Transformation Through Illness: A Qualitative Study of Women with Autoimmunity Who Practice Yoga

Abstract

This study utilized Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis to illuminate the experiences of women who practiced yoga while living with autoimmune diseases, and explored how their experiences might be related to Jungian principles of individuation, self-development and transformation. Results indicate yoga as a transformative discipline improved women’s physical, emotional, spiritual and psychological well-being. Practicing the various techniques of yoga (primarily asana, pranayama, and dharana) contributed to psychological growth and a deeply rooted sense of Self. Yoga served as a tool for self-inquiry, self-discovery, and self-acceptance. Yoga shifted how the participants related to themselves, their illnesses, their bodies, and to their significant others after facing the physical, social, and psychological effects of living with autoimmune diseases. Each woman indicated feelings of unification and wholeness as a result of yoga pract