How do you measure the impact or effectiveness of your yoga and mindfulness interventions or programs?

This is problematic. When we sit for meditation we can make it another box we are looking to check, goal to attain, or mountain to climb. We have enough things like that in our life already. When we sit to practice we sit simply to sit, with the confidence and belief that this ancient tradition will deliver us a more balanced and calm mind, spacious enough for more awareness and compassion. Words like "validation" and "scale" or OK in a business plan but not a meditation practice.

I agree with Mark. Yoga, mindfulness & growth mindset is learning to let go of our judgement and our ego. The wording of this is very business like and could create the feeling of failure with some students if they haven't felt any change.

Try to gather responses from as many people as possible. While in a small group the sample is more or less the same as the population, the more responses you gather the more likely you are to be able to draw conclusions about the overall effectiveness of your program. It is not enough to just ask a few people and then say whatever you find must be the same for everyone.

I think it is unlikely if you ask people to give you feedback on your behaviour that you will get useful information. In my experience, as you develop in your practice people will begin to offer you feedback unprovoked. You will hear subtle comments on how "you seem more calm these days", or, "I really notice a change in you lately." Also, you will begin to notice how you yourself begin to react differently to situations. and even begin to speak differently (with more kindness especially).

One tool that I find easy and practical in determining the effectiveness of mindful program interventions is a check-up practice??. ??Ask the participants to reflect and note their state before the intervention and then do the same check-up point of reflection at the end and ask them to compare how it changed. It is amazing how insightful such an exercise can be.

This is an entirely subjective practice and experience, not a science experiment (although there is lots of published research on the benefits of mindfulness it must be taken with a grain of salt. Self-reporting is a problem with any social science research). Having said that, by committing to your practice you can find out for yourself, through your own direct experience, whether meditation is helping you balance and calm your mind. As the Buddha said, find out for yourself ("The contemplative is our teacher.")

There are 2 issues here - how do you measure things from a business perspective to get metrics for further development, and then how do you measure it in real terms? This article offers suggestions for the former but, being AI, it can't give you the heart of mindfulness. So how do you measure the impact of your mindfulness and yoga programmes? First, start with yourself - have you changed as a result of this programme? If you are just 'presenting' mindfulness for others your programme is not going to life-changing. If you feel your presence has changed then there's a good chance your clients' lives will have as well. You create the container that they learn from. Secondly, look at your clients. Not quantitatively, qualitatively.

Begin your practice with an open mind and open heart. Please don't make this another box-checking exercise in your life. Trust that the benefits of this ancient tradition will emerge for you over time, just as they have for millions of others.