This dissertation examines the relation between embodiment and language, knowledge and memory, as explored in the poetry of South African poet Gabeba Baderoon. In her three published collections of poetry, namely, The Museum of Ordinary Life, The Dream in the Next Body and A Hundred Silences, she depicts seemingly trivial and everyday events or experiences with acute attention to detail, all of which are connected by her unique portrayal of their embodied nature. In doing so, her work illustrates that intellectual activities typically associated with the mind, such as language, knowledge and memory, in fact require the incorporation of the body. Therefore, this dissertation studies the mind-body relation represented in her work with regard to these thematic concerns, since it is a crucial aspect of her poetry and aids not only in understanding and interpreting her work, but also the discourse on embodiment in general. These concerns do, moreover, not remain on a thematic level, but are evident in her poetry itself; that is, her poems too act as a form of embodiment. Furthermore, Baderoon’s poems are able to transcend the supposed mind-body dichotomy in a way that shows much in common with phenomenology, and especially the perspective held by authors such as Maurice Merleau-Ponty. This dissertation incorporates phenomenological ideas on the body and embodiment, as these assist in interpreting Baderoon’s work, as well as for the reason that her poetry sheds new light upon the understanding of such phenomenological ideas, too. Thus, this dissertation seeks to elucidate the manner in which Gabeba Baderoon’s poetry transcends the mind-body dichotomy by means of her exceptional employment of the notion of embodiment on a thematic as well as formal level. / Thesis (MA (English))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012

This thesis explores the presence of the movement theories of Irmgard Bartenieff, Peggy Hackney, and Rudolf Von Laban in the following texts: Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave. Written by Himself (1845), The History of Mary Prince: A West Indian Slave (1831), Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Written by Herself, Linda Brent (1861), Sherley Anne Williams’s Dessa Rose (1986) and Toni Morrison’s Beloved (1987). The terms and phrases of movement theory will be introduced to the contemporary critical discussion already surrounding the texts, both furthering and challenging existing arguments.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-28T20:39:48Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Alexandre Santana Hilel.pdf: 429885 bytes, checksum: 09e04cef6eff25dbeb88b1acb20f8015 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008-06-11 / This research focused a bibliographic study of Imagetherapy as a therapeutic proposal to broach Hashimoto's disease. It has a start point in the results of a empirical noticed in the researcher clinical atuation, using directed imagination in a intention to low laboratorial score of auto--antibodies standed in auto-immune thyroiditis. This research has been organized in one presentation chapter oh Hashimoto's disease in her features: incidence, physiophatology, diagnosis and clinical board. In the following chapter, Imagetherapy is focused as heir history, definition, symbols, archetypes, collective mythology, active imagination, imagination as a directive technique. After, it is conducted to first bibliography study of Hashimoto's disease focusing ethyological factors, existing treatments and prognosis, that explain lack of therapeutical options in front of a nonexistence of specific ethyological factor to this auto-immune disfunction. It was applied Medline, Pubmed and Lilacs database, in a period between 1997 until 2007. A second bibliography research is done, boarding Imagetherapy, without a temporal section, since Jung until the present time, searching for her aplication in laboratorials phenomenons and her use in health research. The results shows for one hiatus that exist between ethyological factors of Hashimoto's disease and existing treatments. About Imagetherapy, it is verified that the use of these techniques become more present since 2000, with their applications in some health areas, in special on the pathologies that, as a Hashimoto's disease, doesn't have ethyologicals factors defined, as a fybromialgia. The results are discussed, focusing that, about Hashimoto's disease there arent researches envolving Imagetherapy, but crossing databases of applicability of other pathologies, verifies the possibility of therapeutical application of these same therapies in Hashimoto's disease / Esta pesquisa enfoca um estudo bibliográfico das Terapias de Imagens Mentais como uma proposta terapêutica para abordagem da Tireoidite de Hashimoto. Teve sua origem através da observação empírica de resultados da atuação clinica do pesquisador, usando-se a imaginação dirigida na diminuição da contagem laboratorial de auto-anticorpos presentes na tireoidite. O presente trabalho é organizado em um capítulo de apresentação da Tireoidite de Hashimoto em seus aspectos prevalência, fisiopatologia, diagnóstico e quadro clínico. No capítulo seguinte, enfoca-se a Terapia de Imagens Mentais, quanto a: histórico, definição, símbolos, arquétipos, mitologia coletiva, Imaginação Ativa, imaginação como técnica diretiva. Após, procedeu-se ao primeiro estudo bibliográfico da Tireoidite de Hashimoto enfocando fatores etiológicos, tratamentos existentes e prognóstico, que demonstrou escassez de opções terapêuticas frente à inexistência de um fator etiológico específico para a sua disfunção auto-imune. Utilizou-se o banco de dados Medline, Pubmed e Lilacs, no período entre 1997 a 2007. Um segundo estudo bibliográfico foi feito, abordando as Terapias de Imagens Mentais, sem corte temporal definido para seu levantamento bibliográfico, desde Jung até a atualidade, pesquisando-se sua aplicação em fenômenos laboratoriais e sua utilização em pesquisas na área da saúde. Os resultados apontam para uma lacuna existente entre os fatores causais da Tireoidite de Hashimoto e os tratamentos existentes. Na terapia das imagens verifica-se que o emprego de tais técnicas se torna mais presente, a partir do ano de 2000, com suas aplicações em algumas áreas da saúde, em especial naquelas patologias que, como a Tireoidite de Hashimoto, não tem fator etiológico definido, tais como a fibromialgia. Discutem-se os resultados, assinalando que, em se tratando da Tireoidite de Hashimoto, não existem trabalhos dessa natureza, mas cruzando-se os dados de aplicabilidade das Terapias de Imagens Mentais nas patologias estudadas, verifica-se a possibilidade de aplicação terapêutica das mesmas terapias a essa patologia

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-26T18:17:48Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Juliana Costa Ribeiro.pdf: 579733 bytes, checksum: 2989273fdabb956cf1092bb7d0becb99 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009-04-29 / The increasing number of eating disorders in the last decades calls the attention of researchers concerned with body studies in several fields of knowledge. The media and the fashion world emphasize the need of a woman s slim and young body, associated with happiness, wealth, health and success. There is more demand of a slim body among social groups connected with worldwide information. The fear of rejection is usually considered the immediate cause of such radical action. The main objective of this research work is to analyze how the communication processes between the anorectic body and the environment occur, and the possible changes after performing body practices, such as the Vianna s technique. Our hypothesis is that anorectic people live under the mind/body duality paradigm, taking the control of the mind over the body to the last consequences. To understand the symptom of body maps distortion in the brain, we analyzed the works by the neuroscientist Damásio (1995), and the concept of embodied mind concept by Lakoff & Johnson (1999). Then we present historical data on an anorexia outbreak in the Middle Ages, known today as holy anorexia, and the current anorexia nervosa, so as to discuss the mind/body spirit/matter duality in both cases. So we will also discuss the phenomenon of media abuse in advertisements, newspapers, books, TV and Internet, considered to cause the contemporary anorexia nervosa. The theory adopted here is the research works by Katz & Greiner (2005) on the mediabody, which considers the body the primary communication media; by Gail Weiss (1999), on the formulation of body images; by Paul Churchland (2004), who mapped the several types of Cartesian dualisms; and the theoretical work by the Brazilian researchers Letícia Teixeira (2008) and Neide Neves (2008) on Vianna s technique, who helped clarify the idea that an approach based on the body can help an anorectic person to undo the mind/body dichotomy. For the research corpus, we observed two groups of people. The first one is formed by people who had anorexia and recovered from it; the second, by anorectic people under medical treatment who perform Vianna s technique. Field work is being carried out since September 2007. As an outcome, this work proposes changing the discussion focus on anorexia, usually concerned with cultural pressures on psychoanalytical analyses, once it considers this disease as result of a radicalization of the mind/body duality. This separation inquires body s nature as a mediabody and, once abusively highlighted by press, it disguises the disorder as a communicational mass phenomenon, rendering the understanding and treatment in each particular case more complicating / O aumento dos casos de distúrbio alimentar nas últimas décadas vem atraindo a atenção de estudiosos do corpo em diversas áreas de conhecimento. Atualmente, a mídia e a moda enfatizam a necessidade de a mulher ter um corpo magro e jovem. Associam a esse padrão estético a felicidade, a riqueza, a saúde e o sucesso. A exigência do corpo magro é mais presente em grupos sociais que vivem conectados às informações que circulam em larga escala pelo mundo. O medo da rejeição é normalmente apontado como causa imediata para essa ação radical. Nesta pesquisa, o objetivo principal é analisar como se dão os processos de comunicação do corpo anoréxico com o seu ambiente e as possíveis modificações, ao vivenciar práticas corporais como a técnica Vianna. Trabalharemos com a hipótese de que pessoas com anorexia vivem sob o paradigma da dualidade mente/corpo, levando às últimas consequências o controle da primeira sobre o segundo. Para entender o sintoma da distorção dos mapas corporais no cérebro, analisamos os estudos do neurocientista António Damásio (1995) e o conceito de mente entranhada dos americanos Lakoff e Johnson (1999). Apresentamos, em seguida, dados históricos acerca de um surto de anorexia ocorrido na Idade Média, hoje conhecido por anorexia santa, e a anorexia nervosa da atualidade, a fim de discorrer sobre a dualidade mente/corpo espírito/matéria presente nos dois casos. Para tanto, discutiremos também o fenômeno dos abusos midiáticos em anúncios publicitários, jornais, livros, televisão e internet, ao qual é atribuída uma relação de causalidade com a anorexia nervosa contemporânea. Como fundamentação teórica, estudamos as pesquisas de Katz e Greiner (2005) sobre o corpomídia, que propõe o corpo como mídia primária da comunicação; a de Gail Weiss (1999), acerca da formulação de imagens corporais; a de Paul Churchland (2004), que mapeou as diversas modalidades de dualismos cartesianos; e as pesquisas teóricas das brasileiras Letícia Teixeira (2008) e Neide Neves (2008) sobre a técnica Vianna, que ajudou a esclarecer a proposição de que uma abordagem a partir do corpo pode ajudar uma anoréxica a dissolver essa dicotomia mente/corpo. Para o corpus da pesquisa, selecionamos dois grupos de pessoas para observação. O primeiro é composto por pessoas que já tiveram anorexia e conseguiram reverter o quadro e o segundo, por pessoas que estão anoréxicas atualmente e que, além do acompanhamento médico, praticam a técnica Vianna. O trabalho de campo vem sendo realizado desde setembro de 2007. Como resultado, esta pesquisa propõe desviar o foco da discussão a respeito da anorexia, normalmente voltado para as pressões culturais ou para análises psicanalíticas, uma vez que analisa essa doença como resultado da radicalização da dualidade mente/corpo. Tal separação questiona a natureza do corpo como um corpomídia e, uma vez salientada de maneira abusiva pela mídia impressa e televisa, camufla o distúrbio como um fenômeno comunicacional de massa, dificultando ainda mais a compreensão e o tratamento de cada caso particular

There is limited data on the quality of life of individuals who exercise in a group versus individuals who exercise alone. The purpose of this study was to determine if there is a difference in the quality life between adults who attend an exercise class and those who exercise alone. Using the WHOQOL-BREF, 27 adult females were surveyed in Central California at two Church of Latter Day Saints locations. Ten females were enrolled in a group exercise class while 17 were individual exercisers. The data was analyzed using a t-test for independent samples to determine if there is a significant difference in scores. There was not a significant difference in overall quality of life, environmental domain, and physical domain, but there was a significant difference in the psychological and social domains. Further research is recommended and benefits are detailed.

Background: Emerging evidence suggests that aerobic exercise and conditioned pain modulation may be advocated in treating patients with musculoskeletal pain. The effects of lower extremity aerobic exercise and conditioned pain modulation on evoked shoulder pain are not known. Purpose: To determine the acute effects of lower extremity aerobic exercise and conditioned pain modulation on outcomes of evoked shoulder pain from pain pressure threshold measurements. Study Design: Repeated measures. Methods: Thirty (30) healthy volunteers were tested over the course of two sessions. Session 1 consisted of collecting pain pressure threshold measurements over the infraspinatus before and immediately following a conditioned pain modulation with cool water. Session 2 consisted of collecting pain pressure threshold measurements over the infraspinatus before and immediately following a bout of lower extremity aerobic exercise on a recumbent stepper apparatus. Results: Pain pressure threshold was not significantly influenced by the conditioned pain modulation using cool water (p=0.725). Pain pressure threshold was significantly increased immediately following the lower extremity exercise session (P<0.001). Conclusion: Conditioned pain modulation with cool water did not produce any significant changes in pain pressure threshold. Lower extremity aerobic exercise acutely increased pain pressure threshold in participants with experimentally induced shoulder pain. Physical therapists may consider lower extremity aerobic exercise to produce short-term hypoalgesic effects and facilitate the application of more active interventions.

Stress-related diseases and burnout have increased in Sweden during the last decades. In 2006, the most common diagnoses for new cases of sickness compensation were mental and behavioural disorders in both women and men. In spite of the large group of people seeking care for and on long-term sickness absence due to stress-related diseases and burnout, there is no agreement on which treatment they should be offered. The overall aim of this thesis was to describe patients on longterm sick leave because of burnout and to evaluate rehabilitation programs for this patient group. Two patient samples were recruited from the Stress Clinic at the University Hospital in Umeå, Sweden: REST (Rehabilitation for stressrelated disease and burnout; n=136) and QIST (Qigong for stress-related disease and burnout; n=82). A general population sample was from the 2004 Northern Sweden MONICA survey (n=573). Patients in REST were randomised into a 1-year rehabilitation program to either program A (Cognitively-oriented Behavioural Rehabilitation (CBR) and Qigong), or to program B (Qigong alone). In Paper I, baseline data were compared with data from the MONICA sample. In paper II, programs A and B were compared regarding effects on psychological variables and sick leave rates, and in Paper III, 18 patients from program A and B were interviewed to explore subjective experiences of the rehabilitation programs. Patients in QIST were allocated to an intervention with Qigong twice a week for 12 weeks or a control group. Psychological and physical measurements were assessed in QIST. Data were collected by questionnaires, physical measurements, the register on sick leave, and interviews. Patients with burnout reported a more restricted social network and higher work demands than the general population. In relation to women from a general population, women with burnout more often worked “with people”, reported high job strain, a more sedentary work situation and less emotional support. A per-protocol analysis showed no significant differences in treatment effect between program A and B in REST or between the intervention and control group in QIST. All groups improved significantly over time with reduced levels of burnout, anxiety, depression, and fatigue. In REST, lower scores on obsessive-compulsive symptoms, stress behaviour, and sick leave rates were found in both programs and in QIST both groups increased dynamic balance and physical capacity. In an intention-to-treat analysis, patients in program A in REST had significantly fewer obsessive-compulsive symptoms, and larger effect sizes in stress behaviour and obsessive-compulsive symptoms compared to patients in program B. Patients in both REST programs perceived that the 1-year rehabilitation program gave them specific tools to use in secondary prevention. They also emphasised that the good encounters, affirmation and group cohesiveness they perceived during the 8 rehabilitation was a necessary basis for initiation of a behavioural change leading to recovery. In conclusion, compared to a general population, patients with burnout perceived more demands at work and less social support. Lack of emotional support seemed to be more associated with burnout among women. There were no differences in effect between CBR and Qigong compared to Qigong alone, or between a 12 week Qigong intervention compared to a control condition. Improvements were found in all groups in the rehabilitation programs. CBR combined with Qigong have some advantages compared to Qigong alone. An environment with good encounters and affirmation of the patients was experiences as important by the patients and group rehabilitation had advantages as recognition and support from the group. Early rehabilitation measures are important to prevent long-term sickness absence. In future rehabilitation programs it might be necessary to have a more individualized approach and choose treatments preferred by the patient.

Musicians are a high-risk occupational group for musculoskeletal disorders. Often manifesting in muscle tension, pain and paresthesia, musculoskeletal disorders can drastically affect comfort, mentality and endurance while performing. This study sought to examine the effects of electromyography (EMG) biofeedback training in reducing musculoskeletal symptoms in music performance. The subjects were university-level violinists and cellists. Over a period of 2-4 weeks, all participants underwent EMG biofeedback training while performing their instrument using audio feedback. No significant results were found, but patterns of decreased muscle tension and increased performance comfort and endurance were observed.

This dissertation examines the relation between embodiment and language, knowledge and memory, as explored in the poetry of South African poet Gabeba Baderoon. In her three published collections of poetry, namely, The Museum of Ordinary Life, The Dream in the Next Body and A Hundred Silences, she depicts seemingly trivial and everyday events or experiences with acute attention to detail, all of which are connected by her unique portrayal of their embodied nature. In doing so, her work illustrates that intellectual activities typically associated with the mind, such as language, knowledge and memory, in fact require the incorporation of the body. Therefore, this dissertation studies the mind-body relation represented in her work with regard to these thematic concerns, since it is a crucial aspect of her poetry and aids not only in understanding and interpreting her work, but also the discourse on embodiment in general. These concerns do, moreover, not remain on a thematic level, but are evident in her poetry itself; that is, her poems too act as a form of embodiment. Furthermore, Baderoon’s poems are able to transcend the supposed mind-body dichotomy in a way that shows much in common with phenomenology, and especially the perspective held by authors such as Maurice Merleau-Ponty. This dissertation incorporates phenomenological ideas on the body and embodiment, as these assist in interpreting Baderoon’s work, as well as for the reason that her poetry sheds new light upon the understanding of such phenomenological ideas, too. Thus, this dissertation seeks to elucidate the manner in which Gabeba Baderoon’s poetry transcends the mind-body dichotomy by means of her exceptional employment of the notion of embodiment on a thematic as well as formal level. / Thesis (MA (English))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012

This arts-informed, phenomenological, and heuristic inquiry focuses on what it means to immerse deeply into experiences within the natural world. Through attention and reflection on emotional and somatic aspects of my own ocean SCUBA diving experiences, and those of beginner and practiced divers, a method and the significance of learning through personal experiences and others’ shared stories is illuminated. Readers are invited to imagine or revisit what it is like to be enveloped by ocean life through an artful narrative account of the ocean diving experience. Crafted in meandering ways, through the aesthetics of photographic images, divers’ evocative descriptions and poetic text, and interspersed with remembrances and imaginations and contemplations of self and world, the narrative reflects the diversity, richness and resonance of divers’ shared stories, and the reverberating and nurturing beauty and mystery of the ocean world. Through five narrative sections that embody a sense of movement deeper into the experience – into relations with the natural world, (‘Immersing’ ‘Opening Pathways of Exploration’, ‘Widening Circles of Compassion’, ‘Nature Reveals Her Open Secret’ and ‘Surfacing’), I encourage readers to wander amongst ocean life to expand ways of experiencing the natural world. It is important to look for new, creative ways that allow space for explorations of self and world, to uncover new ways to reconcile both the mind-body connection as well as the human-nature connection. This inquiry brings the notion of connectedness with nature to the forefront as humans’ alienation from the natural world is recognized as a significant contributor to the present ecological crisis. The exploration of ocean experiences was also a search for ways to encourage and sustain a lifelong inquiry into the relations with the non-human world as a way to continually build and reinforce a strong bond with the natural world for psychological, social and ecological wellbeing. The immersive nature of research methods and representation illuminated how ocean life and artful expressions of remembrances and imaginations build lasting impressions, further adding vitality to what is perceived in both aquatic and terrestrial worlds – enhancing a sense of connectedness with the natural world.