my Yoga Journey

I’ve been practicing yoga since 1989 and teaching yoga, meditation, and fitness and wellness since 1996.

I completed my master’s and doctoral research investigating the benefits of Chair Yoga for psychological health in older adults. I am an exercise scientist, with a PhD in Sport and Exercise Psychology from Florida State University.

As a researcher, a university faculty member, and a fitness instructor, my goal is to make fitness accessible – to make self-care enjoyable – and to help you live your best life.

With Yoga Alliance, I am an Experienced-Registered Yoga Teacher, a Continuing Education Provider, and a Certified Youth and Prenatal Yoga Teacher.

With the International Association of Yoga Therapists, I am a Certified Yoga Therapist.

“The Impact of Yoga on Psychological Health,” my dissertation research for my PhD from Florida State in 2007, with awards from APA Division 47 and AASP in 2008

In 2008, I had the tremendous honor of receiving both the American Psychological Association Division 47 (Society for Sport, Exercise and Performance Psychology, click here for the APA Division 47 dissertation archive and the Association for Applied Sport Psychology Dissertation Awards (Click here for the AASP Dissertation Award archive). (2008 awards are based on earned PhDs in 2007). I completed my doctoral training through Florida State University, defending my dissertation and earning my PhD in 2007, with doctoral research that focused on “The Impact of Yoga on Psychological Health in Older Adults.” Recently, in going through family video archives, I found this recording of my Dissertation Award presentation at the APA 2008 Annual Conference in Boston. I’m happy to share this video presentation for those who are interested in my research work.

This video was originally on tape, then transferred to DVD, and now to digital media, so there are a few technical glitches and brief skips in the content. Also, friends may enjoy the “where’s waldo” moment of identifying the cameraman by his brief eyeball selfie midway through.

For more information about my dissertation award presentation, click here for the PDF of my PowerPoint.

The published article of my dissertation research is available:

Bonura, K.B., & Tenenbaum, G. (2014). Effects of Yoga on Psychological Health in Older Adults. Journal of Physical Activity and Health, 11, 1334 – 1341. https://doi.org/10.1123/jpah.2012-0365

The published article of my thesis research is available:

Bonura, K.B., & Pargman, D. (2009). The Effects of Yoga versus Exercise on Stress, Anxiety, and Depression in Older Adults. International Journal of Yoga Therapy, 19, 79 -89. Click here for a PDF of the article.

Chataranga Saved My Life

It has been 20 years since I wrote (and published) this article about how I used yoga (and in particular, strength-based power yoga) to overcome an eating disorder. I am happy with how the article holds up, and I think my mid-20s self did a pretty good job articulating both the struggle and the healing.

Click here to read the article.

 

But with 20 years of additional growth and wisdom, there is so much more that I understand, both about eating disorders in general and about my own particular suffering. For instance, for me, it was never about my appearance or my size, but always about a sense of control in an out-of-control period of my life, when my parents had an ugly divorce and my grandparents were dying, and all of the stability of my childhood disappeared in an instant, as if destroyed by a 100-year-flood. This is true for many young women: eating disorders are about control. About finding something you can manage. And because society pushes the narrative of beauty so strongly at young women, that’s the first thing your mind grasps onto as something you should try to control.

I want to tell everyone, of every gender and every age: here is what yoga has taught me about my body. Love your body as it is. Accept your body as it is. Focus on what your can do, and what you want your body to do, and how your body can help you live the life you want. Let go of preconceived notions of what you should do, what you should look like, how you should feel. Be in the body you have. Be happy in the body you have. Be kind to the body you have. Love yourself as you are. You, and your body, are beautiful and perfect, exactly as you are.
If you think you may have an eating disorder, please talk with your doctor and get help right away, because disordered eating can lead to both acute health crisis (including brain damage and organ failure) and chronic health conditions (like osteoporosis). Talk to your doctor right away!
You can learn more about eating disorders, and where to find help:
Resources – these are interesting research summary articles about the connections between autism (and other forms of neurodivergence, such as ADHD) and eating disorders:

 

Selected Publications (Academic Peer-Reviewed and Invited)

Bonura, K. B., & Fountain, D. M. (2020). From “Hooah” to “Om”: Mindfulness practices for a military population. Journal of Social, Behavioral, and Health Sciences, 14, 183–194. https://doi.org/10.5590/JSBHS.2020.14.1.13  

Bonura, K.B., Post, P., Simpson, D., & Green, L. (2020). Imagery in Sport Injury Rehabilitation: Supporting Athletes in Recovery. In U. Johnson & A. Ivarsson (Eds.), Psychological Bases of Sport Injuries (4th edition) (pp. 131 – 150). Morgantown, WV: FIT Publishing.

Bonura. K.B. & Taylor, J. (2019). Breathing. In J. Taylor (Ed.), Comprehensive Applied Sport Psychology (pp. 128 – 133). London: Routledge.

Bonura, K.B. & Dulabaum, N.L. (2018). Health. In R. L. Miller (Ed.). Promoting psychological science: A Compendium of laboratory exercises for teachers of high school psychology. Retrieved from the Society for the Teaching of Psychology web site: http://teachpsych.org/ebooks/promotingpsychscience.

Bonura, K.B. (2017). Listen to Your Body: Mindfulness Practices as Bodily Wisdom. A review of Emotions and the Body in Buddhist Contemplative Practice and Mindfulness-Based Therapy: Pathways of Somatic Intelligence. In PsycCritiques, Contemporary Psychology: APA Review of Books, Vol 62 (48). http://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/a0041153

Bonura, K.B. (2016). Integrating Mindfulness Practices into Psychological Care. The General Psychologist, 49 (2), 20 – 22. http://www.apadivisions.org/division-1/publications/newsletters/general/2016/04/mindfulness.aspx

Bonura, K.B. (2015). Does American Culture Encourage or Discourage Relaxation: Encourage. In C.L.B. Selby, Chilling Out: The Psychology of Relaxation. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO/Greenwood.

Bonura, K.B. (2013). Perspectives Column. Defining What Matters: Measurement Theory in Yoga Research. International Journal of Yoga Therapy, 23 (2): 9–10. https://meridian.allenpress.com/ijyt/article/23/2/9/137851/Capturing-What-Matters-Measurement-Theory-in-Yoga

Green, L.B., & Bonura, K.B. (2007). The use of imagery in the rehabilitation of injured athletes. In D. Pargman (Ed.), Psychological Bases of Sport Injuries, 3rd Ed. Morgantown, WV: Fitness Information Technology.