Dancing Mindfulness: A Phenomenological Investigation of the Emerging Practice

Marich, Jamie; Howell, Terra

doi:10.1016/j.explore.2015.07.001

Cited by 15 publications

(19 citation statements)

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“…Emotional safety of these practices is of paramount importance, 11 and all components of the practice are voluntary. 15 In some modalities, prayer hands at the heart are used to respectfully decline an invitation to (continue to) dance jointly by indicating "thank you; I prefer to dance alone (now)". 14 One of the first manifestations of conscious dance in Western society was 5Rhythms.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Conscious dance: Perceived benefits and psychological well-being of participants

Laird

Vergeer

Hennelly

et al. 2021

Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice

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Background: Meta-analyses suggest that dance has potential to decrease psychological distress, increase trait mindfulness, and enhance quality of life. Conscious dance can be defined as unchoreographed, intentionally nonevaluative mindful movement commonly practiced in a group setting for purposes of authentic self-expression, self-discovery, interpersonal connectedness, and personal healing or growth.Objective: To assess perceived effects of conscious dance practice (e.g., Ecstatic Dance, 5Rhythms) and examine associations between frequency/ duration of practice and psychological well-being among participants. Methods: Self-identifying adult conscious dancers completed a survey (N=1003; mean age=47 years; 52% from the U.S; 78% White; 73% female).Results: Conscious dancers with ≥5 years of practice had significantly higher trait mindfulness and life satisfaction compared to newer practitioners. More frequent practice (≥ once per week) was associated with higher trait mindfulness. A strong majority of participants endorsed experiences consistent with mindfulness (i.e., feeling "more present in my body"; 99% of the sample) and psychological flow ("I felt like I was 'in the zone' or 'in the flow' of things"; 93% of the sample) during conscious dance. Among participants endorsing any of five stress-related health conditions, the majority reported therapeutic effects (i.e., that conscious dance "helped them cope" with the condition). Therapeutic effects were most consistently reported by individuals with depression or anxiety (96% endorsement), followed by those with a trauma 2 history (95%), chronic pain (89%), and history of substance abuse or addiction (88%). For all conditions except addiction, therapeutic effects were associated with greater experiences of psychological flow during dance, and the magnitude of these effects was large (Cohen's ds range: 1.0-2.3). Conclusion:Individuals who engage in conscious dance report that these practices help them to cope with stress-related health conditions. Participants reporting longer duration or greater frequency of practice scored higher on measures of psychological well-being. The feasibility and efficacy of conscious dance for improving well-being among individuals naïve to these approaches will be important to determine in future research.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Conscious dance: Perceived benefits and psychological well-being of participants

Laird

Vergeer

Hennelly

et al. 2021

Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice

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“…Other studies have shown that the yoga component used in certain mindfulness interventions is associated with greater improvements in measures of mindfulness and well-being compared to body scanning or sitting meditation (Carmody and Baer 2008). Furthermore, the inclusion of more physically dynamic elements in dance is reported to heighten the experience of awareness and well-being (Marich and Howell 2015). For people with little or no experience in the practice of mindfulness, such as the students in our sample, it may be easier to bring mindful attention to body movements compared to remaining staying still as part of sitting meditation.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In particular, mindful dancing is a creative form of mindfulness practice that can foster a sense of equanimity, interconnectedness, heartfulness, and bodily presence (de Sousa and Shapiro 2018). Some applications of dance to mindfulness include Dancing Mindfulness (Marich and Howell 2015) and Dancing Movement Therapy (DMT; Bräuninger 2014). Mindful dancing is understood to not only enhance awareness of what is happening to and within the individual's body, but also enhance awareness of energetic exchange between bodies within the same space as well as nonverbal forms of communication such as group synchronization (Bräuninger 2014;Marich and Howell 2015).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Some applications of dance to mindfulness include Dancing Mindfulness (Marich and Howell 2015) and Dancing Movement Therapy (DMT; Bräuninger 2014). Mindful dancing is understood to not only enhance awareness of what is happening to and within the individual's body, but also enhance awareness of energetic exchange between bodies within the same space as well as nonverbal forms of communication such as group synchronization (Bräuninger 2014;Marich and Howell 2015). Indeed, the use of music and dance for bonding in groups larger than nuclear families is understood to have been a significant discovery made by our remote ancestors (Woolhouse et al 2010).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Mediating Role of Shared Flow and Perceived Emotional Synchrony on Compassion for Others in a Mindful-Dancing Program

et al. 2019

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Objectives While there is a growing understanding of the relationship between mindfulness and compassion, this largely relates to the form of mindfulness employed in first-generation mindfulness-based interventions such as Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction. Consequently, there is limited knowledge of the relationship between mindfulness and compassion in respect of the type of mindfulness employed in second-generation mindfulness-based interventions (SG-MBIs), including those that employ the principle of working harmoniously as a "secular sangha." Understanding this relationship is important because research indicates that perceived emotional synchrony (PES) and shared flow-that often arise during participation in harmonized group contemplative activities-can enhance outcomes relating to compassion, subjective well-being, and group identity fusion. This pilot study analyzed the effects of participation in a mindful-dancing SG-MBI on compassion and investigated the mediating role of shared flow and PES. Methods A total of 130 participants were enrolled into the study that followed a quasi-experimental design with an intervention and control group. Results Results confirmed the salutary effect of participating in a collective mindful-dancing program, and demonstrated that shared flow and PES fully meditated the effects of collective mindfulness on the kindness and common humanity dimensions of compassion. Conclusions Further research is warranted to explore whether collective mindfulness approaches, such as mindful dancing, may be a means of enhancing compassion and subjective well-being outcomes due to the mediating role of PES and shared flow.

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“…It has been suggested that improvement in bodily awareness is a key mechanism of action for many movement therapies (Mehling et al, 2011). Examples of these mind-body therapies include mindful movement, integrative exercise, movement-education approaches named after or by founding teachers (e.g., Feldenkrais Alexander, 1983), breath therapies (Mehling, 2001), mindful awareness in body-oriented therapy (Price, Wells, Donovan, & Rue, 2012), dance therapies (Marich & Howell, 2015;van Vugt, 2014), and many lesser-known approaches. As this mechanism also appears to be shared with tai chi and yoga, which in turn is part of mindfulness-based stress reduction (Carmody & Baer, 2008), some of the references in the following will come from research on these methods.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

If It All Comes Down to Bodily Awareness, How Do We Know? Assessing Bodily Awareness

Mehling¹

2020

Kinesiology Review

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A purported key mechanism of action in most mind–body movement approaches is the maturation and development of bodily awareness. This is an experiential learning process with its own phenomenology, underlying neurological processes, and challenges for scientific study. This report focuses on the assessment of changes in bodily awareness, which is of key importance for the documentation of this learning process for both research and clinical application. Objective assessments requiring lab equipment are briefly reviewed. Qualitative assessments can be performed by interviews, focus groups, and second-person observation of movement performance. In addition, systematically developed self-report questionnaires have become available in recent years, have undergone extensive validation, and are presented here.

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Dancing Mindfulness: A Phenomenological Investigation of the Emerging Practice

Cited by 15 publications

References 50 publications

Conscious dance: Perceived benefits and psychological well-being of participants

Conscious dance: Perceived benefits and psychological well-being of participants

The Mediating Role of Shared Flow and Perceived Emotional Synchrony on Compassion for Others in a Mindful-Dancing Program

If It All Comes Down to Bodily Awareness, How Do We Know? Assessing Bodily Awareness

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