Yoga & Body Image
HealthSmart Today, Fall 2005 Written by Laurel Kallenbach
Stretching, strengthening, relaxing: Everyone knows these hallmarks of yoga practice. Thanks to a 2003 University of California, Berkeley study, you can add "positive body image" to the list of proven benefits. In this study, female yoga practitioners reported better body awareness and satisfaction, less self-objectification, and fewer symptoms of eating disorders than people who did not practice yoga. Women who participated in other forms of exercise – aerobic classes, jogging, cardio machines, and select nonaerobic exercise – consistently scored their body awareness and overall body contentment lower than yogis in the study. "This heightened sensitivity and responsiveness to bodily sensations is associated with less preoccupation of physical appearance, more positive views of the body, and more healthy regulation of food intake," states Jennifer J. Daubenmier, the principal investigator. She also notes that the more hours a woman practices yoga, the greater her body satisfaction is; conversely, the mere hours she spends doing aerobic activity, the more likely she is to suffer from eating disorders.
Age did not seem to be a factor. The study followed two groups: college undergraduates (late teens and early 20’s) and a group of women whose average age was 37. "Through yoga, this study suggests that women may have intuitively discovered a way to buffer themselves against messages that tell them only a thin and "beautiful" body will lead to happiness and success," Daubenmier explains.
