“I Just Find It Easier to Let Go of Anger”: Reflections on the Ways in Which Yoga Influences How Young People Manage Their Emotions

Abstract

Notes of Gratitude:This article is dedicated to our dear friend and colleague Professor Usha Sidana Nayar, who passed away in 2021. She was a co-worker in the Hippocampus project and has also been a mentor and source of inspiration for many years. Furthermore, we would like to express our gratitude to all the students, teachers and yoga teachers who took part in the Norwegian part of the Hippocampus project. In addition, we are grateful to our partners in Belgium, Great Britain, Italy, and Spain, as well as the students, teachers, and yoga teachers from these countries. Participants from two countries deserve special thanks; Nick Kearny for initiating the project together with Charlotta Martinus, who also developed the 8-week yoga course and the manual. Thanks also to the Spanish team for securing funding for the Hippocampus project and for developing the Yuva Yoga App. Finally, thanks to NTNU and the Department of Psychology, NTNU for providing extra funding and a supportive work environment during the Hippocampus project period and beyond. Data Availability Statement:The raw data supporting the conclusions of this article will be made available by the authors, without undue reservation. Ethics Statement:The studies involving human participants were reviewed and approved by NSD-Norwegian Centre for Research Data. Written informed consent to participate in this study was provided by the participants' legal guardian/next of kin.Author Contributions: IH was contributed to the design and planning of the research project and wrote the draft of the article, including the data analysis provided by SS. SS took on the main responsibility for data collection and did the data analysis of the qualitative data, with input from IH and UN and wrote a www.videleaf.com summary report of the qualitative data analysis. SS and UN contributed to the revision of the article drafts, with both theoretical concepts and organizational aspects. IH and SS have finalized the article draft. All authors contributed to the article.