Inner Correspondence and Peacefulness with Practices among Participants in Eurythmy Therapy and Yoga: A Validation Study

Several mind body medicine interventions require an active participation of the practitioners. We intended to develop a questionnaire to operationalize and measure the "inner correspondence" of individuals practicing Yoga or Eurythmy Therapy. In an anonymous cross-sectional study we enrolled 501 individuals (61% yoga). Exploratory factor analysis (study 1) of the 12-item instrument (Cronbach's alpha = .84) pointed to a 3-factor solution, with one major scale and good internal consistency (alpha = .83) and two minor scales with weak internal consistency. To improve the quality of the main scale, we added 8 new items which were tested in a sample of 135 individuals (study 2:71% Yoga). Factor analysis confirmed a 12-item single factor (alpha = .95), that is, Inner Correspondence/Peaceful Harmony with Practices (ICPH). The scale correlated strongly with mindfulness (FMI; r > .50), moderately with life and patient satisfaction (BMLSS; r between .32 and .43), and weakly negative with symptom score (VAS; r = - .23). In conclusion, the scale ICPH was confirmed as a relevant tool to measure the inner correspondence and feelings of peacefulness with practices. It can be used in clinical studies to assess the efficacy of mind-body practices involving physical movements.