Yoga y aikido

yoga is intended to cultivate both male and female qualities or

principles within the practitioner to enable a person to feel whole
(Radhananda 2003). In their study of female practitioners of Aikido,
Noad & James’ (2003) devised the term ‘female-value’ to denote
qualities valued by the women who practiced Aikido. ‘Female-value’ did
not mean feminine, but rather encompassed values associated with
both feminine and masculine principles that arose from a practice of
Aikido. Noad and James (2003, 144) found that participants’ experiences
‘cross backwards and forwards’ between the ‘traditional’ masculine and
feminine personality traits depicting qualities from both perspectives
(Noad & James 2003, 136). Experiences arising from the group identify
the potential for the deconstruction and redefinition of feminine and
masculine behaviours in a way that manifested positive outcomes for
the participants, such that possible negative female qualities of
passivity, low self-confidence and self-sacrifice are overcome (Noad &
James 2003, 149). The practice of Aikido provides a process that enables
a transformation of values compr1
fluence each other.
87 4.4.3 Research journals Extensive records should be kept in order to
substantiate the study’s methods and approaches, and to ensure the
research is reliable (Lincoln & Guba 1985). The writing of journals is a
positive process to create meaning out of the complexity of daily lives; a
place where thoughts and ideas can be produced and analysed (Garrett
1993). I recorded my thoughts and notes about meanings,
methodological and theoretical assumptions in eight journals. Although
the written information was at times disorganised, making the
interpretation of some notes at a later date both difficult and confusing,
I nonetheless found these journals most useful in clarifying my ideas,
relating my ideas to the relevant literature, and in making sure insights
were recorded as they arose from my consciousness. Howe (1988) also
cites the usefulness of observation during face-to-face interviews by
recording non-verbal impressions of behaviour. At the end of each
interview observations were made, including personal impressions of
how the interview went, and factors that had impacted on the quality of
the interview. These impressions were recorded in the journals to assist
further analysis and interpretation of the data. 4.5 The sample The
research focused on a sample of 35 women who had a regular yoga
practice of Iyengar yoga. Midlife women were initially chosen for the
project because I had intended to interview women from the mid-aged
(aged 45-60) cohort of the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s
Health (ALSWH). In anticipation of drawing information from the larger
study, a set