zuloorare.blogg.se

Thus, in the present study we examined whether performing standing yoga poses with an erect spine and a lifted and open chest (with open vs. This mechanism may be related to the effects of the body alignment on the autonomous nervous system rather than to the meaning of interpersonal dominance, power or confidence associated with the posture. Thus, we propose that comparing the effects of ‘power poses’ to the effects of yoga asanas may suggest an alternative mechanism underlying the effect of body postures on psychological states. This suggests that performing yoga postures may increase bodily energetic resources and the subjective sense of energy, and positively affect self-views.

Practicing yoga postures improves vagal tone increasing bodily energetic resources ( Wilhelm et al., 2004 Patil et al., 2013). In addition, research on the practice of yoga – a non-competitive, physical exercise (asana) combined with breathing (pranayama) and meditation techniques ( Sengupta, 2012) – indicates that practicing yoga is associated with improved psychological well-being (e.g., Shapiro and Cline, 2004 Kiecolt-Glaser et al., 2010) and positive self-esteem ( Sethi et al., 2013). However, other research also suggests that momentarily performing open and expansive body poses may bring about changes in psychological states (e.g., Stepper and Strack, 1993 Briñol et al., 2009 Cuddy et al., 2012 Nair et al., 2015). The reliability of the ‘power posing’ effects has been recently questioned ( Ranehill et al., 2015 Simmons and Simonsohn, 2017). The authors attributed this effect to the meaning of interpersonal dominance that expansive body postures communicate: people who assume powerful poses look and feel in power.

Recent research showed that momentarily assuming open and expansive body postures (‘power poses’) increased the self-reported sense of personal control and power ( Carney et al., 2010). This study demonstrates that positive effects of yoga practice can occur after performing yoga poses for only 2 min. These results suggest that the effects of performing open, expansive body postures may be driven by processes other than the poses’ association with interpersonal power and dominance. This effect was mediated by an increased subjective sense of energy and was observed when baseline trait self-esteem was controlled for. The results showed that yoga poses in comparison to ‘power poses’ increased self-esteem. Participants performed either two standing yoga poses with open front of the body ( n = 19), two standing yoga poses with covered front of the body ( n = 22), two expansive, high power poses ( n = 21), or two constrictive, low power poses ( n = 20) for 1-min each. A two factorial, between participants design was employed. The study tested the novel prediction that yoga poses, which are not associated with interpersonal dominance but increase bodily energy, would increase the subjective feeling of energy and therefore increase self-esteem compared to ‘high power’ and ‘low power’ poses. The effects of yoga postures were compared to the effects of ‘power poses,’ which arguably increase the sense of power and self-confidence due to their association with interpersonal dominance ( Carney et al., 2010). The present study investigated the effects of yoga poses on subjective sense of energy and self-esteem. Less is known about the psychological effects of performing yoga postures.

Research on beneficial consequences of yoga focuses on the effects of yogic breathing and meditation.