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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Psychol.
Sec. Mindfulness
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1454293

Inner Engineering is Associated with Perceived Improvements in Relationship Quality, Interpersonal Connections, and Interpersonal Compassion

Provisionally accepted
Nashaw Jafari Nashaw Jafari 1*Atina Manvelian Atina Manvelian 2Enas Mohamed Enas Mohamed 1Akila Rayapuraju Akila Rayapuraju 1Hibiki Orui Hibiki Orui 1Sultan Alkuhaimi Sultan Alkuhaimi 1Preeti Upadhyay Reed Preeti Upadhyay Reed 1Balachundhar Subramaniam Balachundhar Subramaniam 1*
  • 1 Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, United States
  • 2 Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, California, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Objectives: Interpersonal relationships are the cornerstone of wellbeing. Mindfulness-based practices have been shown to improve relationship quality and perceived stress. Inner Engineering is a transformative program that includes meditative and yogic practices associated with improvements in mindfulness and wellbeing. Methods: This cross-sectional observational study enrolled participants already registered for the Inner Engineering Program to learn Shambhavi Mahamudra Kriya, a multicomponent 21minute meditation. Of the 356 participants who consented, 290 subjects downloaded the mobile 3Cs app to participate. Enrolled participants were asked to complete self-reported electronic questionnaires at three time points: before the program, post-program, and 6 weeks after the program. The following measures were used: Positive-Negative Relationship Quality Scale (PN-RQ), Interpersonal Mindfulness Scale (IMS), Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), Compassion Scale (CS), and the Flourishing Measure. Linear mixed effect models were used to analyze the survey data with p-values of <.05 considered statistically significant.Results: From baseline to six weeks after the program, participants reported experiencing more positive qualities (p<.001, ηp 2 =.12) and fewer negative qualities (p=.001, ηp 2 =.08) in their relationships, increased interpersonal mindfulness (p<.001, ηp 2 =.30), decreased stress levels (p<.001, ηp 2 =.27), and enhanced compassion for others (p<.001, ηp 2 =.17) and overall personal wellbeing (p<.001, ηp 2 =.25).Participation in the Inner Engineering Yoga program seems to be associated with improvements in relationships, interpersonal mindfulness, compassion, stress, and wellbeing.

    Keywords: Interpersonal mindfulness, relationship quality, Mindfulness-based practices, Well-being, perceived stress, compassion Clinical Trial Registration: [ClinicalTrials.gov], identifier [NCT05528978]

    Received: 24 Jun 2024; Accepted: 04 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Jafari, Manvelian, Mohamed, Rayapuraju, Orui, Alkuhaimi, Reed and Subramaniam. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Nashaw Jafari, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, United States
    Balachundhar Subramaniam, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, United States

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.