Having written several posts at this point about the Yamas and some of the Niyamas, I want to take a step back and make sure we stay grounded in the science of it all. The ancient sages and tradition holders of the various yoga traditions were ahead of their time. We can come back again and again to the ageless philosophy of the Yamas and Niyamas and find a new application or new approach to take toward modern life.
While my blog posts are written from my point of view of best practices, I stay informed by reading and staying up to date on the research. This is what drew me to I/O Psychology in the first place. I can 100% see the tie between HR, Business, I/O Psychology, and Leadership. I/O Psychology (at times) loosely takes the ancient philosophy seen in the 8-limb path and adds a modern flair, rooted in social science.
There is increasingly more research done into yoga and while a lot of the research is medical in nature, there is also an increasing interest emerging from the social sciences. If you go to Google Scholar and look for articles related to yoga, there are so many articles available!
I teach an introduction to yoga class at a university and I make sure to include a unit to highlight the modern application of yoga, taking a scientific approach. While my students are university students ranging from freshman to seniors and should have an understanding of how to do research, I still teach them how to look at the research and find out for themselves what is out there related to yoga. The below is an exact copy of what I provide as a resource for the unit.
If you are unfamiliar with how to do research, I encourage you to review the links and see what rabbit holes you can fall down. I find it fascinating to find an article, read it, and then use the references to follow the breadcrumbs; going article to article and seeing how ideas and research develop over time.
Part 1: How to Read Academic Journal Articles
Reading peer-reviewed research can be daunting, but here are strategies to make it manageable:
- Start with the abstract: It summarizes the purpose, methods, and findings.
- Skim the introduction and conclusion: These sections explain the context and key takeaways.
- Focus on figures and tables: Visual data often show the main results.
- Interpret the discussion: Authors link their findings to broader questions and often highlight limitations.
- Use critical thinking: Ask whether the results logically support the conclusions.