Associations of Yoga as a Mind-Body Exercise and Its Components with Spiritual and Subjective Well-Being: Cross-Sectional Evidence for Potential Distress Prevention.

Abstract

Yoga is increasingly practiced worldwide and is associated with diverse physical and mental health benefits, yet its spiritual dimensions remain underexplored in empirical research. This study investigated the relationship between the weekly frequency of practicing specific yoga components and levels of spiritual well-being and subjective well-being (SuWB). A total of 335 Hungarian adults (mean age = 47.2 ± 10.5 years) with an average of 10.2 ± 7.9 years of yoga experience completed a national online survey. Spiritual well-being (SpWB) was measured using the Spiritual Health and Life-Orientation Measure (SHALOM), and SuWB was assessed with the WHO-5 Well-Being Index. Statistical analyses included ANCOVA, Kruskal-Wallis H tests with post hoc Mann-Whitney U tests, and Kendall's tau correlations. All four yoga components (āsanas, prāṇāyāma, relaxation, meditation) showed medium-sized positive main effects on SpWB (p < 0.001; η2 = 0.06-0.09) and small but significant effects on SuWB (p = 0.003-0.05; η2 = 0.03-0.04). The strongest effects were observed in the Personal and Transcendental dimensions of spirituality. Weak to moderate positive correlations were found between SuWB and the four SHALOM factors as well as the total SHALOM score. These findings indicate that regular engagement in diverse yoga practices is associated with higher levels of both spiritual connection and mental well-being, highlighting that yoga practice is associated with higher levels of spiritual connection and mental well-being, and may be relevant for mental health promotion.