| Description |
Yoga and meditation could influence how individuals mentally process and narrate their difficult experiences from the past. Specifically, such practices could result in increased exploration, growth, and positive resolution in narratives, compared to neutral conditions. Past researchers have employed autobiographical writing as a therapeutic activity to help individuals understand objectionable incidents and utilize their memories in order to grow from the experience. This process requires that people explore events, acknowledge their negativity, and construct positive meanings and resolution. Because Eastern practices have the ability to reduce feelings of anxiety and depression, yoga and meditation could encourage exploration in narratives and foster these narrative processes. To test these ideas, 79 participants first engaged in one of four possible 10-15 minute activities: a yoga sequence, an exercise regime, a meditation, or watching a series of neutral pictures. Second, subjects were asked to recall and narrate one of three types of life events: transgressions, victimizations, and turning points. Stories were then coded for emotional exploration, growth, and resolution using an adapted version of the Coding System for Components of Transformational Processing (Pals, 2006). Based on multivariate analyses collected from subjects, it was found that meditation significantly increased emotional exploration, growth, and resolution in narratives. Contrary to hypotheses, yoga did not consistently increase those narrative elements. Conclusively, meditation could be used conjointly with storytelling to help individuals overcome affective problems attributed to past negative events. |
