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Publication

Body esteem and psychological well-being in female yoga practitioners

Kelley, Joy Lyn
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Abstract

Scope and Method of Study: Body esteem and psychological well-being were studied in female yoga practitioners. Female yoga practitioners (N=101) from studios located in the Southwest U.S. were asked to complete a demographic questionnaire, the body esteem scale, and the psychological scales of well-being. Another interpreted variable was age.


Findings and Conclusions: A positive correlation was found among subscales for body esteem and psychological well-being. A linear regression found the adjusted R^2 to be 15%. Analysis of variance for yoga practice and body esteem indicated a significant influence of yoga practice on body esteem F = 7.882 between beginner and advanced yoga practitioners groups. About half of the participants were beginners with less than 24 months experience; while the other half ranged from 2 to 36 years. The ANOVA of yoga practice and psychological well-being showed no significance and needs further investigation. The data for this study was skewed towards many respondents being advanced practitioners. Age was positively correlated to psychological well-being. Despite the decline in health with the aging process, women yoga practitioners showed increased psychological well-being with age. Body esteem did not correlate with age raising questions for further study about women of all ages and their struggle with feeling good about their bodies.

Date
2009-05