Regenerative Selves: Yoga as a Pedagogy for Cultivating Relationality

Abstract

This study explored whether and in what ways Yoga could cultivate relationality among practitioners and enable them to live sustainably and regeneratively through creating regenerative selves. It examined whether and how practitioners used Yoga as a tool to cultivate relationality in the continuum between interiority and exteriority. The study explored relationality and the meaning-making experiences of female Yoga practitioners at a Yoga studio located in Wisconsin. Its design included both the teachers and students for an expansive view of relationality within Yoga practices. In Part 1, I observed Yoga classes focusing on how teachers perceive and practice relationality within their Yoga teachings. I also interviewed teachers to explore their perception and practice of relationality within their teachings and practice. In Part 2, ten Yoga students were interviewed using open-ended questions that explored relationality based on a model of contemporary Eight Limbs of Yoga to capture deep meanings. Students reported in journals on their perceptions and practices of relationality in a small-group Yoga class and guided-visualization sessions. I used interpretive phenomenological analysis to develop one over-arching theme and three sub-themes. Themes were drawn for further research and recommendations for the fields of Yoga, transformative learning, and regenerative education.