Among 784 yoga practitioners surveyed online, most treat yoga as a conscious way of life and a path of spiritual development, searching for the Divine, living by their spiritual convictions, and using faith as a life orientation. They report high levels of peaceful attitudes, respectful treatment of others, and commitment to disadvantaged people and the environment. Frequency of asana or pranayama practice was only marginally linked to spirituality indicators, but meditation and studying yoga philosophy showed weak-to-moderate associations with spiritual experiences, awe/gratitude, and living by faith. Well-being was best predicted by experiential spirituality, inner congruence with yoga, and viewing yoga as a spiritual path (R² = 0.21).
People who frequently experience awe and gratitude tend to be older, have higher wellbeing, and meditate or pray more often, while those with the lowest awe/gratitude scores are the youngest and have the lowest wellbeing. Gender also influences these perceptions. Triggers of awe fall into four categories: Nature, Persons, Unique Moments, and Aesthetics, Beauty, and Devotion. Some triggers produce admiration, while others may more profoundly shift attitudes and behaviors. Awe perceptions are a perceptive aspect of spirituality relevant to both religious and non-religious individuals, contributing to interconnectedness, prosocial behavior, mindful awareness, meaning in life, and wellbeing.
Cardiorespiratory synchronization is high during Zen and Kinhin meditation even in people with no meditation experience, while it is low during spontaneous breathing and only slightly higher during a mental task. The effect is driven by the low breathing frequencies that meditation induces, which produce pronounced in-phase respiratory sinus arrhythmia. Low breathing frequencies during meditation decrease high-frequency heart rate variability but increase low-frequency variability and the extent of respiratory sinus arrhythmia. Heart rate primarily reflects physical effort. The findings suggest that the physiological effects of meditation do not require prior experience.