Date of Award
Spring 1-15-2024
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
MA - Master of Arts
Department
Mindfulness Studies
First Advisor
Melissa Jean
Second Advisor
Andrew Olendzki
Abstract
Mindful-movement practices such as walking meditation, yoga, tai chi, and qi gong can support the cultivation and deepening of a sustained and embodied mindfulness practice. Because of their intrinsic gentleness, these practices are inherently trauma-sensitive, and can facilitate a gradual healing and re-integration of the body-mind through developing body-awareness. Mindfulness of the body is the first foundation of mindfulness practice. However, because of widespread misunderstandings around the meaning and definition of mindfulness, the bodyfullness in mindfulness practice is not always recognized and/or practiced. Furthermore, since bodily experience is seldom within one’s control, and because the body often times carries unresolved trauma, sustaining a focused and open attention within the body can evoke distress, which, even though it is a normal part and process of the practice, can be challenging to allow mindfully. This creative project, through the sharing of the science and benefits of body-awareness and embodied mindfulness, via my lived-transformational-experience of mindful-movement practices, invites the viewer to consider the value of embodied living through cultivation of body-awareness and embodied mindfulness; it encourages them to recognize the simplicity and profundity of mindful movement practices as a pathway to support healing, deep well-being, and transformation.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4J2HtUlG-9RL-t8s-0WlqtvvuITUaYdJ
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Language
English
Recommended Citation
Qutbuddin, Arwa, "Finding Our Way Back into the Body Through Somatic Movement: A Journey Through the Meanings and Challenges of Mindfulness" (2024). Mindfulness Studies Theses. 88.
https://digitalcommons.lesley.edu/mindfulness_theses/88
