瑜珈哲學閱讀對體育瑜珈課程的放鬆促進效果

Yoga philosophy reading effect on relaxation promotion in physical education yoga course

緒論：瑜珈研究的重點常以減少壓力的好處為主，特別是藉由瑜珈練習所引起的放鬆反應。瑜珈是由外部、心理與精神的運動組成，並涵蓋理論與實踐，有其本身的哲學基礎。然而，在教育環境中使用的瑜珈介入措施大多強調身體的練習，很少提及瑜珈的哲學根源，導致學生往往無法深入學習瑜珈作為整體健康的實踐。為發展大學體育瑜珈課程深化學習的策略，本研究旨在比較有無接受指定閱讀的學生其身體覺察能力與生心理指標變化的差異。方法：採用準實驗設計之不等組前後測設計，針對實施相同教學計畫的兩個班次，隨機分配選出實驗組及控制組，並以指定書籍閱讀作為自變項進行研究。實驗組按教學計畫學習，另由教師挑選書籍中對應教學單元主題的瑜珈哲理知識，作為課後指定閱讀文本，共有六次的課後閱讀活動；控制組按相同的教學計畫學習，但教師沒有提供指定閱讀文本，僅保留單次學生自選書籍教材閱讀之課後學習活動。在修習課程前、後透過問卷調查學生的身體覺察能力，並藉由生理回饋儀評估部份學生的放鬆反應指標，另於學期末採用焦點團體訪談蒐集學生的學習經驗。結果：經過一學期的瑜珈課程，兩組學生的身體覺察能力皆顯著提高，但身體覺察能力的分數變化在兩組之間沒有差異；在放鬆相關的生理反應指標方面，實驗組的心率與皮膚電位反應的前後測變化在後測顯著降低。後測心率在兩組之間達顯著差異，說明瑜珈哲理閱讀具有促進放鬆的介入效果。此外，從學生的學習經驗得知，瑜珈哲理閱讀具有輔助瑜珈課堂練習的功能，涉及概念層面的補救、複習與補充。結論：本研究初步的發現支持體育瑜珈課程實施瑜珈哲理閱讀的可行性與功能性，並證明瑜伽哲學閱讀對於放鬆的促進具有重要貢獻，建議以減壓作為課程目標的體育瑜伽課程應納入閱讀瑜伽哲學的學習活動以促進放鬆。

Introduction: The benefits of stress reduction have been the focus of yoga research, especially the relaxation response induced by yoga practice. Yoga includes external, mental, and spiritual exercises that also include theoretical and practical concepts with their own philosophical basis. However, the yoga intervention used in educational settings mostly focus on the practical bodily components with little to no mention of the philosophical roots behind yoga. This results in students often not understanding the depth and breadth of yoga as a holistic health practice. With the aim of developing a strategy to deepen physical education (PE) yoga course learning in universities, this study compares the effect on reading yoga philosophy or not has on yoga learning. Methods: Nonequivalent group pre-posttests for the quasi-experimental design were employed in this study. The same teaching plan was implemented in two classes. Each class was used as a unit to randomly assign the experimental and control groups. Reading yoga philosophy was the independent variable. The experimental group followed the course plan. The teacher chose books that conformed to the teaching theme for the assigned reading after class for a total of 6 times. The control group followed the course plan without assigned reading, with time reserved for self-selecting reading materials as the learning activity after class for only one time. There were no reading goals. Prior and after the yoga course we evaluated students’ body awareness ability through a questionnaire and measured relaxation response indicators with a biofeedback device. At the end of the semester, a focus group interview was conducted to collect the students’ learning experiences. Results: After participating in the yoga course all students from both groups had statistically significant improvements in body awareness ability. The change in body awareness ability showed no difference between the two groups. A significant decrease in relaxation related physiological response from pre-test to post-test was found in heart rate and skin conductance in the experimental group. The heart rate post-test was significantly different between the two groups, indicating that there was an intervention effect on the heart rate. The results confirm that reading yoga philosophy has the intervention effect of promoting relaxation. In addition, reading yoga philosophy has the function of assisting in class yoga practice, including conceptual remedy, review, and supplemental practice. Conclusion: These preliminary findings support the feasibility and functionality of reading yoga philosophy in PE yoga courses. It was demonstrated that reading yoga philosophy is an important contributor for promoting relaxation. We suggest that PE yoga courses targeting stress reduction should include the reading of yoga philosophy to promote relaxation.