Living A Healthy Life through Yoga of Yoga Masters:

A Qualitative Inquiry

* Thaparat Rakpanusit, RN, PhD (Candidate)

Doctoral of Philosophy in Nursing (International Program), Faculty of Nursing

Prince of Songkla University, Hat Yai, Songkhla, Thailand, 90112

Tel: (66)0815401393, Fax: (66)074399899

E-mail: thapa_rat@hotmail.com

Urai Hatthakit, RN, PhD (Nursing)

Assistant Professor, Faculty of Nursing

Prince of Songkla University, Hat Yai, Thailand, 90112

Umaporn Boonyasopun, RN, PhD (Nursing)

Assistant Professor, Faculty of Nursing

Prince of Songkla University, Hat Yai, Thailand, 90112

* Corresponding Author

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Living A Healthy Life through Yoga of Yoga Masters:

A Qualitative Inquiry

* Thaparat Rakpanusit

1; Urai Hatthakit

2; Umaporn Boonyasopun

2

1PhD student, Faculty of Nursing, Prince of Songkla University

2

Lecturer, Faculty of Nursing, Prince of Songkla University

Abstract

Background: Despite yoga being used increasingly in several purposes such as to enhance

health and well-being and to manage the effects of illness, little evidence is known of yoga

practice in daily life, which is an integrated system of practice. Yoga masters who are

knowledgeable and living healthily were interested in exploring them. Aim: The purpose of this

research was to describe the meaning of yoga and explore how yoga masters integrate yoga for a

healthy life. Method: Data were collected via audiotaped semi-structured interviews, participant

observations and field notes with twelve yoga masters, from September 2009 to September 2010.

All interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed simultaneously based on Spradley’s

method. Findings: Three themes were developed reflecting the meaning of yoga. These were; a

tool to promote health; science and art of living a perfect life; and philosophy of life leading to

peaceful life and enlightenment. Yoga has been integrated in daily life in order to maintain health

and to relieve suffering. Daily practice of attitudinal- physical-mental training based on the Yoga

Sutra was adopted to achieve the goal of life. The Yoga Sutra and complementary therapies were

significantly used to deal with health problems, and bringing benefits of physical, mental, and

holistic well-being. Conclusion: Yoga practice in daily life as a self-care strategy helps promote

health and well-being by applying the Yoga Sutra complemented with Buddhist meditation,

achieving the life goal. This research adds to the overall body of knowledge about the value of

yoga in health promotion.

Key words: Healthy life, Yoga, Yoga master, Qualitative inquiry

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1. Introduction A shift of health problems from

infectious acute diseases to noninfectious

chronic diseases calls for more attention on

holistic health care and an integration of

complementary therapy care. In order to battle

these noninfectious chronic diseases, the Thai

government has implemented a new strategy

called the Thailand Healthy lifestyle Strategic

Plan (2007-2016)(Thailand country paper,

2011) which is a promotion of contented lifeway

and the use of complementary therapy to

promote a healthy and peaceful life. Several

techniques have been used to promote health

such as physical exercise (Sjogren, et al, 2006),

music listening (Biley, 2000), Tai Chi (Chen,

Hsu, Chen,Tseng, 2007), meditation and yoga

(Hadi & Hadi, 2007, Hodges, 2003; Ortner,

Kilner, & Zelaza, 2007; Thaweepkul, 2004).

Among those, yoga is most popular in terms of

effectiveness in achieving well-being (Hadi &

Hadi, 2007; Sharma, Gupta & Bijlani, 2008;

Telless, Naveen, & Dash, 2007). In addition it

modulates health by influencing almost all the

systems in the human body and improves the

quality of life of the practitioners (Oken, et al,

2006). Yoga is a scientific scheme of physical

and mental practices that originated in India

approximately 3000 years ago. The word

‘yoga’ derived from Sanskrit root ‘yuj’

meaning to control or to unite. Its original form,

yoga uses a complex system of spiritual, moral,

and physical directives to attain spiritual self-

realization (Feuerstein, 1998). Panatela, the

originator of yoga, enunciated Ashtanga Yoga

is composed of eight different practices: Yama

(abstention), Niyama (observance), Asana

(posture), Pranyama (control breath), Pratyahara

(abstraction), Dharana (concentration), Dhyana

(meditation), and Smadhi (liberation). The purpose

of yoga is to achieve our highest potential

leading to healthy life and happiness

(Sathyaprabha, 2010). Although evidence shows

that yoga benefits in many ways, most of yoga

practitioners use only asanas, pranayama and

relaxation technique as a kind of exercises

(Chaya, Kurpad, Nagendra, 2006; Hadi & Hadi,

2007; Moadel, et al., 2007; Oken, et al., 2006;

Smith, Hancock, Blake-Mortimer, Eckert,

2007). It has not been used at the maximum

level for potential benefits of the practice. Thus

the study explores the experience of yoga

masters, being knowledgeable and skilful and

who have successfully integrated yoga in their

daily life to promote health which is beneficial

in providing inspiration and guidance to others

on yoga practice. The purpose of this research

was to describe the meaning of yoga and

explore how yoga masters integrate yoga for

healthy life from their perspective.

2. Research questions The research was guided by four broad

questions: what meanings do yoga masters give

to their daily life practice?, how do they

integrate yoga into their daily living to promote

their health?, what are the factors influencing

yoga practice?, and how do cultural beliefs

influence their yoga practice?

3. Method Ethnographic methodology was used to

explore yoga masters’ perception of yoga and

the cultural context in which the meaning was

constructed and influenced practice decisions.

Ethnography was employed because its’

strength is on exploring the people’s cultural

knowledge and enhancing understanding of

social behaviors, people’s way of life and

meaning relevant to health (Roper & Shapira,

2000; Spradley, 1979).

3.1 Participants

Although the nature of ethnography

means that everyone with whom the researcher

interacted could be considered as a research

participant, some were selected purposefully

based on what they could contribute to the

research questions. Data collection included

interviews with twelve key informants and

twenty two general informants. Other sources of

data were field notes in which were recorded the

researcher’s observations and reflections. The

key informants consisted of ten female and two

male yoga masters. Their ages ranged from 40 to

66 years old. Most yoga masters were married

and lived with their families, and seven of them

had children living together in the same house

or separate houses within the same compound.

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Most of their houses had a small garden with

plenty of trees. There was only one yoga

master living in a condominium with a small

outdoor garden where she could experience the

energy of nature. All of them were Buddhist,

having education from college up to doctoral

degree and having enough income to make a

good living. They all were healthy and living a

contented life. General informants were family

members, friends, and students who had close

contact with the key informants.

3.2 Research setting

Fieldwork was conducted in two

different regions, the South where the

researcher was residing and central Thailand

which is the center of the country yoga

network. There was good cooperation among

yoga masters in both regions in the areas of

education, training, and sharing information.

According to a survey conducted by the Bureau

of Health Policy and Strategy organization,

yoga was a popular form of complementary

therapies that most Thais have used

(Terachaiskul, 2005). Recently, several

government and non-government organizations

have been responsible for promoting yoga as a

complementary way for general health

improvement and well-being (Thai Yoga

Institute, 2004). Yoga lessons and various yoga

training courses were easily accessible in

Thailand. Moreover, there were yoga teacher

courses offered by the Thai Yoga Institute and

some universities such as Prince of Songkla

University.

3.3 Data collection

Data was collected using audiotaped

semi-structured interviews, participant

observations, and field notes and reflections

with twelve yoga masters and general

informants, from September 2009 to September

2010. Over a year, 2-4 home visits were

conducted with each family with their

permission, to interview the yoga masters and

to observe their daily activities and living

habits. Since most of the key informants were

the researcher’s teachers for training either in

nursing or yoga (n=6) and colleagues (n=6),

good and trusted rapport already existed. They

were all very kind and willing to share their

experiences with the researcher, staying

overnight with their families when needed.

However, the close relationship between the

researcher and informants was also a

disadvantage as some relevant issues could be

overlooked or misinterpreted. For other

unacquainted informants, prior to in-depth data

collection, informal conversation, addressing

topics such as beliefs, life, and social

constraints, was initiated so as establishing

rapport and trust among them. Each informant

was formally interviewed 2-5 times in his/her

own home or working place upon their

preference for a period varied 90 minutes up to

5 hours. However, informal interviews were

done in a regular basis. The researcher

constructed an interview guide with open-

ended questions being used to guide data

collection. All interviews were tape-recorded

and addressed the study’s topics of interest and

information related to yoga practices the

investigator observed during the visits.

3.4 Data analysis

Qualitative data management and analysis

was accomplished in accordance with

Spradley’s analysis guide (Spradley, 1979).

Data analysis was conducted simultaneously

with data collection. Audiotapes were

transcribed verbatim. The transcripts, field

notes and reflective journals were read

repeatedly to foster insights regarding the

participants’ experiences within their context

and background. Brief narratives about their

lives, daily activities and yoga practice related

to health and well-being were reviewed to gain

understanding of yoga masters’ life patterns.

Data analysis was accomplished throughout the

process of coding the folk terms and symbols;

organizing symbols into domains with semantic

relationship; categorizing many domains into a

few domains; and conceptualizing themes as

set forward by Spradley (1979).

3.5 Ethical considerations

The study was approved by the Research

Ethics Committee of the primary researcher’s

university. The purpose and method of the

study were explained to each potential

informant prior to obtaining written consent

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and informed consent forms signed. All

informants’ information, audiotapes and

transcripts were identified by code numbers to

ensure informants’ confidentially and

anonymity.

3.6 Rigors of the study

Trustworthiness was established by

following several principles established by

Lincoln and Guba (1985) serving to ensure

credibility, transferability, dependability and

confirmability of the findings. All data was

checked through the use of triangulation; data

collection from different sources, at various

times, and different methods. Strategies to

ensure credibility was achieved when the

researcher’s descriptions were recognized as

valid by those who had that experience

including data from different sources and the

member checks during the interview process.

To ensure transferability, the detailed

informants recruitment and study context were

provided. However, no claim was made that

their experiences represented the experiences

of every yoga master in Thailand.

4. Findings Findings are presented within four major

categories: the meanings of yoga; the

integration of yoga in daily life; perceiving

outcome of yoga practice; and cultural beliefs

and factors associated with the practice of

yoga.

4.1 Meanings of Yoga:

Yoga masters have given three meaning

related to yoga practice in daily life.

Yoga is a tool to promote health.

This theme refers to yoga as used to

promote all aspects of holistic health including

physical, mental, emotional, social and spiritual

health as well as ethical conduct and behaviors.

It related to self-care activities leading to

health. All informants indicated that every yoga

technique helped facilitate balance and a happy

life such as self-exploring, asana (postures),

mindfulness cultivation, being optimistic

toward life, and moral development. Self-

exploration throughout the body, mind,

intellect and ego leads one to learn about one’s

own experience or one’s own life. This inquiry

set out to learn how much to practice enough

for good health. The statement supported this

theme: “Yoga is a way of promoting health. Yoga

emphasizes on exploring self. Even though we

do not learn about the illness in yoga we

definitely understand the illness and its causes,

and realize how to be healthy. Every activity of

yoga is good for health. Practising yoga is

actually practicing self care. I will know the

answers by myself, how much to learn, how

much to practice, and finally how much I

understand myself.” (K2)

Asanas, pranyama and meditation were

used to maintain good health and mindfulness

cultivation leading to physical health, mental

health, and social health. A yoga master said:

“Nowadays, yoga is part of my daily life; it

used to maintain good health, balance of mind,

and maintain some relationships with friends.

When we want inner peace, we continuously

practice it, then an intense inner dynamism

which I have had a feeling that within itself.”

(K10)

Moreover, all yoga masters agreed that

yoga was used to help promote balance in life.

Yoga asanas and pranayama (breath control)

were found to be effectively united their body

and mind. After the practice, they felt flexible,

comfortable, and airy body and the mind was

cheerful and calm. It was used to control anger

behavior. Most yoga masters stated that the

more they practice yoga, the more benefits they

gain from the practice. This is supported by

their statements: “Nowadays, we use yoga to balance both

body and mind. Asanas solve uncomfortable

feeling. Even an hour of practice, I feel airy

and comfortable body and the mind quickly

becomes aware, cheerful, and calm. Yoga now,

we have to balance the body and mind.” (K4)

“I use yoga to balance both body and

mind and control the angered behavior.

Consciously breathe in and breathe out, the

mind is cheerful. Some people may understand

yoga as an exercise, for me it makes balance to

body-mind”. (K7)

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Yoga is science and art of living a perfect life.

This theme could be explained in term

of science and art. Yoga is a science because it

has been set in its way a practical, methodical,

and systematic discipline that have the lofty

goal of helping human beings to become aware

of their deepest nature by using experiment of

self-study. The Yoga sutra has been set up as a

mind map in practice. The practices and

benefits derived are prescribed; hence, this

could be scientifically verified by anyone. The

following statements support this theme.

“To me yoga is an intellectual science. It

makes me understand myself and uplift my

mind and spirit. I also believe that yoga is a

science. The desirable outcomes can be

expected as a consequence of the yoga practice.

Apparently, the result of yoga practice is being

more disciplined in life, more patients; and

better quality of mind has been changed”. (K5)

Yoga is also viewed as an art. It is an art in

using gentle body movement, breathing

technique, concentration, meditation and

ethical disciplines to achieve an individual’s

goal in life in different ways of practice. In

other words, yoga is an art in action which has

an intense inner dynamism in human beings.

Human in nature, we are caught up in the web

of lust, anger, greed, passion pride and

jealousy. The foundations of yogic way which

are friendliness, compassion and joy, and

happiness and virtue are conducive to mental

peace. Yoga practitioners can experience the

beauty of the practice and its consequences

which are growing in all aspects of life as being

expressed by the following statements. “Because of yoga I could control my

feeling and more detachment in facing

disagreed situations such as previously if a

colleague had been sarcastic words, I was

anger and immediately argued; however, by

yogic way made me no anger and not

recognized sometimes. If the situations are

really serious and it is not stored, I will

control my breath to calm my mind.”(K1)

“Yoga is both science and art of living. It

teaches us how to live happily in logical way,

how to value ourselves, and do something

right.” (K2)

Yoga is a philosophy of life leading to

peaceful life and enlightenment.

This refers to a whole set of beliefs and

knowledge about lives, life goal, and how to

lead lives to their life goal. Yoga guides a

person to understand himself and realize his

life goal. It helps for a brighter and clearer

mind or intelligence. The intelligent way helps

understanding one life, and then one will know

how to live and how to reach the desired goal.

The desired goal sought by every single

individual is divided into levels of health/well-

being and enlightenment. A union of both the

physical and mental is one of the mechanisms

promoting peaceful mind and further

enlightenment which is the goal needed that

everyone sought for his life. These ideas are

supported by the following statements. “Yoga is a philosophy of life leading us toward

our life goal which is simple happy life without

suffering and stress. It is a pretty good being

criteria of purity. This is the beginning of intellect

which promotes mercy. As a result of that helps

reduce conflicts both in his/herself and other

surroundings, so, we are friendly with everyone

and have a simply conventional happiness.” (K2)

“Yoga is a philosophy of life. It provides

principles to guide practice of human from

birth to death in order to help them achieve

their goal of life which is enlightenment and

further liberation.” (K5)

4.2 The integration of yoga practice in daily life

The findings highlight the integration of

yoga in daily life of yoga masters in 4 themes:

maintaining yogic healthy and humanistic

lifestyle, the objectives of integration of yoga

practice, integrating yoga and complementary

therapies to deal with health problems, and

daily practice of attitudinal-physical-mental

training for mind and wisdom development. All

yoga masters explained goal of the yoga

practice was happy and healthy lives. Details of

each theme are presented with illustrative

quotes to support their existences.

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Maintaining yogic healthy and

humanistic lifestyle

All yoga masters concerned with eating,

sleeping and living with others in the society.

Findings revealed that their daily diets were

mainly vegetables, fruits and proteins from

plants. The popular proteins from plants are

bean, tofu, and mushroom. Four yoga masters

admitted that they reduced eating meat due to

self awareness on humanistic values. They tried

to avoid killing animals. However, seafood was

preferred if there was no choice. All yoga

masters were also concerned with thoroughly

chewed food and moderation in consumption.

All food should be eaten in a calm and quiet

mood and should not be taken before or

immediately after yoga asana. Importantly,

they used their own experiences to learn how

much food should be eaten, and what kinds of

food should be consumed for their health. A

yoga master said: I formerly ate quickly and a lot.

However, after I studied yoga, I concern

about long chewing that we would eat less

and still be full. I do not force myself to eat,

the remaining just throw it away. Eating

vegetable makes my body feel light. I planted

my own vegetables and buy toxin-free

vegetables. I always ensure that I have five

essential group of nutrient. I eat unpolished

brown rice and fish. I used to eat meat and

chicken like my children. But now they are all

grown up so I turn to eat healthy food

instead. (K1)

“Although I am not a vegetarian, I

reduce eating meat so that animals are killed

less. I notice that reducing meat but

increasing vegetables consumption make me

feel physical comfortable and energetic and

the bowels working well.” (K6)

Adequate sleeping was stated to be

important, which averaged 7-8 hours. Deep

sleep also promotes the body restoring its

energy supply and making the restoration of

damaged tissues. A yoga master said:

“Health requires enough sleep; I don’t

sleep late at night. Usually, I go to bed

between 9 and10 pm and automatically

wake up at 4 am. , I sometime wake up

early, I didn’t get up but stayed on the pose.

If we don’t have enough sleep, our body

needs more rest because the biochemical

related to sleep are still being produced in

the body.” (K2)

Being a member of the society, each

person must have his/her own responsibility

and act in accordance with the rules of that

society to live happily. All yoga masters

actively participated in social activities and

devoted themselves to the welfare of the

community such as voluntarily teaching yoga at

their workplace for interested people, or a

group of meditative persons, helping

community members organizing made merit

Buddhist ceremony and so on. They usually

were friendly, paying attention to others,

having loving kindness and mercy, accepting

one’s role and responsibility. Seven yoga

masters highly agreed that such practices made

them live in society happily including

generating true friends. A yoga master said:

“We don’t be selfish, and take advantage

from others. There is no conflict with others.

Having loving kindness makes us happy. Our

mind is purified that is important foundation

for wisdom development”.(K2)

The objectives of the yoga practice:

All informants acknowledged the importance

of yoga practice for self-care and maintenance

of health, relief of suffering, and sharing of life

experiences. However the most significant

motivation for their yoga practice was for

health care and relief of suffering. The

suffering can appear in different forms

depending on cause and condition of each stage

of life. The yoga practice followed the Yoga

Sutra. However, it was started from asana,

pranayama, and meditation. These practices

improve physical health such as physical

flexibility and strength. A continuous practice

would affect other aspects of health such as

mind, emotion, society, and soul as being

expressed by the following statements. “Because I want to be good and happy, do

not want to suffer, have a simple life without

anxious, and have a comfortable body and

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clear mind. I regularly practise asana,

pranyama, and ethical conduct. Presently, I

reach the goal. I do not suffer. Every problem

can be solved. I have a wisdom to manage the

problems that is just making everything fits, live

sufficiently and reduce struggle (do not

desire)”. (K1)

“Yoga is used to maintain our good life

and I practise all aspects of the Yoga Sutra for

my health.” (K9)

“I started yoga practice when I had

tension and mental suffering. I want to be free

from suffering, so, I joined a meditation course.

That course, we practise yoga asanas and

breath control every morning. I have practiced

very hard (asanas) for a year. It was like being

full with magic and the allergy has gone.”

(K11)

Integrating yoga and complementary

therapies to deal with health problems:

According to yoga, any disease comes

from the fluctuation of mind while in

Ayurveda; diseases are attributable to

imbalance in the constituents of the body. Most

of yoga masters highlighted that their health

problems come from the imbalance of element

in their bodies. This does not mean all yoga

masters do not need any modern medicines at

all, but some yoga masters still used some

modern medicines complemented with

alternative medicine for their illness which root

cause did not a result of the mind such as senile

changes, infectious disease. Although all were

healthy by yogic way, they sometimes had

some health deviations and undesirable

symptoms. Some undesirable symptoms

occurred occasionally such as phlegm and cold,

constipation, and menopausal symptoms in

female informants. They tried to manage these

health problems using various yoga techniques

complementarily with some complementary

therapies. Asana, pranyama, anuloma viloma,

kapalabhati, and nasal cavity cleaning

technique were used to solve the problems of

respiratory symptoms. Most of them have done

nasal cavity cleaning technique once weekly

while four of them do so regularly in the

morning. Specific asana poses such as

Bhujangasana and Pavanamuktasana help

eliminate constipation. Moreover, they always

practise 14 basic asana and pranyama (Ujjayi,

Anuloma viloma, and Bhastrika) to balance

their physical body. Eight of them adjusted

balanced food by using cold effectiveness of

food and fruit to solve the problems dominant

of fire element producing illness. For all female

yoga masters who were in the perimenopausal

and postmenopausal stages managed their

menopausal symptoms with regularly

performed yoga asanas, consumed healthy

food, had adequate sleep, used nature cure

complemented with yogic way of

living(Rakpanusit, Hatthakit, Boonyasopun,

Bagga, 2012). As yoga masters expressed:

“Practicing asanas especially Cobra and

wind-releasing pose helps solve constipation that

I can excrete better but because of the discipline

of practice after all (14 basic asana pose)”. (K5)

“When I have a cold, I use Kaneti (nasal

cleaning) to clean my nose with saline solution.

When a cold begins, I practice kapalabhati and

the cold would be gone fast”. (K6)

“I practice yoga, eat lots of brown

unpolished rice and beans. I also go to bed

early at about 8-9 pm. and get up early at

about 4 am. Thus I have enough sleep and my

body is kept balance by all these activities. My

menstruation stopped for about 5 months and

came once and then stopped; however, I don’t

have any menopausal symptoms. I feel good

about that”. (K1)

Most yoga masters have applied not only

the main components of the Yoga Sutra but

also other complementary techniques such as

Ayurveda, nature cure for healthy life and

happiness. A yoga master said: “Whatever helps balance the body and

mind and fits well with our behavior such as

the nature cure and food adjustment with cold

effectiveness”. (K6)

Daily practice of attitudinal-physical-mental

training for mind and wisdom development:

The Yoga Sutra was set up as a mind map

in practising yoga for health and to reach the

goal of life. The informants admitted that it was

difficult to distinguish what component of yoga

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should come first. All yoga masters valued that

yama and niyama were foundational concepts for

attitudinal modification and initial mind

purification. Without those, the mind was not

pure and ready for further development. The

practice transformation based on yama and

niyama of the yoga masters was initiated by

some common actions in their daily life such as giving loving kindness and mercy toward

themselves and others, reviewing mistakes and

making changes to prevent repeated mistakes.

As yoga masters said: “Yoga teaches me to understand both

myself and others. It teaches me to be patient,

and persevering, as well as to know the

suitability, not to hurt myself and have loving

kindness toward myself and others.” (K1)

“In health care, we must not harm

ourselves and others. We must be disciplined

and patient to practise asana and pranyama.

We would quit and do not cling to the bad

things. We must have loving kindness. Being

annoyed hurts our mental health. We do not

blame others, would be harmlessness, honest

and do not deceive both our self and others. I

strictly practice these things. (K2)

All the informants practiced both asana

on-mat and asana off-mat. Asana off-mat was

practiced in daily life by uniting the body and

mind and balancing the pose in their daily

activities. The expected benefits of the practice

were to maintain correct physical postures and

more importantly to cultivate mindfulness.

Asana on-mat was preferable to be practiced in

the morning because it provides a mental peace

and emotional stability better than other times.

Pranayama (breath control) was another yoga

technique that helped concentrate the mind and

increase Prana (energy) in the body. All yoga

masters said that pranayama must be regularly

practised after asana. Both asana and pranayama

were practised for the ultimate goal that was the

mind development and wisdom. A yoga master

said: “I practice asanas every morning.

Pranayama is practised after asana. I never stop

practicing it because I can see the development

of my mind. I’m reading my own mind while

practicing yoga every day t in the morning

which is a best time because the mind has not

been disturbed by any upset emotions. It makes

my mind more easily concentrated.” (K5)

Concentration was practised to keep

peaceful mind before entering meditation for

wisdom development. Three yoga masters

valued that the human mind had a faster

change, being difficult to catch up. The best

way to keep concentration of mind was

listening to our own words, and our thoughts.

Meditation was done in the morning and before

sleeping time. As a yoga master said:

“In following the mind, we do not often

catch up with it because it is very quick.

Following mind is done from what we say, what

we want and do not want by listening this.

Listening to what our thoughts that make us see

what we need, then adjust it to our

suitability..”. (K2)

“I formerly practised asanas and

pranyama longer than now. Presently, I

practised them just enough to maintain the

normality and health. I gradually increase the

practice of meditation. I use concentration

technique (Dharana) to calm down my mind

before I go on sitting meditation”. (K6)

Seven advanced yoga masters complemented

meditation with vipassana (Buddhist

meditation) for the goal of freedom or

liberation. They practised yoga techniques to

prepare their minds and bodies readiness for

mental development. By the practice of yoga

of the mind is not activity and the body is not

comfortable sitting for long periods of

meditation. Then they practised vipassana to

reach the goal of enlightenment. As they

expressed: “I practice meditation to gain wisdom for

understanding the body and mind according to

the actuality. I use the four Satipatthana to be

firm and steadfast establishment for

understanding both body and mind. The more I

practice, the more my mind detaches to and the

self continually reduces leading to gradually

clear of the soul. I practice yoga and vipassana

together. While yoga sends me to the goal, the

answer of the mind later is searched from

Buddhism”. (K5)

“I practise both Buddhist meditation and

yoga. There is no conflict between these

practices. Vipassana practice (Buddhist

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meditation) is used to control over the mind

and its modifications for furthering

transformation to be liberated. Yoga

techniques help calm down the mind for

further vipassana. Thus yoga techniques are

used to assist vipassana meditation practice”.

(K9)

In summary, health and well-being were

obtained by regular practice of yoga asana,

pranyama and meditation, and being optimistic

toward life. Nutritional awareness and adequate

sleep with actively devoting oneself to social

welfare were included. Moreover, yogic

purification techniques and complementary

therapy were used to deal with re-curing health

problems. Importantly yoga practice

complemented with Buddhist meditation helps

achieve enlightenment.

4.3 Perceiving the outcomes of yoga practice:

The results obtained from regular yoga

practice were physical well-being, psychological

and emotional well-being, and holistic well-

being. All yoga masters perceived the positive

outcomes which were varied depending on how

much they practiced; however, most of them

mentioned immediate benefits of practicing

yoga were flexibility and energy in the body,

emotional stability and increased moral

integrity. Eight of yoga masters perceived that

practicing yoga brought wisdom development

and increased self-awareness, more realization

toward life leading to behavior changes and

more confidence in decision making. Four

yoga masters had perceived the improvement

of self-esteem and decrease in egotism

alleviating suffering. As they expressed: “The body is obviously seen at the

beginning of yoga practice. I felt light,

comfortable and flexible.” (K3)

It is good to practise yoga; life contemplation

and self-awareness are improved. The more I

concentrate the more I understand myself and

other. I have more wisdom and freedom

resulting in stillness, loving kindness, integrity

and sharing knowledge. All of these are good

qualifications. It is easy to clear up bad thing in

mind. Cleared mind make me search for need

in our inner self and we will know our own

identity; it is obviously getting towards the goal

of life needed”. (2).

“Since I’m living in a yoga lifeway, I’ve

been teaching any people both inside and

outside the hospital. People always come to me

and said that they still practised yoga taught by

me. This makes me so proud”. (K1)

4.4 Cultural beliefs and factors influencing

the practice of yoga

Several cultural beliefs and factors were

found to influence the yoga practice of yoga

masters. They were discussed in two subtopics;

cultural beliefs and factors facilitating yoga

practice and cultural beliefs and factors

inhibiting yoga practice.

Facilitating factors were mostly derived

from religious and traditional beliefs, and

social structure. The results revealed seven

factors related to cultural beliefs and personal

promotion of yoga practice. These were faith in

the yoga science, beliefs associated with

Ayurveda and religion, education level, family

support, and support of the organization.

Additionally, health conditions and positive

experiences obtained from the practice

motivated the continuing practice such as

comfort, better health, and being energetic. The

details are described as following. “My faith on yoga is that yoga can help

bring me toward enlightenment which is my

ultimate goal. This motivates me to practice it

regularly.” (K3)

“My family is important in providing me

good support by taking care of some house hold

duties for me and giving me a chance to

practise yoga continuously”. (K8)

All key informants highly agreed that

factors inhibiting their yoga practice mainly

came from laziness of own self and time

management for consistent yoga practice. It is

clear that yoga is a practical science that one

will attain benefit only by practice. Therefore,

it is important for the yoga practitioners to fight

with the barriers within selves. A yoga master

said: “In the early, time was the biggest barrier

to me because of many functions in the family;

however as results of the practice, I could deal

with everything. My family both husband and

children understand me. Clear mind after

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practice help me manage proper functions;

teaching in the class helps me continually

practise. Manage only my mind, everything is

suitable”. (K4)

“I am always discouraged from my own

laziness. However, something (benefits) helps

remind me. It is good then I just keep

practicing, and teaching helps me practise

sustainably. (K6)

5. Discussion

The findings of this study show yoga is

significant not only to promote health but it is

science and art of living and philosophy of life

leading to life goal also. Yoga masters in this

study, accepted yoga was significant to them as

they stated; it was used to promote all health

aspects, physical, mental, emotion, and

spiritual and ethical behaviors. When they felt

imbalance with any dimensions of health such

as uncomfortable body, emotional state, and

imbalance with social relationships, yoga is a

tool that helps them relieve those problems. For

instance, daily practice of asanas, pranyama,

and relaxation increased happiness and

achievement and interpersonal relationship in

both healthy and diseased subjects (Sharma,

Gupta & Bijlani, 2008); Pranyamic breathing

decreased oxygen consumption, heart rate and

blood pressure as well as increased

parasympathetic activity accompanied by

alertness and reinvigoration (Jerath, Edry,

Barnes & Jerath, 2006). Moreover, yoga

masters perceived yoga as science and art of

living. They expressed that yoga as a science

has the lofty goal of helping human beings to

become aware of their ultimate nature. It has

been set in its way of practice related to living

in a good sense. The techniques, benefits, and

the ways to overcome the obstacles are

prescribed so that everyone could follow. By

following the yogic principles recommended, a

sense of relaxation and happiness are

experiences (Harinath, et al, 2004). Yoga is

also a useful art of human well-being and

experimenting through observing self-study to

a science of life. It guides the practitioner to

look for goal of life being different in each

stage of life by making a brighter and clearer

mind. Then, one will know how to reach the

desired goal such as health, perfect life,

peaceful life and enlightenment. Because its

aims are to cultivate friendliness, compassion,

joy, indifference towards happiness as said in

the Yoga Sutra (I.33), it serves as science and

art of living to bring man a perfect life. These

findings are consistent with previous research

on yoga as meaningful to physical, mental,

social, and spiritual health (Coven & Adam,

2005; Moadel, et al, 2007; Shapiro, et al,

2007). Additionally, most yoga masters paid

more attention on practicing yoga as a tool to

promote health, especially physical and mental

development, maintaining a high level of

practice to attain liberation. Prolonged and

intense meditation leads them to the

superconscious state which transforms to

serenity, peace, and freedom, being the real

goal of yoga and similarly to desired goal of

life (as K2 said). In daily life we actually

experience either directly or indirectly, the

result of conflicts and emotional distress arising

in the conscious or unconscious mind,

therefore, yoga practice could help us to

become aware of those conflicts and to resolve

them, establishing tranquility and peace.

Yoga masters have integrated yoga

practice into daily life for a variety reasons,

each reason related to the activities for health

promotion and the meaning of yoga. They

started yoga practice from asanas or postures

encouraging the promotion of physical health

as well as preparing their physical bodies and

their minds for advanced mental development.

All yoga masters mentioned two fundamental

ethical precepts as guidelines; universal

morality and personal observances, which help

them to shape their attitude and behaviour

leading to good social relationships. Then they

moved toward pranayama and concentration,

these practices help them concentrate the mind

which is readiness for meditation. These results

consistent with previous research on the

benefits of yoga practice significantly improve

muscular strength and endurance, flexibility,

increase concentration, build self-esteem, and

help man to deal with stress in a positive way

(Cowen & Adams, 2005; Tran, et al, 2001;

12

Rocha, et al, 2012; Russell, 2002). However,

those benefits must be happened by patiently

practised (Vivekananda; 2010). Yoga masters

practice meditation more and more to clear

their minds until they experience the state of

self-realization. At this state, the mind is

controlled, the nervous excitement turned

down which brings calmness and enables them

to see things more clearly as they are. The

temperament as well as the health is better.

Furthermore, the yoga masters expressed that

their continuous yoga practice were benefits to

all aspects of health similar to previous studies

(Frield, 2011; Somtrap and Lertpaiboon, 2009).

Moreover, if the mind can continually

concentrate upon an object for a length of time

without distraction and be able to reject the

external part of perception, the state of real

happiness is reached.

Yoga masters perceived positive outcome

towards physical and psychological well-being.

Their perception of outcomes from yoga

practice concentrates on emotional stability,

self-understanding, and consciousness leading

to wisdom development and self-awareness.

All these affect behavioral changes such as

having loving kindness, having gentleness,

elimination of negative thoughts from the

mind, leading to live happily with others,

reinforcing self-esteem, easily detaching

themselves from their selves.

Moreover, the biggest barrier to yoga was

similar to that of many physical activities

(Johnson, et al, 1990), time and self-laziness

which were mentioned by most participants.

Somtrap and Lertpaiboon (2009) asserted that

time was barrier for the practice of yoga.

However, it is a small barrier to yoga masters

that they could overcome following

recommended in the Yoga Sutra and positive

experiences and faith in the yoga. The findings

confirmed that factors derived from traditional

beliefs and social structure influencing yoga

practice and its progression.

6. Conclusion and suggestion The findings from rich details qualitative

study show that yoga masters’ beliefs and

values have shaped the construction of

experience of yoga practice in the life of yoga

masters in Thailand. This was reflected in the

meanings of yoga and the integration of yoga

into daily life practice for healthy life. Yoga

practice in daily life provides a way to holistic

health and enlightenment. In order to be

obtained these benefits, the practitioners should

start with set off the goal of life and followed

by study yoga seriously. Disciplined in practice

begins with the five universal moral disciplines

and personal observances to deal with people

around us and how to optimally shape our

attitude and behavior. Asana and controlled

breath were practised together with

concentration. After that the mind as well as

body is relaxed and calm which is the

foundation for meditation leading to wisdom

and awareness and further enlightenment. In

addition, meditation starts with a few minutes a

day and gradually increases the time devoted to

meditation as much as possible to reach

optimal benefit. Meditation complemented

with vipassana recommended attaining goal of

life. Moreover, yoga complemented with other

religious meditation based on the practitioner’s

values and beliefs helps attained enlightenment.

Although yoga is proven for peace and good

health, there are some barriers in yogic journey

that needs to overcome such as incongruence

time, self-laziness. Positive experiences and

faith in the yoga could motivate the practitioner

to stepping over the obstacles.

These findings should help health

professionals understanding the significance of

yoga and how to integrate in daily living for

healthy life and happiness in Thai cultural

context. This knowledge will be significant to

nurses on independent nursing role for

integration yoga as complementary nursing to

promote healthy life and holistic care for their

customers or patients.

7. Acknowledgements This study was made possible through a

research grant provided by Faculty of Nursing

and Graduate School, Prince of Songkla

University, Thailand, and partially supported

13

by the Thailand Nursing and Midwifery

Council and The Nurses’ Association of

Thailand. The authors take this opportunity to

thank all the sources for financially supporting

present research.

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