From serious leisure to devotee work: an exploratory study of yoga

ABSTRACT

This study aims to explore the serious leisure to devotee work (SL-DW) transformation trajectory in the case of yoga. An in-depth semistructured interview was conducted with 15 serious yoga practitioners to examine career change and the relationships between leisure and work. The findings of the research outline the passage from stepping into casual yoga leisure, moving from casual to serious yoga leisure, aspiring to succeed on the professional level, becoming an occupational devotee and finally a possible return to the serious-leisure state. A grounded theoretic model emerges explaining the blurred relationships between leisure and work, and the intertwined, dynamic and interactive nature serving as both the antecedent to and consequence of each other. This study theoretically contributes to deepening serious leisure career, the leisure-work relationships and the Serious Leisure Perspective. Meanwhile, it has practical implications for understanding and policy making for other emerging, leisure-oriented kinds of work in the new era.

KEYWORDS:

• Yoga
• serious leisure
• career trajectory
• devotee work

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to extend sincere thanks to the respondents for their generous sharing of their yoga experience.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Funding

This work was funded by the Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China [No.LY19D010013], Hangzhou Municipal-Zhejiang University Strategy Platform Collaborative Project [S.Z.20190296].

Notes on contributors

Huimei Liu

Huimei LIU is a Professor at Department of Philosophy, Academy of Tourism and Leisure; Zhejiang University, China. She is also a cross-appointed professor at Zhejiang University City College. Her research covers philosophical, cultural, and social psychological aspects of leisure studies.

Yan Huang

Yan Huang is a master student at School of International Studies, Zhejiang University. Her research interest is leisure and culture.

Mingjun Gao

Mingjun Gao is a master student at School of International Studies, Zhejiang University. Her research interest is leisure and culture.

Robert Stebbins

Robert Stebbins is a Professor Emeritus at University of Calgary.