Where Practice Meets Inquiry: Inside IPPA’s Yoga and Positive Psychology Circle

What happens when members of the positive psychology community come together not only to discuss wellbeing, but to experience it through the body?

That was the invitation behind IPPA’s first Yoga and Positive Psychology Circle. Members joined virtually from countries including Canada, Colombia, India, Portugal, the Philippines and the United States, bringing a wide range of experiences with yoga, research, teaching, coaching and positive psychology.

Some had practised or taught yoga for many years. Others were relatively new. What united them was curiosity about what these two traditions might offer one another, and a willingness to explore both their points of connection and their tensions.

Experiencing before explaining

The gathering began with a chair-based yoga practice led by Sandy Blaine. Rather than treating yoga as a performance or a test of flexibility, Sandy presented it as an accessible mindfulness practice grounded in attention, choice and respect for the body.

Participants were invited to notice the difference between a healthy sensation and pain, to move gently, and to modify, pause or simply observe whenever that was what their bodies needed. The underlying message was simple but significant. There is no single right way to practise.

Sandy also offered an idea that became a touchstone for the conversation that followed.

“There is no wellbeing without a body.”

Sandy Blaine

Positive psychology has contributed enormously to our understanding of emotions, strengths, meaning, relationships and flourishing. Yoga reminds us that these experiences are also embodied. Attention, movement, breath, sensation and the nervous system all shape how wellbeing is experienced in everyday life.

Exploring both the connections and the tensions

Following the practice, participants moved into facilitated breakout rooms to consider where yoga and positive psychology illuminate one another, and where important questions remain.

The discussion ranged widely.

Participants considered how yoga’s ancient philosophical and contemplative traditions might interact with positive psychology’s modern scientific foundations. While research can help us understand yoga’s effects, the group also questioned whether something is lost when an ancient and multidimensional tradition is considered only in terms of measurable outcomes.

The conversation also addressed cultural appropriation and the importance of understanding yoga’s historical, spiritual and religious roots. How can practices evolve and become more accessible without becoming disconnected from the cultures and traditions from which they emerged?

Questions of inclusion appeared in another form as participants reflected on the stereotypical image of a person who practises yoga. When yoga is associated with a particular body type, level of flexibility, age or lifestyle, many people may conclude that it is not for them. Creating welcoming practices therefore requires more than offering physical modifications. It also requires examining the messages, spoken and unspoken, that people encounter in yoga spaces.

Another central theme was the relationship between individual and collective wellbeing. Both yoga and positive psychology can be framed as tools for personal improvement, such as reducing stress, increasing resilience or helping an individual flourish. Participants asked what might become possible if we looked beyond “What does this practice do for me?” and considered how embodied practices shape our relationships with other people, our communities and the wider world.

The group also reflected on the distinctive experience of practising together. Online resources and home practices have made yoga more accessible, but they can also reduce opportunities for connection with teachers and fellow practitioners. A shared practice offers more than instruction. It can create attunement, mutual presence and a feeling of participating in something larger than oneself.

Learning, connecting and belonging

This gathering offered a small but powerful illustration of what IPPA Circles can make possible.

Learning happened through multiple forms of knowledge. Participants drew on research, professional practice, philosophy, personal experience and the direct knowledge of the body.

Connecting happened across geography and disciplines. Researchers, practitioners, teachers, coaches and learners had the opportunity to encounter perspectives they might not otherwise hear.

Belonging was cultivated through choice, accessibility, curiosity and the understanding that participants did not need to share the same experience, or arrive with the same expertise, to contribute meaningfully.

That combination is at the heart of IPPA’s commitment to its members. Learning becomes richer when it is relational. Connection becomes more meaningful when people can bring their whole selves. Belonging grows when members are not simply an audience, but active contributors to the community.

The first gathering generated more questions than answers, including questions about spirituality and science, embodiment and research, cultural responsibility, collective flourishing, and how yoga might inform the future of positive psychology.

Those questions will help shape future meetings of the Circle. Members may lead short practices, introduce research, share resources and facilitate conversations that take the exploration further.

IPPA Circles remind us that a professional association can be more than a place to receive information. It can be a place to practise, question, contribute and belong, and to discover what becomes possible when we learn together.