title: Interactions Between Body and Social Awareness in Yoga.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Bodily processes have been intimately linked to social-cognitive and affective functions, such as compassion and empathy. Yet, little is known about how awareness of bodily processes influences social awareness and vice versa, especially in nonobservational but experiential investigations. This study investigated the relationship between psychometrically reported body and social awareness (including altruism, empathy, perspective-taking, and compassion) in 90 yoga and yoga-/mediation-naive control participants. In modern postural yoga, advanced practitioners claim both increased compassion and inner focus.
  
  
  METHODS
  Multiple regression analyses were conducted to predict (1) the level of yoga practice from body awareness and social awareness skills in the yoga group and (2) body awareness from social skills in both groups.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Body awareness and compassion were significant positive and independent predictors of yoga expertise. This finding supports practitioners' anecdotal claims but also implies that both functions tap into different aspects of yoga expertise. When body awareness was predicted, altruism emerged as a significant negative predictor in the yoga group (but not control group) as a function of yoga practice.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results might compellingly suggest that, despite high compassion, heightened bodily self-awareness might increase a self-centred perspective and limit altruistic acts in advanced yoga practitioners.
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome , Rome, Italy .|2 IRCCS , Fondazione Santa Lucia, Rome, Italy .
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Fiori
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome , Rome, Italy .|2 IRCCS , Fondazione Santa Lucia, Rome, Italy .
authors.forename: Salvatore M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Aglioti
authors.affiliation: 3 Department of Neurophysiology and Pathophysiology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf , Hamburg, Germany .
authors.forename: Nicole
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: David
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001364:Awareness; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004532:Ego; D004645:Empathy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D015013:Yoga / Q000523:psychology*
keywords: altruism; body-awareness; compassion; interoception; social-awareness; yoga