Penn State Health St. Joseph’s Family Medicine - Yoga Day May 2024 

1. What was the general understanding of the purpose of the project/program by participants?

Residents participated in two one hour yoga sessions held on two separate weeks as part of their Wellness Didactics. Pre-event and post-event surveys were distributed and filled out by residents in attendance in order to evaluate whether yoga can be considered as an intervention for addressing burnout amongst Family Medicine Residents.

2. Why did you choose the specific wellness project/activity?

We chose to offer our residents Yoga because on our review of current literature, we found evidence that suggests that yoga can have a profound impact on stress mitigation.

3. During the project/program, what tangible tools or strategies were demonstrated or taught to address wellness and life balance?

Our residents were taught Taoist Yoga by a certified local Yoga Instructor. Taoist Yoga focuses on the union of mind, body and spirit through a series of breathing techniques and movements.

4. What do you intend to do, upon returning to work, that you learned and practiced during the activity, that will improve your response to stressful situations?

I intend to utilize breathing techniques taught in our yoga class to ground myself and bring myself back to my balanced center when I am in stressful situations. The yoga we practiced also reminded me how movement can aid in relaxation of both mind and body and connecting me with myself as well as with what is most important to me.

5. What can POMA do to address wellness and life balance for your future?

Our residents have expressed that they would benefit from protected time away from their clinical duties where they are not expected to be responsive to their various inboxes.