Objectives: Yoga is believed to play a role in stabilizing the electroencephalogramand the autonomic nervous system,
thus might help control seizures in people with epilepsy (PWE). This qualitative studywas conducted to explore
experiences of Palestinian PWE with regard to benefits, motives, barriers, and recommendations of
prescribing yoga exercises as a nonpharmacological intervention.
Methods: Purposive and snowball sampling techniques were used to recruit PWE who practiced yoga. Semistructured
in-depth interviews (n =18) were conducted with the study participants. The interpretive description
method was used to qualitatively analyze the data collected during the interviews.
Results: Following the thematic analysis adopted for this study, four major themes emerged. These themes were
as follows: perceived benefits of yoga, motives to practice yoga, barriers to practice yoga, and recommendations
on effective yoga practice for PWE. The perceived benefits included improvements in management of seizures,
psychological, physical, and social well-being. People with epilepsy were motivated by the health benefits of
yoga. Barriers of adherence to practice included personal and logistic factors. The interviewees recommended tailoring
yoga sessions to the needs of PWE.
Conclusion: This explorative qualitative study reported perceived benefits, motives, barriers, and recommendations
of yoga as a nonpharmacological intervention for PWE. People with epilepsy used yoga as a beneficial
nonpharmacological intervention to improve their health and reduce the negative effects of epilepsy on their
physical and psychosocial well-being. Future studies are needed to investigate the health benefits of yoga
when sessions are tailored to the needs of PWE.

Title

Epilepsy & Behavior

Publisher

Academic Press

Publisher Country

United States of America

Indexing

Thomson Reuters

Impact Factor

3.2

Publication Type

Both (Printed and Online)

Volume

106

Year

2020

Pages

107041