Examining associations between motives, instructor relationship quality, and state mindfulness in yoga

Abstract: Yoga is an ancient tradition that in contemporary research has been shown to have positive associations with a broad spectrum of health outcomes. Although promising findings have been highlighted, research exploring the mechanisms underlying the use of yoga for enhancing mental health is still in its infancy. Researchers have shown that yoga can increase levels of mindfulness, which has been shown to relate to several aspects of general well-being such as low levels of anxiety, depression, and stress. However, limited study has examined how the quality of the relationship between the yoga student and yoga instructor affects state mindfulness during the yoga class. The present study used a cross sectional research design to investigate associations between levels of stress, negative affect, motives for yoga, relationship quality, and mindfulness during yoga classes. The sample consisted of 219 adults that completed measures of stress, affect, motives for yoga, mindfulness, and relationship quality immediately following a yoga class. Analysis of data indicated that higher levels of stress and negative emotional wellbeing increased the likelihood that yoga was practiced to address psychological motives rather than perceived physical health outcomes. Additionally, relationship quality with the instructor was found to predict greater state mindfulness during the yoga session. The present study highlights the importance of the relationship quality between instructor and student, and suggests that future research investigating the efficacy of yoga in optimizing psychological health should consider how health outcomes might be influenced by interpersonal relationships.