scholarly journals Defiled and deified: profane and sacred bodies in Caitanya Vaisnava theology

2011 ◽  
Vol 23 ◽  
pp. 72-78
Author(s):  
Måns Broo
Keyword(s):  
Religious Tradition ◽  
The Body ◽  
Hindu Tradition ◽  
Negative View ◽  
Body Positive

It is well known that there is no dearth of stereotypes when it comes to religion and the body. Christianity is a body-negative religion, Judaism is body-positive, ascetic practices automatically lead to a negative view of the body, and Eastern religions are more positive towards the body than Christianity. Such truisms are of little value. Still, they are voiced often enough to warrant occasional replies. In this article one instance is highlighted, from within the Hindu tradition, that offers an interesting take on how the conception of the body may vary greatly within one and the same religious tradition. Caitanya Vaiṣṇavism, also known as Bengali or Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavism, is the devotional movement of Kṛṣṇa-bhakti begun by Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya (1486–1533) in Bengal, India. Kṛṣṇadāsa’s work may be used as an entrance into the theology of Caitanya Vaiṣṇavism. What, then, does Kṛṣṇadāsa have to say about the body? The body may be anything, from an obstacle to divine service, to its instrument, both in this life and the next. It is also an object of worship—in fact, by far most of the instances of words in Sanskrit or Bengali indicating body in the texts of Kṛṣṇadāsa refer to the forms of Caitanya and Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa, that are described with loving, painstaking detail. The differences between these types of bodies may or may not be apparent to an outsider, and indeed, the body need not be physical at all. This example from the Hindu tradition, highlights some of the complexities inherent in terms such as ‘the body’, or ‘body-negative spirituality’.

scholarly journals Ecstasy from a physiological point of view

1982 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
pp. 74-86 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kaj Björkqvist
Keyword(s):  
Religious Tradition ◽  
Mental States ◽  
Human Mind ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
The Body ◽  
Biological Study ◽  
Physiological Basis ◽  
Slowing Down ◽  
Psychosomatic Diseases ◽  
The Brain

The biological study of man is one of today's most rapidly advancing sciences. There is no reason for not utilizing these methodologies of research and the knowledge already gained when studying ecstasy and other similar religious phenomena. Drugs have been used in all parts of the world as an ecstasy technique. Since mental states and physiological correlates always accompany each other, it is obvious that the human mind can be affected by external means, for instance by drugs. But the opposite is also true; mental changes affect the body, as they do in the case of psychosomatic diseases. Ecstasy is often described as an extremely joyful experience; this pleasure must necessarily also have a physiological basis. It is of course too early to say anything for certain, but the discovery of pleasure centres in the brain might offer an explanation. It is not far-fetched to suggest that when a person experiences euphoric ecstasy, it might, in some way or other, be connected with a cerebral pleasure center. Can it be, for example, that religious ecstasy is attained only by some mechanism triggering off changes in the balance of the transmitter substances? Or is it reached only via a change in the hormonal balance, or only by a slowing down of the brain waves, or is a pleasure centre activated? When a person is using an ecstasy technique, he usually does so within a religious tradition. When he reaches an experience, a traditional interpretation of it already exists.

Meditation and the Modern Encounter between Asia and the West

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard E. King
Keyword(s):  
Religious Tradition ◽  
Science And Religion ◽  
The Body ◽  
The West ◽  
Eastern Culture ◽  
Asian Religions ◽  
Mind And Body ◽  
Colonial Encounter ◽  
The One ◽  
The Impact

In the West, meditation has been particularly associated with Asian religions and seen as illustrative of the mystical nature of eastern culture. This chapter explores the impact of the colonial encounter between Europe and Asia. In this context, Asian meditative practices became abstracted from their traditional cosmological, ritualistic, and cultural contexts and reframed in terms of key conceptual binaries and assumptions deriving from modern Western culture. These include a Cartesian distinction between mind and body (with mind being associated with meditation and Buddhist mindfulness, and the body linked to “Hindu” yoga and its modern postural forms). Asian forms of meditation were translated according to a modern psychological framework and encountered in relation to the dichotomies between science and religion on the one hand and religious tradition and a de-traditionalized notion of spirituality on the other. The approaches taken in the Western encounter with Asian meditation tell us as much about the intellectual grooves of the modern Western episteme as they do about the Asian meditative traditions to which they relate.

scholarly journals #BoPo on Instagram: An experimental investigation of the effects of viewing body positive content on young women’s mood and body image

2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (7) ◽  
pp. 1546-1564 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel Cohen ◽  
Jasmine Fardouly ◽  
Toby Newton-John ◽  
Amy Slater
Keyword(s):  
Body Image ◽  
Body Satisfaction ◽  
Positive Mood ◽  
The Body ◽  
Thin Ideal ◽  
Body Appreciation ◽  
Women's Body Image ◽  
Body Positive ◽  
Self Objectification ◽  
Positive Content

Body-positive content on social media aims to challenge mainstream beauty ideals and encourage acceptance and appreciation of all body types. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of viewing body-positive Instagram posts on young women’s mood and body image. Participants were 195 young women (18–30 years old) who were randomly allocated to view either body-positive, thin-ideal, or appearance-neutral Instagram posts. Results showed that brief exposure to body positive posts was associated with improvements in young women’s positive mood, body satisfaction and body appreciation, relative to thin-ideal and appearance-neutral posts. In addition, both thin-ideal and body-positive posts were associated with increased self-objectification relative to appearance-neutral posts. Finally, participants showed favourable attitudes towards the body positive accounts with the majority being willing to follow them in the future. It was concluded that body-positive content may offer a fruitful avenue for improving young women’s body image, although further research is necessary to fully understand the effects on self-objectification.

Yoga Communities and Eating Disorders: Creating Safe Space for Positive Embodiment

2017 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 87-93 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine Cook-Cottone ◽  
Laura Lee Douglass
Keyword(s):  
At Risk ◽  
Eating Disorders ◽  
21St Century ◽  
Teaching Methods ◽  
The Body ◽  
Safe Space ◽  
Know How ◽  
Therapeutic Landscape ◽  
Adequate Education ◽  
Body Positive

Abstract With adequate education and guidance, yoga communities, as part of the therapeutic landscape in the 21st century, can play a significant role promoting positive embodiment for those with, and at-risk for, eating disorders (EDs). To do this, yoga teachers need to know how to create a body-positive community and be able to recognize and respond to those at risk and struggling with EDs in their communities. In order to address yoga teaching methods associated with EDs and ED risk, broader conceptual approaches and specific practices associated with positive embodiment are offered. These include the broader conceptual approaches of: intentional inclusion and acceptance, experiential emphasis, supporting positive embodiment and inquiry. Studio pragmatics are also detailed as related to the body, breath, emotions, and community. Assessment, referral, and community engagement are also addressed.

Classical Daoist Meditation, 400–100 bce

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harold D. Roth
Keyword(s):  
Body Politic ◽  
Religious Tradition ◽  
Attentional Focus ◽  
The Body ◽  
Contemplative Practice ◽  
Meditative Practice ◽  
The Mind ◽  
The Way

Daoism is the indigenous Chinese religious tradition that has been a major feature of this culture for over two thousand years. It is grounded in a comprehensive cosmology of the Way (Dao) that derives from the ancient practice of a meditation that emphasizes attentional focus and mental tranquility attained through an apophatic (self-negating) practice of systematically emptying consciousness of its normal contents. These foundational ideas are present in a series of surviving works that include the famous Laozi and Zhuangzi, which have recently been supplemented by newly excavated texts and newly appreciated extant ones known for millennia. They contain a meditative practice that has been called “inner cultivation” and that emphasizes methods that develop concentration in order to empty the mind of all common thoughts, desires, emotions, and perceptions. These lead ultimately to self-transcending experiences in which adepts experience a complete union with the non-dual Way. The return to dualistic consciousness is accompanied by a fresh and transformed cognition in which adepts are able to spontaneously and effortlessly act in harmony with all new circumstances. This flowing cognition is able to effect transformations in other people and in the body politic and so becomes part of the arcana of government advocated to local kings by the scholar-practitioners of this tradition. These apophatic methods constitute one of the main contemplative practice streams within the Daoist religious tradition and its continuities with later Daoism are detailed by Louis Komjathy in another chapter of this volume.

scholarly journals Effects of Unweighting on Gait Kinematics During Walking on a Lower-Body Positive-Pressure Treadmill in Patients with Hip Osteoarthritis

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yoshiaki Kataoka ◽  
Tomohiro Shimizu ◽  
Ryo Takeda ◽  
Shigeru Tadano ◽  
Yuki Saito ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Plantar Flexion ◽  
Hip Osteoarthritis ◽  
The Body ◽  
Lower Limbs ◽  
Positive Pressure ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Lower Body ◽  
Lower Body Positive Pressure ◽  
Gait Kinematics ◽  
Body Positive

Abstract Background: Hip osteoarthritis (OA) is a musculoskeletal condition that makes walking difficult due to pain induced by weight-bearing activities. Treadmills that support the body weight (BW) reduce the load on the lower limbs, and those equipped with a lower-body positive-pressure (LBPP) device, developed as a new method for unweighting, significantly reduce pain in patients with knee OA. However, the effects of unweighting on gait kinematics remain unclear in patients with hip OA. Therefore, we investigated the effects of unweighting on kinematics in patients with hip OA during walking on a treadmill equipped with an LBPP device.Methods: A total of 15 women with hip OA and 15 age-matched female controls wore a three-dimensional (3-D) motion analysis system and walked at a self-selected speed on the LBPP treadmill. Data regarding self-reported hip pain using a numeric rating scale (NRS) in which the scores 0 and 10 represented no pain and the worst pain, respectively, under three different BW conditions (100%, 75%, and 50%) were collected. Moreover, 3-D peak joint angles during gait under each condition were calculated and compared.Results: In the hip OA group, the NRS pain scores at 50% and 75% BW conditions significantly decreased compared with that at 100% BW condition (50%, P=0.002; 75%, P=0.026), and the peak hip extension angle decreased compared with that in the healthy controls (P=0.044). In both groups, unweighting significantly decreased the peak hip (P<0.001) and knee (P<0.001) flexion angles and increased the peak ankle plantar flexion angle (P<0.001) during walking.Conclusions: Unweighting by the LBPP treadmill decreased pain in the hip OA group but did not drastically alter the gait kinematics compared with that in the control group. Therefore, regarding the use of the LBPP treadmill for patients with hip OA, clinicians should consider the benefits of pain reduction rather than the kinematic changes.

scholarly journals MAIN TENDENCIES OF DEVELOPMENT OF PHYSICAL EDUCATION, PHYSICAL CULTURE AND SPORTS AT THE PRESENT STAGE IN RUSSIA

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yulia Borisovna Aron ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Physical Education ◽  
Healthy Lifestyle ◽  
The Body ◽  
Physical Culture ◽  
Present Stage ◽  
State Planning ◽  
Historical Aspect ◽  
Modern Development ◽  
Body Positive

The article highlights the problem of the modern development of physical education and sports. At the same time, some historical aspect in the development of this sphere was considered, the regulatory framework for state planning of financing physical education and sports was considered in more detail. On this basis, the main trends in the sports life of population at the present stage were identified. Particular attention is paid to the influence of social networks and the “body positive” movement on the motivation of the population to a healthy lifestyle

Examining the impact of daily exposure to body-positive and fitspiration Instagram content on young women’s mood and body image: An intensive longitudinal study

2021 ◽  
pp. 146144482110389
Author(s):  
Giulia Fioravanti ◽  
Andrea Svicher ◽  
Giulia Ceragioli ◽  
Viola Bruni ◽  
Silvia Casale
Keyword(s):  
Body Image ◽  
Body Satisfaction ◽  
Negative Mood ◽  
The Body ◽  
Multilevel Regression ◽  
Daily Exposure ◽  
Body Positive ◽  
Appearance Comparison ◽  
Rates Of Growth ◽  
The Impact

The aim of the present study is to investigate the effect of daily exposure to body-positive and fitspiration Instagram posts on young women’s mood, body satisfaction, and appearance comparison tendency. One hundred and twenty-two young Italian women (Mage = 22.29 ± 2.26 years) were randomly assigned to three different conditions of daily exposure on Instagram (i.e., body-positive, fitspiration and neutral content) and followed with an experience sampling method over a period of 28 consecutive days. Comparisons between groups were performed via multilevel regression modelled as a linear growth model. Results showed that daily exposure to body-positive images was associated with the highest rates of growth of positive mood and body satisfaction. Daily exposure to fitspiration images was associated with the highest rates of growth of negative mood and appearance comparison. In conclusion, the body-positive movement may be considered in interventions aimed at improving young women’s body image. Fitspiration content on Instagram should be deemed inappropriate.

Budaya Arkhaik Dalam Aktualisasi Agama Modern

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rannu Sanderan
Keyword(s):  
Religious Belief ◽  
Religious Tradition ◽  
Religious Faith ◽  
Unknown Origin ◽  
The State ◽  
The Body ◽  
Interesting Problem ◽  
Literature Research ◽  
Modern Age ◽  
Traditional Manner

As defined in Encyclopaedia Britannica, Myth is a symbolic narrative, usually of unknown origin and at least partly traditional, that ostensibly relates actual events and that is especially associated with religious belief. Eventhough it is traditional manner, but the religious belief is absolutely apparent in this modern age. That’s the interesting problem that need to be studied in this literature research. the word myth may also be used more loosely to refer to an ideological belief when that belief is the object of a quasi-religious faith; an example would be the Marxist eschatological myth of the withering away of the state. The term mythology denotes both the study of myth and the body of myths belonging to a particular religious tradition.

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