Dynamic Sensitivity to Practices Survey

25. Member Announcements - Classes & Retreats
1

Hello Everyone!
There has been ongoing discussion in these forums regarding variable and even cyclical sensitivity to Yoga practices. In particular, many have noted changing sensitivity relative to the phase of the moon and, for women, changing sensitivity relative to the menstrual cycle. Since so many have commented on this phenomenon, we thought it would be interesting to examine it in more depth. We’re currently putting the finishing touches on a study that will hopefully give us more insight into what is happening with our bodies and our practices. I hope people will be interested in participating!
The study consists of two parts: the first is a survey asking about our current practice routine and perceptions regarding our sensitivity to these practices. This first survey should take no more than 5 to 10 minutes to complete. The second part of the study is a survey sent out weekly which simply asks how we felt on that particular day. We will send out the “How are you Feeling Today?” survey once per week for 52 weeks. It should take no longer than 2 minutes of your time to complete the second survey. We will then correlate how people felt with the moon phase and, for women, where they are in the menstrual cycle.
You can preview the surveys using the following links, and any feedback you have is welcome:

  • Baseline survey for women
  • Baseline survey for men
  • Weekly survey for women
  • Weekly survey for men
    We need volunteers for two sample groups, one for women and another for men. If you are interested in participating, please send me an e-mail via my profile page. I will send you the baseline survey via e-mail and set you up to receive the “How are you Feeling Today?” survey in your e-mail every week for the next 52 weeks. We hope to start sending the weekly surveys beginning the first week of November, provided there are enough people signed up.
    Regarding security and confidentiality, your responses will be sent over an encrypted connection to the server, and at no time will your names be published in connection with the collected data. We will use a random string of letters and numbers to identify your responses in the final data set.
    I’m looking forward to studying our apparent sensitivity patterns in more depth, and I hope you are willing help us further our understanding by reporting your experience.
    Many thanks and all the best!
    –Liz
2

Hi Everyone!
We have four volunteers, so far! (Thank you!! :slight_smile: ) But we need more in order to create a statistically meaningful data set.
I’ve added a question to the weekly survey to allow you to update us on your baseline practice. When your baseline practice changes, you can answer the practices question. If it is unchanged, you can leave the question blank. This study isn’t meant to lock you in to one practice routine for a year – only to see if there is a relationship between natural cycles and sensitivity. If there are any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to post a note here or send me an e-mail.
If you are interested in participating in this study, please send me an e-mail via my contact page.
All the best!
–Liz

3

We have six volunteers! :grin:
I noticed a few responses to the sample surveys. I just wanted to let you all know that the surveys linked in the first post are just examples. I’m sorry; there was no way for me to turn off the ‘submit’ button. I’m using your e-mail addresses to tie a year’s worth of weekly responses together into a single collection for each participant. So, if you’d like to participate, please do send me an e-mail. I need your e-mail address to make it work. :slight_smile:
And we could definitely use a few more participants! :slight_smile: :pray:

4

5 men and 5 women signed up to participate in this study. The entry surveys are all in, and we’ve begun the weekly data collection. Thanks again to everyone who volunteered their time!
If you would like to participate and haven’t yet signed up, please send me a note via my profile page. I may start another cohort if there is enough interest.
All the best!
–Liz

5

Hi Everyone!
I just wanted to express my heartfelt thanks to everyone who participated in the Dynamic Sensitivity to Practices Survey! The survey was initiated when many of us noticed a correlation between natural cycles, such as the lunar cycle and the menstrual cycle, and sensitivity to spiritual practices. Our aim was to see if we could somehow quantify this anecdotal observation. We designed a survey that was sent out at roughly the same time every week asking people how they felt on that particular day and what, if any, self-pacing measures were used. Some of the survey days fell on the full moon and some fell on the new moon, and many fell somewhere in between. We just completed the last of 52 weeks of data collection, and I would very much like to thank those that participated. It was entirely a volunteer effort and, even though there were only 10 of us starting out, we managed to maintain responses throughout the 1 year period! It will take me a few weeks to get the data together for analysis, but I will keep you posted. :slight_smile:
All the best!
–Liz