Practicing Hatha-Yoga, Sense of Coherence and Sense of Agency. Neurophenomenological Approach.

BACKGROUND A growing body of evidence supports the belief that yoga benefits physical and mental health. The aim of the study is to investigate whether the sense of coherence and sense of agency are more developed in people practicing hatha-yoga than in the group of people who have never practiced yoga. METHODS TAHE, SOC-29 questionnaire and short microphenomenological interview conducted on a group of 15 people (8 yoga instructors, 7 in the control group). RESULTS It has been shown that the study group has significantly higher scores in both the sense of agency and sense of coherence than the control group. In addition, a statistically significant correlation was observed between the part of the values mentioned above. CONCLUSIONS There are indications that the hatha-yoga exercise increases the sense of agency, which in the long run can contribute to better mental health. In order to find a clear and certain link between the sense of coherence and the sense of agency additional research is necessary.