Group 1 | Mind the Body, Embody the Mind

Mind the Body, Embody the Mind

Alutaya, Ang, Colacion, Colon, De la Paz, Dolar, Elias, Hilario, Lubrico

       The mind manifests connection with the physical body has been proven by science and pseudoscience for ages. Empirical studies have introduced the concepts of hormonal processes, hypnosis, placebo, and many more, which revealed the complex ways our brains interact with our bodies and vice versa. This explains the principles of the mind-body connection as anchored in mind-body techniques. Within our group, we enumerated five examples of the technique, namely: yoga, concentration meditation, art therapy, music therapy, and aromatherapy.

1. Yoga

       Danielle and Renz reported that they did yoga to improve their range of motion for dancing and flexibility for swimming.

   "Although my purpose was to improve my motion range for dancing,

yoga helped me be aware of what my body needs"

- Danielle

image source: browngirlmagazine.com

After doing yoga 3-4 times weekly, her flexibility along with her productivity improved. When it comes to the latter, Sharma (2015) infers that performing yoga allows control of both physical and emotional states increasing productivity.

                        

With a different goal in mind, Renz shared that yoga helped his flexibility as a swimmer. 

"My coach told me to increase my flexibility so I don't get leg cramps when I train.

Because of yoga, my flexibility increased, allowing me to swim all I want.”

- Renz

His case is similar to what Taylor (2020) stated about yoga improving flexibility up to 35%. It also enhances athletic performances (Polsgrove et al., 2016) and normalizes breathing patterns improving body control.

2. Meditation

According to Klarisse, the practice of meditating helps her “to stay sane” amid anxiety.

“Unknowingly, I’ve been practicing concentration meditation during trying times. It wasn’t as grand as the monks’; it was trivial like repetitively writing a word, counting objects, and controlling my breathing patterns.”

- Klarisse

image source: insider.com

She stated it provided her the following benefits:

• sharpened focus
• stress and anxiety relief
• deeper relaxation 

  

These benefits align with Lumma et. al. 's (2015) study that mentions meditation improves health rate variability parameters allowing for a relaxed and cognitive state. Meditation modulates cortisol, a hormone that is a factor in heart rate variability (HRV) as a biomarker of mental health resilience. Thus, modulation of this indirectly leads to lower heart rates relating to lowered stress and anxiety (Riley & Park, 2015), a claim supported by Monfredi et al. (2014) after confirming the link between heart rate and HRV as inversely related. 

3. Art Therapy

        Meanwhile, two members shared that the pandemic isolation pushed them to try art therapy.

“I'm not that good at making art, but it gives me peace when I finish one.”

- Natalie

“Same. I participate in art activities to keep my mind in a state of flow.”

- Kire's reply to Natalie’s confession

The pair declared four main effects of their newfound solace: 

• increased relaxation

• heightened self-awareness

• lowered stress and anxiety levels

• sharper problem-solving skills

image source: positivepsychology.com

From our research, we found out that art therapy increases dopamine and cortisol levels (Campbell, 2019) explaining the relaxation effect and lowered stress and anxiety levels. Creating art stimulates communication in the brain thus increasing psychological and emotional resilience to stress (Alban, 2021). 

It also helps in expressing emotions and thoughts, which consequently promotes spiritual healing (Kokangsuwan et al., 2016). Additionally, Korn et al. (2010) claim that art people show a significant level of problem-solving skills compared to those who don’t.

4. Music Therapy

       When dealing with stress and anxiety, both Carlo and Karla emphasized that music therapy improves their mood. While listening to music,  both perform controlled breathing techniques while focusing on the music. 

“While listening to music, I close my eyes and control my breathing until I believe that I have controlled by emotions.”

- Carlo

        Meanwhile, music therapy has helped Karla cope with anxiety attacks since 2018.

“I would listen to a set of songs and focus on the lyrics and vocals while doing breathing exercises to drown out the pervasive negative thoughts my brain keeps conjuring.”

- Karla

image source: careerinpsychology.org

As such, the commonalities of the benefits of music therapy are: 

• Reduced stress levels

• Improved mood

• Improved focus and relaxation

• Eased anxiety

• Self-awareness

       Scientific evidence bolsters the mood-soothing effects of music therapy.  Thoma et al. (2013) and Umbrello et al. (2019) pointed out that music reduces stress by efficiently recovering the autonomous nervous system from its stressors and limiting physiological stress response. Music also triggers the hormonal release of dopamine, endorphins, norepinephrine, and melatonin, which are associated with good mood and pleasure (Zoppi, 2020; University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, 2017). It eases anxiety, as testified by the study of Gutierrez and Camarena (2015). Lastly, Jackson and Gardstrom (2012) and Navarro (2015) revealed that listening to music increases self-awareness.

5. Aromatherapy

        Lastly, Annen confessed that she became insomniac when the pandemic started because of stress and two other reasons:

“I had two hunches on what caused it: first, the new set-up I knew I had to get used to for quite a while, and second, the anxiety that came with not knowing what's bound to happen next.”

- Annen

Luckily, Annen discovered that aromatherapy helps her sleep by using chamomile and lavender oils, which she bought online. 

“Sometimes, I use them alternatingly; sometimes, I combine them. It did help me get shut-eye at night.”

- Annen

image source: gettyimages.com

Annen’s chamomile essential oil has been proven effective against insomnia as it is a mild tranquilizer and sleep inducer (Panneerselvam, 2017). While her lavender oil had shown higher sleep quality mean scores when 15 healthy students (Hirokawa et al., 2012), 64 ischemic heart disease patients (Moeini et al., 2010), and 34 midlife women with insomnia (Chien et al., 2012) were subjected to lavender oil odor.

References

Alban, P. (2021). The mental health benefits of Art Are For Everyone. Be Brain Fit. Retrieved November 9, 2021, from https://bebrainfit.com/benefits-art/. 

Campbell, I. (2021). How Art Can Help Relieve Stress. Sage Neuroscience Center. Retrieved from https://sageclinic.org/blog/art-relieve-stress/.

Chien, L.W., Cheng, S. L., & Liu, C. F. (2012). The Effect of Lavender Aromatherapy on Autonomic Nervous System in Midlife Women with Insomnia. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 2012, 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1155/2012/740813.

Gutiérrez, E.O., & Camarena, V.A. (2015). Music therapy in generalized anxiety disorder. The Arts in Psychotherapy, 44(2015), 19-24. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aip.2015.02.003.

Hirokawa, K., Nishimoto, T., & Taniguchi, T. (2012). Effects of lavender aroma on sleep quality in healthy Japanese students. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 114(1), 111–122. https://doi.org/10.2466/13.15.PMS.114.1.111-122.

Jackson, N.A., & Gardstrom, S.C. (2012). Undergraduate music therapy students' experiences as clients in short-term group music therapy. Music Therapy Perspectives, 30(1), 65–82. https://doi.org/10.1093/mtp/30.1.65.

Kongkasuwan, R., Voraakhom, K., Pisolayabutra, P., Maneechai, P., Boonin, J., & Kuptniratsaikul, V. (2016). Creative art therapy to enhance rehabilitation for stroke patients: a randomized controlled trial. Clinical Rehabilitation, 30(10), 1016–1023. https://doi.org/10.1177/0269215515607072. 

Korn, R. (2010). Educational research: The art of problem solving. New York: Solomon.

Lumma, A. L., Kok, B. E., & Singer, T. (2015). Is meditation always relaxing? Investigating heart rate, heart rate variability, experienced effort and likeability during training of three types of meditation. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 97(1), 38-45.

Moeini, M., Khadibi, M., Bekhradi, R., Mahmoudian, S. A., & Nazari, F. (2010). Effect of aromatherapy on the quality of sleep in ischemic heart disease patients hospitalized in intensive care units of heart hospitals of the Isfahan University of Medical Sciences. Iranian Journal of Nursing and Midwifery Research, 15(4), 234–239. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22049287/.

Monfredi, O., Lyashkov, A. E., Johnsen, A. B., Inada, S., Schneider, H., Wang, R., Nirmalan, M., Wisloff, U., Maltsev, V.A., Lakatta, E.G., Zhang, H. & Boyett, M. R. (2014). Biophysical characterization of the underappreciated and important relationship between heart rate variability and heart rate. Hypertension, 64(6), 1334-1343. https://doi.org/10.1161/HYPERTENSIONAHA.114.03782.

Navarro, S. (2015). Music and self-awareness: A relationship or not? Behavioural Sciences Undergraduate Journal, 2(1), 24-35. https://doi.org/10.29173/bsuj283.

Panneerselvam, S. (2017). EFFECTIVENESS OF AROMATHERAPY IN INSOMNIA. International Journal of Innovative Pharmaceutical Sciences and Research, 5(11), 96–106. https://doi.org/DOI:10.21276/IJIPSR.2017.05.11.220.

Polsgrove MJ, Eggleston BM, & Lockyer RJ. (2016). Impact of 10-weeks of yoga practice on flexibility and balance of college athletes. Int J Yoga. 2016;9(1):27-34. doi:10.4103/0973-6131.171710.

Riley, K. E., & Park, C. L. (2015). How does yoga reduce stress? A systematic review of mechanisms of change and guide to future inquiry. Health psychology review, 9(3), 379-396. https://doi.org/10.1080/17437199.2 014.981778.

Sharma, L. (2015). Benefits of yoga in sports–A study. International Journal of physical education, sports and health, 1(3), 30-32. https://www.kheljournal.com/archives/2015/vol1issue3/PartA/29.1.pdf.

Taylor, R.B. (2020). The Health Benefits of Yoga. WebMD. https://www.webmd.com/balance/guide/the-health-benefits-of-yoga.

Thoma, M. V., La Marca, R., Brönnimann, R., Finkel, L., Ehlert, U., & Nater, U. M. (2013). The effect of music on the human stress response. PloS One, 8(8), 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0070156.

University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. (2017). Feeling Down? Surprising Ways Music Can Pick You Up. Retrieved from UPMC Health Beat: https://share.upmc.com/2017/02/music-and-health-connection/.

Umbrello, M., Sorrenti, T., Mistraletti, G., Formenti, P., Chiumello, D., & Terzoni, S. (2019). Music therapy reduces stress and anxiety in critically ill patients: A systematic review of randomized clinical trials. Minerva Anestesiol, 85(8), 886-898. https://doi.org/10.23736/S0375-9393.19.13526-2.

Zoppi, L. (2020). What is music therapy, and how does it work? Retrieved from Medical News Today: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/music-therapy.