Frontiers in Psychology
2025
Daniela Ramirez-Duran, Margaret L. Kern, Helen Stokes
2 citations
Yoga is usually defined and researched as a mind-body practice used for stress reduction, fitness and general health and wellbeing. While there are widely accepted definitions found in traditional texts and contemporary literature, as a millennial tradition yoga has evolved throughout time, places and people. Less is known about how regular yoga practitioners perceive, experience, and define...
Frontiers in Psychology
December 21, 2022
Daniela Ramirez-Duran, Helen Stokes, Margaret L. Kern
Yoga is an embodied practice underpinned by philosophical elements, seeking to evolve different dimensions of human existence for optimal functioning in relation to oneself, others and beyond. This mixed-methods research focused on 137 regular Ashtanga Yoga practitioners (AYPs) by investigating their conceptualizations of five dimensions of wellbeing (i.e., physical, emotional, psychological,...
Stress and Health
March 15, 2019
G. Slemp, Hayley K. Jach, A. Chia et al.
45 citations
Mindfulness, meditation, and other practices that form contemplative interventions are increasingly offered in workplaces to support employee mental health. Studies have reported benefits across various populations, yet researchers have expressed concerns that adoption of such interventions has outpaced scientific evidence. We reappraise the extant literature by meta-analytically testing the...
Journal of Humanistic Psychology
October 24, 2016
David B. Yaden, Khoa D. Le Nguyen, Margaret L. Kern et al.
125 citations
Experiences of profound existential or spiritual significance can be triggered reliably through psychopharmacological means using psychedelic substances. However, little is known about the benefits of religious, spiritual, or mystical experiences (RSMEs) prompted by psychedelic substances, as compared with those that occur through other means. In this study, 739 self-selected participants...
Psychology of Religion and Spirituality
July 27, 2015
David B. Yaden, Johannes C. Eichstaedt, H. Andrew Schwartz et al.
68 citations
Mystical experiences are often described as “ineffable,” or beyond language. However, people readily speak about their mystical experiences if asked about them. How do people describe what is supposedly indescribable? In this study, we used quantitative linguistic analyses to interpret the writings of 777 participants (45.5% female, 51.0% male) who recounted their most significant spiritual or...