Pau, Mei Lin Margaret. / Thesis (D.Nurs.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2013. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 130-152). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstract also in Chinese; appendixes includes Chinese.

Over the past thirty years, academic dialogue on the relationships between science and religion within historical, theological and philosophical contexts has flourished, with the importance of this dialogue being positively expressed. In particular, at the intersection of psychology and religion there is a triple relationship between these domains and in this thesis, we bring the Hindu tradition of Classical Yoga into this discourse, aiming for a psychological understanding of the Yogasutra of Patañjali as the primary text of this tradition. With a 'psychology in religion' perspective we identify key psychological concepts in the first six sutra of the text, explicate and explore its psychological dimension, through referencing with other key sutra or aphorisms in the Yogasutra. With a robust methodology consisting of a hermeneutic and phenomenological based close reading of the text and rigorous conceptual analysis, we construct a detailed model of the mind contextualised within the principles and practice of Yoga. We discuss the modifications and states of the mind, the underlying subliminal factors; the nature of embodiment, identity and subjective experience, and the affective and volitional aspects of the individual, as explicated from the text. In Section Three of this thesis we take a dialogical and comparative approach at the intersection of psychology and religion. Csikszentmihalyi has asserted that there is a close resemblance between Yoga and Flow, the latter being developed within the domain of Western Positive Psychology. We carry out a detailed comparative analysis of the phenomenology of Flow and Samadhi presented within a proposed methodology and framework of dimensions of subjectivity and consciousness, to investigate this claim. Clarifying the conceptual differences, establishing parallels and demonstrating common topographical and functional areas in the two phenomena, opens the possibility for an empirical investigation, which we propose. Finally, we point out the contributions of this study and suggest future directions for research in this field.

Lin, Kwan Ting Maggie. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 190-195). / Abstract also in Chinese. / Chapter Chapter 1 --- Introduction / Literature Review --- p.17 / "Theories of the Body, Class and Social Status" --- p.21 / Theories of Globalization --- p.28 / Why Yoga in Hong Kong --- p.32 / Defining Social Class in Hong Kong --- p.32 / Methodology --- p.39 / Personal Statement --- p.42 / Structure of the Thesis --- p.44 / Chapter Chapter 2 --- Yoga in Hong Kong and its Historical Development / The 1950s Indian Wave --- p.48 / The 1980s-90s Western Wave --- p.52 / The Commercial Yoga Boom --- p.54 / Characteristics of Yoga in Hong Kong --- p.58 / My Fieldsites --- p.61 / Chapter Chapter 3 --- Yoga Studios: The Construction of Difference and Distinction / Features of Yoga Studios in Hong Kong --- p.65 / Studio Space for Leisure --- p.68 / Liminality and Yogic Ambience --- p.70 / "“Playing Yoga""" --- p.74 / Conspicuous Leisure --- p.75 / Discipline vs. Leisure --- p.81 / Membership as a Status Symbol --- p.87 / Conclusion --- p.90 / Chapter Chapter 4 --- Practitioners and Teachers: Ethnicity and Respect / Verbs for Describing Degree of Engagement in Yoga --- p.92 / “Doing Yoga´ح --- p.93 / “Practicing Yoga´ح --- p.93 / "Ethnicity, Respect, and Relationships" --- p.95 / "Yoga, Ethnicity，and Status" --- p.103 / Ethnicity and Social Class --- p.112 / Beyond Ethnicity? Internationalism --- p.117 / Conclusion --- p.118 / Chapter Chapter 5 --- Yoga and the Fetishism of the Body / Marketing and Advertising of Yoga and the Ideal Female Body --- p.122 / Yoga and the Slim Body Ideal in Hong Kong --- p.124 / Different Slimming Rhetorics --- p.125 / Mirrors and Discipline --- p.127 / Studios as Panopticon --- p.129 / The Slimming Myth --- p.131 / Yoga and the Fetishism of the Body in Hong Kong --- p.133 / Body as Capital --- p.134 / Body as Class Signifier --- p.135 / Conclusion --- p.139 / Chapter Chapter 6 --- Beyond the Body? Spirituality and Distinction / Yoga and Spirituality --- p.143 / Yoga and Mysticism --- p.147 / Beyond the Body? --- p.150 / "Yoga, Spirituality and Progression" --- p.154 / Body vs. Spirituality --- p.156 / Disciplining the Body --- p.162 / Distinction and Class Analysis --- p.172 / Conclusion --- p.175 / Chapter Chapter 7 --- Conclusion: The Significance of Yoga as Distinction in Hong Kong Limitation --- p.178 / Summary of Chapters --- p.179 / Leisure and Discipline in Hong Kong --- p.181 / Globalization and Yoga in Hong Kong --- p.182 / Capital Transference in the Capitalist Society --- p.183 / "Yoga, Class，and Status Evolution" --- p.184 / Reflections from the Failure of the Hong Kong Yoga Journal --- p.186 / "A New ""Yogic"" Hong Kong?" --- p.187 / Bibliographies --- p.191 / Appendix --- p.198

Acting Mindfully, is a form of embodiment pedagogy that investigates the ways in which actors can explore their craft through a lens that connects them closer to their mind, body, and voice. The document draws content from a wide variety of theatrical movement and vocal practitioners in combination with mindfulness techniques including yoga, meditation, and energy work. Embodiment pedagogy allows the acting student to approach and perform scenes and monologues with truth and authenticity; while allowing them the ability to tell their own stories. In order to explore this work, a course, Acting and Mindfulness, was introduced at Virginia Commonwealth University as an experimental way to begin to connect students to their artistic work in a mindful way. This document includes research, as well as a mindful acting curriculum, that make connections to embodiment pedagogy.

Onkologische Patienten sowie klinische Forscher zeigen zunehmendes Interesse an Yogainterventionen als komplementäres Therapieverfahren zur Behandlung psychischer und körperlicher Beschwerden. Kurzzeitige Effekte von Yogatherapien auf die häufig krebsassoziierten Symptome Angst, Depressivität und Fatigue wurden in zahlreichen Studien untersucht. Die Ergebnisse der Untersuchungen legen nahe, dass Tumorpatienten unmittelbar nach einer Yogaintervention eine Verbesserung der genannten Symptome erleben. Allerdings ist bisher unzureichend untersucht, ob ein Rückgang von Angst, Depressivität und Fatigue langfristig besteht. Ziel der Studie war es daher, nachhaltige Veränderungen von Angst, Depressivität und Fatigue bei Tumorpatienten im Rahmen einer achtwöchigen Yogaintervention zu untersuchen. Wir nahmen an, dass Angst, Depressivität und Fatigue sechs Monate nach einer Yogaintervention genauso niedrig wie unmittelbar nach der Intervention sind und sich signifikant von den Ausgangswerten vor der Intervention unterscheiden. Außerdem sollte untersucht werden, wie viele Teilnehmer die Yogapraxis nach einer Yogaintervention fortführen und ob sich dies auf die Zielparameter auswirkt. Durch eine klinische Studie im Prä-Post-Design wurden die Hypothesen geprüft. Dazu wurden Daten von 58 Teilnehmern mit unterschiedlichen Tumorerkrankungen vor, unmittelbar nach und sechs Monate nach einer achtwöchigen Gentle Hatha- Yogaintervention mittels standardisierter psychologischer Fragebögen gesammelt. Die Mehrheit der Studienteilnehmer war weiblich (90%) und wies anamnestisch eine Mammakarzinom-Erkrankung auf (55%). Die Ergebnisse legen nahe, dass Angst und Fatigue zwischen Interventionsende und sechs Monaten später leicht zunahmen, wohingegen depressive Symptome stabil blieben. Im Vergleich zu den Ausgangswerten vor der Intervention waren Angst, Depressivität und Fatigue sechs Monate nach Interventionsende signifikant reduziert. Ein halbes Jahr nach Beendigung der Yogaintervention gaben 69% der Teilnehmer an, weiterhin Yoga zu praktizieren. Befragungen zeigten, dass die Teilnehmer subjektiv von der Yogapraxis profitierten. Die fortgeführte Yogapraxis stand jedoch nicht mit der Ausprägung von Angst, Depressivität und Fatigue zum Follow-up-Zeitpunkt in Zusammenhang. Die Ergebnisse deuten darauf hin, dass Tumorpatienten langfristig von einer Verbesserung von Angst, Depressivität und Fatigue im Rahmen einer Yogatherapie profitieren könnten. Ein kausaler Zusammenhang zwischen Yogatherapie und der gefundenen Verbesserung sechs Monate nach Therapieende konnte jedoch durch die fehlende Kontrollbedingung nicht belegt werden. In Zukunft sollten große randomisierte kontrollierte Studien die vermutete Kausalität untersuchen. / Background: Symptoms of anxiety, depression and cancer-related fatigue are commonly associated with cancer. Cancer patients increasingly use complementary and alternative treatments, such as yoga, to cope with psychological and physical impairments. In the present work, long-term changes of anxiety, depression and fatigue in cancer are examined six month after a yoga intervention. Method: We used an observational design based on a randomized controlled study in cancer patients with mixed diagnoses to evaluate long-term changes of symptoms of anxiety, depression and fatigue six month after the end of yoga therapy. We measured anxiety symptoms with the General Anxiety Disorder scale (GAD-7), depressive symptoms with the Patient Health Questionnaire-2 (PHQ-2) and fatigue with the European Organization for Research and Treatment in Cancer Fatigue Scale (EORTC- QLQ-FA13). The yoga therapy was delivered in weekly sessions of 60 minutes each for 8 weeks. The exercises provided contained both body and breathing exercises as well as meditations. Results: A total of 58 patients participated in the study. Six month after the end of yoga therapy, symptoms of anxiety, depression and fatigue were significantly reduced compared to baseline. However, symptoms of anxiety and fatigue slightly increased during the follow-up period, whereas symptoms of depression remained stable. Conclusion: Our results are promising and support the integration of yoga interventions in supportive cancer treatment concepts, but should be confirmed by randomized controlled trials. Long-term effects of yoga therapy on cancer patients should be the subject of further research.

Abstract Over the past few years there has been an increasing number of people practicing yoga. There also have been reports of injuries as a result of practicing yoga. Many injuries have been attributed to poor teaching which can result in improper alignment. This study utilized a teaching technology, TAGteach to aide in skill acquisition of novice yoga practitioners. The current study focused on teaching three beginner asanas (poses) to novice practitioners. The intervention included the asanas being broken down by task analysis and the steps tagged one by one. The intervention was assessed by a multiple baseline across behaviors design. All targeted yoga postures improved upon the implementation of TAGteach and the results maintained after reinforcement was no longer provided and generalized to the yoga class setting. Keywords: Feedback, performance feedback, acoustical guidance, auditory stimulus, fitness, sports

PhD / Bodhasāra, previously untranslated into English, is a Sanskrit treasure. Written by Narahari in eighteenth century India, it consists of charming Sanskrit verse of the highest order. Full of metaphors and word puns, it is a clever piece of literature that stimulates the intellect and imagination. By carefully following the traditional protocols, Bodhasāra remains acceptable to orthodox Advaita Vedāntins. However, although superficially it appears to be merely another presentation of the Advaita Vedānta tradition, in-depth reading reveals a refreshingly new style. The Hindu tradition is poetically presented as invaluable to awaken discernment between the real and unreal, but the import of Bodhasāra is that, ultimately, liberation requires a maturity that is not bound by anything, including the tradition itself; it comes through an awakening discernment. Narahari is celebrating jīvanmukti, not as liberation from the world, but as liberation while living. Bodhasāra is stylishly poetic, but not poetry for poetry’s sake, nor bhakti (religious devotion); rather it exemplifies the potency of rasa (aesthetic flavour) and dhvani (aesthetic suggestion). Narahari understands the correspondence between words and truth and uses his poetic style to facilitate union of the individual and universal. Few eighteenth century Sanskrit works have even been read, let alone translated into English, so this translation of Bodhasāra is a valuable example of Indian thought immediately before Colonialism. It shows what modernity, defined here as a moving away from entrenched traditional beliefs to an empowerment of the individual living in the present moment, in an Indian context could have been like if Colonialism had not intervened. The implications of Bodhasāra to scholars of Indian history, Advaita Vedānta and Yoga need to be considered. Bodhasāra extends the project ‘Sanskrit knowledge systems on the eve of colonialism’ being a work on mokṣa written in the late eighteenth century. It revitalises academic research into Advaita Vedānta, presents a fresh view of Yoga, and fits well the notion of an Indian modernity or renaissance during the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries.

<p>Syfte och frågeställningar</p><p>Syftet med studien var att undersöka idag utövade fysiska aktiviteter med inslag av själslig hälsa. För att uppfylla vårt syfte använde vi oss av följande frågeställningar: Hur definierar ledare och deltagare inom dessa aktiviteter själslig hälsa respektive ohälsa? Hur anses aktiviteterna enligt ledare och utövare bidra till själslig hälsa? Vad i dessa aktiviteter är det som lockar deltagarna?</p><p>Metod</p><p>Studien har bestått av halvstrukturerade intervjuer och kvalitativa enkäter. Intervjuerna utfördes med fyra ledare för fysiska aktiviteter med inslag av själslig hälsa (pilates, qigong, yoga) och enkäterna med 21 utövare. Som analysredskap har vi använts oss av John W. Fishers teori om själslig hälsa. I denna teori delar han in själslig hälsa i fyra områden; privat, kollektivt, miljö och övernaturligt.</p><p>Resultat</p><p>Vårt resultat visar att respondenterna anser att själslig hälsa till stor del utgörs av det privata och kollektiva området i Fishers teori. De andra två områdena; miljö och övernaturligt, berörs inte i samma utsträckning. Aktiviteterna i sig bidrar till själslig hälsa genom att de arbetar med helheten och att hjälper till att hitta närvaro och fokus. Respondenterna framhåller också att de känner sig mindre stressade i vardagen. Träning utförd i lugnt tempo var en av anledningarna som först lockat deltagarna till att börja med dessa aktiviteter. Efter hand har anledningarna utvecklats till möjligheten att fokusera och kontrollera sina tankar. Många av våra respondenter har haft en tidigare bakgrund som utbrända och har med dessa aktiviteter funnit en väg ut.</p><p>Slutsats</p><p>Inom dessa aktiviteter definieras själslig hälsa främst inom Fishers första och andra område. Att dessa aktiviteter har blivit en väg ut ur utbrändhet tror vi beror på att de utförs i ett lugnt och harmoniskt tempo och att de fokuserar på att kunna slappna av och falla till ro och att bli närvarande i sin egen kropp. Att arbeta med kroppen som verktyg, med hjälp av tex. andning, blick och fokus, är ett konkret sätt att uppnå själslig hälsa.</p>

<p>Abstract </p><p>The core is the center of gravity in our body. Injuries and overload in the joints, is the most common reason for not be able to work in Sweden today. A god strength capacity in the core is important for secure and effective movements, as well for active athletes, as for non athletes. The increased number of employees, who report in sick today, has been correlated with psychological bad health. New methods to deal with mental and physical health problems among people can indicate to the fact that Yoga in the western world has increased its members, due its spiritual and physical recognition in favor of well being. The purpose with this study was to examine the effect of yoga practice on isometrics muscular strength endurance in the core, and if the mental and physical general health has been effected after 8 weeks of yoga classes twice a week. The method has a quantitative and qualitative approach. Fourteen health female subjects, ranging in age from 32 to 60 years old, were studied. The subjects were evaluated before and after the training program in three test positions for core isometric endurance. There was improvement for all the subjects, in all three tests positions together. The subject’s isometric endurance average improved with 29 %. All subjects reported improvement in physical and mental function after the yogic practices. These findings indicate that regular yoga practice can elicit improvements in isometric endurance in the core, and facilitate mental and physical well being for the subjects.</p>

Smärta är ett symtom som sjuksköterskan kontinuerligt möter och patientens smärta bör tas på allvar. Smärta är patientens subjektiva upplevelse. Komplementära och alternativa metoder är termen på mer än 1800 olika behandlingar vilka kompletterar den vanliga sjukvården och kan ges som ett tillägg till en annan behandling. Syftet med denna studie var att belysa effekter av och patienters attityder till massage, yoga, KBT och musik som behandling för långvarig smärta. Studien var en systematisk litteraturstudie som inkluderade 19 resultatartiklar som kritiskt granskades. Resultatet visade att patienterna upplevde massage, yoga, KBT och musik som effektiva behandlingar för att reducera deras smärta. Det belystes att patienter önskade mer information från deras ansvariga sjuksköterska om dessa behandlingsalternativ samt att de patienter som fick information från sin sjuksköterska var mer benägna att använda sig av behandlingarna. Konklusionen visade att sjuksköterskans och närståendes attityder troligtvis kan påverka patientens attityder till massage, yoga, KBT och musik. Det framkom även att ett flertal patienter hade en positiv attityd till massage, yoga, KBT och musik. I framtiden bör mer forskning inrikta sig på vårdpersonalens attityder och hur de använder sig av metoderna i det dagliga arbetet eftersom deras attityd till metoderna troligtvis påverkar patienternas.