The Impact of Yoga on the Well-being of Alexandra’s Youth

Abstract

Youth growing up in impoverished areas of the world, such as Alexandra township, have a severe lack of well-being. Yoga4Alex teaches Yoga to improve the well-being of youth. Yoga4Alex believes that the practice of Yoga positively impacts educational success, employment opportunities, and in the long run contribute to breaking the cycle of poverty. This thesis’s research question is: How is Yoga able to impact the well-being of youth in Alexandra township? Gaining new knowledge on the impact of Yoga on the well-being of youth can help to develop further comparable initiatives around the globe to support youth in similar contexts like the South African townships. This thesis answers the research question using insights from the disciplines of Philosophy, Interdisciplinary Social Sciences, and International Development Geography. Their insights are integrated using Repko and Szostak’s Interdisciplinary research process (2016). The intervention of Yoga can shift the cycle of poverty towards a cycle of prosperity, because Yoga can positively impact the well-being of youth. This impact increases the chances of educational success in the short term. In the long run, the intervention of Yoga can provide a steppingstone towards prosperity for an individual and hopefully, the community of Alexandra. However, further research is needed on Yoga as an intervention - aiming to improve well-being -in order to understand the interplay between different indicators of well-being and their impact on reducing poverty, and thus increasing prosperity.