The Thin Line Between Waking and Sleeping in Athletes: A Call for Yoga Nidra in the Sporting Context

This chapter traces and opens up the themes that recur in the series of chapters which follow. With a brief discussion of a painting mentioned by Vasari in his Lives of the Painters—Parmigianino’s Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror (1523–4)—ideas of illusion and truth-telling, the differences between visual and literary self-portraiture, and the difficulties in searching for the meaning of a life, are introduced. The scope of Portraits from Life is outlined, with brief definitions of memoir and autobiography, and a discussion of the thin line between fiction and autobiography in all writing. The key problems, satisfactions, and possibilities of biography and autobiography are raised, especially as they relate to the Modernist period and to writers who are also novelists. The way in which autobiography often becomes a form of group portraiture is also discussed.

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Embodying the culture of achievement: Culture between illness and perfection is a ‘thin line’ – obtaining the ideal female body as an act of achievement

Culture & Psychology ◽

10.1177/1354067x211004085 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1354067X2110040

Author(s):

Josefine Dilling ◽

Anders Petersen

Keyword(s):

Experimental Study ◽

Human Body ◽

Female Body ◽

The Body ◽

Thin Line ◽

Complex Processes ◽

The Individual ◽

Different Levels ◽

The Ideal ◽

Body Ideals

In this article, we argue that certain behaviour connected to the attempt to attain contemporary female body ideals in Denmark can be understood as an act of achievement and, thus, as an embodiment of the culture of achievement, as it is characterised in Præstationssamfundet, written by the Danish sociologist Anders Petersen (2016) Hans Reitzels Forlag . Arguing from cultural psychological and sociological standpoints, this article examines how the human body functions as a mediational tool in different ways from which the individual communicates both moral and aesthetic sociocultural ideals and values. Complex processes of embodiment, we argue, can be described with different levels of internalisation, externalisation and materialisation, where the body functions as a central mediator. Analysing the findings from a qualitative experimental study on contemporary body ideals carried out by the Danish psychologists Josefine Dilling and Maja Trillingsgaard, this article seeks to anchor such theoretical claims in central empirical findings. The main conclusions from the study are used to structure the article and build arguments on how expectations and ideals expressed in an achievement society become embodied.

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241 Remotely Delivered Yoga Nidra for Insomnia and Anxiety during COVID-19

SLEEP ◽

10.1093/sleep/zsab072.240 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 44 (Supplement_2) ◽

pp. A96-A96

Author(s):

Erica Sharpe ◽

Matthew Butler ◽

Doug Hanes ◽

Ryan Bradley

Keyword(s):

Adult Population ◽

Sleep Onset ◽

Severity Index ◽

Index Score ◽

Average Score ◽

Sleep Onset Latency ◽

Post Intervention ◽

Natural Medicine ◽

National University ◽

Yoga Nidra

Abstract Introduction Insomnia and related anxiety affect 30 - 50% of the US adult population. These conditions often coexist, and contribute to increased mortality from depression, heart disease, and stroke. The current COVID-19 pandemic has heightened anxiety and sleeplessness, and 53% of US adults report the pandemic has affected their mental health. There is a need for research into therapies for anxiety and insomnia that can be delivered remotely for increased accessibility to reach more individuals in need. Methods To contribute to this need, we examined the effects of remotely delivered Yoga Nidra (translated to mean “yogic sleep”), a guided meditation practice, on anxiety and sleep. The practice was delivered in real-time before bed, or asynchronously via an online REDCap-based platform, once per week for 16-weeks from April to July (during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic). Results Seventy-four individuals joined the study, of whom 71% reported subthreshold insomnia (Insomnia Severity Index score of 14 ± 4), and 74% reported anxiety (Generalized Anxiety Disorder Index score of 10 ± 5). Seventy-one (96%) participants accessed the asynchronous recordings. Remote delivery of this practice proved very feasible, with no adverse events reported, and although we provided no monetary compensation, 50% of our sample still completed a post-intervention survey. Further, 52% of n=25 respondents who completed both pre- and post-intervention sleep surveys reported decreased sleep onset latency (SOL) the following day, with a mean decrease of 10 minutes (95% CI = −19.0, −0.5) for all respondents, and strongest change (−34 min; p=.017) measured for those who reported SOL between 30-120 min at baseline. Overall state anxiety was decreased by 41% for n=32 respondents who completed pre-post State Trait Anxiety Index (STAI) surveys surrounding a single practice (average score of 47 ± 11 before practice vs. 27 ± 8 after practice, p<.0001). Conclusion Remotely delivered Yoga Nidra is feasible to deliver, and demonstrates potential benefits for anxiety and insomnia, warranting additional research. Support (if any) This work was supported by the R90 BRIDG grant at the Helfgott Research Institute at the National University of Natural Medicine.

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Effectiveness of a short Yoga Nidra meditation on stress, sleep, and well-being in a large and diverse sample

Current Psychology ◽

10.1007/s12144-020-01042-2 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Esther N. Moszeik ◽

Timo von Oertzen ◽

Karl-Heinz Renner

Keyword(s):

Structural Equation ◽

Well Being ◽

Equation Model ◽

Future Research ◽

Control Group ◽

Core Element ◽

Waitlist Control Group ◽

Affective Components ◽

Meditation Group ◽

Yoga Nidra

Abstract Previous studies have shown that meditation-based interventions can have a significant impact on stress and well-being in various populations. To further extend these findings, an 11-min Yoga Nidra meditation that may especially be integrated in a busy daily schedule by people who can only afford short time for breaks was adapted and analyzed in an experimental online study design. The effects of this short meditation on stress, sleep, well-being and mindfulness were examined for the first time. The meditation was provided as audio file and carried out during a period of 30 days by the participants of the meditation group. A Structural Equation Model (SEM) was used to analyze the data with Full Information Maximum Likelihood (FIML) in order to cope with missing data. As expected, the meditation group (N = 341) showed lower stress, higher well-being and improved sleep quality after the intervention (very small to small effect sizes) compared with a waitlist control group (N = 430). It turned out that the meditation had a stronger impact on the reduction of negative affect than on the increase of positive affect and also a stronger effect on affective components of well-being. Mindfulness, as a core element of the meditation, increased during the study within the meditation group. All effects remained stable at follow-up six weeks later. Overall, a large, heterogeneous sample showed that already a very short dose of meditation can positively influence stress, sleep, and well-being. Future research should consider biological markers as well as active control groups.

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Ḥasan Naṣrallāh’s ʿĀshūrāʾ Speeches: The Thin Line between Ethics and Identity

Die Welt des Islams ◽

10.1163/15700607-05934p06 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 59 (3-4) ◽

pp. 384-410

Author(s):

Bashir Saade

Keyword(s):

Collective Action ◽

Identity Formation ◽

Secretary General ◽

Political Organization ◽

Ethical Practices ◽

Thin Line ◽

States Of Consciousness ◽

Previous Scholarship

AbstractThe Lebanese political organization Hizbullah has developed its own style of commemorating ʿāshūrāʾ, the Shiʿi period of mourning in remembrance of the Battle of Karbalāʾ. Previous scholarship has analyzed Hizbullah’s ʿāshūrāʾ with prevailing conceptual binaries such as politics/religion, reason/tradition, or reason/emotion. This article challenges such binaries by looking at the series of speeches given by Hizbullah’s secretary general, Ḥasan Naṣrallāh, during the annual ʿāshūrāʾ rituals. Naṣrallāh’s oratory skills, and most importantly the careful structuring of the ten-day mourning event, show clearly that the production of reasoned arguments through speech involves the cultivation of intense emotions and states of consciousness. These are conducive not only to collective action and identity formation but also to ethical practices.

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