their
reasons for continued practice, further research
is needed to more fully characterize what spe-
cific elements in a yoga practice induce these
shifts. Longitudinal research tracking the effects
of yoga over time can provide insight into the
directionality of relationships described here.
Funding
This research received no specific grant from any
funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-
profit sectors.
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