Inner Correspondence and Peacefulness with Practices among Participants in Eurythmy Therapy and Yoga: A Validation Study

• Main Authors: Arndt Büssing, Friedrich Edelhäuser, Annette Weisskircher, Judith M. Fouladbakhsh, Peter Heusser
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hindawi Limited 2011-01-01
• Series: Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2011/329023

Several mind body medicine interventions require an active participation of the practitioners. We intended to develop a questionnaire to operationalize and measure the “inner correspondence” of individuals practicing Yoga or Eurythmy Therapy. In an anonymous cross-sectional study we enrolled 501 individuals (61% yoga). Exploratory factor analysis (study 1) of the 12-item instrument (Cronbach's alpha=.84) pointed to a 3-factor solution, with one major scale and good internal consistency (alpha=.83) and two minor scales with weak internal consistency. To improve the quality of the main scale, we added 8 new items which were tested in a sample of 135 individuals (study 2: 71% Yoga). Factor analysis confirmed a 12-item single factor (alpha=.95), that is, Inner Correspondence/Peaceful Harmony with Practices (ICPH). The scale correlated strongly with mindfulness (FMI; 𝑟>.50), moderately with life and patient satisfaction (BMLSS; r between .32 and .43), and weakly negative with symptom score (VAS; 𝑟=−.23). In conclusion, the scale ICPH was confirmed as a relevant tool to measure the inner correspondence and feelings of peacefulness with practices. It can be used in clinical studies to assess the efficacy of mind-body practices involving physical movements.