Evaluation of online adaptive yoga for psychological well-being in adults with disabilities.

Purpose/objective: The present study examined the preliminary effectiveness of an online, community-based adaptive yoga program on mindfulness, social connectedness, life satisfaction, and communicative participation.

Research method/design: Adults (N = 48) were from a U.S. Midwest rehabilitation program and modally identified as White (73%), women (68%), and in their 30s (24%). One-third (35%) of participants were able to walk independently, and cerebral palsy was the most common primary disability diagnosis (32%). The 90-min adaptive yoga program and assessments were offered online weekly for 6 weeks, in which data from 29 participants across three sessions were included in the present analyses.

Results: Regarding our primary outcome of interest, there was a statistically significant positive increase in mindfulness over time, F(1, 28) = 5.66, p = .02, with a strong effect size, d = 2.43. All secondary variables had statistically nonsignificant changes over time, although with large effect sizes: social connectedness (d = 0.77), life satisfaction (d = 0.92), and communicative participation (d = 0.40).

Conclusions/implications: The present study provides support for well-being programs for an underserved group; specifically, an online adaptive yoga program with routine outcome monitoring assessments has preliminary effectiveness in increasing mindfulness. Consideration of such well-being programs alongside insurance would be an important policy consideration. Further controlled research is necessary to draw decisive conclusions. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).