Well-being is critical to fostering improved physical, mental, and emotional health among women. Regular physical activity also has significant implications for women’s health. Addressing the barriers that women experience to exercise may help improve exercise adherence and—ultimately—help to promote well-being in women. Mind-body therapies (e.g., yoga and meditation) have long been considered health promoting efforts with a well-being emphasis. Research confirms that these therapies are generally beneficial, safe, flexible, cost-effective and accessible. In addition, gratitude has strong links to mental health and life satisfaction, and has been shown to enhance well-being and facilitate goal attainment. There is an abundance of research on yoga, meditation and gratitude practices, though there is no program that effectively combines all three. This dissertation therefore developed, implemented, and evaluated the feasibility and effectiveness of a health promotion effort that integrates elements of yoga, meditation, and gratitude practice. One-hundred and eleven women participated in the study (nexperimental = 56 and ncontrol = 55). Data on adherence and feasibility were collected throughout the program. Data on study outcomes (including well-being) were collected at baseline and again following completion of the program from both groups. Qualitative data were also collected to help contextualize participant experiences in the program. The participants adhered to the yoga component of the program exceptionally well. The average participant completed 125% of the yoga classes, 86.58% of the meditations and 88.24% of the gratitude practices. Paired sample t-tests were conducted to examine pre- and post-intervention changes in well-being between and within groups. Despite the popularity and positive response to the program - 93.10% of participants in the yoga, meditation and gratitude group (YMG; n=54) reported a perceived improvement in well-being - many of the well-being findings were statistically insignificant. However, significant improvements on disposition and positive relationships were observed among the YMG group; suggesting the intervention had a significant impact on experiencing gratitude in everyday life, as well as on one’s positive assessment of personal relationships. This study lays important groundwork for future and larger scale research to create and subsequently implement successful mind-body health promotion programs for women.

Only The Body Remembers is a collection of poems, lyric essays, and short stories that explore several subjects, including love (both romantic and familial), loss, grief, sexuality, identity, and obsession. The primary thematic thread that binds this collection together is somatic memory -- the way the body records experiences, and the strong emotional charge these recorded experiences carry. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.F.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2017. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

The success of the music therapy profession has been well established, though the healing properties of music are not yet fully understood. Clinical observations show the medicinal value of music therapy; however, it is challenging to quantify music's beneficial effects. Examining music therapy's effectiveness in treating neurological disorders can possibly help to better validate this profession. However, music therapy is a multidisciplinary field, and perhaps we must come to a better understanding of how the various disciplines relate to one another. Music has the power to modulate our emotions. Neurological studies involving music therapy might help to uncover the connection between our emotional states and our physical health. To truly understand the success of music therapy, we must further study the role of emotions in the healing process. Future examinations of the emotional factor in music therapy may hold the key to a better understanding of how music affects us. / by Kristin Renee Hurley. / Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2008. / Includes bibliography. / Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2008. Mode of access: World Wide Web.

This mixed methods sequential research study was performed to explore the role of identity in posttraumatic growth and psychological adjustment for adults with cancer. One hundred nineteen individuals participated in an online survey which included items from Brief COPE, Mini-Mental Adjustment to Cancer (Mini-MAC), Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire (BIPQ), Sense of Coherence Scale - 3 items (SOC-3), Posttraumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI), Illness Intrusiveness Ratings Scale (IIRS), and Centrality of Event Scale (CES). A two-step cluster analysis divided the sample into two clusters based on the integration of cancer into identity: High Cancer Identity Cluster (cancer identity scores above M) with strong cancer identity and Low Cancer Identity Cluster (scores below the M) with a weak or absent cancer identity. HCIC yielded positive and negative subgroups. A discriminant analysis revealed which variables are significant predictors of group membership: PTG factor New Possibilities (Wilks'l = .781, F (1, 119) = 32.834, p = .000), Psychological Adjustment factor Anxious Preoccupation (Wilks' l= .863, F (1, 119) = 18.612, p = .000), Illness Intrusiveness factor Intimate Relationships (Wilks' l= .794, F (1, 119) = 30.348, p = .000), and Illness Perception factor Perceived Life Impact of Cancer (Wilks' l= .783, F (1, 119) = 32.412, p = .000). From the sample, 17 individuals and spouses/partners were interviewed to obtain a deeper understanding of the lived experience of cancer. Qualitative themes of suffering, woundedness, and uncertainty were found. Narrative data corroborated the quantitative data and contributed depth to the analysis. A new Cancer Identity Process Model was offered in which assimilative and accommodative efforts are informed by identity structures. / Performing Normalcy is an assimilative process in which stressful life events such as cancer activate automatic behaviors guided by existing identity structures with the goal of reg As dissonance grows over the inability to re-establish valued former identities, negative affect and intrusive rumination prevails. Individuals then utilize accommodative strategies in a process of Constructing Survivorship to either regain valuable aspect of former identities or to create equally valued new ones. / by Barbara E. Abernathy. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2009. / Includes bibliography. / Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2009. Mode of access: World Wide Web.

This design thesis project explores the psychology, significance, and power of play. The value of play is supported through historical and cultural context. Research for the subject unfolds the relationship between play, productivity and the mastery of creative thinking. Examination of the engagement of play addresses its power to inspire in both design education and practice. It also touches upon crucial dynamics of physical, intellectual, social, and emotional development in the human life cycle of learning. As the facilitator of play in the context of three-dimensional space, I seek to elucidate the value of activating human behaviors that stimulate play such as curiosity, imagination, spontaneity, and personal expression. Serious fun is no game; play provides a meaningful strategy for solving serious design problems and developing mastery in the classroom and the practice of design. / by Annette M. Piskel. / Thesis (M.F.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2013. / Includes bibliography. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / System requirements: Adobe Reader.

Many studies have supported the overall health benefits of mindfulness meditation practices for adults, but research exploring such benefits for children is sparse. The present study explored the psychophysiological effects of mindfulness meditation over a 10 week-period on a sample of 2nd-and 4th-grade children. Electroencephalograph (EEG) asymmetry and coherence were recorded at baseline and immediately after the meditation intervention for the experimental group, and at baseline and after 10 weeks for the control group. Measures of affect, behavioral motivation, creativity, and depression were also administered. The primary findings indicated that when improvement in depressive symptoms occurred for 4th-grade students who were somewhat engaged in meditation practice, left-sided frontal EEG activity was also more prominent. Additionally, 4th-grade students who actively participated in meditation practice experienced decreases in self-reported levels of negative affect. Results suggest that mindfulness meditation is beneficial for improving 4th-grade students’ mood and brain regions associated with mood. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2014. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

This dissertation uncovers a strand in early twentieth century British literature that is currently missing from readings of modernism - a fascination with portraying meditative states of mind. Modernist authors were intrigued by the mind's capacity to be in constant movement between the present, past, and future - what they represented as a stream of consciousness. This study examines the potential of the "still," calm, and concentrated mind in modernist visions of consciousness by exploring how the meditative mind takes a different shape in theme and form in the writings of Virginia Woolf, D.H. Lawrence, and Aldous Huxley. Drawing from the works' preoccupation with physical practices such as spiritual and ritual dance, relaxation techniques, Yoga, the Alexander Technique, and meditative walking, this study highlights the role of the body in views on consciousness in modernist literature. This dissertation argues that looking at modernism through the lens of meditation allows us to see the period not only in terms of the split, wounded self in the fast-paced modern metropolis but reveals its yearning for what the authors in this study call "wholeness," "mind-body harmony," and "the spirit of peace" - a search for peace attainable within, if not without, an attempt to cure the self in the fracturing modern world through experiencing the mind at peace.

The role of gestures in determining the use of familiar and novel tools was explored. In the first study, participants were shown gestures for tools corresponding either to tool design, or to the physical affordances of a puzzle designed for each tool. In the second study, two additional conditions were added. In the first, gestures were used that did not correspond to tool design or the puzzle affordances. The second was a control condition in which no gestures were shown. Results indicate that the demonstration of gestures appropriate to a novel problem situation facilitate creative use of tools. Additionally, attention to tool and puzzle affordances is effective for creative tool use when no gestural input is present. However, knowledge of tool design may interfere with this creative application. Performance is further hindered by the demonstration of gestures consistent with tool design, which may prime individuals to rely on the design stance. / by Robert R. Freund. / Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2010. / Includes bibliography. / Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2010. Mode of access: World Wide Web.

Thesis. 1977. Ph.D.--Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Linguistics and Philosophy. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND HUMANITIES. / Vita. / Includes bibliographies. / Ph.D.

Descartes admet simultanément deux thèses : la distinction réelle de l’âme et du corps, pensées comme deux substances séparées, d’une part, et leur union substantielle de l’autre. Comment ces deux substances, radicalement distinctes, peuvent-elles être unies ? Dans l'histoire de la philosophie, la métaphysique cartésienne est comprise comme un dualisme, distinguant radicalement la substance pensante et la substance étendue, donc l’âme et le corps. Ma thèse conduit à renverser une telle représentation grâce à la considération de la correspondance avec Elisabeth. Elle montre que sa conception des relations entre l’âme et le corps est plus complexe qu’on ne le pense souvent, et montre aussi comment sa philosophie réussit à assurer la compatibilité de sa métaphysique, de sa philosophie naturelle et de sa philosophie pratique. La pensée cartésienne s’adresse ainsi aux hommes, non seulement dans leur réflexion métaphysique,mais aussi dans leur expérience de la vie. / Descartes simultaneously admits two theses: one is the real distinction between mind and bodythought as two separate substances, and the other is their substantial union. How can these two radically distinct substances be united? In the history of philosophy, Cartesian metaphysics is understood as a dualism, radically distinguishing the thinking substance and the extended substance, therefore the mind and the body. The aim of my thesis is to reverse such are presentation by the grace of the consideration of correspondence with Elisabeth. She shows that his conception of mind-body relations is more complex than is often thought, and also shows how his philosophy succeeds in ensuring the compatibility between his metaphysics, his natural philosophy and his practical philosophy. Cartesian thought is thus addressed to a human being, not only in their metaphysical reflection, but also in their experience of life.