Contemplative practices: The body as therapeutic site linking health and place.
Health and Place May 30, 2022 Peer reviewed DOI: 10.1016/j.healthplace.2022.102826 via Semantic Scholar
Summary
Embodied contemplative practices like yoga and meditation can serve as a therapeutic counterpoint in a fast-paced, hyper-connected world by nurturing appreciation for immaterial, interdependent aspects of life. This autoethnographic study, based on three months of daily practice, interprets narrative data through thematic analysis to argue that these deliberately immobilising acts of resistance connect health and place within the ordinary environment of the body at home, offering stability during upheaval.
Study at a glance
| Design | autoethnography |
|---|---|
| Key finding | Embodied contemplative practices can be a therapeutic counterpoint, connecting health and place by nurturing an appreciation for the immaterial, interdependent aspects of life. |
Abstract
During times of upheaval, supporting stability, health and wellbeing on all levels is essential. While literature regarding 'therapeutic landscapes' has burgeoned over the last 30 years, to date no studies have considered the therapeutic potential of embodied contemplative practices (CP), such as yoga and meditation, within the most accessible, ordinary environment - the body at home. Equally, the field of mobilities appears to have overlooked the spiritual and political nature of these deliberately immobilising acts of resistance. Our paper draws on narrative data collected over the course of three months of daily CP. We interpret the resulting autoethnography through thematic analysis. We conclude that within a fast-paced, hyper-connected world, CPs can be a therapeutic counterpoint, connecting health and place by nurturing an appreciation for the immaterial, interdependent aspects of life.