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A Pilot Study Measuring the Impact of Yoga on the Trait of Mindfulness

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 September 2009

Danielle V. Shelov ,
Sonia Suchday  and
Jennifer P. Friedberg
Danielle V. Shelov*
Affiliation:
Yeshiva University, New York, USA
Sonia Suchday
Affiliation:
Yeshiva University, New York, USA
Jennifer P. Friedberg
Affiliation:
VA New York Harbor Healthcare System and NYU School of Medicine, USA
*
Reprint requests to Danielle Shelov, Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Yeshiva University, 1300 Morris Park Avenue, Bronx NY, 10461, USA. E-mail: dshelov@mindspring.com
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Abstract

Background: The current study examined whether yoga would increase levels of mindfulness in a healthy population. Method: Forty-six participants were randomly assigned to an 8-week yoga intervention group or a wait-list control group. Mindfulness was assessed pre and post yoga, using the Freiburg Mindfulness Inventory (FMI). Results: Results indicate that the yoga group experienced a significant increase in Overall mindfulness, and in three mindfulness subscales; Attention to the present moment, Accepting and open attitudes toward experience, and Insightful understanding (p < .01). The control group experienced a significant increase in overall mindfulness (p < .02) and insightful understanding (p < .01). Findings suggest that a yoga intervention may be a viable method for increasing levels of trait mindfulness in a healthy population, potentially implicating yoga as a preventive method for the later development of negative emotional mood states (i.e. anxiety and depression). The control group also experienced moderate elevations of mindfulness at the second assessment.

Keywords

Yogamindfulnessmeditationbehavioral interventionprevention
Type
Brief Clinical Reports
Information
Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy , Volume 37 , Issue 5 , October 2009 , pp. 595 - 598
Copyright
Copyright © British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies 2009

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