Background In 2020, we established a community-based tele-yoga cohort during COVID-19 and demonstrated short-term stress reduction benefits. Long-term outcomes and psychological mechanisms underlying differential adherence patterns remained unexplored. Objective To evaluate psychological outcomes at five-year follow-up and explore mechanisms differentiating regular from irregular practitioners in a prospectively followed tele-yoga cohort. Methods This mixed-methods prospective cohort follow-up study assessed participants from our 2020 tele-yoga program. Baseline assessments (PSS, SWLS, WHOQOL-BREF, Gunas) were collected at enrolment. Attendance was tracked continuously via session logs. At the five-year follow-up, we re-administered quantitative measures and conducted semi-structured interviews (30–45 minutes). Participants were classified as Regular (RTY; n = 20, >70% attendance) or Irregular (ITY; n = 20,