A single 45-minute session of the Wakame Exercise, a paired body–mind practice from a Japanese martial arts tradition, increased nondual awareness and reduced the salience of perceived body boundaries in undergraduates compared to a control practice or rest. Nondual awareness was positively correlated with creative attitudes, and higher creative attitudes were linked to greater decentering after the practice. These brief paired practices rooted in Eastern martial arts can promote temporary boundary dissolution and may enhance creativity.
A brief paired body-mind practice derived from Japanese martial arts, the Wakame Exercise, increased nondual awareness and reduced the salience of body boundaries in undergraduates compared to a structured physical interaction or rest. Within the Wakame group, higher nondual awareness correlated with more creative attitudes, which in turn linked to greater decentering. These effects occurred regardless of participants' baseline boundary thinness. The findings suggest that short, meditative paired practices from Eastern martial traditions can temporarily dissolve self-other boundaries and foster psychological flexibility, offering a basis for integrating such methods into modern psychology.