ScholarWorks@숙명여자대학교

초록

Purpose The purpose of this study was to explore in depth the meaning and essential structure of prenatal education as experienced by pregnant women participating in a somatic yoga program. Methods This qualitative study analyzed in-depth interviews and supplementary materials, with ten pregnant women serving as participants. The analysis was conducted according to Van Manen’s (1990) hermeneutic phenomenological methodology, focusing on 4existential dimensions―corporeality, spatiality, relationality, and temporality―to derive the essential meanings embedded in the participants’ prenatal experiences. Results First, the participants experienced corporeality by recovering subtle bodily sensations through somatic yoga. Second, the yoga practice space was perceived as an inner field where the mothers coexisted with their fetuses, reflecting the meaning of spatiality. Third, throughout the somatic yoga process, the participants formed new relationships with themselves, their fetuses, and fellow practitioners, revealing relationality. Fourth, the somatic yoga experience allowed them to immerse themselves in the present moment, demonstrating temporality. Conclusion Somatic yoga holds meaning for pregnant women as a prenatal experience that goes beyond physical exercise, deepening stability and communion. It suggests that somatic yoga enables pregnant women to consciously embrace changes in their bodies and lives, fostering existential reflection and inner preparation for childbirth and parenting as an integrative approach.

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