Yoga and the Healing of Interpersonal Trauma: A Qualitative Meta-Analysis.
Isabelle Ong Gaffney, Ashley W Gulden, Len Jennings, Mackenna L Page
International journal of yoga therapy January 1, 2023 DOI: 10.17761/2023-D-22-00048 via PubMed
Summary
Yoga helps people recover from interpersonal trauma through several key mechanisms, according to a synthesis of six qualitative studies involving 105 participants. Four main healing factors emerged with strong support across studies: stabilization strategies that reduce trauma symptoms; fostering authenticity, inner attunement, and self-acceptance; equanimity through calming the mind and mindfulness; and community by reducing isolation through safe connection with others. The analysis provides a more integrated understanding of how yoga facilitates trauma recovery and demonstrates the value of qualitative meta-analysis for combining insights from individual studies.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Qualitative meta-analysis Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 105 |
| Population | Participants from six qualitative studies on yoga and interpersonal trauma recovery |
| Intervention | Yoga |
| Keywords | Interpersonal trauma Qualitative meta-analysis Trauma recovery Yoga |
| Citations | 6 |
| Key finding | Four meta-categories with high convergence across studies—stabilization, authenticity/inner attunement/self-acceptance, equanimity/mindfulness, and community/safe connection—identify the main healing agents of yoga for interpersonal trauma recovery. |
Abstract
Although emerging research indicates that yoga facilitates healing from interpersonal trauma, consensus is lacking as to yoga's main facilitative factors. To address this limitation, we employed qualitative meta-analysis to analyze data from six qualitative studies (n = 105) that examined the healing agents of yoga that facilitated recovery from interpersonal trauma. The analysis process included coding data from each study and analyzing codes across all of the studies to derive meta-categories. Three researchers engaged in dual-level analyses (i.e., both inductive and deductive) to support consistency, address any inconsistencies, and develop a consensus. We identified and categorized six meta-categories based on the original 45 themes from the six studies and found differing levels of convergence across the studies. Meta-categories with high levels of convergence included (1) stabilization: coping strategies to reduce trauma-related symptoms; (2) authenticity, inner attunement, and self-acceptance; (3) equanimity: calming the mind and mindfulness; and (4) community: reduced isolation through safe connection with others. Our findings offer a more integrated, comprehensive, and consolidated understanding of the specific ways yoga can facilitate recovery from interpersonal trauma and demonstrate how qualitative meta-analysis methodology can tie together the richness of similar, stand-alone qualitative studies.