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Therapeutic yoga for spiritual well-being and life skills: Yogis’ perception in Nepal and Thailand

Ann Suwaree Ashton

Nepalese Culture June 3, 2026 DOI: 10.3126/nc.v19i01.94910 (opens in new tab)

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Study at a glance

AI-extracted from the abstract
Characteristics Qualitative study Peer reviewed
Sample size 21
Population Professional trained yoga practitioners in Nepal and Thailand, including yogis and instructors from Asian and Western backgrounds
Intervention yoga practice
Topics Meditation
Keywords Closeness Perception Pandemic Qualitative research Alternative medicine Psychotherapist Spirituality
Key findings Yoga practice promotes spiritual well-being and life-skill development, including heightened self-awareness, emotional regulation, and a sense of connectedness.

Abstract

This paper examines how yoga practice enhances spiritual well-being and life skills. With growing interest in non-pharmacological approaches to maintaining health, especially amid environmental changed and pandemics investigating yoga’s role in holistic health is timely. A qualitative design used in-depth interviews with twenty-one professional trained yoga practitioners in Nepal and Thailand. Participants included yogis and instructors from Asian and Western backgrounds who attended yoga session and school while travelling in Thailand and Nepal. Findings indicate that yoga promotes personal spiritual well-being and can be function as a traditional therapeutic tool that supports life-skill development. Core benefits linked to enhanced spiritual well-being include heightened self-awareness, sustained stillness, focused attention, moral sensitivity, detachment from materialism, a sense of sacredness and connectedness, and felt closeness to God in whom they have faith. Improvements in life skill that follow include emotional regulation, clearer decision making, conflict resolution, social empathy, resilient coping. This study offers theoretical and practical contributions regarding how authentic traditional yoga practice foster spiritual well-being and leads to physical and supports psychological health.

Comparable studies

Other qualitative studies on meditation, most cited first.

Study Year Design Participants
The varieties of contemplative experience: A mixed-methods study of meditation-related challenges in Western Buddhists Western Buddhist meditation practitioners and experts in Theravāda, Zen, and Tibetan... 2017 Qualitative study with mixed-methods
The Effects of Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction on Nurse Stress and Burnout Nurses in a hospital system 2004 Implementation study with mixed methods
An exploratory mixed methods study of the acceptability and effectiveness of mindfulness -based cognitive therapy for patients with active depression and anxiety in primary care Primary care patients with recurrent depression or recurrent depression and anxiety 2006 Exploratory mixed methods study n = 13
A qualitative study of mindfulness‐based cognitive therapy for depression Participants in mindfulness-based cognitive therapy in a mental-health context 2001 Qualitative study n = 7
Effortless awareness: using real time neurofeedback to investigate correlates of posterior cingulate cortex activity in meditators' self-report Meditators 2013 Qualitative study using grounded theory methodology

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Meditation