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Likewise, a study of yoga interventions in cancer patients reported improvements in measures of spirituality relative to the control group. In particular, the meaning or peace component of spiritual wellbeing increased within 10 weeks in the yoga groups.44, 45

More probing questions regarding intensive yoga practices and spirituality were asked in a study by Büssing et al.46—such as, what specific aspects of spirituality did yoga help to develop? The researchers looked at 160 students who had signed up for two years of yoga teacher training. They measured conscious interaction, compassion, lightheartedness, and mindfulness. The intensive yoga practice significantly increased these specific aspects of the practitioners’ spirituality, but the changes were dependent on their original spiritual self-perception. In other words, the intensity of change was dependent on the practitioners and their attitudes towards spirituality.

We see this confirmed at our retreats—Beyond Cancer and Chronic Solutions. Both incorporate six hours of yoga practice daily for 21 days. The protocol includes meditation, yoga nidra, chanting, mantras, mudras, pranayama, and asanas, and lectures on how these practices affect the body and mind (with an informal introduction to basic philosophy during lectures). Such intensity often produces dramatic and lasting transformations in the participants’ lives, when they are ready.