Digital Commons Network^™

Spirit, Art, And Care, Jordan Geiger

MFA in Visual Art

In textiles, installations, and interactive performances, I explore how spiritual practice becomes art practice. My experiences as a hospice volunteer, musician, and Buddhist inform my work’s focus on contemplating impermanence as a path to spiritual transformation. Artmaking is a vehicle for exploring the nature of my reality, and both communicating what I find and sharing the path itself. I take inspiration from mystic/artists such as Hilma af Klint, Sengai Gibon, and Agnes Martin, who have sought to expound the path of awakening in artistic form.

In content as well as process, my work explores notions of empathy, awareness, ceremony, and …

Experiential-Based Research Depicting Humanistic Survival After Violent Victimization & Traumatization Exploring Human Resilience, Spirituality, Meditation & Expressive Writing, Sabrina Harris

Dissertations

Unattended trauma-induced stressors resulting from incidents of violent victimization can escalate into mental health challenges, including trauma-related and substance-abuse disorders, which most often co-occur in a debilitating manner. Therefore, it is essential to conduct ongoing exploratory research on cognitive-based approaches (e.g., spirituality), psychological adaptations (e.g., human resilience), and trauma-informed approaches (e.g., meditation, expressive writing), which serve to reduce or offset the adverse impact of trauma.

Twelve women who experienced victimization and traumatization but did not seek professional mental-health intervention were interviewed; six had been abused as children and eight as adults. Some did not contact or follow through with reports …

The Impact Of Brief Electronic Guided Mindfulness Meditation On Anxiety Scores, Sierra King

DNP Scholarly Projects

In the United States, anxiety rates are on the rise for the general population (Goodwin et al., 2020a). Prolonged and frequent anxiety can become unprompted and problematic (American Psychiatric Association, 2021). Management of anxiety is crucial for overall wellbeing. Access to treatment and resources for anxiety may be limited in rural geographical locations (Morales et al., n.d.). This DNP project sought to determine whether a brief intervention of electronic guided mindfulness meditation (MM) by Insight Timer is effective in decreasing anxiety in a rural populous. Convenience sampling recruited a final total of 11 rural participants who participated in seven sessions …

Comparison Of Vipassana Meditation With Other Mindfulness Traditions In The Response To Experimentally Induced Pain, Timothy Ian Vandiver

Psychology ETDs

This study compared various mindfulness meditators with a meditation-naïve control group on various measures of pain tolerance and response. My primary hypothesis was that meditators would show greater pain tolerance than non-meditators and that they would also show greater parasympathetic nervous system activation in response to experimentally induced pain. The results were mixed, with meditators showing no greater increase in pain tolerance post-baseline. Differences in nervous system function between the two groups were also difficult to interpret.

Another component of the study was to explore the phenomenological reports and to compare and contrast those of the meditators and non-meditators using …

The Reinfusion Of Mindful Roots Into Power Yoga: A Mindfulness-Based Yogi Manual, Sarah Johnson

Mindfulness Studies Theses

The practice of modern yoga emphasizes the physical aspect of what was originally a contemplative tradition. Power yoga is perceived as a fitness experience that lacks an explicit articulation between the physical body and the mind. Investigating the roots of contemplative yoga through the language of mindfulness can bridge the divide between an intense external practice and one that can ultimately calm the mind. This thesis focuses on the recovery of mindfulness underlying modern yoga and encourages yoga teachers to reinfuse their power classes with the ancestral wisdom rooted in the practice.

Mindfulness: A Look Into The Effects On Performance In The Academic, Work, And Athletic Spaces, Danielle Beder

CMC Senior Theses

Mindfulness and meditation offer many benefits to people in all aspects of life. This paper provides insight to how mindfulness and meditation can affect an individual’s performance. Mindfulness and mediation has emerged as a very popular tool in western therapies in the last 60 years. Through reviewing lots of prior research and literature, the results show that mindfulness can help increase performance. This is done through three mechanisms: emotional regulation, flow state, and cognitive functions. Mindfulness increases an individual's emotional regulation systems through reduced depression and anxiety, increased happiness, and development of emotional intelligence. Mindfulness also increases the frequency of …

3rd Nature, Heather Diane Phelps-Lipton

Senior Projects Spring 2024

My work is rooted in critical thought and centered by photographic imagery. Created as a mechanism of societal metamorphosis via the language of the familiar (capitalism, media and public policy), it is always an experiment. The realized form varies, but my working hypothesis is consistent: with intentional practice, human energies and activities can be (re)directed into an existence of non-destructive curiosity, wonder, and gratitude.

Be it a video poster, street fashion concept or a design for a future-forward food system, my work is best activated beyond the walls of the gallery or museum. I’m interested in creating works in collaboration …

Unveiling The Pathways: The Effects Of Mindfulness And Recreational Psychedelic Experiences On Well-Being; The Mediating Roles Of Non-Dual Awareness, Pro-Sociality, And Meaning In Life., Sebastian Ehmann

West Chester University Master’s Theses

Contemplative practices and psychedelic experiences have demonstrated significant benefits for psychological health and general human flourishing. Both practices share neuroscientific (i.e., cognitive flexibility), psychological (i.e., insight), and phenomenological (i.e., self-loss) overlap, but the combined effects remain underexplored. This study aimed to address this gap by examining the influence of drug-induced ego-dissolution and dispositional mindfulness on subjective well-being while testing the potential mediating role of compassion, meaning in life, and non-dual awareness (NDA; awareness without the typical subject-object dichotomy). The initial hypothesis posited that selfless experiences and mindfulness cultivate non-dual embodied cognition, leading to increased compassion and meaning and, in turn, …

Nurse Suicide: Examining Depression And Anxiety In Critical Care Settings, Arianna Bernardine Barata

Nursing | Senior Theses

Nurses play a critical role in healthcare, yet the demanding work environment often exposes them to stressors, leading to the development of depression and anxiety. According to the National Library of Medicine (NLM) (2021), 50.8% of nurses have stress, 74% have anxiety, 70.8% have depression, and 79.1% have at least one of them. Burnout, understaffing, COVID fatigue, alarm fatigue, patient ratios, and disrupted sleep patterns are some of the stressors nurses contend with in every shift. While some nurses may cope and overcome these challenges, many face more severe issues, such as suicide. Nurse suicide is an issue that has …

Bells Of Mindfulness: An Online Mindfulness Meditation Course To Promote Mindfulness Meditation For Phd Students, Michael Folland

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Over the last 20 years, there has been growing evidence of mental health issues in doctoral candidates worldwide (Zhang et al., 2022; Barry et al., 2019; Gewin, 2012; Radison & DiGeronimo, 2005). Practicing mindfulness meditation, which is one way to cope with stress and anxiety (Kabat-Zinn, 1991), could be a useful practice for these PhD students. However, despite all the evidence that suggests the health benefits of having a regular meditation routine, motivating graduate students to practice meditation can be challenging (Franco, 2020). This study addresses this challenge by assessing a 5-week mindfulness meditation course designed to support graduate students …

The Effect Of Model Size On The Root Mean Square Error Of Approximation (Rmsea): The Nonnormal Case, Yunhang Yin

Theses and Dissertations

This study aimed to understand the effect of model size on the Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA) under nonnormal data. We considered three methods for computing the sample RMSEA and the associated confidence intervals (i.e., the normal theory method [Browne & Cudeck, 1993], the BSL method [Brosseau-Liard, Savalei & Li, 2012], and the Lai method [Lai, 2020]). The performance of the three methods was compared across various model sizes, sample sizes, levels of misspecification, and levels of nonnormality. Results indicated that the normal theory RMSEA should not be used under nonnormal data unless the model size is very …

Making Mindfulness More Accessible: A Practical Guide To Trauma-Informed Mindfulness, Leslie Formby

Mindfulness Studies Theses

Mindfulness is currently embedded in a growing understanding of how trauma permeates and adversely impacts peoples’ physical and psychological well-being. Increased awareness of the prevalence of trauma and its harmful effects has led to renewed interest in mindfulness to help manage the challenges generated by the detrimental effects of trauma.

These effects may draw people to mindfulness and, in turn, may make the benefits of mindfulness out of reach. Mindfulness methods and practice adaptations have been found to help trauma survivors experience the benefits of what the Buddha taught. As a support for those engaging in mindfulness and meditation, this …

Promoting Wellness With Medical-Surgical Nurses In An Urban Medical Center Through Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, Shemeka Leonard

Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects

Background: Due to their position on the forefront lines of the healthcare system, nurses are more likely to experience stress at work. Job-related stress can cause increased anxiety, emotional turmoil, depression, and other mental issues. Nurses commonly deal with elevated distress due to workload demands such as passing medication, checking for errors, ensuring patient safety, and charting—mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) is a useful means of reducing psychological distress.

Purpose: The DNP project objectives were to reduce stress, encourage well-being, and show how effective an MBSR program works in a hospital setting. The aim is to reduce stress/improve wellness.

Methods …

The Center For Centering Dome, Olek Piechaczek, Ryan M. Scharf

Architectural Engineering

The Center for Centering seeks to create a large-scale healing center, conducive to individual centering of the mind and body. This mobile installation provides a relaxing, enclosed space while still maintaining a connection to the outdoors. The clients liked the idea of having a pop-up installation that could be easily set up as a touring display. With a deadline for installation looming in June 2022, a team of students had five months to design and manufacture the structure.

In winter 2022, the students developed custom geometry to minimize the number of individual parts and built a ¼ scale model of …

Be Kind To Your Mind: The Use Of Mobile Based Applications To Reduce Stress And Improve Health Outcomes, Akira Hanson Finn

Doctor of Nursing Practice Final Manuscripts

Now more than ever mental health is in the spotlight on a global scale. Professionals from a variety of different disciplines are being encouraged to evaluate several different coping techniques in order combat the magnitude of societal crisis being discovered post-pandemic. At the top the list is Mindfulness-based interventions. The concept of mindfulness practices is nothing new. Evidence suggests it has existed for thousands of years; however, it is getting more notoriety in the past decade due to increasing expansion of mobile-based applications. These types of technology driven applications offer an easily accessible, convenient, and trackable way for individuals to …

Improving Patients' Perception Of Pain: An Evaluation Of A Nurse Practitioner-Led Chronic Pain Coaching Group, Suzanne A. Levy

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Background: The opioid crisis in the United States warrants an improved standard of practice for managing chronic pain. A large body of evidence highlights a positive correlation between health coaching focused on mindfulness-based interventions and its potential to improve the overall well-being of chronic pain patients. Currently, there are limited resources to address these patients' psychosocial needs, and the primary treatment plan consists of pharmacological management using long-term opioids. Project Aim: The 3M Chronic Pain Coaching Model is a 6-week coaching group focused on mindfulness, meditation, and motivation. This quality improvement project aimed to evaluate how a mindfulness-based chronic pain …

Movement And Mindfulness In The Transitional Kindergarten Classroom, Larisa Ward-Seitz

Education | Master's Theses

This study aimed to assess the impact of mindfulness activities, yoga, and kinesthetic movement on students’ self-reported mood, feelings of wellbeing, and levels of calmness and attention. Research suggests that meditation and mindfulness can help students regulate emotions and accordingly decrease levels of stress and increase feelings of wellbeing in the classroom (Dariotis, Mirabal-Beltran, Cluxton-Keller, 2016). Mindfulness has also been shown to increase executive functioning in young children. Kinesthetic movement, including yoga and repetitive movements, has also been shown to increase cognitive functioning in young children, especially in regards to executive functioning (Zeng, Ayyub, Sun, Wen, Xiang, & Gao, 2017). …

The Breath As A Holistic Regulator: An Expressive Arts Therapy Community Project, Jacobita Munoz

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

This capstone offers the idea that evolution has challenged appropriate breathing and led humans to breathe incorrectly, thus negatively affecting their physical and mental health. As breath can damage the body, it can also serve as a regulator of the mind and body. This thesis points out the multiple effects when uniting controlled respiration, drumming and nature sounds. Breathing, music and nature have many things in common. These include repetition, pattern, awareness of the present moment and relaxation. They all contain a rhythm, and they offer self-regulatory skills. Music-based expressive arts therapies intervention is postulated to provide breathing techniques, united …

Examining The Effects Of Religion-Based Meditation On Stress Levels In Palestinian Muslims, Dana Elqaq

Honors Thesis

Given the intractable conflict in Palestine, those living in the area are exposed to constant stress and trauma. A wealth of prior research findings clearly reveals that stress, with an emphasis on traumatic stress, leads to decrements in mental and physical well-being. Thus, it is important to consider implementing interventions that might help people in this area cope with stress. Researchers have advocated for the use of meditation to lower stress and anxiety levels. In the current investigation, I will present findings from a study that I conducted in Palestine, looking at the impact of mindfulness meditation on effective coping …

Meditation-Type Exercise For The Management Of Chemotherapy Related Cognitive Impairment In Breast Cancer Patients, Christine Cain

Evidence-Based Practice Project Reports

Chemotherapy-related cognitive impairment (CRCI), or “chemobrain”, is one of the most troublesome side effects of chemotherapy (Dijkshoorn et al., 2020). Ongoing CRCI may negatively affect relationships, confidence, sleep, fatigue, anxiety, and the ability to return to work activities leading to a decreased quality of life (Johns et al., 2016; Gokal et al., 2018). The purpose of this evidence-based practice (EBP) project was to assess the efficiency of a meditation-type exercise intervention, chair yoga, on decreasing perceived cognitive impairment (PCI) in breast cancer patients. The PICOT question for this project was: In breast cancer patients with chemotherapy related cognitive impairment (P), …

The Effects Of Meditation On Stress In High School Students, Cara Szeghy, Cara Szeghy

Mindfulness Studies Theses

Abstract

Young people today face many challenges including stress from social relationships, academic pressures at school, racism, social injustice, and the pandemic. This paper examines the efficacy of using practical and accessible meditation techniques to help decrease stress in high school students. Prior research on some of the causes of stress within this age group, including the history of mindfulness, the attention economy, incorporation of techniques into classroom curricula, and teaching meditation techniques to the high school age population, is explored. Further research on the benefits of teaching meditation to high school students, including a thorough examination of the complex …

The Unusual Prominence Of The Burial Shroud In The Deponitur Christi Corpus E Curce From The Adnotationes Et Meditationes In Evangelia, Valerie Vespalec

Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis, I analyze the iconography and the accompanied text of Hieronymus Wiericx’s Deponitur Christi corpus e cruce (Christ’s body is taken down from the cross; Image 132, Chapter 105; hereafter referred to as the Deposition) from Adnotationes et meditationes in Evangelia (Annotations and Meditations on the Gospels; hereafter referred to as Adnotationes et meditationes) by Jerome Nadal, originally published in 1595. I examine the unusual prominence of the burial shroud depicted behind Christ whereas in previous sixteenth-century deposition imagery, the burial shroud was either omitted or not given such prominence. Scholars in recent decades have devoted significant attention …

Adversity And Leader Development: Mindfulness As A Potential Moderator, Isaac V. Dixon

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Why do some leaders respond to adversity by becoming more empathetic, impactful, and resilient — while others do not? Since the Covid-19 pandemic, suffering has gained personal relevance to each one of us. Although many researchers have explored why some individuals – when faced with trauma – grow as a result, little work has been done to understand this process specifically within the context of leaders and leader development. As such, the primary purpose of this paper is to explore what allows some leaders to respond to adversity/trauma with leadership development. Based on the mediators of productive framing, cognitive engagement, …

Unlocking Creativity In The Visual Arts: Using Mindfulness And Open Awareness Meditation To Access Creative Insight, Erin Gocinski

Mindfulness Studies Theses

An artist's creativity is a vital resource, so it is important to nourish this internal phenomenon and develop helpful techniques when they experience a creative block. Researchers have discovered that mindfulness and meditation positively affect artists' ability to access creative insight. The research reviewed in this rationale paper demonstrates beneficial experiences for artists who are trying to foster creativity or move beyond a creative block. After reviewing research, there were common threads linking the reasons for artists’ creative blocks and the positive impacts of mindfulness and meditation. The creative project is a handbook designed for artists and provides information, meditative …

Thirty-Second Mindful Body Scan Meditation For Bedside Nurses, Shruti Balwalli-Udyawer

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Compassion fatigue, or secondary traumatic stress, is a state of physical and mental exhaustion caused by an inability to cope with the everyday environment that reduces the ability of the nurse to provide high-quality health care to a patient. The purpose of this staff education project, guided by Selye’s general adaption syndrome , was a 6-week, 30-second mindfulness exercise program to promote stress reduction for cardiac step-down and medical-surgical nurses. In this quantitative, pre- and posttest study, the Perceived Stress Scale was completed by a sample of 24 nurses who met the inclusion criteria. The practice focused whether educating nurses …

Experiences Of Women Faculty Using Meditative Practices Through Workplace Health Promotion In Ontario, Kelly Lynn Henley

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Workplace stress is pervasive and changes to the postsecondary teaching and learning environment have contributed to stress among women faculty and adversely impacted their personal well-being. The purpose of this qualitative study was to understand how the constructs in the health belief model (HBM) play a role in the use of worksite wellness initiatives to manage stress and promote wellness among women postsecondary faculty in Ontario. The research questions were designed based on the HBM to examine the participants’ perceptions of severity and susceptibility to workplace stress, perceived benefits and barriers to participation, motivation to participate, and self-efficacy. Women faculty …

Experiences Of Women Faculty Using Meditative Practices Through Workplace Health Promotion In Ontario, Kelly Lynn Henley

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Workplace stress is pervasive and changes to the postsecondary teaching and learning environment have contributed to stress among women faculty and adversely impacted their personal well-being. The purpose of this qualitative study was to understand how the constructs in the health belief model (HBM) play a role in the use of worksite wellness initiatives to manage stress and promote wellness among women postsecondary faculty in Ontario. The research questions were designed based on the HBM to examine the participants’ perceptions of severity and susceptibility to workplace stress, perceived benefits and barriers to participation, motivation to participate, and self-efficacy. Women faculty …

Thirty-Second Mindful Body Scan Meditation For Bedside Nurses, Shruti Balwalli-Udyawer

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Compassion fatigue, or secondary traumatic stress, is a state of physical and mental exhaustion caused by an inability to cope with the everyday environment that reduces the ability of the nurse to provide high-quality health care to a patient. The purpose of this staff education project, guided by Selye’s general adaption syndrome , was a 6-week, 30-second mindfulness exercise program to promote stress reduction for cardiac step-down and medical-surgical nurses. In this quantitative, pre- and posttest study, the Perceived Stress Scale was completed by a sample of 24 nurses who met the inclusion criteria. The practice focused whether educating nurses …

Thirty-Second Mindful Body Scan Meditation For Bedside Nurses, Shruti Balwalli-Udyawer

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Compassion fatigue, or secondary traumatic stress, is a state of physical and mental exhaustion caused by an inability to cope with the everyday environment that reduces the ability of the nurse to provide high-quality health care to a patient. The purpose of this staff education project, guided by Selye’s general adaption syndrome , was a 6-week, 30-second mindfulness exercise program to promote stress reduction for cardiac step-down and medical-surgical nurses. In this quantitative, pre- and posttest study, the Perceived Stress Scale was completed by a sample of 24 nurses who met the inclusion criteria. The practice focused whether educating nurses …

A Review Of The Effects Of Mindfulness Meditation On Chronic Pain In Older Adults, Gregory H. Jacks

Theses and Dissertations

Pain is a biopsychosocial phenomenon, which draws from physiological responses as well as cultural and social context and mental states. Pain is most frequently treated through surgical and pharmacological interventions, which can be costly and time-consuming, especially when treating chronic pain. Older adults suffer from chronic pain at a higher rate than the rest of the population, and more accessible interventions are desperately needed to help manage the experience of chronic pain. Mindfulness meditation is increasingly being utilized for management of pain due to evidence of its effectiveness, cheaper cost, and ability to be practiced outside of medical facilities. Prior …