Is Women's Participation in Different Types of Yoga Classes Associated with Different Levels of Body Awareness Satisfaction?

2010 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 62-71 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kelley Delaney ◽  
Kristine Anthis

This study examined the relationship between women's participation in different types of Yoga classes and different facets of body image. Ninety-two women at five different sites of Yoga instruction completed assessments of Yoga experience, internalization of Yoga principles, body satisfaction, body awareness, body consciousness, and eating attitudes. Yoga experience was coded according to months/years of practice, self-rated expertise, and how much the classes attended emphasized the "mind" aspects of Yoga (e.g., meditation, breathing, mindfulness, and chanting) as well as the "body" aspects (postures, fitness). Participants in Yoga classes that included more emphasis on the mind showed significantly greater levels of internalizing the teachings of Yoga, as well as greater body awareness and satisfaction. Greater experience with Yoga was associated with lower objectified body consciousness. Greater internalization of Yoga principles was associated with greater body satisfaction and sense of control of the body. Greater self-rated expertise in Yoga was associated with greater body awareness and fewer body shape concerns. None of the Yoga measures was significantly associated with the Eating Attitudes Test, which is designed to measure attitudes and behaviors associated with eating disorders. Although correlational, the results of this study suggest that further attention be paid to how the psychological benefits of Yoga differ across different types of Yoga classes. Future experimental research on the psychological benefits of Yoga should examine the importance of emphasizing a fully integrated mind-body practice rather than only the fitness aspects of Yoga.

Author(s):  
Markus Reuber ◽  
Gregg H. Rawlings ◽  
Steven C. Schachter

This chapter explores how dissociation of awareness of either the mind or the body can be experienced by everyone to some degree. It has been suggested that in Non-Epileptic Attack Disorder (NEAD), a protective mechanism of enabling individuals to detach from the difficult emotions they have not yet been able to make sense of has led to a detachment from the awareness of the body, thus resulting in physical symptoms that resemble epileptic seizures. Treatment therefore lies in improving both mind and body awareness. Working with individuals with NEAD or Dissociative Seizures introduces one to the multifaceted nature of humanity. Although there are common themes that emerge through psychological assessment—such as prior experience of illness, neurological insult or physical injury to a specific body part, difficulty recognizing stress in the body or mind, or a tendency to use unhelpful coping strategies during prolonged periods of stress,—no two persons with NEAD have the same seizures because each individual’s experience is unique, making the nature and clinical presentation of the seizure-like experiences idiosyncratic. Despite this, it is always possible to discover the reason that individuals with NEAD experience the symptoms they do, even if it is sometimes initially hard for the individual to accept or believe this.


2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 211-234 ◽  
Author(s):  
MATTHEW HEAD

ABSTRACTIn his Magazin der Musik, Carl Friedrich Cramer reported that C. P. E. Bach's Fantasia in A major, h278 (1782), was composed during the agonies of gout. Tapping into a reported epidemic of this patrician malady among men of letters, Cramer's anecdote invoked rich associations of sequestered suffering, withdrawal from public life, the pleasures of the table, genius, sexual (im)potency and humour. Reflecting contemporary nerve-based theories of sensation, Cramer aligned different types of physical and mental pain with specific musical gestures. In so doing, he did more than indulge his hermeneutic imagination: he suggested a connection between Bach's solo keyboard music and the experience of embodiment. The seemingly abstract gestures of improvisation were linked dialectically to the corporeal. Behind the specifics of Cramer's reading is a conviction that this kind of music ‘knows’ about the body, as well as the mind, and that it moves between gestures suggestive of thinking, speaking, feeling and corporeal sensation. Analysis of the fantasia, and Bach's letters, supports Cramer's reading.


Author(s):  
Raquel Ruiz-Íñiguez ◽  
Ana Carralero Montero ◽  
Francisco A. Burgos-Julián ◽  
Justo Reinaldo Fabelo Roche ◽  
Miguel A. Santed

Research on mindfulness-based interventions reports mainly on improvements at the group level. Thus, there is a need to elaborate on the individual differences in their effectiveness. The aim of this study was twofold: (1) to examine which personality factors could influence burnout reduction associated with different types of mindfulness practice and (2) to evaluate the interaction between personality factors and the amount of home practice; both aims were controlled for sociodemographic characteristics. A total of 104 Cuban mental health professionals, who participated in a crossover trial, were included. The effect of personality (Cattell’s 16 Personality Factors) was analyzed through regression analysis. First, the results revealed that Emotional Stability and Vigilance could negatively moderate the effectiveness of mindfulness-based interventions. Second, participants who scored low in Sensitivity or Vigilance could benefit more from the body-centered practices (i.e., body scan and Hatha yoga practices), but no significant results for the mind-centered practices (i.e., classical meditation) were found. Third, participants who scored high in Self-reliance could benefit more from informal practice. Other personality factors did not appear to moderate the effect of the interventions, though previous experience in related techniques must be considered. Recommendations and clinical implications are discussed. Trial registration number is NCT03296254 (clinicaltrials.gov).


Author(s):  
Michael Häfner

Recent research on so-called embodied cognitions strengthens the current view that the body and the mind cannot be separated in producing cognitions. But how and when does the body talk to the mind? Drawing on the notion that bodily processes are transformed into mental action through experiences, it is argued that embodied cognitions should be moderated by interindividual differences in the sensitivity to stimuli originating inside of the body, that is, by interoception. In line with these assumptions, two experiments demonstrate that the embodiment of weight and softness in value judgments and person impressions is moderated by interoception as assessed by a body-awareness questionnaire (Experiment 1) and a heartbeat perception task (Experiment 2). Taken together, these findings strongly speak to the notion that bodily processes and the experience thereof play an important role in embodiment, thereby extending previous research above and beyond the mere demonstration of body-mind interactions.


Author(s):  
Mehrnaz Dehghan

The aim associated with this is to theorizing to the developing example of therapists educated in both of the dance/movement therapy (DMT) and yoga and also to give information regarding the combination of DMT and yoga and practitioners’ perceptions of how this might influence their routines mindfulness. Yoga, dance movement therapy, and mindfulness intention to accomplish the same aim of quieting the mind and requiring participants seek inside. Within this article, yoga principles are described because of their possibilities aspect in mindfulness skill progress as well as DMT. A consideration of the literature presents a description of yoga, DMT and additionally the theory of mindfulness, which includes relieves negative performing and boost of mental well-being, actual physical well-being, and behavior maintenance. The procedure during which yoga is theorized to operate as a mindfulness skill discussed alongside future guidelines for theoretical development. Because of both DMT and yoga really are mind-body methods that show positive psychotherapeutic usefulness patients undergoing treatment with them concurrently, this might be the inspiration for so many DMTs to be given learning yoga as well by using mindfulness techniques. The particular sections the perfect two modalities complement one another are, briefly, as shown below: both address the undeniable fact that emotions are handled in practice; they actually focus on the subject of understanding the body/body awareness, observation techniques, and more than that anatomy; DMT discusses to the concern about verbalizing the psychological process; and yoga offers a pattern of self-care regarding the therapist along with a method to take more people into the movement practical experience and produce to the mindfulness as powerful tools.


2001 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 61-75 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa Slède ◽  
Rachel Pomerantz

Yoga is an ancient discipline focusing on the union of the mind and body. In recent years, Yoga has generated much interest within the scientific community regarding its physiological and psychological benefits,including its power as a healing modality. To date, studies of variable quality have been conducted examining Yoga as a treatment for mental disorders, including mood disorders, anxiety disorders, drug addiction, mental retardation, pain management, and body image. While these studies as a whole suggest that Yoga may be a promising treatment, much work remains to be done before drawing any valid, scientific conclusions. Specifically,more and better-designed studies need to be conducted in order to conclusively demonstrate Yoga's usefulness as a treatment for certain mental disorders. In order to add to the existing knowledge base, future studies will need to more clearly define Yoga and develop better controls for variables such as cultural expectations and personal motivation. Ultimately, a second generation of studies might point to the different types of populations who would most benefit from Yoga versus more conventional treatments. It is hoped that this review will point the way for future studies and encourage researchers to continue exploring the possibilities of this promising treatment for psychological disorders.


Author(s):  
О. О. Дольська

The existential structure of the World, that is, the reality in which we exist, shaped by the organization of space. The only mechanism of this process is the meanings and meanings with which a person fills certain objects, phenomena. For example, the design of the space of the house was quite a complicated procedure for creating symbols, which defined the space itself as a habitable reality. The structure of the world traditionally implemented in the concept of the geometry of the World. The article shows that the idea of the spatial characteristics of the World affects not only its understanding and “vision”, but also sets the normativity of thought. The geometry of the World represented by the metaphor of combs. This statement considered in the context of the crisis of metaphysical discourse, the material for which provided by post-metaphysical philosophy. In contrast to the Cartesian paradigm, there observed an appeal of philosophy to the subject of the philosophy of the body, landscape, to the understanding of the multidimensionality of the spatial configurations and manifestations. Post metaphysical discourse also indicates a change in thinking. There is a connection between the image of the World and the thought that shapes it. It can be expressed in the following: the geometry of the space of the equipped World is both a product and a source of intellectual shifts (the problem of being and thinking). Metaphysical discourse leaves us in the World-sphere, but modern philosophy and the man of the present equip the World with the help of the metaphor of the World-Cell. If the changes relate to the World outlook, the universe, then such a transformation of the image of the World “pulls” behind itself a revolution also in the human worldview and equated with intellectual revolutions. The change in ideas about the World indicates a change in the nature of human thinking, and therefore we faced with the fact of ontological, vital and cognitive transformations. In the modern geometry of the World, the transversal mind finds its realization, which activates the phenomenon of communications. Therefore, the spatial metaphor of the World, its geometry and style of thinking, intertwining, influence each other. However in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The spherical ontology of the world begins its decline, and since the middle of the twentieth century, such a steady as if the world began to shake. The loss of the roots of a spherical nature touches, and then shakes the wider layer of subjective qualities: it broadly captures the mental, cultural, social and economic spheres of man. In addition, as a result, such a balanced by the spherical ontology of the internal human space begins processes of destruction or destructive transformations. Spheres are beginning to break up the instabilities that make any risks real, and the welcome spherical geometry becomes unviable. The question arose about the need for a new understanding of the world and its topology. Today we see transformations in the understanding of the universe. We propose to consider it in the form of cell geometry, the metaphor of which are bee cells, cells. It is not unreasonable. Philosophy has recently moved precisely to such an understanding, expanding its intelligence around the metaphor of the fold, the theme of "the death of the subject," and the subjects of subjection. Expanding the reflection around the question of a new metaphor of the world, there is a question about the nature of the mind of this space. Modern global world creates a heterogeneous space, and it is a space of communication, aimed at overcoming all sorts of borders, language, political, scientific, cultural, religious and so on. To overcome different types of rationality, for communication between them necessary becomes a transversal mind in the new conditions.


Assessment ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 107319112110598
Author(s):  
Bassam Khoury ◽  
Rodrigo C. Vergara ◽  
Isabel Sadowski ◽  
Christina Spinelli

Recently developed mindfulness scales have integrated aspects of the body in measuring mindfulness unlike other established scales. However, these scales focused solely on body awareness and did not embrace all aspects of mindfulness and the body. Specifically, they did not integrate embodiment in mindfulness. The proposed Embodied Mindfulness Questionnaire (EMQ) aims to operationalize the proposed notion of “embodied mindfulness” by grounding it into five dimensions, each representing a set of skills that can be cultivated through training and practice: (a) Detachment from Automatic Thinking, (b) Attention and Awareness of Feelings and Bodily Sensations, (c) Connection with the Body, (d) Awareness of the Mind-Body Connection, and (e) Acceptance of Feelings and Bodily Sensations. The EMQ items were developed through consultations with a panel of eight graduate students and a group of 10 experts in the field. Results from a series of three studies supported the proposed five subscales of EMQ and suggested that these subscales are independent and supported by convergent and discriminant evidence. In addition, results suggested that scores of EMQ subscales are different in terms of sensitivity to mindfulness training or meditation practice and experience. Limitations, as well as theoretical and practical implications of the EMQ subscales, are thoroughly discussed.


1996 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 181-215 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nita Mary McKinley ◽  
Janet Shibley Hyde

Using feminist theory about the social construction of the female body, a scale was developed and validated to measure objectified body consciousness (OBC) in young women ( N = 502) and middle-aged women ( N = 151). Scales used were (a) surveillance (viewing the body as an outside observer), (b) body shame (feeling shame when the body does not conform), and (c) appearance control beliefs. The three scales were demonstrated to be distinct dimensions with acceptable reliabilities. Surveillance and body shame correlated negatively with body esteem. Control beliefs correlated positively with body esteem in young women and were related to frequency of restricted eating in all samples. All three scales were positively related to disordered eating. The relationship of OBC to women's body experience is discussed.


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