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Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka hur lärare och rektorer uppfattar utmaningarna med att införa meditation i undervisningen samt vilka didaktiska möjligheter som finns för användningen av meditation. Metoden som användes var semistrukturerade intervjuer med lärare och rektorer, och den didaktiska triangeln med frågorna "vad?", "hur?" och "varför?" användes som teoretisk ram för att analysera deras syn på meditation i undervisningen. Studien visade att både lärare och rektorer ser införandet av meditation som något positivt och identifierade många möjligheter. Emellertid identifierades också några utmaningar, vilka besvarades med potentiella lösningar. De två främsta möjligheterna och utmaningar som identifierats var förbättrad koncentrationsförmåga samt tidsbrist. Majoriteten av lärarna och rektorerna som deltog i denna undersökning förknippar inte meditation till en religion och anser att det finns ett sekulärt sätt att se på meditation. Slutsatsen är att de lärare och rektorer som intervjuats i stort sett är positiva till införandet av meditation i skolan men att det framför allt finns vissa praktiska problem.

This thesis studies how light, as a spiritual and symbolic element, cannot only uplift the human condition but also evoke the spiritual. The result can cause one to know what is unknowable without the presence of light and make one aware of what was unknown to them, as well as, revealing what is greater than themselves. The objective is to explore and design spaces that progressively lift the eyes of the observer with natural lighting techniques. Natural light is used to create a better sense of physical and spiritual awareness. / Master of Architecture / This thesis studies how light, as a spiritual and symbolic element, cannot only uplift the human condition but also evoke the spiritual. The result reveals what is greater than themselves. The objective is to explore and design spaces that progressively lift the eyes of the observer with natural lighting techniques. Natural light is used to create a heightened sense of physical and spiritual awareness. Using light, one is led on a staged journey through a series of reflection spaces. This thesis explores how light can be the thing that provides revelation and a deeper understanding of not only one's self, but the world around them, as well as, things greater than themselves.

There is no primacy to Architecture. For centuries architects have posited formulaic approaches to creating spatial environments. Bold maxims for design have defined entire periods and styles of architecture, and each subsequent postulation attempts to disprove the former by challenging its theories against imperfect realizations. Yet nearly all have the same fault; they prioritize characteristics of architecture, attempting to design according to absolutisms of thought and process. I believe this to be a dangerous mode of operation, as absolutisms can be extremely complex and difficult to grasp conceptually, let alone to manifest into realities. Reducing architecture to processes of selection, generalization, singularities, and priorities is just clever ways of dealing with complexity in an attempt to make the intangible tangible. This "reduction" and "simplification" can only hold value as a tool for the study and analysis of architecture, not its practice and execution. Although architecture is universally conditional, it has been assigned universal qualities over time in theory and practice. I believe time requires that those qualities be subject to change and reinterpretation so that architecture may maintain proper relevance, barring one constant: all qualities must exist by virtue of the others and cannot be seen independently; one quality is no more than an aspect of the others. To better explore this notion, three criteria (qualities, generators) have been identified as a measure for critical analysis of three architectural research projects. They are built from a history of pre-defined criterion, named and redefined in an attempt to elevate a personal study and practice of architecture at a period in time. These projects have a high degree of personal influence and involvement, and so this becomes in a way a self-analysis in the study and practice of architecture. The intention of this compendium is to gain insight towards a personal definition of architecture through an analysis of architectural theory and precedence in comparison to work that is reflective of personal architectonics. In time, I hope it will have continued to develop. / Master of Architecture

Meditation is known as a practice of bringing oneself to a peaceful state of mind. It will become more interesting to more people if they can find its meaning in many more things around them. In this study, the roles which repetition plays in meditation will be used in architecture in many ways. Repetition can create the visual rhythm of shape, form, pattern, and space. The transformable ideal of repetition changes to become an architectural space. This project attempts to discus meditation in terms of architectural studies, and how the structures of materials together with their lighting elements can create a space for meditation. / Master of Architecture

Individuals vary in the level of their mental presence during interactions; some individuals are mentally present with others, while others are mired in their thoughts and emotions. Scholarly work on this area is limited, and we know very little about why some individuals display mental presence better than others. In this dissertation, I explore the concept through a series of three essays. In the first essay, I define relational mindfulness as the ability to be mentally present with others. Further, I propose that relational mindfulness has three essential features: others' focus, thought-switching, and emotional acceptance. I operationalize the scale to measure relational mindfulness and investigate its nomological network by correlating it with different constructs. Data from four different samples provide support for the three-factor structure of relational mindfulness and provide support for the relationship of relational mindfulness with related constructs. In the second essay, I explore the relevance of relational mindfulness for front-line employees by investigating the two pathways through which relational mindfulness can reduce fatigue of front-line employees. In the first pathway, I posited that relational mindfulness would decrease the intensity of surface acting of employees when their customers mistreat them, and thus reduce fatigue of employees. In the second pathway, I posited that relational mindfulness would increase the frequency of positive interactions between employees and customers, and thereby decrease fatigue experienced by employees. I tested the model by conducting two different studies. Overall, the results provided support for the posited hypotheses. In the third essay, I tested whether relational mindfulness can be enhanced through a mindfulness meditation by conducting a quasi-experimental study. Two groups; experimental and comparison groups participated in the pre-test, post-test surveys, and weekly surveys during the experiment. The results suggested that participants in both groups increased their relational mindfulness over time and there was no evidence that individuals in the mindfulness group differed from the comparison group.

Achtsamkeitsmeditation hat in den letzten Jahren sowohl in Wissenschaft und Heilkunde als auch in der breiten Bevölkerung eine bemerkenswerte Popularität erlangt. Es existieren sehr viele Studien über die Wirkung von Meditation, und die meisten davon zeichnen ein großes Potential dieser Praxis. Bei einer genaueren Betrachtung wird allerdings deutlich, dass in Anbetracht der großen Menge vorhandener Studien nur sehr wenige theoretisch begründete Wirkungsstudien vorliegen. An diesem Punkt möchte die vorliegende Dissertationsschrift ansetzen. Entsprechend besteht das übergeordnete Ziel der Arbeit darin, die Wirkungen und Wirkmechanismen von Achtsamkeitsmeditation umfassend zu explorieren. Zu diesem Zweck wurde in einem ersten Schritt zusammengefasst, welche Wirkungen der Achtsamkeitsmeditation bisher durch kontrollierte Studien untersucht wurden. In den 51 bis September 2011 veröffentlichten kontrollierten Studien an erwachsenen gesunden Probanden wurde eine mittlere Effektstärke von r = .26, CI95% = [.22;.29] beobachtet. Mittelgroße Effekte fanden sich in den Variablenkategorien negative Persönlichkeitseigenschaften, Stressempfinden, Empfinden von Empathie, Aufmerksamkeit, Ausmaß an habitueller Ängstlichkeit und dem Abschneiden in Intelligenztests. Um zu verstehen, wie diese (und möglicherweise weitere) Wirkungen der Meditation zusammenhängen, wurde in einem nächsten Schritt eine umfassende Theorie über die durch Achtsamkeitsmeditation zu erwartenden Wirkungen konstruiert. In diese Theorie gingen theoretische Überlegungen über die Wirkung von Meditation aus der westlichen Psychologie, Interviews mit Meditierenden auf verschiedenen Erfahrungsstufen und theoretische Erörterungen aus den historischen buddhistischen Schriften ein. Das Resultat ist ein Modell, das verschiedene Schritte meditativer Veränderung beschreibt: (1) spezifische Verhaltensmuster, (2) dadurch hervorgerufene Bewusstseinszustände, (3) die Verbesserung bestimmter Fähigkeiten, (4) die Stärkung von Gleichmut und das Erlangen von Einsichten als intendierte Hauptwirkungen von Meditation, (5) weitere proximale Wirkungen, die durch die Hauptwirkungen hervorgerufen werden. Daneben wurde eine Reihe von Wirkmechanismen identifiziert, die die verschiedenen Schritte des Veränderungsprozesses miteinander verbinden. In einem letzten Schritt wurde die aufgestellte Theorie einem ersten Test unterzogen, um deren Gültigkeit zu prüfen. Im Rahmen einer querschnittlichen Studie wurden die postulierten Schritte und deren Zusammenhänge durch den Vergleich von erfahrenen Meditierenden mit Nichtmeditierenden und von Meditierenden mit verschiedenen Erfahrungsniveaus weitgehend bestätigt. Zusammenfassend kann festgehalten werden, dass die entwickelte Theorie über die Wirkungen und Wirkmechanismen von Meditation das Potential besitzt, die grundlagen- und anwendungsbezogene Forschung zum Thema Meditation durch neuartige Hypothesen und Erklärungsansätze zu bereichern.

This study was concerned with the degree to which the practice of transcendental meditation (TM) aids in the long-term reduction of anxiety. The Taylor Manifest Anxiety Scale (TMAS), short form, was given to 16 Ss about to learn the technique of TM and to 16 control Ss. Eighteen weeks later, the TMAS was again administered to both groups. A significant difference was found in TMAS score reduction between the two groups, with the meditation group showing the greater reduction. These findings lend support to the hypothesis that TM aids in the long-term reduction of anxiety. It is recommended that further research in this area be undertaken to further validate the results of this study.

Antalet stress-relaterade diagnoser ökar i samhället samtidigt som fler personer söker hjälp för stress-relaterade symptom inom primärvården. Primärvården erbjuder olika behandlingsformer för stress-relaterad problematik, bland annat kundaliniyoga. Syftet med studien var att utforska hur kundaliniyoga utövad i en avgiftsfri och öppen grupp inom primärvården påverkade deltagarna. Studien grundades på ett bekvämlighetsurval av 5 respondenter. Respondenterna definierade sig som kvinnor mellan 25 och 85 år och hade olika erfarenheter av depression, ångest, oro och annan stress-relaterad problematik. Data om respondenternas upplevelser samlades in via halvstrukturerade intervjuer och analyserades utifrån den tematiska analysmetoden the Constant Comparative Method. Respondenterna upplevde positiva fysiska, mentala, emotionella, interpersonella samt andliga effekter. Kundaliniyogan fyllde ett flertal avgörande funktioner i respondenternas liv och hade stor betydelse för deras fysiska och mentala välmående. Upplevelsen av att ha hittat rätt träningsmetod och sammanhang samt yttre omständigheter så som kundaliniyogalärare och avgiftsfrihet visade sig vara av stor betydelse för respondenternas upplevelser. Kundaliniyogan upplevdes vara effektiv vad gäller att reducera stress-relaterade symptom och upplevdes generera positiva effekter i flera områden av respondenternas liv. / The numbers of stress-related diagnoses in society are growing while an increased number of people with stress-related symptoms look for help within primary health care. The primary health care provides different treatments for stress-related problems, amongst others kundalini yoga. Hitherto no qualitative study has been made on how practitioners experience kundalini yoga, practised in a drop-in-class, free of charge within primary health care. The study is based on an convenience sample of 5 participants. The participants defined themselves as women aged 25-85 years having different experiences of depression, angst, anxiety and other stress-related symptoms. The participants' responses were collected by the use of semi-structured interviews and analysed using the Constant Comparative Method. The participants expressed positive physical, mental, emotional, interpersonal and spiritual effects. The kundalini yoga fulfilled several crucial purposes in the lives of the participants and was of great importance for their physical and mental well-being. The sense of finding the right context and practice as well as external circumstances such as the kundalini yoga teacher and the fact that the yoga was free of charge played an important role in how the participants experienced the kundalini yoga. The participants perceived kundalini yoga as effective in reducing stress-related symptoms and in generating positive effects in a variety of areas of life.