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Yoga practice in the UK: a cross-sectional survey of motivation, health benefits and behaviours

OBJECTIVES: Despite the popularity of yoga and evidence of its positive effects on physical and mental health, little is known about yoga practice in the UK. This study investigated the characteristics of people who practise yoga, reasons for initiating and maintaining practice, and perceived impact...

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Autores principales: Cartwright, Tina, Mason, Heather, Porter, Alan, Pilkington, Karen
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: BMJ Publishing Group 2020
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7044896/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31932388
http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2019-031848
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author Cartwright, Tina
Mason, Heather
Porter, Alan
Pilkington, Karen
author_facet Cartwright, Tina
Mason, Heather
Porter, Alan
Pilkington, Karen
author_sort Cartwright, Tina
collection PubMed
description OBJECTIVES: Despite the popularity of yoga and evidence of its positive effects on physical and mental health, little is known about yoga practice in the UK. This study investigated the characteristics of people who practise yoga, reasons for initiating and maintaining practice, and perceived impact of yoga on health and well-being. DESIGN, SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: A cross-sectional online anonymous survey distributed through UK-based yoga organisations, studios and events, through email invites and flyers. 2434 yoga practitioners completed the survey, including 903 yoga teachers: 87% were women, 91% white and 71% degree educated; mean age was 48.7 years. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Perceived impact of yoga on health conditions, health outcomes and injuries. Relationships between yoga practice and measures of health, lifestyle, stress and well-being. RESULTS: In comparison with national population norms, participants reported significantly higher well-being but also higher anxiety; lower perceived stress, body mass index and incidence of obesity, and higher rates of positive health behaviours. 47% reported changing their motivations to practise yoga, with general wellness and fitness key to initial uptake, and stress management and spirituality important to current practice. 16% of participants reported starting yoga to manage a physical or mental health condition. Respondents reported the value of yoga for a wide range of health conditions, most notably for musculoskeletal and mental health conditions. 20.7% reported at least one yoga-related injury over their lifetime. Controlling for demographic factors, frequency of yoga practice accounted for small but significant variance in health-related regression models (p<0.001). CONCLUSION: The findings of this first detailed UK survey were consistent with surveys in other Western countries. Yoga was perceived to have a positive impact on physical and mental health conditions and was linked to positive health behaviours. Further investigation of yoga’s role in self-care could inform health-related challenges faced by many countries.
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spelling pubmed-70448962020-03-09 Yoga practice in the UK: a cross-sectional survey of motivation, health benefits and behaviours Cartwright, Tina Mason, Heather Porter, Alan Pilkington, Karen BMJ Open Sports and Exercise Medicine OBJECTIVES: Despite the popularity of yoga and evidence of its positive effects on physical and mental health, little is known about yoga practice in the UK. This study investigated the characteristics of people who practise yoga, reasons for initiating and maintaining practice, and perceived impact of yoga on health and well-being. DESIGN, SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: A cross-sectional online anonymous survey distributed through UK-based yoga organisations, studios and events, through email invites and flyers. 2434 yoga practitioners completed the survey, including 903 yoga teachers: 87% were women, 91% white and 71% degree educated; mean age was 48.7 years. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Perceived impact of yoga on health conditions, health outcomes and injuries. Relationships between yoga practice and measures of health, lifestyle, stress and well-being. RESULTS: In comparison with national population norms, participants reported significantly higher well-being but also higher anxiety; lower perceived stress, body mass index and incidence of obesity, and higher rates of positive health behaviours. 47% reported changing their motivations to practise yoga, with general wellness and fitness key to initial uptake, and stress management and spirituality important to current practice. 16% of participants reported starting yoga to manage a physical or mental health condition. Respondents reported the value of yoga for a wide range of health conditions, most notably for musculoskeletal and mental health conditions. 20.7% reported at least one yoga-related injury over their lifetime. Controlling for demographic factors, frequency of yoga practice accounted for small but significant variance in health-related regression models (p<0.001). CONCLUSION: The findings of this first detailed UK survey were consistent with surveys in other Western countries. Yoga was perceived to have a positive impact on physical and mental health conditions and was linked to positive health behaviours. Further investigation of yoga’s role in self-care could inform health-related challenges faced by many countries. BMJ Publishing Group 2020-01-12 /pmc/articles/PMC7044896/ /pubmed/31932388 http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2019-031848 Text en © Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2020. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/This is an open access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited, appropriate credit is given, any changes made indicated, and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.
spellingShingle Sports and Exercise Medicine
Cartwright, Tina
Mason, Heather
Porter, Alan
Pilkington, Karen
Yoga practice in the UK: a cross-sectional survey of motivation, health benefits and behaviours
title Yoga practice in the UK: a cross-sectional survey of motivation, health benefits and behaviours
title_full Yoga practice in the UK: a cross-sectional survey of motivation, health benefits and behaviours
title_fullStr Yoga practice in the UK: a cross-sectional survey of motivation, health benefits and behaviours
title_full_unstemmed Yoga practice in the UK: a cross-sectional survey of motivation, health benefits and behaviours
title_short Yoga practice in the UK: a cross-sectional survey of motivation, health benefits and behaviours
title_sort yoga practice in the uk: a cross-sectional survey of motivation, health benefits and behaviours
topic Sports and Exercise Medicine
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7044896/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31932388
http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2019-031848
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